Bantering With A Gun

Chapter:1

Banter watched the car drive past the park for the third time. It was the same car; a dull metallic blue four-door sedan. A man was driving, but because he was wearing a plain white and beige baseball cap pulled low on his forehead, he was indescribable. She probably wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t been for the fact she was with Kyle, Corey’s youngest son. She was feeling somewhat protective. Kyle was her little buddy.

She also wouldn’t have been so observant, if it wasn’t for the fact that she and Kyle were the only ones in the park. It was early afternoon in the middle of April and a very nice day. She’d picked him up from morning kindergarten with the promise to take him to his favorite park after lunch. They were planning on being there for another hour before walking home and meeting Colo, Kyle’s brother, at the school bus stop.

Banter also might not have noticed the car if it wasn’t for how she was perched on top of the swing set while Kyle was swinging with all his might below her. She had a bird’s eye view of the whole area.

“Did you see that?” Banter said to Kyle.

“See what?”

“When a car comes around, you should watch it and see if you’ve seen it before.”

She had been teaching him how to be careful. Kyle was too trusting of everyone.

“Oh. The blue one?”

“Yeah.”

“Baseball cap?”

“Yeah.”

Banter smiled. He had been pulling her leg and had been watching. She was pleased. He was a very smart kid; much smarter than the typical five-year-old.

She thought about Kyle’s brother, Colo. He was eight, showing all the signs that he was his father’s son and probably would become a police detective himself in due time. Kyle, however, seemed totally enamored with her and did everything she did. She was a little worried about that.

“You gonna get that swing as high as me?” she said.

Kyle giggled, losing his concentration and his momentum. He glanced up at her with a big grin, no longer trying to get the swing as high as he could. His black hair was flying about his face. He had the same brown eyes as his father. In fact, both Kyle and Colo looked like carbon copies of their father.

“Can I jump?” he said.

“No. If I don’t jump, you don’t jump.”

She rose, walking along the top of the swing set as if she was on a balance beam. At the end, she placed one foot on the swing set support, and then bent to take hold before sliding herself down to the ground. She brushed back her wavy brown hair.

“We gonna have to leave?”

Kyle stopped the swing altogether by dragging his feet on the ground. The mulch used around the swing set was worn away under all the swings.

“That car makes me nervous. Did you get the license plate?”

Kyle shook his head.

“No see.”

“Yeah,” she said, feeling uneasy.

The license plate had been obscured with mud. She could only tell that it was from the same state as they.

“Can we play ninja?”

His eyes lit up.

Banter almost laughed. It was a game only she and Kyle played, and it consisted of being careful in public, especially when around strangers. Sometimes it became a game of staying invisible while on the move. The game tended to evolve for whatever situation arose.

“We can. Have to figure out where that car is and go in a different direction,” she said.

Kyle jumped up from the swing.

“Let’s go.” He had intense excitement in his eyes. “One hundred points. We gotta make it out of the park without the car seeing.”

When they played the game, goals and points were determined. Points seemed to be the only motivation that Kyle needed. She often wondered when he would decide he needed some reward tied to the points he earned.

“What direction do we go?”

She liked having him make the decisions.

Kyle looked around before taking off at a run toward the street that was furthest from where the car had last disappeared. Banter followed, easily keeping up with him. Kyle skidded to a stop at the curb, did a quick look both ways, then crossed at a sprint. He dashed around a parked car and fell to the ground. She joined him, laying on her belly alongside him, so they could watch from under the car. They would both be able to see if a car was coming from either direction.

“Good job.”

Banter felt as much excitement as Kyle when they played the game. She loved seeing which decisions he would make.

Kyle grinned back at her.

They sat in silence for fifteen minutes. Kyle had developed an unusual sense of patience from being around her and playing the ninja game. He didn’t even fidget as they waited. Banter decided to see how long he could sit there, unless the car showed up again.

“Car,” she said in a whisper.

The same blue car cruised by slow, taking the turn to go around the park and drive down the other side. It disappeared toward the same direction it came from.

“Now what?” she said.

“We have to go ninja.”

“So, what do we do?”

“Follow it. He’s not gonna look where he’s already looked.”

He had good logic. Banter was impressed. She nodded her approval at him. He grinned wide.

“The person probably thinks we’ve left,” she said. “Let’s go.”

They both trotted along the street, heading in the same direction the car went. Kyle kept slightly bent over, using whatever car was parked along the curb for cover, amusing her since there weren’t enough cars to supply enough cover. However, she let him do what he felt he needed to do while she kept watch. After two blocks, they stopped at the corner, using a tree to hide themselves from one direction. This was where they had to make a turn.

“Now what?” she said to Kyle.

Kyle ducked down.

“Car,” he said in whisper.

Banter followed suit. Kyle had heard the car just as she’d spoken. The same metallic blue four-door car was coming toward them from the blind side of the tree. She pulled Kyle close and they moved around the tree, a big mature maple, while the car drove past. She waited until the car was out of sight before they moved. It didn’t look like the driver had noticed them.

“This way,” she said, crossing the street at a jog.

The only problem she had traveling on foot with Kyle was that he couldn’t go as fast or as far as she could. She was used to jogging long distances at a pretty fast pace. However, she was working on his distance.

“You don’t have to go so fast,” she said as he was trying to race as fast as he could now that he wasn’t trying to hide behind cars. “Slower and further is just as good. We got to make it all the way home.”

She was pleased when he slowed down to a pace that she knew he could keep up for longer than a block. He managed to jog for four blocks before they stopped by another tree.

Banter let him rest. The last pass of the car had allowed her to get a better look at the license plate from both ends of the car. A few of the number and letter images were clearer, even though the person had muddied both plates. She put what she had seen to the back of her mind to let her sub-conscientious figure them out.

“Ready,” Kyle said.

Banter had to admit that he was getting better at running further and needing less rest in between.

“Two more blocks and we’re on the busy street. Can’t use our ears. Only our eyes,” she said.

He nodded and set out at a jog. Banter trotted behind him, listening hard should a car come up behind them. However, she still glanced back every half dozen steps, just in case. They made the busy street without seeing the car. Kyle pressed the button for the crosswalk.

“I think we earned two hundred points,” Banter said, noting how tall Kyle was getting. He was the tallest kid in his kindergarten class. She wasn’t surprised by this since both of his parents were tall.

Kyle smiled. She smiled back at him. He was a happy kid, especially when he was with her.

“Five hundred if we make it home without seeing the car,” he said.

