Alien in Chief (8 page)

CHAPTER 13

T
HERE WERE ONLY
a handful of people who liked to hold meetings on my roof, and all of them were trained assassins. And when the trained assassins who've got your back tell you to go to the roof, you go to the roof.

“Denise, as I said, you win. I need to take care of some things, like starting to figure out how to tell Jeff you've won and how Kevin isn't going and all that, so I'm going to leave you, Amy, and the kids and get back to this business we call show.”

“I'll give you that politics is a lot like acting,” Denise said with a laugh, as Coldplay's “Trouble” came on. “I plan to have agents here while you're gone, so it won't be just Kevin, but he's staying, and if you can convince any of the others to stay, that would be good, too.”

“Gotcha. I'll do what I can. Though I think that you're going to have the best success with that, Mother Superior, so feel free to give that look to whomever you think needs to stay and just keep me advised.”

With that, I gave Jamie and Charlie quick kisses, then trotted out of the daycare center and to the stairs.

Used hyperspeed to get up onto the roof. Telling no one I was going up here wasn't a problem—Walter monitored all the public areas of the Embassy, and while the likelihood that he already knew we had rooftop visitors was slim because
they were the best of the best, the chance that he'd see me go out onto the roof was high. And any time I could go somewhere without the Secret Service tagging along I went for it, and an anonymous text telling me to come alone was a good reason to continue ditching them. At least in my opinion.

Of course, with someone imitating Huntress on the loose, it wasn't the smartest move to come up here by myself, since the text could be from her. However, my experience was that the people really trying to kill me liked to call me and make it all really personal.

Not that I was worried, even if Walter wasn't paying attention to my whereabouts. Maybe I should have been, but when you get “adopted” by the best international assassins in the world, and then bond with the guy who was right up there with them, it takes a certain edge off.

Unsurprisingly, I appeared to be alone on the roof. Scanned the sky just in case there was a drone or something heading for me, but it was a beautiful May afternoon and the skies were clear.

Scanned the neighboring rooftops, as I searched all of ours. Wasn't positive, but had a feeling we had someone on the roof of the Zoo and across the street on top of the Romanian embassy. Found no one on our roof.

Would have figured I was being punked in some way, but my life didn't roll like that. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I said softly, as I stood behind the doorway area that created a natural shield from most views.

“Well, if you insist,” a familiar voice said from behind me.

As I jumped like a cat on a hot tin roof, Siler appeared or de-cloaked or whatever he called it. But he wasn't alone.

There was a young girl who I put at around fourteen or fifteen standing there with him. He was in black jeans and a turtleneck, she was in blue jeans, a vintage Ramones t-shirt, and had a messenger bag slung over her neck, with a jeans jacket folded over the bag. They were both in what looked like comfortable hiking boots. They were both also grinning at me.

“That blending thing of yours is a real pain, Nightcrawler.”

He laughed. “We like to keep you on your toes. Your ‘uncles' are very proud of you for checking the skies and the rooftops.”

“Which one of them is on the Zoo and which one is covering Romania?”

“The Dingo always takes the higher ground.”

“Nice to know he wants to visit the alien animals. So,” I looked at the girl with him, “who's this?”

“My daughter.”

I did a fast comparison. Siler was between Jeff and Christopher in height, so around six feet, reasonably attractive, with olive skin and dark hair and eyes. The girl, however, was fair skinned, with dirty blonde hair, gray eyes, and a slighter build. She was a cute girl, but didn't look a thing like Siler. Examined their features—none were alike.

If an A-C mated with a human, human genetics tended to rule the external while A-C genes ruled the internal. Siler had been enhanced in weird ways by his fab parental units, but even so, he was only half alien, meaning that if this girl was his daughter, there should be some resemblance. And, other than in confidence, I saw none.

“Pull the other one, it has bells on.”

The girl's eyes narrowed. “She's adopted,” he said. She sidled just a little closer to him.

My eyebrow raised. “Really? You just felt the paternal tug and couldn't let it go?”

He put his arm around her shoulders. “She had parents . . . something like mine.”

“Oh. Wow. I'm really sorry to hear that. I'm not going to ask. Well, not right now. I'm sure I'm going to ask later. But for now, we'll pretend I'm going to let all the story that has to be behind that go. And instead, I'm going to say, it's nice to see you and your nameless daughter, but why are you both here? I know why
you're
here, Nightcrawler—Malcolm
called you. But why is your teenaged daughter along for the ride? Training mission?”

The girl looked like she wasn't sure if she should laugh or hate me. Siler, however, hugged her, let go, and chuckled. “Lizzie, this is the friend I've been telling you about, Katherine Katt-Martini. Kitty, this is my adopted daughter, Elizabeth. She goes by Lizzie.”

“Happy hellos later. Why is Lizzie here with you? Seriously, I think she's a little young to embrace the assassination lifestyle.”

He sighed. “I normally have her in boarding school when I'm on assignment. However, there are some . . . issues . . .”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “I kicked a couple of bullies' butts and Mister Dash thinks it's a good time for me to lie low in case their parents decide to try to enact revenge while he's not around to . . . handle that.”

