“Shee, need you outside. Locate Jesse, Levi, keep Chey here,” Celt said and left the room. Levi sent me a considering look, rose to his feet, dumped Louisa in my arms, and gave me her milk. Louisa took one glance at me and opened her mouth to sob, and deftly I shoved her bottle in. Levi snorted as Louisa Mae tried to work out whether to wail or drink, and the milk won.
“That, Levi, was sneaky,” I chided softly as Louisa’s blue-green eyes stared at me.
“Yup, means you can’t chase after Celt. What’s going on?”
“Probably me being stupid. But I sensed I was in danger in the gardens. I was looking at the sky, and I felt it turn stormy. Levi, it was possibly just my imagination.”
“Chey, never fail to trust your instincts. Your gut said something was wrong, and you listened. We’ll soon find out if it’s an overactive imagination,” Levi replied with a grin and strolled to the window to keep a lookout. Minutes ticked past as Levi kept watching, and I fed Louisa Mae. Seven in total passed before Jesse entered the room with Saint at his heels. Saint looked worried.
“What’s wrong?”
“Someone was on the grounds, near where you and Celt were in the garden. Security spotted the intruder and gave chase, but he escaped over the wall. Celt recognised him as the man who drove the juggernaut,” Saint said abruptly.
“Is Celt sure?” I asked, shocked.
“Yes, Celt’s meeting Dave now, and Dave is pulling the tapes. They’ll confirm it. Jesse and Nana were in the greenhouse. He was perfectly safe. Dave has ordered everyone to stay in the house and lock it down. Guards are already doing so, and Dave requested everybody to move towards the panic room but not to enter yet,” Saint said, grabbing the wheelchair.
“Yeah, I’ll go find Celt and Shee,” Levi added grimly. “Can you manage those two?
“Sure,” Saint replied, giving me the dead eye. I shot Saint an innocent stare back as I put Louisa Mae to my shoulder to burp her. Saint pushed me towards the downstairs panic room. There were two in the house; one on the bottom floor and the second on the first floor.
“Hey, it’s okay. Dave just gave the all-clear,” Zyaire said as we approached. Excellent, I thought as Saint spun me around and began pushing me back.
“Mom, I’m going to check on Nana and Jed. They’re on the first floor,” Jesse said and shot off. A security guard came into the hall, and I heard Dave’s voice on the radio.
“Yeah, we’ve called that detective. Think we’ve identified the asshole. Keep an eye out on the gate for Detectives Hawthorne and Gold. Check their ID.” I twisted my head as Saint pushed me past them and tried to stop so I could grab the guard, but within moments he was gone.
“Did you hear that?” I hissed at Saint.
“Yeah, and I know what they’re on about. Dave has been asking questions about a fan. Chey, I’ve not come across him, but Dave thinks he’s on to something. Dave wanted to talk to Jesse today before approaching you.” Oh, my head twisted to stare at Saint like I was possessed, and Saint flinched back at the look I gave.
“And none of you thought to mention this?” Saint looked cornered as he avoided my eyes.
“Oh, hey dude, can you take over? I need the restroom,” Saint babbled at a surprised Celt and disappeared from the room.
“Saint, you fucking coward, can’t hide forever!” I yelled after the disappearing man. Celt watched, bemused. “I’ll run you over next time!”
“Saint did something wrong?”
“Saint and the rest of the band have been hiding shit. Did you know they have a suspect in mind for my attack?” I asked. Celt’s eyes darted briefly away and then met mine again. “Wonderful, everyone in this house is lying to me!” I huffed and crossed my arms.
“No, I know little, but I’ve heard rumours that Dave has someone in mind. This is my first time back since I overheard that titbit two days ago. Celt held his hands up in peace.
“Any idea who it is?”
“No, Chey, no idea, and if I knew, I’d tell you to stop you worrying. We gotta be patient.”
“I hate being patient!” I sulked, and Celt laughed. Jesse entered the room and glared at Celt before making his way to me and taking control of the wheelchair.
“I’ve got Mom, thanks,” Jesse said sharply.
“Yup, you may have your mom, but she’s got Louisa, and that little lady is mine,” Celt said calmly. Jesse peered at me in surprise and finally saw Louisa Mae snuggled up in my arms.
“You still got Louisa, Mom?” Jesse asked, sounding surprised.
“Louisa’s a doll. She’s so tiny; I forgot how small babies could be. You were just as tiny once,” I said, fondly smiling at Jesse. Jesse grinned back and ran a finger across Louisa’s tiny cheek.
“I guess Louisa’s kinda cute,” Jesse smirked. “You got years before you get a kid out of me, Mom.” I choked on Jesse’s words as Celt let out a laugh. Scowling, I sniffed haughtily in Jesse’s direction as he flopped on a sofa and picked up the tv remote.