Defender Cave Bear (Protection, Inc: Defenders Book 1)

by Zoe Chant

  “Princesa, your father has to work,” Lola said firmly.

  “No! I want to stay!” Caro sounded almost panicky.

  Poor kid, Tirzah thought. She must have really been looking forward to that heart-to-heart with Pete. What a shame that it’s going to be delayed—when you’re thirteen, a few days can feel like forever.

  “Caro…” Lola began.

  Pete held up his hand. “Mom. She can stay if she likes. Tirzah was just, uh, giving me a hand. My job with her is done. I can tell my boss not to assign me anything new until you get back.”

  A brilliant smile lit up Caro’s face. “Yay! Thanks, Dad. Tell your boss not to assign you anything till a day after Abuelita gets back. We can have the cook-off then!”

  “Sure,” Pete said. “Sounds good.”

  Tirzah saw Pete and Lola exchange pleased glances. She too was glad Pete and Caro were going to get some father-daughter time, but she had to work hard to keep her own feelings off her face.

  “My job with her is done.”

  Was that it for everything she and Pete had shared together? Would they stay in touch afterward as friends, at least? Or had all the intimacy they’d shared just been a matter of two damaged people connecting because they’d been thrown together by circumstance, who would drift apart now that the circumstances had changed?

  Lola called her friend Nancy and canceled the babysitting, then went off to fetch her suitcase.

  “I should get back to my apartment,” Tirzah said. Pete and Caro were obviously dying to have their much-delayed talk, and she felt like a third wheel. Not to mention that Batcat was probably sick of being locked in a bathroom with her arch enemy Spike. “I can take a taxi.”

  “No, no,” Pete said. “I’ll drive you. Caro, do you mind taking a ride into the city? After we drop Tirzah off, we could explore a bit.”

  “I’d love to go to the city!” Caro’s eyes gleamed. “Can we have lunch at 3.14159?”

  Pete looked completely blank for a moment, then chuckled. “I get it. It’s the value of pi. And no, we’re not having pie for lunch. We could go there for dessert.”

  “It’s got lunch-type pies too,” Caro said. “Chicken pot pie, steak pie, spinach pie…”

  Pete glanced at Tirzah. “Have you heard of this place?”

  “A restaurant whose name is a math joke?” she replied. “Of course I have. I recommend the steak pie for lunch and the Snickers pie for dessert.”

  “Great idea!” Caro said enthusiastically. “Dad, I’ll get the Snickers pie, and you get a different one, and we can split them.”

  “Sounds good,” Pete said.

  Lola came out with her suitcase. She and Pete and Caro said their good-byes, Caro with big hug and Pete with a wave.

  “Caro, go grab your purse,” Pete said. “I’ll help Tirzah pack her stuff.”

  Caro ran off to her bedroom. Once her door slammed shut, Pete said to his mother, “I don’t need details, but I hope you had a good time at your date—I mean, Shakespeare in the Park.”

  “The play was excellent,” Lola said. “We didn’t have much in common.” She shrugged. “Maybe next time.”

  “You’re giving him another chance?” Pete asked.

  Lola, in a ‘oh you sweet summer child’ tone, said, “I meant my next time with someone else.” She took a step toward Pete, then frowned, took a step back, and waved, which broke Tirzah’s heart a little. “Love you, mijo. Have fun with Caro… and Tirzah!” She winked and went out the door.

  Pete seemed thunderstruck. Tirzah nudged him. “We better get two pairs of flappy wings safely in the suitcase before Caro comes out.”

  He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a package of sliced ham, and she followed him to his bedroom.

  Once the door had closed behind them, he held up the ham and whispered, “Think this’ll keep Batcat quiet in a suitcase until we get to your apartment?”

  “I sure hope so,” Tirzah whispered back. “I’ve never fed her ham before, though. I don’t eat pork. Let’s see if she likes it.”

  They opened the bathroom door and were immediately greeted, or possibly ambushed, by their kittens. Batcat flew to Tirzah, landed on her shoulder, and began loudly purring and kneading and chewing on her hair. Spike flew to Pete, landed on his shoulder, scrabbled briefly, then dove into his shirt.

  “What’re you going to do with Spike?” Tirzah asked.