Banter figured that was going to be hard. She wondered why they were being followed in the first place. Did the guy think she was a kid? A predator thinking he was stalking two kids? Had to be. Why would he be stalking an adult and a kid?

Banter was only a couple of inches over five feet and rather petite. She was often mistaken for a kid. And since she’d been sitting on top of the swing set, she’d put out the image that she was a kid. What adult would be sitting on top of a swing set? As well, she’d been letting her hair grow longer and leaving it down. It probably hid some of her features, making it hard to see exactly how old she was. Her brown eyes were rather large, also adding to the illusion of youth, despite she was twenty-eight years old.

The light changed, and they jogged across the street.

“Drug store,” she said, redirecting Kyle.

Half a block down was a drug store, along with a single gas station and chain grocery store that serviced the housing division they lived in. The homes tended to be upper middle class. The neighborhood was nice, and Banter occasionally did security checks on some of the older neighbors whenever she’d go jogging. Of course, the neighbors she checked just thought she was stopping by for a visit.

She and Kyle ducked into the drug store. The checkout ladies knew them and waved. Banter waved back as she followed Kyle. He liked to cruise up and down the aisles. She knew he was ultimately heading for the toy aisle.

They passed a new guy working there. He followed them until he figured out she was an adult and not a kid.

Kyle paused to check out what was new in the toy aisle. Banter had already established that looking and touching was acceptable. However, she wouldn’t succumb to any whining should he want her to buy anything. Both boys had already figured that out. Kyle looked through all the toys but didn’t seem excited by any. She figured it was because he knew he couldn’t have any of them.

“Let’s go meet Colo,” Banter said, after enough time had passed.

She took the lead, heading out of the store.

They jogged the three blocks to the bus stop, while continuing to watch the traffic that passed them. There was no sign of the blue car.

Three blocks farther up the street was their house. Five blocks the other way was the school. Colo was the last one picked up in the morning, but the first one dropped off in the afternoon. He had a short ride. Banter used to walk him the eight blocks to school until he decided he wanted to be with his friends. She had chuckled at his insistence of riding the bus. He was embarrassed that she walked him, showing his independence. In the end, she was the one who championed the idea that he should ride the bus. Corey didn’t want him to, not understanding why Colo needed to ride the bus for five blocks. So now, she only walked him to the school bus stop with Kyle along, pretending that they were going for a walk anyway.

Banter smiled, remembering Colo’s reaction to her giving him a choice. His choices of getting walked to the school bus or to school didn’t include the choice he wanted; of neither. He complained and showed ill temper, stomping around the house, which got him nothing but ignored.

Banter was pleased that Corey let her have a little parental control, especially since as of late, she had totally taken over as mom to both boys since his wife had been murdered six months ago. She was even living full time at the house, but kept her apartment as her hideaway. And while she no longer carried a gun since she had been forced to retire from being a gun-for-hire due to Corey being a police detective, she still had all her other equipment.

“Is that five hundred total? Or two hundred and the five hundred?” Kyle said as they waited.

“How much is that?”

He rolled his eyes as she was making him do the math.

“Five million,” he said.

She shook her head.

“Another wrong answer like that and no park for a week.”

He stuck out both hands, unperturbed by her warning.

“Five hundred. Two hundred. Five, six, seven. Seven hundred,” he said with a grin as he counted fingers.

She smiled and nodded.

“I’ll write it down when we get home,” he said.

He wrote down all his points in a notebook. She kept from laughing at his singular joy of keeping points.

“Bus,” Banter said as she took Kyle’s hand.

They headed down the street toward home. She made it look as if she and Kyle weren’t really waiting for Colo.

The bus stopped behind them. It wasn’t until the bus past them and was out of sight that Colo caught up with them.

“What’d you do today?” he said.

“Park,” Kyle said.

Banter knew Kyle wouldn’t say a word about the car. It was all part of the ninja game. Neither of them would say a word about it to Colo. In fact, she knew Kyle wouldn’t even tell his dad.

“What did you do today?” she said.

“School,” Colo said, but he grinned.

That’s all she would ask. And that’s all he would answer. Banter knew Colo didn’t mind her, but he liked to wait and talk about his day when Corey came home. He liked to talk with his dad. Not a girl. She knew she was just a girl to him. Banter let him have that image as he and Kyle were unaware that she used to be a hired gun. Corey didn’t say anything either.

Kyle giggled.

“I did school today, too.”

“Baby school,” Colo said.

Kyle stuck his tongue out at him.

Banter found herself checking out license plates. She now decided she knew what four of the six numbers and letters were on the blue car.

Kyle ran ahead as they turned up the front walk of their house. He liked being the one to key in the code to unlock the door and turn off the alarm. Their dog, Ollie, was barking his greeting.

Ollie, their golden lab, was still a big puppy at ten months of age. He no long jumped on them due to a lot of patient training by her. Instead, his whole body quivered with excitement as he danced around them with his tail whacking everything in its way.

Banter took her time, without saying a word, as she closed and locked the door. She monitored what the boys did without being too obvious. Colo had a chore to do when he got home. He learned rather quickly that Banter put up with nothing. Not doing his assigned chores had consequences, and running to dad meant even worse consequences. Corey was no pushover either for which she was glad.

Colo dropped his school bag on the couch and headed out back with Ollie. It was his responsibility to let the dog out, clean up after the dog, and make sure there was food and water. Ollie helped with training him by peeing on Colo’s baseball shoes one day when Colo forgot to take him out. Colo loved his baseball stuff, and the lesson was well learned.

Banter followed him out with Kyle. Colo had also grabbed the tennis ball tosser and the tennis ball. It was always fun to watch Ollie race around the backyard, retrieving the ball. Kyle ran after Ollie, pretending to go after the ball, but Ollie was much faster and more agile. She knew Kyle just like to run around and giggle.

“Snack time,” she said after twenty minutes.

Ollie was showing signs of tiring.

They all headed inside. She pulled out chocolate milk and string cheese from the fridge; the boys’ favorites. Dinner, which was already in the oven, was a little over two hours away at six thirty when Corey came home. The boys settled down at the kitchen table to eat their snack and get their homework done.

Kyle entered the points for the game in his notebook while she pulled out worksheets for him to do. Since he had been sassy about adding up the points, which she knew he could do, she made him do math worksheets that she downloaded from his school. Colo unloaded his backpack on the table. Ollie lay under the table by Colo where Colo could rub Ollie’s belly with his foot.

