Alien Tango

recognize the voice, and it was muffled well enough that I couldn’t tell if it was male or female. “Get out of Florida and stay out, or we’ll kill you and your boyfriend, too.”

CHAPTER 26
    WE WERE IN ALFRED’S OFFICE. I was in jeans, my Converse, and an Aerosmith T-shirt. Clearly, I needed the support of my boys. My hair was in a ponytail, and I had a Glock in my purse and one shoved into the back of my pants—with the safety on. Purse loaded with clips, refilled harpoon materials, and everything else I could think of. Ready for anything.
    Martini and I had napped long enough that Alfred had had some food brought in for the team. It was almost one in the afternoon, and though I hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before, I wasn’t really hungry. I was too busy trying to figure out what was going to attack us next.
    Turco was, I was happy to note, tied to a chair and seemed unconscious. “What happened?”
    Jerry grinned. “He was starting to be a pain. So ... ” He shrugged.
    Christopher nodded. “We knocked him out.”
    “It made eating more pleasant,” Claudia added.
    “I like the gag in his mouth and the tissues shoved into his ears. Nice touch.”
    “We don’t want him listening in,” Reader said. “Think we should put a bag over his head?”
    “Plastic, for preference.”
    “No,” Martini said as he finished his sandwich, while I tried to ignore the shocked look on Alfred’s face. “I’ll monitor and let you know if he wakes up.”
    I wasn’t sure that Martini was up to using his empathic skills right now but decided not to argue. He was back in the Armani Fatigues, carrying a jacket. For some reason, the A-C males really liked to work in a full-on suit, and I could tell he was uncomfortable being this casual. He looked great, though—white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top couple of buttons open, undershirt just showing, black slacks, black jacket hanging over one arm. Shockingly, looking at him made me want to go back to the jet and not rest.
    Sadly, that wasn’t an option. Alfred had run the number of my mystery caller, and it had originated in the Space Center. However, it was from a general phone in the reception area, and we couldn’t find a witness who’d seen anyone near it.
    “How did they get my number?”
    “No idea,” Martini said. “How many people have it?”
    I thought about it. I’d gotten a new phone after Operation Fugly—A-C designed, meaning it survived just fine in all forms of weather and trauma. However, I’d kept the same number I always had. It hadn’t seemed like a security breach at the time. “Well, pretty much everyone who knows me. But that would mean my stalker is either a Centaurion operative, a family member, one of my friends from school or work, or someone on Mom’s team.”
    “All unlikely,” Martini said.
    “But, as we’ve learned, not impossible.” Christopher sounded as upset as I felt.
    Jerry looked thoughtful. “It could be someone who works here, without too much trouble.”
    “How so?”
    “There are only so many cellular carriers. If I called up with the right government clearance, I could get a listing of all Katts within minutes. How many Katherine Katts could there be?”
    “Probably more than just me—my parents can’t be the only ones with a sense of humor.”
    Jerry grinned. “True, but not that many. And probably not too many living in Pueblo Caliente.”
    “Yeah, just me, I think.”
    He shrugged. “So, easy. Look for whoever within the Space Center has the clearance level high enough to get this kind of information out of the cellular companies, and we have either our man or our limited number of options.”
    “Might have had an underling make the call,” Alfred mentioned.
    Jerry shrugged again. “We’ll still find the person with the access.”
    “Could be someone lower, who faked the authority,” Reader said.
    “Yeah, but I think Jerry’s on the right track.” I took a deep breath. “So, at the risk of sounding like I’m cavalier about living, what are they really trying to keep us away from?”
    “What do you mean?” Christopher asked.
    “Jeff took a call from Alfred. Everyone went into high risk mode. And from that moment on, something and many someones have been trying to keep us from dealing with whatever it was that put us into action in the first place.”
    “I called because an unknown entity attached to and infiltrated a craft Michael Gower was in,” Alfred