  “For now, he stays in the bathroom. But as soon as I can get away, I’ll move him to the Defenders office.”

  “Oh, good idea. You could set up an automatic feeder for weekends.”

  “I will as a backup, but there’s usually someone there. Roland practically lives in the office. I admire how hardworking he is, but he ought to take a break some time. Go to a ball game or something.”

  “Invite him to one,” Tirzah suggested.

  “I don’t go to games anymore. They’re too crowded. People brushing up against you all the time.” Pete spoke without self-pity, but Tirzah’s heart ached for him. She put her hand on his shoulder, instinctively offering him the touch he could only get from her and wondering once again why that was.

  He gave a deep sigh and closed his eyes briefly, leaning into her touch. Batcat gave a warning hiss, which was answered from deep within Pete’s shirt.

  “Weirdo cats,” Tirzah said.

  “Let’s see if she likes ham.” Pete tore open the package and held out a slice. Batcat hissed, sniffed, then snatched it from his fingers and began greedily gulping it down.

  “Guess that’s solved,” Tirzah said.

  Spike suddenly emerged from Pete’s shirt, nipped another slice from the package, and flew with it to the toilet tank, where he began to eat it in neat little bites in contrast to Batcat’s messy gobbling.

  They watched the kittens for a while, then glanced at each other. Pete’s brown eyes were wells of some intense emotion that Tirzah couldn’t identify. She had the sudden, vivid sense memory of him holding her in his arms.

  The silence stretched out, reminding her of the moment after a date when you’re not sure whether or not there’s going to be kissing. Normally Tirzah would have broken the silence—she knew Pete well enough to be sure that he wouldn’t—but she felt at a loss for what to say.

  “You’ll come to the cook-off, won’t you?” Pete said abruptly. “I can pick you up. I don’t want you to feel like I’m ditching you—”

  “I don’t at all,” she replied. “You and Caro need to talk. By yourselves. But yeah, I’d love to come to the cook-off.”

  Inside, she was doing a little happy dance. Maybe that wasn’t exactly a date. Or maybe it was. But either way, it was Pete wanting to spend some more time with her. And she sure wanted to spend some more with him.

  “Good. Let me go find a kitten-sized suitcase.” Pete went into his bedroom and extracted a suitcase from the closet.

  Tirzah stuffed Batcat and half the package of ham inside. Just as she was latching it, the doorbell rang.

  Pete froze. Very quietly, he said, “Stay here. If you hear anything, lock the door.”

  He stepped out, feet silent as a stalking cat, every movement filled with deadly grace. Tirzah, who doubted that an assassin would ring the doorbell, felt sorry for whatever hapless delivery man was about to face an over-protective Pete defending his home.

  “You!” Pete’s exclamation was outraged, not alarmed. “What are you doing at my house?!”

  A familiar voice said, “Whatever happened to ‘Come on in, have a seat?’”

  Leaving the Batcat case on the floor, Tirzah emerged from Pete’s bedroom. She’d gotten accustomed enough to the obstacle course that she only bumped into one thing, a pedestal displaying a blown-glass cactus. It wobbled dangerously. Merlin leaped forward and steadied it.

  “Hi, Tirzah,” he said cheerfully. He wore a black T-shirt with a ghostly blue dinosaur and, in Harry Potter lettering, MY PATRONUS IS A VELOCIRAPTOR.

  Pete’s face was dark as a thundercloud. “What are you
doing here?!”

  Caro came out of her room. “What’s going on?”

  “Hi, I’m Merlin Merrick, one of your dad’s co-workers,” Merlin said. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “I’m Caro,” she said, examining him curiously as she shook his hand. “I love your shirt! Are you a bodyguard too?”

  “I am. And if you’ll excuse us for a moment, I have to talk to Pete about some private work stuff.”

  “Sure.” With a final fascinated stare, Caro returned to her room.

  Merlin lowered his voice. “Nice to meet your daughter. Finally. Quick question: does she know you’re a cave bear?”

  Pete also spoke quietly, but the suppressed rage in his voice could have powered Tirzah’s apartment building for a year. “No, she does not! She doesn’t know anything about anything, for her own safety. Which you’ve just risked by coming here, so you better have a damn good reason. How did you even find me?”