Both boys arranged their things around them, creating obvious barriers. Neither of them liked her looking over their shoulder as they worked, not that was something she wanted or liked to do. She pretty much sat there, pretending to be engrossed in her phone and ignoring them, while she watched that the peace was kept.

They also didn’t like the other bothering them. Usually, it was Kyle bothering Colo, but after Banter started him on worksheets, that came to an end. As well, any groaning or complaining about homework wasn’t allowed; therefore, the kitchen was quiet. She had told both boys that she would help them if they were ever stumped, but that hadn’t happened yet. They were smart kids.

Dinner was starting to smell pretty good. Corey still employed the nanny, but with Banter being at the house, she only came on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One of the nanny’s jobs was to put meals together that Banter could throw into the oven. Banter had yet to master a meal for four people, being used to only feeding herself. She was better at pizza or Chinese takeout nights where she called in the order and Corey picked it up on his way home.

Banter liked nanny days. Those were the days she could get out of the house. She occasionally helped Corey with his case load. He liked it when she helped and she liked helping, although, usually, all she really did was give insight because of her years of experience as a hired gun or act as a grunt, doing research.

“How was lunch today?” she said to Colo.

“Okay,” he said with a nod.

“Chocolate or vanilla?”

She rose to make his lunch for the next day.

“One of each,” he said.

“I want chocolate,” Kyle said.

Colo was rather fussy about his lunch. The first day she had made it he had made a huge fuss, not paying attention to what she was actually putting into his lunch bag. He had gone to school grouchy, complaining about going hungry. He didn’t know she had already consulted with Corey. She knew how to make his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so it wasn’t soggy. She also put in, not one, but two pudding cups. He usually wanted one of each: chocolate and vanilla. As well, she put in fruit, usually an apple, his favorite, and some string cheese, also his favorite, and a small jug of chocolate milk. He never came home with any lunch left and never had tales of swapping out his lunch for something else. Or at least, none that he’d told his dad and he tended to confide in his dad for everything. And he never complained about her making his lunch again.

“Clear the table, please, so I can set it,” Banter said as she put Colo’s lunch bag into the fridge.

“I just got reading left,” Colo said, putting his books into his backpack and heading up to his room.

Ollie followed him.

Since day one, Ollie had picked Colo as his person. Wherever Colo was in the house, then that was where Ollie was. During dinner, Ollie stayed in Colo’s room, since he was no longer allowed in the kitchen at mealtimes. That hadn’t been the case when Banter first started living in the house, but she had made the new rule. Both she and Colo trained Ollie that mealtime was when he needed to go to Colo’s room. Only at first did they need to shut the door, but now, Ollie knew to stay there, and the door remained open.

Kyle also followed Colo. Colo used to complain about that, but Banter had ended that complaining too as long as Kyle knew he had to stay out of Colo’s room. After his mother’s death, Colo seemed to think he ran the household and should get his way with everything. With Banter around, he had a rude awakening, especially when Corey backed her up.

Banter set the table, watching the clock. Corey would be home soon. She wanted to have a chat with him about the car in the park.

Chapter:2

The sound of the garage door marked the start of the usual evening chaos. Ollie dashed out of Colo’s room, thumping down the stairs and barking his greeting. Both Colo and Kyle pounded down the stairs, heading toward the laundry room where the door to the garage was situated. Banter thought it was funny that everyone felt the need to meet Corey at the door, so she always tagged along, bringing up the rear.

Corey stepped in, giving her a smile and a wink before greeting the boys. He towered over them, being a little over six feet.

“Hey, Kyle. Colo,” he said while he gave the dog a pat to quiet him.

“Dad. Dad,” Colo said.

It was how he started every evening talk with his dad and for the next half-hour would talk non-stop, although he would save a few items for a private discussion before bed.

Banter listened, learning about how well he had done on his spelling test and about what he had learned in history. Colo was a history buff.

Kyle just danced around, getting the dog excited.

Corey headed to the master bedroom on the first floor with both boys and the dog on his heels. Banter returned to the quiet of the kitchen. Corey would change out of his suit into comfy jeans and a t-shirt, all the while listening to Colo. She was sure Kyle was bouncing on the bed, teasing the dog.

Banter chuckled at the thought while she finished setting the table. She pulled salad and dressings from the fridge, then put a bowl of veggies into the microwave. From the oven she pulled out a roast surrounded by halved potatoes. By the time Corey had changed and was heading to the kitchen, dinner was on the table.

“I’m starved,” he said, finally giving her a hug and a kiss, ending with a whispered in her ear. “Watch the news later tonight.”

Something was up.

Colo finally stopped talking as he stuffed his mouth. The kitchen again grew quiet as everyone ate. The meal passed quickly and soon, Kyle was helping Banter load the dishwasher, while Colo and Corey continued their chat in the living room. Once the kitchen was tidied, then everyone went outside to exercise Ollie. However, Kyle was running laps around the yard.

“Ninja training,” he whispered to Banter as he passed her on a lap.

“What’s he doing? Kyle that is.” Corey said as Colo dashed off to start a game of chase with Ollie who’d grabbed the tennis ball tosser.

“I’ll tell you later,” Banter said with a smile.

“He’s going to be a track star running around with you.”

“He is improving.”

“He’s only five.” His voice had a hint of concern.

“I researched, and they say to let them do what they think they can do, just to watch for the obvious signs of overheating, exhaustion or pain.”

“I think Colo is already up to your shoulders. He’s growing fast,” Corey said.

“He’ll be taller than me in no time, but then most everyone is taller than me.”

“At least his sass has subsided.”

“And where did he get that?” Banter chuckled.

“From me. Ask my mom. She had the same problem when I was a kid. But you’re handling it better from what I hear, and keeping him in line. Wonder when it will show up in Kyle?”

“Don’t know about him. He is definitely different than Colo. Much more patient.”

“Kyle?” He seemed incredulous.

“He is around me. I’m betting he becomes the private detective type and not the police detective.”

Corey chuckled.

“He is your son. At least, you’d think that.”

Banter smiled at his comment and leaned into him.

Colo rejoined them, having gotten the tennis ball tosser away from Ollie.

“Just talking about Kyle and his running,” Banter said. Colo didn’t like people having private conversations, especially if he thought it was about him.

“He’s a goof ball,” Colo said.

“He’s running farther and faster every day.”

Colo shrugged.

Ollie was no longer retrieving the ball which was his way of telling Colo he was tired.

“You have more reading?” Corey said to Colo. “Let’s go in and get that finished.”

They all headed in.

