We had the dense woods in the back. Yoshiro had already taken us through there. It would be easy to get lost for someone who didn’t know it. Today, we hiked through it, picking out a meet up place for the kids, just in case they had to run.
I showed them the basement too—with all the guns. Kia and Jalen asked to learn how to shoot. I nodded, knowing that I couldn’t deny it anymore. With the craziness that could come our way, I had to make sure they knew how to defend themselves.
Salt and Pepa barked at the window and then wagged their tails.
Jalen jumped up from the table and checked. “Yoshiro’s back. He’s got someone with him. A tall, fat guy.”
“Don’t call him fat?” Kia rolled her eyes.
“It was a description.” Jalen pouted. “Not a judgement.”
“Either way, it’s not nice to say.” I took two plates out just in case Yoshiro and his friend was hungry.
The door opened.
Yoshiro stepped in, framing the doorway.
We all looked up.
Dressed in all black, his trench waved in the breeze and exposed a magazine of ammo in his pocket. He had on black gloves too. Dirt smudged some of his face. His shirt had a tear at the top.
“Whoa.” Jalen widened his eyes. “You look like a superhero.”
He gave Jalen a sad smile and turned to me. “Can we talk, Ebony?’
I swallowed and set the plates down. “Sure. Of course.”
A tall, heavy set man walked in after him. Brown hair. Green eyes. Next to Yoshiro, he looked more like some sort of comedy side kick. He held a green book bag in one hand and a closed laptop in the other.
Yoshiro gestured to him. “This is Kevin, everybody.”
Kevin waved. “Hey, Day Family.”
Kia quirked her brows at the mention of our last name.
Yoshiro cleared his throat. “I told him about you all.”
The kids didn’t return to eating, even Poppy studied the new guy.
Salt hurried over to Kevin and licked his hand.
“Hey, girl.” Kevin petted her head. “Did you miss me?”
Pepa sniffed his book bag and then went for her own petting.
The kids returned to eating as if the dogs were a character test, and Kevin had passed it.
Yoshiro signaled for me to come with him and headed toward his studio.
“I’ll be right back, guys.” I left and walked with Yoshiro.
Kevin followed us.
I glanced behind him.
The tall guy watched me.
I looked back and turned to Yoshiro. “What’s going on?”
We stepped inside the studio.
Kevin shut the door.
Yoshiro took off his jacket, pulled out a big gun from his back waist, and placed it on the desk in the center of the room. “Wyatt found Kevin’s place.”
I tensed. “What?”
“Kevin is my friend that has been tracking him.”
I hugged myself and turned his way. “Thank you. . .and I’m sorry that you’re in this.”
“No problem.” Kevin went over to the couch and sat down. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with trouble. This is light weight compared to most.”
“Still. . .” I shook my head and looked at Yoshiro. “What happened?”
“When Kevin looked into Wyatt’s past and tried to hack into the civilian agency, he thought they might’ve caught him. Kevin stopped. It might’ve been the end of that, but then I stole Wyatt’s weapons.”
“Wait. What?” Kevin laughed. “You did what, man?”
Yoshiro grabbed a chair and gave it to me. “Wyatt didn’t need them. And clearly he has more stuff.”
Kevin laughed some more. “Yeah, a fucking grenade.”
I raised my hands in the air. “Grenade?”
Yoshiro signaled at the chair.
I shook my head.
Yoshiro grabbed another chair and sat down. Exhaustion covered his face.
“What happened?” I remained standing.
“We had a small shoot out with Wyatt and two of his friends.”
I rubbed my face with both hands.
“I killed one.”
I looked up from my hands and stared at him. “No.”
“It couldn’t be avoided.” Yoshiro shrugged. “I got the other one in his back. He couldn’t get up, but he could shoot. Wyatt rushed to save him. I almost shot him in the head, but he threw a grenade.”
Kevin raised his head and beamed. “And I courageously climbed out of a window and ran my ass to the strip club.”
I dropped my hands. “What. . .what do we do next? Should we run? The cops could be there now—”
“No cops.” Yoshiro shook his head. “We called Kevin’s neighbors. Apparently several black vans showed up. We think that those vans were connected to the civilian agency Wyatt works for. The people in that van grabbed Wyatt’s two friend and left.”
“They didn’t take Wyatt?”
Yoshiro wiped the dirt off his face. “No. When Wyatt saw the vans, he hid. After the vans left, he ran to his car and left.”
“So, Wyatt hid from his own agency.” I shook my head. “Maybe. . .he doesn’t work with them anymore.”
“Another van arrived. One similar to the agency’s others. Two men stepped out of that van, wearing suits. Those men met the police cars that arrived. Keven’s neighbors said that the guys in suits showed badges to the cops. After that, the cops left.”