Conall should be bored with eight- and ten-year-old boys, too, but he wasn’t. These two were really growing on him. He liked less and less thinking about what their future held. They could be happy here with Lia, couldn’t they? Why shouldn’t she keep them?
Conall knew they’d been curious about what was happening in the attic, so when Brendan asked to come upstairs and see the equipment the men were using to spy on the house next door, Conall agreed. Lia looked a little more doubtful, but finally said, “Well, I guess.”
Maybe he shouldn’t be sharing so much with the kids, but he couldn’t see how they’d be a risk. They never went anywhere or talked to anyone outside the household. Sorrel was a different story; Conall still worried about her opening her mouth at the wrong time or place. But what was the harm in giving Walker and Brendan something new to think about?
Walker almost immediately became distracted by the other wonders the attic held. He bounced on the bed and said wistfully, “It would be fun if we could sleep up here.” The naked mannequin was a source of great fascination for him.
Conall, grinning, asked, “Haven’t you ever seen a girl naked before? Or your mom?”
Walker’s eyes got wide and he shook his head so hard he had to grab for his new glasses. “My mom? I barely even saw her in a bathing suit. Right, Bren? And I never saw a girl without her clothes on.” He sounded aghast but simultaneously intrigued by the idea, which amused Conall. Brendan didn’t say anything, but his cheeks colored some.
Jeff let him look through the scopes and the binoculars and see what the digital video looked like when they ran it back. He asked if they could hear what the people over there said, and Conall explained why they couldn’t but how listening devices worked when it was possible either to get close enough to utilize them, or for a bug to be inserted.
“You’ve seen on TV shows how the cops use a van that’s filled with computers? That works in a city where no one notices an extra van with darkened windows parked down the block, but not so well here in the country.”
The boy nodded, his forehead furrowed.
“If we could set up a sort of satellite dish listening device close to the house—say, right at the fence line—we could probably hear what they say when they’re outside, but that’s not practical. The dogs would hear us if we got that close, for one thing, and the men would come to investigate. Our cover would be blown.”
“Would they shoot you, like on TV?”
Conall hesitated, wondering how Lia would want him to handle a question like that. “That depends what they’re up to. If they’re dealing marijuana, they might not even have guns, and they sure wouldn’t take a chance on shooting a law enforcement officer. If they’re doing something really bad, they might think it was a risk worth taking.”
“So how would you get one of these bugs in their house?” Brendan asked.
Out of the corner of his eye, Conall watched Walker who had begun cracking open boxes and peering at the contents. He wasn’t dumping things out, though.
“Depends,” Conall said. “Sneak over there, maybe, or get really clever.” He explained about the pizza box idea and why it had been a no-go so far. He also explained a little about laws and warrants and what he and Jeff had to do to make sure any evidence they gathered would be admissible in court, and why illegally acquired evidence wouldn’t be.
The kid listened solemnly, soaking it all in. Conall was afraid he had become the object of a minor case of hero worship. Still, what had it hurt to indulge Brendan’s curiosity?
Walker materialized at his side. “Can we go outside? I want to practice batting now that I can see.”
“Why not?” Conall gripped his shoulder. “Let’s be careful not to break those new glasses, though. Lia wouldn’t be happy with us.”
“She bought insurance,” Walker told him happily. “She said she expects I will break them.”
“Sensible woman. Bren, you up to doing some pitching?”
The older boy looked up from the array of small listening devices he’d been examining. “Huh? Oh, sure. Yeah.” Politely he turned to Jeff. “Thank you for showing everything to me.”