Banter settled in the living room with her laptop. Getting the boys bathed and readied for bed was Corey’s job. She pulled up the online news page to see what was happening in the world. It would be a while before the late news came on, but there was a small chance that whatever Corey wanted her to see would be in the online news page already. A quick review of the more recent items didn’t show her anything of interest.

As she checked her email, which usually was nothing but spam, the noises from the direction of the bedrooms overhead told her the progress. Bathwater running signaled Kyle’s bath. That was when Kyle and Corey had their evening chat.

She found herself at her favorite surveillance website. There was a lot of new stuff she drooled over, but again, had no reason to buy it. She still thought it was good to get an idea of what was out there and to keep up on the technology changes.

She heard the tub draining. That was her cue. She rose and went up the stairs. Colo was in his room reading as usual. Corey was just getting Kyle’s pajamas on.

“What story tonight?” she said as she sat at the end of the bed.

“The princess and the farting ogre,” Kyle said with a big smile.

“I told that one last night.”

Banter heard Colo get off his bed to stand by his doorway. He didn’t let on that he liked to listen to the stories, despite he said that bedtime stories were for babies. Everyone pretended he wasn’t there.

“But you tell it different every time,” Kyle said.

“I have to or else you’ll fall asleep.”

There was a laugh from Colo in the hall.

“I’m supposed to fall asleep,” Kyle said.

“I see, well then. Ah, will tell you…”

Banter allowed her natural accent to come out as she spoke. She smiled as she told the story. Corey had told her it was like listening to a bedtime story set to music because of the rhythm of her voice when she allowed her accent to surface.

Tonight, due to all the running he’d done, Kyle fell asleep before the end. She finished the story for Colo’s sake.

“The end,” she said, rising to head back downstairs. Corey shut off the light and closed the door. Colo was already back on his bed as if he hadn’t left.

“Goodnight, Colo,” she said as she passed.

“Goodnight.”

Banter settled back on the couch. Overhead, she could hear that the shower was now running which meant it was Colo’s turn in the bathroom. Finally, there was silence. She knew Colo was having his private chat with Corey. A few minutes later, Corey trotted down the stairs, passed through the house and into the garage. He returned to sit on the couch with her. He had his service pistol and cleaning kit.

“You used that today?” Banter said, sitting up more.

“No. Usually do this in the office but been busy of late again. Have to go to the shooting range tomorrow to get some time in.”

“Tomorrow’s nanny day. Can I come along?”

“You don’t have a gun,” he said.

“I can get one,” she said with a wicked smile. “Besides, you’ve got a couple nine millimeters here in the house.”

Corey pulled over the coffee table and spread out the towel in his kit.

“I guess you could. You do keep drooling over them. They’re going to rust if you keep doing that.”

Banter hit him lightly on the arm. She knew he was kidding.

“How much do the boys know?” she said.

“They know enough to keep away from the guns. And they’re locked up. The guns that is.”

“They should know more than that. How old do they need to be for the gun safety class?”

“I don’t think there’s an age limit, but Kyle’s definitely too young.”

“I disagree with you.”

“Usually we’re on the same page, but not with the boys.”

Despite Corey looked totally focused on cleaning his gun, she knew he was well aware of what they were discussing.

“Feed them baby stuff and they are babies. Feed them adult stuff and they grow up fast.”

“Maybe I don’t want them to grow up so fast.”

“Unfortunately, the world preys on children. Kyle and I were stalked today.”

Corey stopped his cleaning and stared at her.

“Kyle didn’t say anything. You took him to the park.”

“We played ninja. He’ll never talk about ninja.”

“That game on how to be careful.” Corey resumed his cleaning. “Is that why he’s running, too?”

“Yes, and its helping both his running and how to be careful. Besides if I come to the station tomorrow, I need to look up a license plate.”

“Predators can be so stupid.”

“This one wasn’t stupid. He muddied both plates.”

Corey stopped cleaning again.

“Damn.”

“However, he drove around the park too many times and once right by us, but we were hiding behind a tree. I didn’t get the whole plate, but I have enough to probably find it.”

Corey rolled his eyes and resumed his cleaning.

“Yeah, roll those eyes. I should go back hunting, again.”

He shook his head.

“That’s illegal.”

“Hunting gets rid of the bottom of the barrel.”

She referred to what she used to do on Tuesday nights; hunt down and kill sex offenders. Often, they were child molesters.

“Still illegal.”

“Until it happens to your own child,” she said in a low voice.

There was tense silence between them. She knew it was a sensitive subject, but she wasn’t afraid to broach it. Despite only being around Corey’s boys for the last six months, she already felt as if they were her kids. She was just as protective as Corey.

“Which nine millimeter are you going to take tomorrow?” he said, breaking the tension between them.

She smiled as she rose, heading toward their bedroom. That was where the gun safe was. He had what she called his own personal arsenal in that gun safe. Despite a few were antiques, most worked. There were twelve guns ranging from pistols to rifles. Her fingers flew through the combination, knowing it well. She pulled out her favorite, then closed the door and spun the lock.

“That’s the one I figured you’d liked,” Corey said when she rejoined him.

“It’s the smallest of three nine millimeter and it fits best in my holster.”

“You even have that here?”

“Of course.”

“I should have known.”

He put his hand out for the gun, showing his intention of cleaning it.

“Doesn’t need cleaning.”

“What? You haven’t used it?”

Banter pursed her lips.

“What you don’t know won’t hurt you.”

“I don’t want to know,” he said with a shake of his head.

“I didn’t think so.”

She usually went to a shooting range a couple of times a month. And she cleaned the gun after each session.

“News.”

He pointed to the TV. She had turned it on, but had left the volume was low. It was almost time for the highlights.

“Colo sleeping already?”

“Could be reading.”

Corey looked over his shoulder, where she knew he could see part way up the stairs.

“Lights out. Dog’s quiet. He’s sleeping.”

Banter grabbed the remote and turned up the sound.

“Three grisly murders occurred this afternoon. Robbery and rape have been ruled out...” the reporter stated, using her voice to express how horrible this was.

Corey took the remote from her and turned down the TV while there were pictures shown of the apartment complexes and worried people, but nothing else.

“So why is this so unusual,” Banter said as she watched the TV flash pictures of sobbing people.

“They were shot in the head and in the ass,” he said.

She waited. She knew him too well. Even though what he had said was already unusual, she figured there was more.

“Based on how they were situated, they were shot in the ass after being killed by the shot in the head. Between the eyes. Perfect shot.”

“Why shoot them in the ass?”

She noted how he stressed the words “perfect shot.”

