Lean on Me (29 page)

“
I have a lot of
brothers
and
sisters,” Cian said. “John is my youngest brother.”

“
I’m my brother’s youngest
brother,” Hermes said.

“
That’s very interesting
but we still have not been properly introduced.”

“
You’re supposed to say
your name and shake his hand,” Colin said.

“
Oh,” Hermes stuck his hand
out. “Hermes… um… Olivas. I used to be Hermes Jasper but now I’m
Hermes Olivas.”

Cian shook his hand.

“
You wouldn’t be related in
any way to my friend Troy Olivas,” Cian said.

“
He’s my Daddy,” Hermes
said.

“
Good man,” Cian
said.

“
How do I get to be a
junior naker?” Hermes asked.

“
First you get an apron,”
Cian said.

“
Mommy used to wear
aprons,” Hermes said. “Big flowers and stuff.”

“
We have no girlie aprons
in this household,” Cian went to a cabinet near the
stove.

“
How come?” Hermes
asked.

“
No girls cook here,” Colin
laughed.

“
The men cook,” Cian
said.

“
I’m not a man,” Hermes
said.

“
Yes but you will be,” Cian
said.

Hermes leaned over to Colin and whispered,
“Should I tell him?” Colin shook his head. Hermes nodded.

“
Tell me what?” Cian
asked.

“
We have some confusion
about penis touching,” Colin said. “Hermes is sure he doesn’t want
other people to touch him. Were you going to touch his
penis?”

“
I was going to make
breakfast,” Cian said. “I tend to leave that entire penis touching
business to consenting adults.”

“
See,” Colin
said.

Hermes nodded.

“
I must find our junior
baker an apron,” Cian dug into the cabinet until he came up with a
smaller apron. “This one might fit you.”

Cian slipped the neck strap over Hermes’s
head. Colin tied a knot in the strap to help it fit the child. Cian
put the apron over the boy’s SpongeBob pajamas. When he turned,
Hector James was standing next to the counter.

“
Look,” Cian said. “Another
one. Is this your brother?”

Hermes nodded. Intimidated and excited at
the same time, Hector James looked from Cian to Colin.

“
Well, let’s get on with it
then,” Cian said. “I’m Cian Kelly.”

He held his hand out.

“
You have to shake his hand
and tell him your name,” Hermes said.

Hector James stuck his hand out but didn’t
say anything. Cian shook his hand.

“
He’s shy,” Hermes
said.

“
I see that,” Cian said. “I
suppose you want to be a junior baker as well.”

Hector James nodded. Cian found another
apron and Colin helped Cian put the apron on Hector James. Colin
gave Hector James a boost onto the counter to sit next to
Hermes.

“
Well junior bakers,” Cian
said. “What shall we make to break our fast?”

“
The cinnamon rolls need
another hour to rise,” Colin said. “Then about a half-hour or more
to bake.”

“
Two hours is a long time
for a junior baker to wait, Mr. Colin,” Cian said. “What would you
lads like?”

“
Cereal,” Troy said. “They
eat cereal and a little yogurt first. Their tummies
are…”

Troy made a motion over his stomach.

“
Good to know,” Cian said.
“I’ll make you the cereal of champions. We call these ‘pips’ at
home.”

“
Pips?”

“
Steel-cut oats or Irish
oats,” Colin said. “Would you boys like to help me?”

He put a baking tray with parchment paper on
it in between them. He cut a piece off the cinnamon roll log and
gave it to Hermes. Hermes set it on the tray. He gave the next
piece to Hector James.

“
We’re teaching your boys
to be junior bakers, Troy,” Cian turned from the stove where he was
making steel-cut oats. “They have some natural skill, but we’ll
have to train them up a bit.”

“
They’ll be working in a
year or so,” Colin said.

Troy smiled. The therapist had told him the
best way for the boys to emerge from their solitude was to allow
social interactions to happen naturally. It was hard not to step
in. Troy came into the kitchen to start the coffee and make the
boys some hot chocolate.

“
Why are we up so early
this morning?” Cian asked.

Hermes looked at Hector James.

“
Our mommy came home
yesterday,” Hector James said.

“
She didn’t really come
home,” Hermes said.

“
She’s dead,” Hector James
said. “We have to say good-bye.”

“
We don’t want to,”
Hermes’s eyes filled with tears.

“
My mum died when I was
just older than you, Hector James Olivas,” Cian said. “Bet you
didn’t think I knew your name!”

Hector James shook his head.

“
Your da has told me all
about you and your brother,” Cian said.

“
Did your mommy really
die?” Hermes asked.

“
Johnny’s too,” Cian said.
“Johnny was a wee one. Three years old.”

“
What did you do?” Hermes
asked.

“
What do you mean?” Cian
nodded to Colin, who was holding out slices of cinnamon roll. For a
moment, the boys focused all of their attention on placing the
cinnamon rolls on the tray. When their tray was full, Colin
replaced it with an empty tray.

“
How did you
live
after your mommy was
gone?” Hector James asked.

“
Oh laddie, I don’t think
you ever get used to losing your mum,” Cian said. “But live you
must. Our mum, like your mum, loved us so much. Everything she did,
she did so we could have a better life… and become good people. I
live every day trying to be the person she’d want me to be. It’s
not easy. But I think that’s all you can do.”

For a while, Colin continued cutting
cinnamon rolls; the boys continued putting them on trays; Cian
continued making oatmeal; and Troy continued working on the
beverages. When the second tray was full, Colin covered the
cinnamon rolls with moist kitchen towels. Troy gave the boys some
hot chocolate and they watched Cian make their oatmeal.

“
Do you think you boys can
be everything your mum wanted you to be?” Cian turned to look at
the boys.

Hermes and Hector James nodded.

