Alien Tango

up with something that didn’t sound silly, having already tossed out Bob. Part of me wanted to suggest the name Terry, but I didn’t think Christopher or Martini would be able to deal with it. I leaned my head against Martini’s shoulder and let my mind wander.
    What had I seen while I was asleep? Alpha Centauri and Earth, though I had no idea which of the many planets cruising around the double stars was the A-C home world. What did the entity have that made it unique? In a way, it belonged to both Alpha Centauri and Earth. Just like the A-Cs. The A-Cs of Earth.
    “Um . . . what about . . . ACE?”
    “As in of spades?” Christopher asked, sounding unimpressed.
    “No, as in Alpha Centauri and Earth. All capital letters, sort of thing, A-C-E.”
    “That’ll sound like he’s got a great pilot in there,” Joe said, sounding uncertain.
    “Or a card sharp,” Reader added.
    “A tennis pro,” Randy suggested.
    “There aren’t a lot of negatives associated with it,” I reminded them. “Most people would take being called the ace as a compliment.”
    “You just like it because you thought it up,” Christopher said. This was true, but I still thought it was good.
    “We like it,” the voice that wasn’t quite Gower’s said.
    Gower twitched and nodded. “I’m fine with ACE.”
    Reader’s phone rang. “Hello. Uh-huh. Yeah, we’ve solved the astronaut problem. No, nothing on the other two. Oh, yeah? Great, we’ll be there shortly.” He hung up. “Glad we have that whole naming issue taken care of, because that was Kevin. He thinks he’s found Kitty’s stalker.”

CHAPTER 39
    WE FILED OUT, astronauts in tow. Martini sent Christopher, Reader, and Gower to verify if the dead cleaning woman’s body was still in the computer room. It was, which was something of a relief.
    We wandered more halls and walked through areas that, if we weren’t in the middle of all the life and world threatening situations, would have been fascinating. I could hear Chee pointing out some things to Lorraine and Claudia, both of whom were flanking him, with their guys hanging on tight. It occurred to me that bringing the girls here was like taking them to their version of Disneyland and Chippendale’s combined.
    Jerry was still riding herd on Turco, assisted by Gower, Reader, and Alfred, all of whom were discussing how they were looking forward to ensuring Turco never did security at so much as a Taco Bell. I’d almost have felt sorry for him, but he was still busy insinuating that the A-Cs were responsible for all the world’s problems, up to and including global warming.
    Christopher and Michael were behind us, but close enough to hear our conversation easily. Martini had a firm hold on my hand, in part because Brian was walking next to me. “So, you really think someone’s out to get you because of me?” Brian asked, sounding a little weirded out and a lot flattered.
    “I know, hard to believe, isn’t it?” Martini snapped.
    I squeezed his hand. “Jeff, stop. Yeah, Bri, I really do think we’ve got someone who loves you just a little too much.”
    He sighed. “I hope whoever it is doesn’t have a gun.”
    “Yeah, me too.” We had no idea if Kevin had the suspected stalker in custody or if he had merely narrowed the potential suspects down to one.
    “So, what’re your parents up to?”
    Wow. I had no idea of how to answer that—on the one hand, everyone I hung with on a daily basis knew exactly who and what my parents were and did. But Brian fell into the gray area of someone who might be safe to tell but also might not be. I went for the classic. “They’re great. Mom was thrilled to hear we’d run into each other.”
    “Really? That’s so nice. Your parents were always the best.”
    “Yeah,” Christopher said from behind us. “They like me a lot, too.” Martini was starting to growl under his breath. “Jeff . . . not as much.”
    I didn’t have to look behind me to know Christopher was grinning and having some fun at his cousin’s expense. Brian, of course, had no knowledge of their relationship, or mine with Christopher. “Oh, did you date Kitty, too?” Brian asked, innocently as far as I could tell.
    Martini was walking faster, and I could feel anger radiating off of him. Gower, or ACE, more likely, must have felt it, too, because he fell back. “Jeff, we need to chat, just for a second.”
    Martini didn’t want to, I knew. “Jeff, I’ll just wait a couple of feet away, okay?”