“Good question. No forced entry. And like the newscast stated, no robbery. No rape. No beating. Like someone walked in and shot them. Then walked out. All three were in the kitchen, too.”

“All staged the same.”

“Yeah.”

He finished his cleaning. For not handling his gun that often, she noted he could put the gun back together without hardly looking. It was second nature to him.

“No drugs?”

“No drugs. No pimps. Nice apartments…”

He paused.

Banter held her breath. She knew he had kept one more detail from her.

“Yeah?” she prompted him.

“They were all fourteen-year-old girls.”

“What the hell. These are kids.”

He nodded, looking solemn. She could tell he was thinking.

“I’ll see when the next gun safety class is,” he said.

She nodded, feeling pleased about that. Despite, he didn’t always agree with her parenting techniques, he usually ended up on her side.

“And don’t bring the silencer with you tomorrow, please.”

He gave her a stern look.

Banter smiled and nodded, wondering if he’d been guessing since she had never told him what equipment she had with her at the house.

“You don’t think it’s wise to bring illegal equipment into the police station?”

He eyed her.

“What do you think?”

She smiled because she had carried that silencer into the police station many times before. However, not of late, since she had retired and no longer carried a gun.

“I thought you didn’t want me to go hunting?” she said in a quiet voice, referring to why he wanted her to know about the girls.

“I want you to look at the case. See if we’re missing anything. Three dead kids get a lot of bad press for the police.”

He made it sound as if he was only interested in the police reputation, but she knew better. Cases involving children got everyone working a little harder.

“Besides, my gut says something is way off on this,” he added.

“What time tomorrow?”

“Be at my office by eleven-thirty, if you can.”

“I’ll have the nanny pick up Kyle. And no going to the park without me.”

“Thank you,” he said as he packed up his cleaning kit, and then grabbed his gun.

He rose.

“Don’t put that gun back into your car. If I can steal it, someone else can steal it.”

He paused but a moment, before holding out his hand for the gun she held.

“Just remind me to take it with me in the morning.”

She handed him the gun and nodded.

“You— coming with me?” he said with a suggestive nod toward the bedroom.

Banter turned off the TV.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

“Who’s asking? Aren’t I usually begging?”

He put a little whine in his voice.

Banter laughed and pushed him down the hall.

“No, you’re usually falling asleep. Or Kyle is with us.”

“You solved the Kyle issue.”

Kyle didn’t like sleeping alone. A large body pillow that was as big as he solved the problem. He could hug it, and it took up so much room in his bed, he felt like he was with someone. Now, he slept through the night and didn’t sneak in with his dad anymore.

Banter slipped out of bed. Corey was already sleeping. Sex and a minute or two of pillow talk was all he could stay awake for. He usually rose early and worked a hard day, never having much time for himself. She didn’t mind him falling asleep so fast. As soon as he did, this was her time. She didn’t even have to be quiet since he slept pretty deep. So did the boys.

She showered, slipped on a night shirt and went back out to her laptop. While she had mentioned she needed to look up the license plate, making it sound as if she needed to go to his office to do so, she didn’t need to. In his office, there was a laptop that she could connect into. It was her own equipment, but Corey either forgot about it or decided to overlook it, which is what she decided since he didn’t forget such things. Even despite sweeping security changes, partly directed by herself, the laptop remained. The weekly security scans found it every time as an unauthorized device, but it was now considered a test object and not a security breech, which it actually was because it allowed her to connect into the police network anytime from anywhere.

She pulled up the app to get into the DMV system. The system had a very good search function. She added in as much of the plate as she could remember as well as filling in the options for car color, model type and make. Of course, color was objective, and the programmers had been working on making sure blue included cobalt, sky, aqua pearl, coastal, pacific, to name a few. However, that sometimes resulted in more matches than needed. As expected, there were thirty-two matches to her search criteria. She refined the search for just metallic blue, based on a search of the car maker’s color choices. She had two hits.

She looked at the license plate combinations. They were close, but only one was a perfect match in her head. However, the car was registered to a woman. Banter jotted down the address. Tomorrow was Thursday; the night Corey came home late. She decided she’d ask the nanny to stay longer, so she could go stake out the car.

Banter exited out of the DMV system and closed her laptop lid. She could sleep now, and she slid back into bed beside Corey. He woke enough to snuggle up with her. His even breathing beside her relaxed her, and she fell asleep.

Beep. Beep.

Banter woke.

Already, she thought? She knew she’d slept hard.

She reached for his phone on her side of the bed and silenced the alarm. He used to have it extra loud to wake himself, but now it was just a soft beep. Banter could wake at the drop of a hat.

Corey woke at her movement, snuggling against her, breathing into her hair.

“Alarm go off?”

“Yeah.”

“You are so nice,” he said, snuggling for a few more breaths, before he slid out of bed.

A few moments later, Banter heard his electric razor. She rose and opened the gun safe, taking out both guns. She placed them on the bed before slipping off her night shirt.

Corey stepped out, still wiping his face with a towel.

“Why do you do that?” he said with overstated exasperation as he spied her.

“Do what?”

He slid next to her on the bed.

“Stark naked next to a couple of guns. And I have to go to work.”

She smiled at his reaction, suppressing a chuckle.

“I didn’t want you to forget your gun, remember? You wanted me to remind you. I got mine out as well.”

“Thanks for the reminder.”

He kissed her, and then rose with a big sigh to dress.

Banter rose as well. She was a fast dresser, managing to fully dress, including putting on her shoes, strapping on her holster beneath her t-shirt, and slide in the gun before he started with his tie. She even slid on the two knives she usually carried. Then, she slipped on a blue sweatshirt with the silencer already in her pocket. Once finished, she stepped over to help him with his tie. He almost had it done and all she had to do was straightened it.

“You look fabulous as always,” she said, seductively brushing past him as she headed out of the bedroom.

“And you’re as dangerous as usual,” he said with a chuckle.

Banter knew it would be another half hour before the boys had to get up. She started the coffee machine to make Corey’s single cup of coffee and put a mug of water into the microwave for her tea.

As Corey stepped into the kitchen, she opened his suit coat just a bit to check. He hadn’t forgotten to put the gun into his holster. He set the gun cleaning kit on the table.

“Thanks for checking, but you forgot the cleaning kit. Where’s my coffee?”

He tried to look stern, but he couldn’t keep a straight face.

“Two more seconds, sir,” she said, keeping a straight face and standing in his way of the coffee machine.

“I’m going to think of you by those guns all day.”

“I am an evil woman.”

