by M. Lorrox
“Nobody.” She skips back over to where she and Charlie were doing something on a laptop.
Charlie looks up. “Apparently, she invented it. If we finish the planning for the next blog post in the Adventures of Valentine saga, we’re going to try it out later.”
Eddy laughs. Her homeschooling is pretty cool—I guess mine was too. “Awesome! Well, nice job, sis.”
“Thanks.”
Charlie stands up and walks over to Eddy. “How’d it go? I got a text but no details.”
Eddy turns and closes his eyes, shaking his head. “It was so cool. They got the guys and found the bomb, but there was shooting, and one officer and one suspect were taken to the hospital.”
“Well, at least it seems the threat’s been neutralized. Did they say anything else?”
“Not really, the bomb squad said that the detonation system wasn’t installed yet. They found it in the one guy’s backpack. They said that the suspects must have been about ready to wire it up when the SWAT team busted in.”
“Close one.” Charlie looks toward the door and tries to listen across the suite to the other bedroom. He motions with a head gesture. “They’re still talking, huh?”
Eddy frowns. “Sounds like Skip’s doing most of the talking.”
“Could have been yelling—”
“Daddy!”
Charlie turns back to his daughter. “What is it, darling?”
She uses Valentine’s hand to tap on the laptop on the bed in front of them. “We have work to do if we’re going to paint later, so look sharp!”
He chuckles and joins her. “Eddy, can you grab me a drink?”
Eddy walks toward the door. “Health tonic?”
“No, that’s for later. Just an IV juice.”
“’Kay.”
Eddy brings Charlie a bottle of then plays on his phone. He again considers sending a couple of texts to his friends back home. His stomach turns. He closes his eyes. Help the FBI thwart a bombing? Sure, no problem. But send a text to some old friends and I want to hurl. He opens his eyes and takes another sip of water. Only one thing to do... He opens his messenger app, then changes his mind and opens his email. He writes them a note.
From: [email protected]
To: (Tomo) (Jess)
Subject: Hey
I hope you two are doing alright. I’m really sad about Joe, I’m so sorry Jess. We had to leave home... Dad says it’s been burned to the ground. Oh well, it was just a building, after all.
I’m thinking of you two, and I’m wishing you well.
Eddy
He sends it, hits his phone’s power button to kill the screen, then walks into the bathroom to wash his face.
That night, Kimmy the babysitter is once again called to duty. “Hello, Mr. Costanza, I know I’m early. Would it be alright if I came in?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Thank you. I like your tie.”
Charlie smiles at the girl. “Thank you. Help yourself to anything in the—”
She holds up her backpack.
“Oh, right.” Charlie looks around for the list that Sadie made earlier, when she stopped in between her meetings. He finds it under a glass of water; it’s still mostly legible. “Well, here’s a list of some things to do with Minnie if you feel like it.”
Kimmy takes the edges of the list with her fingertips—afraid it’ll disintegrate into wet, mushy pieces in her hand. “Ooookaaay. Should I put her to bed by eight-thirty?”
“We should be back a little after eight, so don’t worry about it.”
She sets the list down on the counter and plants one hand on her hip. “Just so you’re aware, sir, my fee will still be the nightly rate. It’s policy.”
Charlie looks surprised and appalled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
She laughs.
“I’ll go and get the little lady.” Charlie finds Minnie talking to Eddy. Apparently, she was helping Eddy pick out which of Charlie’s ties to wear. They chose a shimmering blue one. “C’mon, Minnie, Kimmy is here. Let Eddy finish up.”
She hops off the bed and skips into the living room as Eddy starts to tie it.
Charlie watches and smiles.
Eddy realizes he messed up, and he grumbles while untying his work.
Charlie walks over to him. He reaches out to help his son. “Here—”
“Hey! Back off!” Eddy pushes him away. “I’ll ask if I want help, DAD. Besides, I’m trying a do a trinity knot.”
“Huh? Why?”
He scoffs. “Because, I have style. You wouldn’t understand.”
