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cruiser, and then they handcuffed the kid, who was crying about being grounded for life. He would be lucky if that’s all he got.
    “Wow, that was fun,” Lainey said, grinning.
    “Hon,” I replied, “we need to get you out more.”
    “Tell me about it.” She walked back to where she had stashed Emily with her impromptu babysitter, and broke the ward while I gathered up my bags. Surprisingly, I hadn’t lost a single one.
    I heard unmistakable sounds behind me, and I turned to look. Sure enough, some paparazzi had shown up. Well, we were in the celebrity district; they may have been stalking other prey and gotten sidetracked. They’d managed to beat any regular reporters to the scene.
    Lainey appeared carrying Emily in one arm and pushing the stroller with her other hand. “Uh-oh.”
    The photographers immediately started clicking. “It’s Phenomenal Girl Five!”
    “Was this a new villain?”
    “Have you fought him before?”
    “All in a day’s work,” Lainey said, clutching Emily a bit closer. The baby didn’t seem to like the flashes.
    “Just a mixed-up young kid we turned over to the authorities,” I said, edging closer so we could escape the swarm together.
    The photographers looked at me. “Who are you?”
    I frowned. “Tekgrrl!”
    “No way, you’re way hotter,” one of them said.
    I tried not to be insulted but was flattered at the same time.
    “Okay, take your picture and then back off before I start swinging this thing,” Lainey warned, motioning at them with the stroller.
    Yep. All in a day’s work. We grinned and posed for the photographers.

CHAPTER FIVE
    “Can’t leave you two alone for a moment,” Toby teased as soon as we walked in the door at EHJ headquarters.
    “You’re kidding me. It’s on the news already?” I dumped my packages off in the hallway.
    “News travels fast in this town,” Lainey said. Emily gave a gurgle of agreement—or it might just have been her way of saying the shoulder of Lainey’s shirt, which was now wadded up in her tiny fist and covered with drool, didn’t taste good.
    I noticed Toby looking me over. “What?”
    “Your hair.”
    “Yeah, I had it done. That’s where Lainey and I were before the chaos broke.”
    “I don’t think I’ve seen it any natural color since you were a scrawny twelve-year-old with big blue eyes behind pop-bottle glasses.”
    “Nice insult hidden in a compliment, Tobe,” I retorted, frowning. “Don’t make me go looking for the photos of you rocking the acid-washed jeans and feathered hair.” Sometimes it was easy to forget that Toby was in his forties, since he looked around twenty-five. Must be nice to be related to the Reincarnist and age slower than normal.
    “I was meaning you look nice. Grown-up. Mature. A new Mindy.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “That was the look you were going for, right?”
    “Leave her alone,” Lainey said. “We’ve all gone through phases we’d rather forget.”
    “Sometimes whole lifetimes,” Wesley joked, walking into the room and kissing Lainey hello. Ah, young love. It was enough to make me green—with envy or nausea, I wasn’t sure. “I just heard the word ‘forget.’ What are we talking about?”
    “Mindy’s new look.” Lainey nodded to me.
    Wesley turned from making a goofy face at Emily to give me a once-over. “Looks nice.”
    “Thanks. It’s just a new hair color and cut.” I explained, starting to feel a bit self-conscious.
    “And I saw you had a bit of excitement,” Wesley pointed out, taking Emily from Lainey, who absently wiped at the drool-covered shoulder of her shirt and then gave up. “You two did well containing the situation so quickly.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Yeah, good job, team,” Toby said with a wink.
    “The police seem to have the matter in hand, but was it anything we need to investigate further?” Wesley asked.
    Lainey shook her head. “Just a dumb kid out for a joyride in his dad’s body armor. We had more trouble with