“An evil, sexy woman,” he said, hugging her and moving her out of the way so he could reach his coffee.

She grinned, feeling extra happy. There was a gun strapped to her back again.

Chapter:3

Banter had exactly fifteen minutes of quiet teatime after Corey left for work, and before Colo’s alarm went off. There was one bark from Ollie and a moan from Kyle that drifted down the stairs. Morning, thankfully, wasn’t chaotic. Both boys knew to dress themselves. As long as they had on a shirt and jeans with no holes, she didn’t care how they looked. Both of them woke up hungry and hurried down for breakfast.

Banter set out a hard-boiled egg already shelled for each of them as well as one for herself. She boiled dozens of eggs for easy breakfasts. She slid in four pieces of bread into the four-slot toaster and set out butter, peanut butter and jam. Colo liked his two pieces of toast with peanut butter and jam. Banter just liked peanut butter. Kyle liked only jam on his. He’d tried the peanut butter to be like her but didn’t like it well enough. He wasn’t a peanut butter kid like his brother.

Colo came in first with his backpack while Banter poured two glasses of chocolate milk. He ate his egg and sipped some milk before taking Ollie out back. Kyle danced in and sat to eat his toast until Colo returned and fed Ollie. Then Kyle woofed down his egg. Whoever hadn’t finished by the time they had to leave to get to the bus stop, had to put what was left in the fridge for later. Today, they all ate and drank everything. Even the dog finished his bowl of food.

“Let’s go,” Banter said, handing Colo his lunch sack.

He slipped it into his backpack. She snapped the leash onto Ollie’s collar, leaving the breakfast dishes for the nanny to clean up.

“Is the Bea coming today?” Kyle said.

Bea was the nanny.

“What do you think?” Banter said as they shut the door behind them.

It auto locked. She turned on the alarm while she signaled Ollie to heel. They headed down the sidewalk. Ollie fell in beside her, already panting and wagging his tail with excitement.

“Yeah,” Kyle said, letting his shoulders droop.

The schedule was the same every week and both boys knew it. Banter learned quickly not to answer the same questions over and over. Now, instead, she just threw a question back at them.

“Are you picking me up after school?” Kyle said.

“No, I have to go to work today and help your dad.”

“My dad doesn’t need any help,” Colo said with a slight air of disdain.

Banter kept silent as she wasn’t in the mood to respond with a rebuttal and start an argument. Sometimes she enjoyed a good argument, but not in the morning. She also figured the teachers would thank her for not sending a grumpy eight-year-old to school.

However, Kyle groaned and looked mopey that she wasn’t picking him up. Banter ignored him.

As they got closer to the bus stop, Colo started distancing himself. Ollie fidgeted as he wanted to be with Colo, but Banter signaled him to heel again, reinforcing the desired behavior. She and Kyle continued down the street as if they were going for a walk. The bus was already in view. As soon as it picked up Colo, they spun around and headed back home. Right as they reached their yard, Ollie did his business. Banter already had a plastic bag to pick up the dog poop.

Kyle giggled.

Banter let Ollie off the leash to allow him to run around with Kyle. She bet Kyle’s kindergarten teacher would appreciate that he was running off a little energy before class.

Ten minutes later the nanny showed up.

“Morning, Bea,” Banter said.

“Morning, Banter. Morning, Kyle.”

Bea looked like a forty-year old spinster. She kept her dirty blond hair pulled back in a tight bun, and she wore good walking shoes. While she’d never been married, she had two boyfriends and an active social life. Nothing surprised her, and she could handle Colo’s sass. She knew how to handle a gun and knew self-defense. She was also a great cook. Banter didn’t think Corey paid her enough, so Banter made sure there was a monthly bonus envelope with cash.

“No park at all today. Please stay home and keep the doors locked,” Banter said.

“But what about Ollie?” Kyle said.

Banter opened the front door for everyone to go back inside.

“Ollie can go out back to potty and be safe,” Banter said. “You stay in after school. Ninja training and I think you have a few games to play.”

He pretended to be upset, but he liked his electronic games.

Bea nodded, accustomed to the tight security requirements. Banter knew that on Mondays and Wednesdays, she worked at a retirement home that also had tight security, but it was used to keeping residents from wandering away unattended.

“I’ll take Kyle to kindergarten, but can you pick him up?”

“Can do,” Bea said.

“I have a few things on the board,” Banter said, mentioning the erasable board on the fridge.

The board listed the chores that she wanted Bea to do; anything from cleaning to laundry to changing bed linens. Banter felt quite spoiled.

“Can do. Any special requests for up and coming dinners?”

“Pizza,” Kyle said.

“You get pizza on Friday,” Banter said. “No. Everything you put together is wonderful.”

“I have a few things I’d like to try,” Bea said.

“Go for it. See you later, Bea,” Banter said as she ushered Kyle toward her car in the garage.

She let him hit the button to open the garage door.

Fifteen minutes later, Kyle was in kindergarten and Banter was headed to do a little shopping. She didn’t like shopping with any of the boys along or even Corey because she could get it done a lot faster. They liked to browse and look at everything, and she just wanted to get it done and over with. Her current list didn’t have any perishables and could sit in the car, allowing her to head direct to the police station once she was finished.

She had to hit a grocery store, a shoe store, and a clothing store. It took her an hour to go through the grocery store. She believed that every octogenarian was out and about slowing things down. The shoe store didn’t have what she was looking for, so she drove to another. Kyle needed some new shoes, good running shoes. She already knew what size.

At the clothing store, she bought underwear for both boys, although she would make sure Corey brought in the bag as if he had bought them. They had already been through how Colo felt about her buying him clothing when she had bought him socks. He’d refused to take them. She had to pretend to take the socks back, and Corey had to pretend he went out to buy them. While Colo didn’t seem to mind that she was around, there were a few displays of him not fully accepting her presence.

By eleven, she was finally on her way to the police station. As was her preference, she parked a couple of blocks away and walked in. She hardly ever did any black hoodie mode anymore. She missed it.

She turned the corner, heading toward the front door of the police station. There was a steady stream of both pedestrians and cars; the usual rush of early lunch time traffic. Banter took it all in, unconsciously processing the people walking along the sidewalks and the cars on the streets. There were regulars and she recognized them.

However…

Banter paused and looked up as if something caught her attention. Something had, but it wasn’t up. She was doing the classic misdirection tactic. In her peripheral vision was a car. It wasn’t a car she had seen before, but that wasn’t what had gotten her attention. It was the outline of the driver. While she couldn’t describe the man in the car, she knew she had seen him before. The hat was different, but still pulled low over his forehead. It was the stalker from the park. The car drove past her and disappeared down the block.

