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CHAPTER 22

“How do you guys feel about swimming?” Scout asked as she came in the door, Nada having pushed the piano out of the way as soon as over-watch reported her approach.

Nada was puzzled. “As a sport?”

“Hate it,” Roland said.

“He sinks,” Moms said with a smile. “The water isn’t friendly to big muscles.”

Roland blushed.

“Want to go swimming?” Scout asked.

“No,” Moms, Nada, and Roland all said together.

“I wouldn’t mind a dip,” Doc said.

“You might in this pool,” Scout said.

“Eagle, come down,” Moms ordered over the net, then turned her radio off. She looked at Scout. “Pray tell, why is that?”

Scout did two cartwheels, ending up next to Roland and his stack of guns, magazines, and bullets. “Can I get one?”

“No,” Roland said.

“Do I get paid?” she asked Moms.

Nada reached into his pocket and pulled out a money clip. “How much do you get paid for babysitting?”

“What do they pay or how much do I clear?” Scout asked.

Nada blinked. “What’s the difference?”

“They pay me ten dollars an hour. But there are benefits.”

“You steal?” Roland said.

“Dude! How direct. I use stuff. And know things. Like the Lindsays are in the middle of a month-long vacation. I like their pool best because it has a slide. Ours just has a pool.” She looked at Nada’s money clip. “So let’s say twenty an hour, because this job is, like, dangerous, right, with Mac and Kirk and who knows who else getting hurt battling big Transformer-like things?”

“Where is the Lindsays’ pool?” Moms asked. “And what did you see?”

Scout held out her hand. Nada peeled off five twenties and passed them to her. She stuffed them in her pocket, then held the hand out again.

“That’s blackmail,” Nada said. “We can find out where the Lindsays’ pool is from Support.”

“But you won’t find out what I saw from your Support.”

Nada peeled off two more bills and gave them to her. Scout frowned, then put them in her pocket. “Can I get one of those ear radio things you guys use? It would have been so fab to listen in last night.”

“No,” Moms said, shuddering at the thought of Ms. Jones eavesdropping with Scout on the net.

Scout did a backflip and dropped onto the couch with a heavy sigh. “You guys don’t share well. What happened to the team? One for all and whatever?”

Eagle spoke up. “We’re not the Three Amigos.”

Scout laughed. “Love, love, love that movie. A plethora.” She looked at Roland. “You have a plethora of guns. Seems you’d share.”

Roland was frowning, which seemed to be his constant state around Scout. “A what?”

Eagle quoted: “I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education. But could it be that once again, you are angry at something else and are looking to take it out on me?

“Oh, oh, oh!” Scout was literally bouncing up and down on the couch. Then she did three cartwheels, ending up in front of Eagle and holding her hand up, but restrained, not quite ready to high five. “Do you know what Nada means?

Isn’t that a light chicken gravy?”

“Love it!” she squealed as she and Eagle slapped palms.

“I’ve been waiting to say that forever,” Eagle said, with a worried glance at Nada.

The rest of the team was lost.

“So,” Scout said. “Who wants to go swimming?”

Moms gripped the arms of the chair tightly and grimaced a smile. “Why would we want to go swimming in the Lindsays’ pool?”

“Welllll,” Scout said. “Earlier I went over there and noticed that the pool water kind of just slid over the edge into the grass and snatched a squirrel and, wellllll, seemed to, like, just absorb it. Kind of gross. Seems like something up your alley. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe golf is more your game?”

Roland had grabbed the iPad. “The Lindsays’ house is three blocks over.”

Moms got out of her chair. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“Wellll, you’re all so faaaabulous and on your super-secret mission, which you really haven’t told me about, and were blowing up the golf course all night, so I thought you were kind of busy and when I saw you come back early this morning, everyone looked pretty beat, and it’s not like the pool is gonna go anywhere. And you guys aren’t really sharing,” she added, looking longingly at the pile of guns. “Sometimes it seems like you just got dropped in here like a nanny with a green card, ’cause you are so greeeen! I figured you knew about the carnivorous water.”

“All right, all right,” Moms said. “You’ve made your point.”

“Points,” Nada said.

“Tell us,” Moms said with forced patience.

“It’s kidney shaped, which is weird for here, but it’s got the slide, which is fun, but also weird for here. It does have a deep end.”

“What exactly did the water do?” Doc asked patiently, which seemed like an impossibility with Scout around.

“I told you. It ate a squirrel,” Scout said. “How the hell should I know?”

“Don’t curse,” Moms said. “It’s not pretty coming from girls.”

“Her hair’s blue and she can do a handstand longer than any of us,” Nada said, as if that mattered.

“Thank you,” Scout said with a smile.

Moms looked at Nada in consternation. “No more bantering. Especially from you. I’m not sure who you are anymore.”

“Yeah,” Doc agreed. “You’re acting peculiar.”

“Maybe he just likes me,” Scout said. “People either love me or hate me.”

“I hate you,” Roland muttered.

“She’s just a girl,” Nada said.

“I don’t think so,” Doc observed.

“Fireflies can’t go into people,” Moms noted.

“What are Fireflies?” Scout asked for what seemed the twentieth time since the team had met her.

Moms gave a cold smile. “Nothing, dear.”

“Great,” Scout said. “You’ve finally become a Senators Club mom. ‘Nothing, dear.’ That means absolutely, positively there’s something.”

“Enough!” Moms snapped.

“Describe what happened,” Doc said to Scout. “Please.”

“It was like this tentacle of water lifted up, about five feet.” Scout was using one of her arms to demonstrate, green-painted fingernails leading the way. “Then it moved horizontal, right over where this cute little squirrel was doing whatever it was doing, and then just shot down, all over the squirrel, which, let me tell you, was not happy. Then it just pulled back into the pool with the squirrel and everything was normal. Except no more squirrel.”

Roland was on his feet, heading toward the door to the garage. “I know what to do.”

They followed him into the four-car cavern. Roland pulled a portable generator out from its spot next to the wall. “What kills water?” He tapped the generator.

“Riiiight,” Scout said. “Let’s roll the generator over to the Lindsays’ pool. No one will notice that. Even though most people are gone for the holidays, there’s still enough around, and someone will notice in three blocks.”

“You got any better ideas?” Roland challenged.

“Weelll, if you want to zap the pool,” Scout said, “how about shorting out the pool light and letting the house current do it?”

“Maybe she isn’t such a little girl,” Nada said proudly, cuffing her lightly on the head, but forgetting once more about the curling iron.

“Oww, please stop with the head shit.”

“Don’t curse,” Nada said.