Charlie frowns. “Well hurry up. We need to head down there in about fifteen minutes.” He hears the door open to June and Skip’s bedroom, and Charlie walks into the living room to see them; they’ve been holed-up and talking since June got back.
Wow. Charlie follows June’s long, purple dress from the floor all the way up to her smiling face. “June, you look great. I don’t think I’ve seen you dolled up since that recital…over a year ago.”
She points a finger at him. “I’m not dolled up, I’m dressed up. Get it right or pay the price.”
Skip chuckles. She takes after her mother.
Charlie tilts his head and smiles at Skip. He seems to be in a good mood; that’s got to be a good sign. “Things are…okay?”
Skip puts his hand on June’s shoulder. “Well, it’s hard for me to see her growing up and making her own decisions, but I know I can’t fight it forever.”
“I’m really surprised. I thought you were going to lock her in the closet until she turned twenty.”
Skip nods. “The judge is still deliberating on the sentence.”
June crosses her arms in front of her. “Hey, I’m right here.”
Charlie nods. “Yeah, and not in the closet, I see that. And you know what else, you don’t look exhausted. Did you take a nap?”
She shakes her head. “I guess it’s the adrenaline or something. Maybe I’ll finally crash later.”
Charlie shrugs. “Good luck?”
“Speaking of luck…” Skip motions to his own clothes. “When I was packing things up, I didn’t think I’d have a use for my three-piece Brioni, but I just couldn’t leave it behind. Now, I’m glad I brought it.”
Charlie sniffs as he glances at Skip’s silvery-gray suit. “I’ll assume the words you just used are describing your clothes. Which, look good.”
Skip blinks. “Thanks, buddy. You look good too.”
Charlie responds with a slow and confident nod. “Got this puppy half-off.”
Eddy walks out and sees June. She smiles and pulls the material of her skirt out to the side a little, then releases it so he can see it move. “What do you think?”
“Whoa.”
She smiles at her dad. “Looks like he likes my clothes too.”
Downstairs at the ballroom, they make their way through security again, and they are escorted to seats. Instead of the room being filled with round tables like it had been before, now it is wall-to-wall chairs with access rows every ten seats. Eddy and June sit next to each other in the middle, with Charlie and Skip on either side. Skip bends back behind the row to talk to Charlie. “Sadie is seated up front again, I assume? When did she get changed?”
Charlie leans back and nods. “Yeah. Between meetings. Oh, and Mr. Fancy-pants, wait till you see what she’s wearing.”
Skip beams. “Really?”
Charlie smiles. “I mean, I dunno… I was just messing with you.” He sits back forward.
When the time comes, Mirabelle Darien steps onto the stage in a vintage-looking outfit. Skip pokes June. “Can you believe that’s what people were wearing when I was a kid?”
June looks at her, and while she does, she’s filled with a sense of calm and warmth. “That must have been so nice.”
Skip squints at his daughter. Uh, okay.
The microphone turns on. “Good evening everyone. Thank you for coming.”
One last group of people are being escorte
d to their seats. She waits for them with a patient smile. When the new group is situated, she continues. “Tonight, we have a special guest, Prime Minister Hamid ibn al Zaman! Please welcome the Prime Minister up onto the stage.”
She takes a step back and starts clapping. People in the audience clap as well.
Someone stands up toward the front, and Charlie groans. He bends his head down and speaks under his breath to Eddy, “I hate it when people do standing ovations for no reason.” Charlie stands up, still clapping, and then notices that nobody else in the audience is standing with him. What?
Eddy tugs on his arm and whispers, “Dad, Zaman stood up. Sit down.”
Oh. Charlie sits back down and flushes red.
Mirabelle takes a step back as Hamid approaches the microphone. He’s at least a head taller than she is, and the first thing he does is adjust the microphone stand up to his level. “Thank you, thank you for the warm welcome.”
The applause dies down.