A chill went up her spine as she continued up the stairs into the police station. She knew now she was dealing with a professional. And he wasn’t stalking kids. He was stalking her. She also knew she didn’t need to go stake out the blue car. He was borrowing cars, just like she used to. He was going to use a different one each time.

Banter paused by the scanners in the foyer. There were three paths into the building. Two paths led through scanners and bag checks. The third path was for officers with weapons where there was no scanner. There were just officers checking ids or calling for escorts. She knew all the officers there, and they knew her.

“Morning, Bill. Can you call Corey to escort me in?”

She was carrying a gun. Procedure called for her to be escorted around the scanners.

Bill was a uniformed policeman with a bit of a pot belly that he had been told to get rid of. She knew he had been working out because he complained incessantly about it to whoever would listen to him.

“Banter, just go on by,” he said, looking at her funny.

“That’s not procedure. I’m carrying.”

Procedures also didn’t allow her to get a key card. She wasn’t officially on police payroll.

“You’re our freaking security adviser. I think it’s safe to let you go around.”

“I could have gone rogue.”

Bill chuckled.

“If you’d gone rogue, I don’t think Corey would have shown up this morning. Go around. You’re holding up traffic.”

While she and Corey didn’t parade around as a couple, everyone had figured it out.

Bill opened a barrier for her and waved her around the scanners.

“You been taking the stairs instead of the elevator?” she said in passing.

“Don’t get me going,” he said with a groan. “And you are not carrying a freaking gun.”

He flailed his hands around as if trying figure out where she could even have hidden a gun. Very few knew she carried it on her back. And since she hadn’t done any demonstrations for some time, the few that knew probably had forgotten.

Banter would have loved to pull her gun out, but there were too many people around. Displays like that were meant for private viewing, not in full public view. She smiled instead and continued toward the stairs, which she preferred over taking the elevator.

Corey was back in his old office on the fourth floor. It had been repaired from when an explosion has taken it out. Luckily, no one had been hurt. The fourth floor was a busy place and most of the office staff and other detectives paid her little attention. Those who did simply acknowledged her presence with a nod when she approached Corey’s office. The door was shut, but she could see through the glass panel in the door that he was in his office with half a dozen people. Everyone was gathered around the table in his office. Only the murmur of voices could be heard.

“Morning, Banter.”

Nessa was Corey’s assistant, errand runner, and all-around gopher. She was a high energy twenty-something, taking night law classes. She was slender with bleached blonde hair that was cut short and spiked and she wore lots of jewelry. Her desk was positioned just outside Corey’s door.

“Morning, Nessa.”

Nessa’s jewelry reminded Banter of her wrist band with her lock picks. Maybe she needed to start wearing that again.

“Security changes today?” Nessa said.

“Nope. Firing range and research. Dull stuff.”

“Yeah, right.”

Her voice carried a slight lilt of disbelief.

Nessa was well aware of how Banter had helped Corey with the case six months ago that involve his wife’s death. That case had also uncovered three bad cops, two of who were killed and spoiled the plans of a corporate controller who was trying to abscond with millions of dollars from a company whose executives she had killed off. Banter didn’t like all the notoriety; however, no one knew who she really was except for Corey. At Police Headquarters, she was still known as Julia Banter, the PI, Private Investigator, from Banter Private Investigations. She was also the new security adviser, paid in cash from a slush fund.

The meeting in Corey’s office ended and the men filed out. Most nodded to her. A few greeted her by name.

“Banter.” And a nod.

She nodded back in response to every nod, glad they called her Banter instead of Julia.

Corey stepped out behind everyone.

“Ready?” he said.

She nodded, feeling like a bobble toy.

“Firing range and lunch,” he said to Nessa.

“Yes, sir.”

“Ooh. Lunch. Where you taking me?” Banter said, falling in step with him as they headed for the elevators.

“Surprise,” he said.

There were two basement levels. Corey pressed the button for the lowest level. That was where the police had managed to fit in a firing range and where they did all the gun safety classes.

“I already have a lane booked,” he said as the elevator doors opened.

There were only a few other officers in the area. The officer assigned to manage the range pointed out a lane for them as soon as he saw them. Corey took his suit coat off, leaving it outside the lane on a chair before he opened the door. The muffled sounds of gun fire suddenly became loud. They both at once put on the safety earmuffs that were there before putting on the bullet proof vests that were also already there.

Banter fingered her silencer through her sweatshirt out of habit, but she kept it hidden. She pulled out her gun and the two magazines that were clipped to her holster. She slid one magazine into her gun. Corey geared up as well, tightening the vest on her once she’d pulled out the gun.

She signaled with a hand for him to go first. It was only proper since he was the one who needed the time on the range. He didn’t know she had just been to a firing range a few days ago.

Corey clipped on the paper target and sent it out to the ten-yard mark. He fired until his magazine was empty, then pushed the button to bring back the target. He had a close pattern of hits around the heart region. He clipped on a new target and sent it out to the seven-yard mark. Again, he emptied his magazine. The target showed an even closer pattern of hits around the heart region. He clipped on another target and sent it out to the ten-yard range, then signaled for her to shoot.

Banter smiled and aimed. She really liked this particular gun. It shot pretty true. She emptied her magazine with a slight adjustment each time she fired.

Corey pushed the button.

“Show off,” he mouthed.

At first glance, there appeared to be only two holes in the target. A closer look showed that the holes were a little ragged. One hole was between the eyes. The other hole was in the middle of the heart.

Corey sent out another target to the seven-yard mark. Banter emptied her second magazine. Corey pushed the button to bring back the target. There were the same two holes, but they were less ragged.

He shook his head as he cocked his gun to show that it was empty, and he holstered it. Banter did the same. She grabbed her two empty magazines, and Corey grabbed his. They left the shooting lane. Once outside of the shooting lanes, they removed their earmuffs.

“You are a showoff,” Corey said. “I’d say you’ve been practicing.”

“I’ve always been that good. I don’t need to practice.” She removed her vest. “You don’t seem too bad considering how little you shoot.”

“I’m always that good. I don’t need to practice,” he said back at her with a smile while he removed his vest.

He handed her the vest before putting his suit coat back on.

Banter chuckled as she headed for a large cart. There was a bar attached across it and she slid on the two earmuffs and put the both vests into the cart.

“You going to reload me?” she said.

