We left the room and got a considerable distance between Fake Troy and the banquet room “What are we going to do?” I asked with apprehension, remembering Herman’s coded words earlier about the ‘twenty-three gifts’. There’s twenty-three of them, and we are surrounded by children.”
“Compel them to leave,” Drake stated.
&nb
sp; “And go where?” I asked. “I don’t want to just set them free.”
“The base is on lockdown,” Greg stated with a frown as he pulled his phone away from his ear. “I’m just getting a recording.”
“Kirk’s not answering his phone, either,” Jace grimaced. “He was supposed to be back with his wives and children, too.”
“I’ll mentally call the real Troy again and warn him that he might be coming back to a trap,” I explained to the guys before we reached the counter.
“There’s eight of them in here,” Greg warned me quietly. I nodded in understanding. Surreptitiously looking around the room. Sure enough, quite a few people were looking at us with a little too much interest.
Greg began placing our order as I closed my eyes. Jace embraced me from behind, and I felt Drake link one of his fingers with my own.
“Troy,” I called out silently.
“Yes?” he responded back instantly with curiosity in his voice.
“The base might be under attack again,” I informed him. “Can you find an alternate landing spot?”
“Sure thing, you know I love you right?” he asked earnestly.
“How about you tell me that in person?”
“Oh I will,” he informed me with laughter in his voice.
“Please be safe,” I commanded him. “I’ll let you know when we are on our way back.”
“How about I just meet you there?”
“No, you can’t. We’ll meet you at the coffee shop in town,” I told him.
“What’s going on?” he asked anxiously.
“Don’t worry,” I reassured him. “We’re okay.”
I shut our communication down and reached for the ice cream. I began to load them up onto the trays. “I thought we decided that we were going to just keep it simple.” I tried to act normal as I put the ice cream sandwiches, King Cones, Strawberry Shortcakes, Sponge Bob ice creams, and Batman ice creams.
“That’s what you decided,” Greg said with a sardonic grin. “We didn’t pay for anything, and Alex is…”
“Miranda’s son,” I muttered with a shrug, I bit my tongue from any biting response. It was Alex’s birthday, and we had bigger things to worry about.
“We should send the send the gifted out here onto the bus,” Remy said slowly. “We can get back to base and fit them with the halos.”
“What about all the children? “Draked asked. “We can’t let them know what’s going on, and we can’t really end the party now. We still have two more hours here.”
“So Remy and I load the people up into the bus,” I said. “And we leave for the base now. We need to find out the situation there.”
“You’re not leaving without all of us,” Jace stated and then paused. “Blake, make them show themselves.”
I did feel another presence nearby. “Show yourself,” I commanded the spies.
Victoria and Micah appeared, looking at me sheepishly.
“What if Micah were to drop them off in different countries? Preferably ones where they don’t speak English,” Victoria said boldly. “Blake should make them turn over all their money, identifications, and cellphones. That should hold them up for a little while.”