“
Will you go with us to the
funeral place?” Hermes asked Colin and Cian. The men glanced at
each other.

“
I will,” Colin
said.

“
I’ll be there,” Cian said.
“I always stand by my friends when they need it.”

Hermes nodded. He held his arms up and Troy
lifted him down from the counter. Without saying another word,
Hermes ran upstairs. Hector James followed his younger brother.
Troy came close behind. Hermes flopped on his bed in Troy’s room
and pulled the covers over his head. Hector James stood in the
doorway.

“
Are you okay?” Troy
asked.

“
I got tired,” Hermes
said.

“
Shall we rest a bit?” Troy
asked.

“
Are we going to live
here?” Hector James asked.

“
If you like it here,” Troy
said.

“
I do,” Hector James
said.

“
Me too,” Hermes
said.

“
Good,” Troy
said.

“
Can we sleep now?” Hermes
asked. “Everybody keeps me up.”

Smiling, Troy turned off the light to let
the boys sleep.

F

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Eight hours later

Monday midday

November 2 – 1:34 p.m. MST

Denver, CO

“
Enjoy your run,” Alex
said. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

“
Going to have lunch with
some non-existent friends from high school?” John asked.

“
No, but Max went to lunch
with some friends from high school,” Alex gave him her best puzzled
look. “Are you confusing me with my twin?”

John laughed. She hugged him.

“
How about this, my
favorite spy?” John kissed her nose. “Troy and I are going for a
run in City Park. We’re hoping to get at least ten miles in while
his boys are playing light sabers with Fionn. If all goes well,
we’ll be back in about an hour and a half. If not, we’ll be here in
a jiffy.”

Alex nodded. He smiled and held her
tight.

“
Don’t die,” he said into
her ear like he always did.

“
I love you too,” she
said.

Stepping away, he nodded. He whistled for
Maggie, their English Springer spaniel, and joined Troy in the
front. She waved and went into the kitchen where Raz was waiting
for her. They stood looking at each other until the door to the
front closed after John and Troy. Nodding to him, she picked up her
travel coffee mug and followed him out the back of their home. They
went around the back of the house to the side garden gate. They
waited for a moment as they heard John, Maggie, and Troy run by and
then went out the gate. They slipped into the backyard of the house
next door and up a short flight of stairs to the back door.

Alex tapped once on the door. Raz counted to
ten out loud. She tapped again. They looked up for a camera to
capture their faces. They waited another moment before the lock to
the door opened. To ensure security, Raz went in first. He turned
and nodded to her.

“
Hey, I didn’t know you
made it,” Raz said as he went inside.

Alex shut and locked the door.

“
You’re late,” her father,
Patrick Hargreaves said when she entered the living room. In
perfect health, he was sitting at a table with her boss, Colonel
Howard Gordon, on one side and the Admiral on the other. Noémi,
Ben’s mother-in-law, sat across from them.

“
You’re supposed to be on
bed rest,” Alex said to Patrick. “So are you.”

She pointed to Colonel Gordon. He winked at
her.

“
How’s your daughter, sir?”
Alex asked the Admiral. “We’ve been quite concerned, especially her
husband.”

He beamed his answer back at her.

“
What I can’t figure out is
if I’ve joined you in your beds,” Alex said. “Or…?”

“
You make it sound so
tawdry,” Ben said as he came into the room with Raz.

“
I feel so slutty,” the
former head of the CIA said as he came into the room.

“
That’s because you are,”
Mammy said. She came in carrying a tray of freshly made doughnuts.
The men hopped up from their seats to grab a doughnut before they
were gone. “Who’s going to get the Mister from the car?”

“
I’ll go,” Jimmy Kelly
said. He hugged Alex before heading for the door.

“
Where’s the Captain?” Alex
asked.

“
He, Max, and Zack are
working on flight maps,” Patrick said. “How are you
Pumpkin?”

Alex nodded to her father.

“
Is it true?” Mammy
asked.

“
Is what true?” Alex
asked.

“
Do you have to have some
draconian medieval treatment for the damned flame retardant in your
stupid fatigues?” Steve Pershing asked as he entered the
room.

“
Agree to nothing,” Dominic
Doucet said in French. He hugged Alex. “Come to France. We’ll fix
whatever ails you.”

“
She received that injury
in France.” Her friend Xavier, member of Anonymous and top computer
security expert from Finland, looked up from his laptop. Alex
skipped over to say hi. He got up to give her a quick
hug.

“
But not from a Frenchman,”
Dominic said. “Outside of a few ego-bruising days of fly fishing,
Alexandra has never been injured at the hands of the
French.”

Alex shook her head at him. He smiled.

“
Are you having a heart
incident too?” Alex asked Dominic in French.

He hacked a fake cough and sat down next to
Ben.

“
Need to see the docs at
National Jewish for my asthma,” Dominic said in French. “You see,
my father and elder brother smoked when I was a child. My lungs are
challenged.”

Dom gave Ben a sour look and Ben shook his
head at the lie.

“
Who’s running Intelligence
in France?” Alex asked.

“
Your friend Y,” Dominic
said.

“
That’s a big step up for
Yvonne,” Alex said.

“
She is my assistant,”
Dominic turned to his elder brother, Ben. “God, you reek of
nicotine.”

“
Yes, mother,” Ben said.
“Alex, I think what we all want to know is…”

“
Are they really going to
shove a garden hose into your hip and…” Mammy’s face was a mask of
horror.

“
Yes, yes,” Alex said.
“That’s the treatment.”

Every face in the room soured.

“
Sounds positively
dreadful,” Sean Hudson from MI5 smirked at Alex from a corner of
the room. Alex waved her hellos. As he always did when she was
around, he blushed bright red.