Corey nodded, heading over to the reloading machine. He pulled out a box of ammo from each pocket of his suit coat and slid out the tray containing the bullets from one of the boxes. He inserted it into the reloading machine, and then held out a hand for her magazines.

“Could we get one of these for home?” she said, handing him her magazines.

He inserted her magazine into the machine. The magazine only took a few moments to reload.

“You paying for it?” he said, putting in her second magazine.

Banter chuckled.

“I’ll think about that.”

He handed her both magazines.

“Thanks. I hate running out of ammo.”

She slid one magazine into her gun.

Corey repeated the processing, reloading his magazine, except the machine beeped while filling his second magazine. He slid out the empty tray, tossing it into the trash, then pulled out the tray from the second box of ammo. Once that was inserted into the machine, the machine finished loading his second magazine. He pulled out the tray with the remaining bullets and put it into the box. A tray held fifty bullets. There weren’t many left.

“You didn’t have two full boxes,” she said.

“No. Needed to use these up. They were getting old. Will get some new boxes after work.”

“Nice.”

“Lunch?”

“Music to my ears,” Banter said with a laugh.

They took the stairs to the first floor, heading toward the hallway that exited out into the parking garage that was attached to the building. Corey’s car was parked on the same level, halfway down.

As soon as they’d closed both car doors, Corey paused, staring at the steering wheel.

“You going to tell me?” he said. “You’re looking around a lot.”

Banter thought she’d been discrete but forgot who she was with. Corey was very observant. While walking to his car, she had checked the parking garage and out at the street but hadn’t seen the stalker. Or anyone of interest.

“Saw the stalker right before I entered this building today.”

“You been doing something I don’t know about that maybe I should know about?”

“No.”

“No?”

“I’ve been a good girl since that day you called me Katrina.”

That had been the day they had caught the rogue controller trying to abscond with millions and Corey had figured out who she really was. Katrina was her real first name.

“You better keep carrying that gun,” he said.

“That’s the nicest thing you can say to me,” she said in a quiet voice.

He tilted his head to look at her.

“I love you. I don’t want to be investigating your murder.”

“Me neither.”

“Have you looked up the license plate yet?”

“Yeah but that won’t help me. He was in a different car today.”

“A professional.”

He started the car.

“Yeah. Now the big question is why.”

“Did you alert Bea?” he said as he pulled out of the parking garage.

“Yeah.”

“Haven’t seen him by the house?”

“Park was the first time. Today was the second. So, by that, I’d guess he knows everything. And he’s been watching a while.”

“Scary,” he said.

Usually, a one-word comment from him was an understatement of his real feelings.

Banter found herself watching every car and pedestrian, feeling rather exposed.

“You better get your black hoodie out,” he said after a long pause. “You still do your approach protocol to your apartment?”

“Was just thinking about that. The black hoodie. And, yes, I do my approach protocol.”

While Corey knew where her apartment was, only because he had looked her up when he found out who she really was, he had never been there. She never wanted him to go there. He never expressed an interest to do so.

“Petro’s,” Banter said in exclamation when he pulled into the lot of the restaurant.

“Thought you’d like Mexican today.”

“Hell, yes. My favorite.”

“One of your many favorites,” he said with a chuckle.

They got out of the car. Corey was also looking around.

“Male with a hat always pulled low?” he said in a low voice.

“Just like every other scum bag on the prowl,” she said as they entered the restaurant.

The place was busy, and they had to wait fifteen minutes to be seated. As soon as the bowl of chips and salsa arrived, they ordered, already knowing what they wanted.

“So, anything new on the girls?” Banter said, once the waiter was gone.

“No.”

“Ballistics?”

“Same gun. Nine millimeter.”

The waiter arrived with iced teas.

Banter remained silent as they sipped tea and ate chips.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Corey said.

“Having a stalker on my tail feels worse than when I found myself listed on the job board.”

The job board was where hits were posted for gun-for-hires to pick up and complete.

“You still monitor that?”

“On occasion.”

She no longer took any jobs.

“Not much activity of late,” he said.

She eyed him, knowing the police monitored that board as well.

“Well, when you send a hired gun after gun-for-hires, they get a little nervous.”

“Ex-hired gun. And not everyone is like you.”

“Hired guns have their usefulness.”

He gave his head a little shake.

“I know you believe in the legal system and there are a lot of good cops out there. I know when you get a bad guy that removes him from committing any more crimes. But… the legal system isn’t perfect and sometimes they walk.”

“We’ll get them again.”

“Yeah, but meanwhile they’re out there committing more crimes. A hired gun gets rid of them forever. No expensive trial. Just a less expensive hitman.”

“You were pretty expensive.”

“No, I just took the high paying jobs since those tended to get rid of the really bad guys.”

Corey grudgingly nodded.

They fell into silence again as they sipped their tea and ate chips.

“You’re awfully quiet, too,” Banter said in almost a whisper.

Corey met her eyes.

“Work, stalkers, kids, guns, and a girlfriend with interesting views.”

“Work will always be there. I can handle a stalker. The kids are doing well. The guns are locked up. I think you like your girlfriend with interesting views.”

Their meal came, and they fell into silence again as they ate.

“Do we need to do any more security changes at the police station?” he said after awhile.

“Did they get all the outer doors changed?”

She had recommended that every door that opened using a key card be changed out so there was no lock on the outside. Then, the door could only be opened from the inside or with a key card on the outside. That eliminated what she did in the past; pick the lock. That left only the front door which was always manned because of the implementation of more scanners and bag searchers. And a back door, because people parked in the parking garage. A hallway was enclosed to allow people, who didn’t have key cards to enter through the back door into the enclosed hallway and be directed up to the front and the scanners.

“Should be completing that project this week. Your demonstration kicked that project into high priority.”

“That was an awesome demonstration,” Banter said with a smile as she remembered.

“Jackson didn’t think you could do it. He was quite certain.”

Jackson was the Chief of Police.

“One simple disguise.”

“He was watching those security cameras very intently when you waltzed up and picked the lock. In fact, I didn’t even know it was you. You looked like that DA on the third floor.”

“Then I went all the way up to his office, past his assistant, who wasn’t paying attention by the way, and picked his lock.”

“Then the phone rang, and the caller ID showed it was from his office. I told him it was you, although I was guessing, and he scoffed at that.”

“But it was me.”

Corey chuckled.

“That was awesome,” he said. “Since then, he hasn’t questioned a single one of your recommendations.”

She smiled.

Corey then frowned.

“Do we need to make any more changes at the house?”