Read Alien in the House for Free Online

be a record.
    “Kitty, you okay with that?” Chuckie asked me.
    Managed to recover. “I’m still in shock and wondering when the calm, pod-people parasites landed on the two of you, but I’m happy with the outcome. So, yes, absolutely, great choice.”
    “Good. Of course, tomorrow, this could all change,” Chuckie reminded us as we left the room, heading back toward the front door.
    “No worries. We’ll just call it Musical Wedding Chairs until the actual minute the ceremony starts.”
    “Oh,” Reader said as he and the others came up from the basement level. “You’re talking about the wedding party situation. Yeah, it’s a nightmare. Paul won’t even discuss it with me, he’s so frustrated.”
    Chuckie shrugged. “It is what it is.”
    “It’s keeping people calm and focused on positives,” Cliff said. “So, all the pain will be worth it.”
    “If, you know, anyone ever lets Chuckie and Naomi actually tie the knot and consummate the marriage. Jeff, you and Chuckie get to join everyone else on the rest of the tour. I’m going to get Jamie taken care of.”
    Jeff looked like he was going to argue. Pierre cleared his throat. “We
are
looking to ensure all’s in readiness for the event tonight.”
    Jeff sighed and nodded. “Good point. If I’m not upstairs by then, call me when it’s time for her to leave for the sitter, baby.”
    I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “You got it.”
    The men headed off into the kitchen. I was about to head upstairs when there was a knock at the front door. Pierre was busy and I was right here, so saw no need to keep whoever waiting. Besides, it might be the UPS man—he’d been delivering a lot of packages, most of them for Jamie, and we were all on a first name basis with him by now. And because the doorbell was the loudest on Embassy Row, out of kindness to us and their own eardrums, our delivery folks tended to knock first and only ring the bell if the door didn’t get answered right away.
    Sure enough, a familiar man in the brown UPS uniform was standing there when I opened the door. “Hi Ted, what do you have for us today?”
    He smiled. “You mean, what do I have for you again. Found a package I missed earlier today.” He held out a small box. “Sorry about that. Been happening a lot today. I’ve pretty much done my route twice.”
    “Oh, bummer for you, but cool for us, so thanks!” Took the box and was about to look at it when something caught my eye. From where our front door was, I could easily see our street and a good part of Sheridan Circle. Sure it was the part with a lot of foliage, but it was quite visible.
    My enhancement had improved my vision, so I was able to spot what I probably wouldn’t have before Jamie was born—there was a man standing among the trees.
    Being someone now very used to having enemies attack at all times, I didn’t dismiss this. I took a better look, though I made sure I wasn’t staring straight at the guy in the trees. From the corner of my eye, the lurker looked familiar.
    In point of fact, he looked like someone I was pretty sure was dead.
    My eyes could easily be deceiving me, but if they weren’t, Clarence Valentino, A-C Traitor at Large and presumed deader, was hanging out in the bushes across the street.



CHAPTER 6
    T HE MAN IN THE CIRCLE who might be Clarence returned from the dead hadn’t caught me looking, at least I figured he hadn’t because he hadn’t disappeared. Wanted to be sure of what I was seeing before I alerted anyone, so I needed a better look.
    I smiled at Ted. “So, you think we should search your truck, in case anything else for us turns up?”
    He laughed. “You can come take a look if you want. My route’s almost done. Again.”
    We chuckled together and I went down the walk with him to his truck. I didn’t care if we had ten more packages Ted had missed or nothing at all left in his van. This angle meant I’d have a clear enough look to be able to tell if I was seeing things or