“What kind of bullies?”

“The kind that pick on kids littler, weaker, smarter, or different from them. Why?”

“Just wanted to enjoy the Full Kindred Spirit Experience. Okay, so you want to, what, leave Lizzie here for babysitting?” I asked Siler. “And, Mister Dash? Really?”

“All the women in my life like to give me weird nicknames, what can I say?”

“I'm flattered to make the cut. Anyway, I'm certain Malcolm told you what was going on.”

“Yes. I'm also aware that the woman who handles Embassy Daycare rightly wants all your children to remain here. I'd like Lizzie to remain here, too. She can help out.”

Lizzie's expression said that helping watch a bunch of little kids wasn't high on her Impromptu Spring Break To Do List. Honestly couldn't blame her.

“Are you cool with that plan?” I asked her, while I actively refrained from asking Siler just how he knew Denise didn't want the kids to go to NASA Base.

She shrugged. “Quick Girl does what Mister Dash needs.
So, right now he needs to know I'm safe, so, yeah, I'm good with the plan.”

“How old are you, ah, Quick Girl?”

“Fourteen going on fifteen. Perfect babysitting age,” she added, sarcasm knob at least an eight on a scale of ten. Had a feeling she was going to flip well past eleven without even trying. “And you don't need to call me Quick Girl. Since we're incognito here and all that.”

“Oh, need has nothing to do with it. Okay, so, what else does your Mini-Me have going on that makes her someone you want to leave here, versus someone you want traveling with me?”

“She's fluent in eight languages and six forms of martial arts, competent in surveillance, and quite good at moving without being seen or heard,” Siler said.

“I also get straight As, can do arts and crafts, know how to play a lot of sports and am particularly good at lacrosse, and know CPR,” Lizzie added. “I normally charge twenty dollars an hour for babysitting services because I don't like doing it, but for you I'll make a special deal.”

I managed to control the Inner Hyena and only snorted a laugh. “Got it. We weren't advertising for an au pair or nanny.”

“I know. I want Lizzie here so I don't have to worry about her and so you have one more competent protector watching your home and children.”

“And he's really afraid that there's going to be retaliation, but if they find out I'm here there's no way they're going to start something with American Centaurion,” Lizzie added, sounding as if she'd have preferred to face the retaliation head on.

“Who is the ‘they' whose offspring you taught lessons to?”

Siler and Lizzie exchanged a glance. “Ah,” she said as she looked back at me, “It's classified.”

CHAPTER 14

“I
'LL BET IT IS.
Here's the thing—I either know who might decide that they want to mess with American Centaurion based on what they apparently might feel is a really good reason or you go elsewhere.”

Siler sighed. “Fine. The offspring of several prominent captains of industry, politicians, and heads of state.”

“Names?”

He gave me a long look. “Classified.”

Thought about it. And then considered what assassins did to those who threatened their families. There was probably a really good reason Siler didn't want to name names, starting with plausible deniability. Decided this would become Buchanan's problem, because I was all about delegating the hard stuff.

“Okey dokey. So, are we sharing that Lizzie is your daughter or are we playing pretend?”

“We're on the roof for a reason,” Lizzie said, sarcasm meter definitely heading for eleven.

“Kiddo, in my experience, your dad and the men I presume you also get to think of as uncles meet on rooftops like other people meet in internet chat rooms. This location no more says ‘introduce the kid in a clandestine fashion' than if you'd come in through the front door.”

She grinned. “You've got a point.”

“Introduce her as Elizabeth Vrabel,” Siler said. “Because obviously I don't use my real name ninety-nine percent of the time, in part because I didn't want my parents to find me and still don't want their cronies able to hunt me down. All of Lizzie's paperwork says Vrabel, not Jackson.”

“Because you don't want her parents or their cronies to find her, either, right?”

“Her parents can't find her anymore. I took care of that. Long ago.”

“Three years, give or take,” Lizzie added quietly. “They were—”

“Doing terrible things,” Siler interrupted. Lizzie shut her mouth quickly. Interesting. Another story I'd have to get when Siler wasn't around, apparently. “Anyway, I'd appreciate you letting Lizzie stay here while I'm off on assignment.”

“For us. Yeah, quid pro quo and all that Latin jazz. I'm sure Denise will appreciate the help. Lizzie, what's your status on following rules, staying inside the Embassy, things like that? As in, if someone isn't watching you twenty-four-seven are we going to have to worry about you disappearing, sneaking out, or similar?”

She gave me a long look. “Mister Dash wants me to stay in the Embassy. So I'm staying
in
the Embassy unless there's a compelling reason to leave it. And by compelling reason, I mean life or death, safety of others, and so forth.”

Decided I'd tell Walter to keep a couple of extra eyes on Lizzie, just in case. She might not be lying to me, but since Jeff wasn't up here on the roof to tell me one way or the other, had to figure that she was going to be a typical teenager and try to get away with whatever she could the moment Siler wasn't around.

