Father Formula

From what he’d learned so far, Trevyn guessed Alexis was the evil triplet. Though as beautiful as Athena with her long dark red hair and deep blue eyes, she had none of her courtesy. She was outspoken and outrageous—and she’d tried to bean him with a frying pan. It was hard to feel kindly toward a woman like that.

“What if Holden gets some news about Gusty?” David asked.

“I’ll find her,” Trevyn assured him, “without Lex’s help.”

“But she knows her better than you do,” David argued, “even though you…”

Trevyn sighed impatiently at David’s hesitation. “Even though I got Gusty pregnant. You can say it aloud. It isn’t as though we don’t all know she’s seven and a half months along.”

“You’re sure you were with her?” David asked. “Considering how identical the girls are. I mean, with costumes and masks and just a brief glimpse of her face…”

“I made love to her,” Trevyn said firmly, lowering his voice as the women approached. “She’s the only sister who’s pregnant. It was me.”

“You’re not going to go too nuts waiting around, are you?” David asked. “I know you’d like to try to find Gusty on your own, but I’ve got Wren still looking for her and I’ll feel so much better knowing you’re here with Lex and the boys.”

Wren was an old friend of theirs from their “company” days who’d also retired and now freelanced his spook skills.

Trevyn would have preferred action, but he owed David a lot. When they weren’t on “company” business, he and David had worked together at the Chicago Tribune, David as a journalist, Trevyn as a photojournalist. He nodded. “I’m fine with it, and I’ll keep my eye on the boys. If Alexis inadvertently disappears…”

“Trev—”

“Okay, okay. I’ll watch out for her, too.”

“Thanks for making it all fit, Trevyn.” Athena beamed at him as he tucked her two bags into a tight spot. “If we’d left this to David, he’d have made me leave most of my stuff.”

“Oh, he’s always been selfish,” Trevyn teased, then closed the trunk and David locked it. “You must see something in him that’s invisible to the rest of us. There. You’re all set.”

Athena hugged each of the boys, promising that they would call, and asking what they wanted in the way of souvenirs from Washington and New York.

“A New York Yankees hat,” Brandon said, reaching up as David hugged him. He was fair-haired and spindly and very, very smart.

Brady stood back, arms folded, an uncharacteristic pout on his dark-featured face. Trevyn had spent time with the boys when they’d visited David over the past few years, and he’d never seen Brady anything but hopelessly cheerful. Trevyn suspected he was upset about David’s trip.

“When are you coming back?” Brady asked, still keeping his distance.

Trevyn noticed that David didn’t move in. He admired that about his friend. In the field, he’d always waited for the right moment.

“About a week, maybe ten days,” David replied.

“You’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“’Cause if it’s any longer, you’ll miss Parents’ Night. You get to see all my work and look at my classroom. And there’s cookies.”

“We won’t miss it. I promise. Athena put the flyer on the fridge.”

Brady eyed David.

Alexis and Athena suddenly made a production of getting Athena into the car, pretending not to notice it had become a tense guy moment.

Brandon elbowed Brady. “Don’t be a doofus,” he said under his breath.

Brady gave him a lethal look, then wrapped his arms around David’s middle. “Okay,” he said. “Have a good time.”

David held him, then drew him away and looked down into his face. “Tell me what’s on your mind,” he said.

Brady’s lips parted and there was an instant of silence, then he said quietly, “I was just worried about Parents’ Night at school. There’s goodies, you know. And you get to look in my classroom.”

“We’ll be back in time,” David assured him, then put an arm around him and led him toward the driver’s side of the car. At the door, he stopped and asked, frankly, “Brady, are you worried that your mom will send Darby after you guys again?”

David had told Trevyn that Darby was their mother’s new husband and the reason for their leaving home when he’d put Ferdie in the pound.

Brady folded his arms again. “I worry about that sometimes,” he admitted.

David leaned against the car door and put his hands on Brady’s shoulders. “Mom signed papers that make me your legal guardian, remember? They’re in our safety-deposit box. I showed them to you.”

Brady nodded. “I know.”

“Then, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah.” Brady forced a smile but it was unconvincing.

David looked up at Trevyn. “Your Uncle Trevisn’t going to let anyone take you away, or let anything happen to you while I’m gone. Right, Trev?”

Trevyn stepped forward with a shrug. “Well, unless it’s a tribe of beautiful babes, or something, and they want me, too, then of course…”

Brandon barked a laugh and Brady smiled despite himself.

David glared at Trevyn.

“No one takes them,” Trevyn said dutifully, pulling Brady into the crook of his arm, “and nothing hurts them. Got it.” He caught Brandon in his other arm and drew him back from the car. “Don’t worry about a thing.”

“Easier said than done by anyone who knows you,” David countered, opening the car door.

“I’m here to straighten out whatever he messes up,” Alexis said, coming around the car to give David a hug. “You take care of my sister, buddy, or you answer to me.”

She closed the car door as David climbed in behind the wheel.

FERDIE BARKED and tried to follow the car as it pulled away, but Brandon held him back by the collar.

Alexis stared until the car was out of sight, feeling more alone than she’d felt in a long time. Gusty was missing and Athena wasn’t really part of the triumvirate anymore. She had another life now.

And this was the story of her life, Alexis thought—never quite part of the group. Different. Lonely.

“Aren’t these guys going to be late for school?”

Trevyn’s voice interrupted her thoughts and reminded her that she wasn’t alone at all. Lonely, maybe, but hardly alone.