He puts on an appreciative and beholden smile while he looks out over the audience in the dimly-lit room. “It’s so nice see so many eyes tonight. I’m very happy to be here, and I’m not just saying that as part of my address. Actually, we should all be very happy to be here tonight.” He clears his throat. “I’d like to tell you about some events that transpired today. There was a threat made against all of us, but it was thwarted—let me emphasize that there is no cause for alarm and that we have been given the all-clear to hold this event tonight.
“Early this morning, it became known to our Council Guard that two individuals were plotting to detonate a bomb underneath this hotel.”
Some rustling and murmur passes quickly through the crowd.
“Everyone, please, let me remind you, there is no cause for alarm. The Council Guard, along with volunteer citizens, the FBI, as well as local police and emergency forces—these groups all worked together to identify the suspects, locate where the bomb was being assembled, and then carry out a surgical strike to neutralize the threat.”
Someone in the crowd starts clapping, and others join in. Charlie glances at Eddy, who smiles and looks at June. She smiles back at him for a moment and then looks down. Skip reaches over and squeezes her hand.
“Please hold your applause.” When the room is silent again, he continues. “I spoke to the FBI agent in charge of today’s operation. He told me two things. First, he told me about the bomb. He said that the bomb squad calculated the size of the explosion the bomb would have caused if it were detonated as the two suspects in custody had planned. They concluded that the bombers underestimated its strength, because it not only would have leveled this hotel, but it would have also destroyed the office building and part of the mall beside us. He even speculated that the blast could have collapsed the metro line that runs immediately adjacent to the underground parking garage, and buildings on both sides of this street might have toppled due to cave-ins in the underground metro station.”
“Oh man.” Eddy tries to imagine such destruction, and he needs to rely on scenes from disaster movies he’s seen.
“Not only should we be thankful for our lives, but the entire Washington DC metro area—Virginia, the District, and Maryland—should all be thankful for the hard work and cooperation that went on behind the scenes today.”
He clears his throat, away from the mic. “The FBI agent told me something else as well. He told me that without help of some certain individuals, that news stations might have told a very different and more gruesome story. Major Elian Schermer of the Council Guard and Eddy Costanza, please come up onto the stage.”
The vampire blood drains out of Eddy’s usually pale face as he shoots a nervous look to his dad.
Charlie chuckles and grabs Eddy’s upper arm—right underneath his armpit—and pushes him up. “Get up there, and try not to trip.”
Schermer is on the stage before Eddy reaches it. He considers just jumping the three-foot height to get on the stage—it’d be easy for him—but he thinks better of it, and he walks around to the stairs. When he’s on stage, he stands next to Schermer and stares out at the sea of emerald eyes—all wide and looking back into his.
Hamid motions to them. “Major Elian Schermer, the most senior officer of the Council Guard, coordinated our cooperation and the surveillance activities with the FBI; and Eddy Costanza, son of Elder Sadie Costanza and Guard Commander Colonel Charlie Costanza, volunteered to aid in the operation. I am told that Eddy proved to be ‘instrumental in the success of neutralizing the threat,’ that the bombers presented.”
He motions to them again. “The two individuals that you see on stage will of course not be mentioned in any official reports, so please, let us thank them again, on our behalf, and also on the behalf of the people that will never know the good that they have done.”
Hamid walks over and shakes Major Schermer’s hand. People in the crowd clap with enthusiasm. Then he takes another step and shakes Eddy’s hand. People in the crowd clap furiously, June whistles and cheers, and someone in the front stands up.
Charlie smiles as he and most of the audience rises from their seats. Yeah, I’ll stand for this. He takes a step over to where Eddy was sitting, and both he and Skip place a hand on June’s shoulders. She can’t help but smile as her eyes water.
In a hospital in Arlington, Andrew—Blackjack—Martin wakes up with tubes in his nose and bandages on his abdomen. He looks around, sees an armed guard sitting across the room from him, then pulls his hands in—he can’t, they’re cuffed to the side of the bed.
He looks to a bedside table and sees an alarm clock. He reads the time and realizes that had the plan worked, the bomb would have gone off just minutes ago. He closes his eyes and grits his teeth. Exeller. That son of a bitch! He stabbed me in the back… It had to be him; there’s no other way. FUCK!