“Works for me. So, Nightcrawler, are my ‘uncles' going to come by and say hi, or are we under attack and I just don't know about it?”

“They're on guard because you have a Huntress problem.”

“See, this is why you're my favorite—you get with the program and I don't even have to ask you to or tell you the other code names, you just know.” Meaning our Embassy was probably bugged by the Assassination Squad. I'd decide if I wanted us to try to find those bugs or not. Later. “Yeah, Cleary thinks it's Stephanie. Chuckie's not so sure, but we've done some tests and it could be. What does the Assassination Squad all think?”

“Maybe. Cleary could be right, but Reynolds could be as well. But Stephanie never showed any of those skills in the time I spent with her.”

“She's had time to practice.”

“True enough, which is why your ‘uncles' are on the roofs. I'll tell them your feelings are hurt that they didn't come by for hugs.”

“Please do, but try not to sound totally sarcastic like you do right now—I don't want you to hurt their feelings. So, are you seriously planning just having Lizzie walk down from the roof with me and get introduced as the Junior Member of the Assassination Squad, or did you have a smoother plan?”

“I think it will be a lot better if no one sees her go into the Embassy.”

“Fantastic.” Was about to ask how he thought no one could spot her on our roof, then remembered that where we were standing pretty much blocked us from view, particularly since we were the tallest building within normal eyesight, and no one was going to be able to spot us from the streets. “Are the rest of the staff and residents allowed to know she's here, or am I supposed to hide her like she's E.T. and only let Denise and the kids know?”

“I'd prefer Plan B but reality says that you'll have to let everyone know she's here. I'm sure your crew can roll with it.”

“Yeah, me too. So, if it's not Stephanie, who
is
our Huntress?”

He gave me a slow smile. “That's what I'm here to find out.”

“In other words, you guys have your suspicions but you're not sure. Let me just say that if it's that murderous bitch Annette Dier, kill her with extreme prejudice.” Dier, like other prisoners from various lethal actions against us, was being held in the same place and in the same way that Dear Sam was. Didn't mean she wasn't out, though. Just might mean that no one knew she was out.

Siler nodded. “We don't believe she's escaped, but that's an avenue we're pursuing.”

“Works for me. And keep me apprised.”

“Always. At least, as you need to know.”

“Blah, blah, blah. I'd like to know before I need to know.”

He laughed. “I'll mention it to your ‘uncles'.”

Siler and Lizzie had a very normal father and daughter goodbye, wherein he told her to be good and she whined about how she could go with him really, and he said no and told her that he wanted her to behave and make him proud, and then they hugged. Lizzie didn't want to let go, but Siler gently extracted himself, kissed her forehead, then disappeared.

She stared forlornly where he'd been.

“He's probably still standing here,” I pointed out. He could be standing right in front of us—his blending talent meant we wouldn't know.

She shook her head. “No, he's already gone. I can tell.”

Decided to trust her on it. “Okay, well, ready to go down and meet everyone else?”

“I guess.”

“Where's your stuff?”

“I travel light.” She had the messenger bag and that was it, and the bag didn't look packed to the gills. She might be the junior member of Team Assassination, but there was no teenaged girl on Earth who willingly traveled
this
light for a stay of indeterminate but likely extended time.

“Huh, yeah. So . . . before I take you downstairs, I want the truth.”

“We told you the truth.” She was looking right at me, and did look truthful. However, not only had I been trained by Mom, but I'd been a teenager and I'd known how to look totally innocent when I was lying like a wet rug, too.

“Not all of it.” I locked eyes with her. “Who the hell did you piss off? To the point that your father had to swoop in and grab you with, literally, just the clothes on your back?”

Had to hand it to her, she gave it the old college try in terms of outstaring me. And she was good. But, she wasn't Mom or Chuckie good and, as expected, I won.

Lizzie dropped her eyes and mumbled something.

“Sorry, missed that. Try again. With actual volume and coherency.”

She heaved a sigh and looked up at me. “The kids of the American ambassadors to about half of Europe and the Middle East. And their friends, who are all kids of people who run giant multinational corporations or are legit princes and princesses.”

“Huh. How many did you take on?”

“About half of the Junior Skulls. So, like, ten of them.”

Ten was impressive. Lizzie didn't look like she had a scratch on her. Meaning she was either exaggerating or really good. Considered who'd adopted her and who else were likely training her on her school vacations and chose to assume really good.

“Is that what they call themselves or what you call them?”

“It's what the rest of us call them. But, yeah, I started it.”

I put my arm around her shoulders. “Lizzie? I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

“You're not mad at me?” She sounded surprised.

“If you'd been the bully, heck yeah, I'd be mad. But I'm never going to be mad at someone who protects the underdogs and those weaker than they are.”

“Mister Dash is worried about them contacting you to complain about me being here. That's why he wants you to sneak me in.”

“Well, I'll do what he wants because he could have other reasons. But they can feel free to complain to me about you. But they won't.”

“Why not?”

“I treat bullies the same way you do and always have.”

She grinned. “Yeah? He said you were cool.”

“Yeah? I'm going to bet cash money that wasn't the word he used.”