  “Ransom gave me your address,” Merlin replied.

  “How did he get it?” Pete demanded.

  “Same way as everything: he just knew. Listen, Pete, that’s why I’m here. Ransom says the gargoyle you fought wasn’t the one who can drive people into a rage. He says that was the gargoyle’s boss. By the way, why didn’t you call in to say you fought a gargoyle?”

  “Because he turned my cell phone to stone,” Pete snapped.

  “Oh. No wonder it kept saying it was out of service. Anyway, Ransom says the boss is still after you and Tirzah. And he knows where you live.”

  The angry flush drained from Pete’s face, leaving it pale. “Caro. We have to get her out of here.”

  “Yeah. I figured we could take her to—”

  “The office, right.” Pete shouted, “Caro! Has Abuelita texted you?”

  “Yeah, she did a couple minutes ago,” Caro called back. “She said she’d just boarded the plane.”

  “Okay, good. She’s safe, then.” To Merlin, he said, “Warn everyone in the office that we’re coming, and not to let anything slip to Caro.”

  “About that,” Merlin said. “Ransom—”

  Pete interrupted, “Tell him especially that if he can’t say anything normal, he needs to keep his mouth shut!”

  “But—”

  “Caro!” Pete yelled. “Come back in here!” In a much lower voice, he said, “Merlin, help Tirzah get Spike.”

  “Who’s Spike?” Merlin asked.

  “Um.” Tirzah felt like everything was moving way too fast, leaving her scrambling to catch up. “Easier to show you than to explain. Follow me.”

  Tirzah and Merlin hurried into Pete’s bathroom, where they found Spike bathing under a dripping shower head, his wings spread out and his wet fur glistening green.

  “Aww,” said Merlin. “What a cute little cactus kitten. Is he yours or Pete’s?”

  “Pete’s,” Tirzah said. “It’s a long story. Can you check the closet for another suitcase?”

  “Can’t you put him in that one?” Merlin asked, nodding at the one Batcat was locked in. “We really need to hurry. You can get clothes later.”

  “Batcat’s in there,” Tirzah said. “And they don’t get along.”

  “Gotcha.” Merlin rummaged around the closet and extracted a backpack. “Best I can find. It’s waterproof!”

  Tirzah scooped up Spike and deposited him and the rest of the ham in the backpack. Merlin hefted it and the suitcase and returned to the living room, with Tirzah following. She’d heard Pete and Caro talking with increasingly raised voices, which escalated to outright yelling as Tirzah came in.

  “Just give me ten minutes to pack!” Caro shouted.

  “We don’t have ten minutes!” Pete yelled back.

  Caro whirled around, pointing dramatically to Merlin’s suitcase. “You’re taking your stuff!”

  “Pete,” Tirzah interrupted. “Give her five minutes, okay? She can throw a change of clothes and a toothbrush in a backpack.”

  “Okay, fi—” Before Pete could finish, Caro had bolted into her room and slammed the door. “FIVE MINUTES! THAT’S ALL!”

  “YEAH, YEAH!” Caro yelled from behind the door.

  “What did you tell her?” Tirzah whispered.

  Pete gave an exasperated sigh. “What Merlin told me. Minus the part about me fighting a gargoyle and that the reason I know we’re in danger is because my psychic teammate had a vision of the mind-controlling big boss.” He checked his watch. “Caro! Hurry up!”

  “I’m coming!” she yelled.

  There was a clattering sound like a box of nails dumped out on the floor, then several loud bangs like she was hammering the nails into something.

  “Maybe I can help her get organized,” Tirzah suggested. “She might take it better from someone who’s not her parent.”

  “Yeah, good idea,” Pete said, then bellowed, “Caro! Open the door! Tirzah’s going to help you pack!”

  “No!” Caro shrieked. “I’m almost done!”

  “Just open the door!” Pete shouted. He glanced at his watch again, and said, “You’ve got one minute!”

  There was a huge crash and a yelp from the room.

  “Are you okay?” all the adults yelled simultaneously.

  The door opened. Caro stood in the doorway, her hair all over her face, clutching a battered pink jewelry box in her arms. Tirzah recognized it as the type that plays a tune when you open it, while a little ballerina twirls. She’d gotten one as a Hanukkah gift when she was eight.