You’re a dead man, Exeller. You are a fucking corpse. He opens his eyes and snarls an angry grin. “Hey. Hey cop; I’m ready for my damned phone call.”
The Prime Minister allows Schermer and Eddy to return to their seats, after which he delivers a short address. He discusses the progress being made with the United States government and how the High Council will continue discussing possible collaborative efforts. On the topic of going public, he insists that all aspects and potentialities are being considered and that eventually the issue will be put to vote.
When he finishes, he thanks everyone again, and then he turns the microphone back over to Mrs. Darien. She takes the mic amidst applause for Hamid, and she waits until he is seated before she speaks.
“Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. Well everyone, that concludes the first half of tonight’s event. After a fifteen-minute break, the High Council will take the stage to answer your questions. Until that time, please feel free to socialize and mingle in this area, or exit if you need. Thank you.”
Charlie turns to Eddy. “Now don’t let this go to your head, Ed, you still need to fit through the doors.”
“Shut up, Dad.” He turns to June. “I’m sorry that—”
-Womp!-
Charlie slaps him hard on the shoulder. Eddy turns and sees that the folks sitting in front of him have turned and are looking at him. They have their hands extended to shake.
“Thank you, Eddy for helping foil that terrible plot.”
“Of course, you’re welcome.”
“Nice job, son.”
“Thanks.”
“Way to go, Eddy.”
“Umm, thank you.”
Eddy smiles and then turns, ducking his head down. “I gotta get outta here.”
June grabs his hand. “C’mon, follow me.” She pulls him out of his seat, across the row of chairs, then down the aisle toward the back of the room.
Skip looks at Charlie and shrugs. He starts walking down the row of chairs to exit, Charlie right behind him. “Think they’re getting interested in each other?”
“Probably. I told Eddy to be super cautious and to try and not get too close too quickly, b
ut, you know kids.”
Skip turns and squints at Charlie. “You remember that June’s my first and only child and that she’s never had a boyfriend, right?”
Charlie’s neck twitches. “Oh yeah, right... You know, just don’t worry about it.”
Skip leans over to Charlie and speaks quietly. “How many kids have you raised, man?”
He sighs dramatically. “Too many to count right now.” He smiles. “Think you’ll ever settle down again and give June a younger brother or sister?”
Skip opens his mouth to answer, then he sees Katlyn walking in their direction. “I’d need some help with that.” He motions with his eyes.
Charlie looks over. “Hey, is that…?”
Skip grabs Charlie by the arm and pulls on him. “I’ll introduce you.”
Charlie glances at Skip’s hand grabbing his arm, and he smiles while scrunching his brow in surprised disbelief. Bold move, Mr. Tubman.
Katlyn notices Skip and walks toward him. “Wow, Mr. Skip, that’s a great looking suit!”
He smiles. “Oh, thank you. You look lovely tonight as well, and allow me to apologize about earlier—”
“I put two and two together when they called the same Eddy that pawned Minnie off on me up onto the stage.” She smiles. “I can’t imagine what you all were going through today.”
Skip can’t decide whether to shake his head, shrug, or nod, so he just blinks. “Thanks for understanding.”
“Now that that’s settled—” She points a finger at him and squints. “When we were talking earlier, did I have clay in my hair? Because when I got back up to my room, I had clay in my hair.”
He swallows. “You might have.”
She pokes him on the breast of his jacket and makes a grumpy face. “You didn’t say anything.”
He tilts his head and lifts a hand. “I mean, you just looked so cute.”
“Hmm...”
Skip laughs. “Katlyn, this is Charlie, Minnie’s father. Charlie, Katlyn is organizing the activities being offered for the young ones.”
Charlie extends his hand. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”
She shakes it and smiles at him. Her wavy hair bobs with her movement. “Oh, just call me Katlyn. And in case you couldn’t tell, I watched Minnie today. Did she show you her invention? I bet she can be a handful!”
