Alien Proliferation

friends.”
    Chuckie looked thoughtful. “It depends.”
    “On what?”
    “On who’s doing the targeting.”

 
    CHAPTER 22
     
    “Y OU HAVE A GUESS YET?” I didn’t, not really, but then again, I wasn’t the Conspiracy King.
    Chuckie shook his head. “Not yet.” I knew him better than anyone, and, human or not, I knew he was lying. But I also could tell he hadn’t solidified on one theory, so I decided to let his wheels turn while we waited for the next disaster to strike. That I was sure something more was coming wasn’t indicative of psychic skills—experience was a great teacher.
    Mom sighed. “Okay, I’m going to go count noses. I know your father’s here, but I want to be sure we haven’t missed someone they’ll think to grab as a hostage. Alfred and Lucinda already moved a huge number of our family and theirs into their compound, so we should be all right.” She kissed me and Jamie, then went out.
    Left me, Reader, and Chuckie in the room. Chuckie sat down in a chair. “There are times when I think we should just move everyone we know into a Centaurion base and keep them hidden. It might be easier.”
    “Ain’t it the truth.”
    Reader’s phone rang. “Yeah. Yeah, be right there.” He sighed. “Paul’s family’s here, and Michael’s hitting on Amy with intent to score.”
    “Routine.”
    “Yeah. Paul needs some help, though.” He looked at Chuckie and then back to me. “You okay if I leave you?”
    “I’ve known him since I was thirteen. Yeah, it’s fine.”
    Reader didn’t look as though he agreed, but he kissed my cheek, nodded to Chuckie and then left the room. He left the door open.
    Chuckie shook his head, got up, and shut the door. He sat back down in the chair. “I guess it’s flattering they think you’re going to fling yourself at me the moment we’re alone.”
    “Why were you alone on Christmas day?”
    He rolled his eyes. “It’s not exactly relevant to anything that’s going on.”
    “It’s relevant to me. You weren’t with your parents, but you didn’t say they were in Aruba or something.”
    “They were home. I was home.”
    Chuckie lived half the year in Australia and half in D.C. In light of our meeting from the other day, it was a safe bet he’d been in D.C., so I spared myself the potential “duh” look and didn’t bother to confirm it. Besides, the where was less worrisome than the why. “Why were you home alone? On Christmas day?”
    “Why are you still asking me that?”
    “I may have said no and married Jeff, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I just don’t love you like I love him. But, I still love you. I just had to do the whole drug addict expose on another guy I happen to love but not love as much as Jeff. If something happens to James, we’ll be batting a thousand. You sitting home alone on Christmas scares the crap out of me, Chuckie.”
    He shrugged. “It’s just a day.”
    “Right. Stop lying to me, it’s insulting.”
    “She’s a beautiful baby.”
    “Yeah, I think so, too. You drinking a lot?”
    He laughed. “No, I’m not a closet alcoholic.”
    “Then, why all alone? I’ll just keep on asking until you give, you know.”
    “I just have very few people I care about enough to spend a holiday with. I didn’t want to spend Christmas with my parents and have to pretend I don’t care you’re married to someone else, okay?”
    “I see we need to find you a girl, too.”
    Chuckie closed his eyes. “Look, the last thing I want is you trying to fix me up with someone. Truly, the last thing. I don’t want you to find a girl for me.”
    “Jeff thinks you’re waiting for him to screw up.”
    He opened his eyes. “I am. I’m not looking forward to it, but, yeah, I’m waiting.”
    “Why? And don’t say it’s because you love me. I know that part. I’m curious why you think Jeff’s going to screw up. Was it just that you showed up to propose during the highlight of Operation Drug Addict?”
    “No.”
    “Then why? Badgering again, in case you weren’t sure.”
    He sighed. “It keeps him on his toes.”
    “What is that supposed to mean?”
    “The married-for-life mind-set’s great. It’s also hard. And I’m not a trusting person. I love you, I care about you, and I want to be sure he doesn’t get complacent. I’m watching him, he knows it, and I’ll be watching him. I could be married with twenty kids—I’d still be watching him.”
    “Something to look forward to. You two really