Alien vs. Alien

actually, as far as anyone’s determined, he was trying to get us into the Cabal of Evil, and was likely deeply in the know about the Paraguayan supersoldier project, but he was not, in fact, one of the people trying to do me in. That was Antony Marling and his bizarre android offspring, and Madeline Cartwright. Now all extremely deceased.”
    “Armstrong wasn’t involved that we know of,” Amy countered.
    “Per Chuckie and Mom both, they haven’t been able to pin anything on him. And believe me, they want to.” Cy wve me
    Charles Reynolds had been my best guy friend since we were both thirteen, and he was also a self-made multimillionaire, several times over. However, like my parents, he’d been leading a double life I found out about after I discovered aliens lived on Earth.
    Chuckie was the head of the C.I.A.’s Extra-Terrestrial Division, so my husband and his very extended family were Chuckie’s priority. His other priority was ensuring that those who were trying to destroy all the A-Cs on Earth were taken care of, in all the nasty ways the C.I.A. takes care of people and problems.
    “They haven’t pinned anything on that Esteban Cantu, either,” Amy said. “But per Chuck, he’s absolutely guilty.”
    Cantu was in the C.I.A., though not in the E-T division. He, like Armstrong, was clearly not on our side. He was also, as Chuckie put it, a slippery bastard, and he’d avoided being taken down for Operation Assassination.
    “I’m not up on where Cantu’s falling on Mom’s or Chuckie’s Most Wanted lists right now.”
    “Well, maybe we can find out before Senator Armstrong gets here,” Kyle suggested.
    “I don’t know if we have the time. Armstrong said he’d be here within thirty minutes. If I’m guessing right, that means we have more like ten.”
    Sure enough, the house intercom buzzed. “Excuse me, Mister Martini, but there’s a Senatorial limousine requesting entry,” the A-C in charge of the entry gate shared. “They say they have a meeting with the Ambassador.”
    “Let them in, thank you,” Alfred said. “Company will be here shortly, dear,” he called to Lucinda.
    The Martini complex was huge. It contained both the ginormous house Alfred and Lucinda lived in, an almost-as-big guesthouse, and servants’ quarters that would make most millionaires drool with envy. It also took a good five minutes to drive from the entry gate to the main house. Under these circumstances, that wasn’t a lot of time.
    “We really need to get anything remotely incriminating or telling hidden and out of the way.”
    Amy shot me a look that plainly said she thought I was crazy. I got that look a lot, from just about anybody and everybody these days. “Kitty, you’re acting like we’re running a meth lab or something. This senator knows about . . . everyone, right?”
    “Right.” He did. Armstrong was one of the people who had a very high security clearance, which included getting to know about the Alpha Centaurions who lived on Earth. But he wasn’t our friend in any way, shape, or form, and I didn’t want him finding some hidden weakness. “But still . . .”
    My phone chose this moment to ring. I checked. Not the senator, but indeed another number I’d become familiar with. “Hi, Malcolm, what’s up?”
    Malcolm Buchanan had been thankfully assigned by my mother to be my permanent watchdog. He’d saved my and Jamie’s lives at the end of Operation Assassination. And now, whither I went, so Buchanan went, too. While we were down here he was housed in the servants’ quarters.
    “You have company coming.”
    “Yes, we know. Not thrilled about Senator Armstrong’s arrival, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
    “Well, get ready,” Buchanan said. “Because there’s a lot more than one person in the limo that’s just pulling up at your front door.”

    Yi

CHAPTER 2

    “W E HAVE MORE THAN ONE COMING IN,” I shared as I slammed my phone closed. “How are we going to handle this?”
    “I’m getting the door,” Kyle said. He nodded to Len. “You’re backing me?”
    “Of course.”
    Len and Kyle had been on the USC football team when we’d met in Vegas right before my wedding. Len had been the quarterback and Kyle had been on the line. They’d both given up promising pro careers to work with the C.I.A.’s ET division. Therefore, in addition to being big, athletic guys, they both packed heat. Ostensibly Len was my driver and Kyle was my bodyguard, but neither was