  “You packed your jewelry?” Pete said incredulously. “Leave that box and grab some clothes!”

  “No!” Caro shouted, hunching over the box protectively. “Abuelita gave me a necklace every birthday and they’re all in here and they’re the most precious things I own!”

  “Guys,” Merlin interrupted. “Can I be the voice of reason for a moment? We need to stop arguing and get out of here!”

  “She can order clothes online and get them delivered to the office,” Tirzah said. “A toothbrush too.”

  A faint meow came from the suitcase, which Tirzah covered with a loud coughing fit. But there was no way she could cover that all the way to the office. “Merlin, how about you take the luggage?”

  Merlin grinned. “Will do! If you can just stay for a moment, Tirzah, I want to borrow some of your Advil you said was in a secret pocket in the backpack, but I can’t seem to find it.”

  “Oh, right!” Tirzah said. “You guys go on to the car. I’ll get Merlin his Advil and then I’ll be right there.”

  “I have some in my medicine cabinet,” Caro offered.

  “Come on, Caro. Tirzah will catch up.” Pete hustled her out toward the garage. As she passed, Tirzah noticed that her jewelry box wasn’t just old and beat-up, but had actual holes in it, ringed with splintered wood. It was funny—and sweet, too—what kids found precious. Tirzah bet Pete or her grandmother had given her that box, and that was why Caro clung to it so desperately.

  Once the garage door was closed, Merlin murmured, “Any special kitten instructions?”

  “They each have half a package of ham, so they should be fine. If you get to the office before us, just stash them in a room somewhere. IN their carriers. Once they get out, it’s really hard to recapture them.”

  “Gotcha. In that case, I won’t let them out in the car.”

  “You’d really want to drive with two kittens flying around in the car?”

  Merlin shrugged. “I’ve driven in more challenging situations. When I was with the circus—I was raised in a circus, you see—I once had to drive a clown car completely filled with clowns, ahead of a raging forest fire…”

  CHAPTER 21

  P ete was right behind Caro as she stepped into the garage, holding her jewelry box so carefully that it didn’t even jingle. A flicker of warmth lit up the darkness of his protective fear for her and fury at anyone who might harm her. He hadn’t seen her wear a single piece of jewelry since he’d come back, but when she had to do the equivalent of saving one thing from
a burning house, what did she prioritize? The old jewelry box he’d given her for her tenth birthday (after consulting with Mom). He wondered if it still played a tune.

  He flipped on the garage light and closed the door behind them, then remote-unlocked his car. “Go on in. I’ll just wait here so I can help Tirzah down the step.”

  “Oh, I’ll help too,” Caro said. “Hang on.”

  She trotted to the car, placed her jewelry box in the back seat, and returned to Pete’s side. He tried to examine her face without looking like he was staring at her.

  “Dad!” Caro said instantly. “You’re staring.”

  “Sorry. I just wanted to know if you were all right. If you’re scared.”

  “You could ask.” She waited, then made a “go on” gesture.

  The lack of shakiness in her voice and her willingness to tease him gave him the answer, but he asked, “Are you all right? Are you scared?”

  She gave a toss of her long black hair. “Not really. I’m excited, mostly. You always keep everything so secret. You won’t tell me about your jobs, you won’t let me visit your office, you never even told me you had a cool co-worker who likes Harry Potter and Jurassic Park. Well, now I’m finding out all your secrets whether you like it or not!”

  Pete was taken aback. Had his secrets bothered Caro so much that she was willing to accept that much risk if it meant she’d get to find some of them out? Or was she not taking the danger seriously? “Aren’t you worried about being in danger?”

  “No, Dad.” She rolled her eyes at him like he was missing something incredibly obvious. “I know you’ll protect me.”

  She threw her arms around him and gave him a hug. Instinctively, he hugged her back. Only then did he remember that he couldn’t touch her, couldn’t touch anyone but Tirzah. He started to brace himself to endure the pain…

  …but there was none. There was just his daughter hugging him and him hugging her back, like they’d always used to do. The shock of joy and relief made his eyes sting.

  Suddenly, Caro stiffened in his arms. “Hey!”

  Before Pete could react, she’d yanked down his collar, exposing the bandage taped to his chest.