Lucy Kelly (13 page)

“You can cook breakfast,” she said with a smile.  “For dinner, we’re having one of my favorite fast meals.  Of course, if you want to help, I won’t say no.  Right now, I’m just prepping the ingredients.” 

She placed two packages of boneless, skinless, chicken breasts and thighs on the counter.  She got a cutting board and a sharp knife and explained what she was doing as she went along.  She rinsed off the chicken and blotted it dry.  Then she cut it into strips. 

Ishme immediately got another cutting board and helped her cut the chicken.  Once they were sliced, she heated a large skillet and poured in some extra virgin olive oil. 

Then she cooked the chicken strips – and because they were in strips, they cooked quickly.  She put them on a platter to cool. 

She went back to the fridge and pulled out the spinach to wash it, dry it, and chop it.  The men were intrigued with her salad spinner.  They thought it was an ingenious way to remove water from the greens.  She made a mental note to send a few of them with Grace and Addie as going away presents. 

She put the chopped spinach into a refrigerator dish and covered it.  Then she diced up the cooled chicken.  After she finished, she also stored that in a refrigerator dish.  While she was busy preparing the chicken and spinach, she had Ishme cut four zucchini and four yellow squash into bite-sized chunks and also stored those in a refrigerator dish.

Next, she pulled out the package of pre-cooked Italian meatballs; she always kept hers in the refrigerator.  Before she started to cut them, she thought of an idea on how to contact Grace.

“Ishme, would you cut the meatballs into quarters, and then put them into another refrigerator dish for me?” she asked.

“Whatever you need,” he said.

As he reached for the package, Becky was already running out of the kitchen.  She got to her office and, opening the safe, pulled out the special glasses Jett had given her and the BEIP.  She sent a text message to Jett and Jalen and then waited.  She received almost an immediate response.  She sent back another text and explained about the additional evidence and bank accounts.

Jett sent back a message saying he would speak with Captain Udaka and get back to her.  She gave him the number of her bat phone and then said goodbye.  Putting the BEIP back in the safe, she grabbed up the satellite phone and left the office again.

Standing outside her office was Markus.

“You were not working again, were you Becky?” he asked.

“No, Dad, I was sending a text message to Jett.  He’ll be getting back to me soon.  Now I want to see if the dinner prep is done,” she said.

She and Markus walked back to the kitchen and saw that Ishme had completed the remaining steps and had cleaned up.

“Okay, we’re all set.  When we’re ready to eat, it will only take about fifteen minutes to finish the cooking. 

“Now, it’s only four o’clock and that’s too early for dinner.  So, who’s up for a game?”

She turned to Markus, “Do you think Ari could be allowed into the den?” she asked.

“I think he could sit in one of the chairs and join the group.  You have those chairs that recline, do you not?” asked Markus.

“Yes, there are several.  Let’s have a fire, too.  When we get hungry, dinner can be served picnic style.  We can use the dining room tomorrow when everyone is feeling better,” she said, waving an arm towards that room.

They all answered in the affirmative and scrambled to do as she asked. 

I could get used to this.  I better not let it go to my head,
she thought.

Becky walked into the den and went to some cupboards built into the wall below the bookshelves along the left-hand side of the room.  The fireplace was in the center of the room with a raised brick surround about fourteen inches high.  It formed into a circle with what resembled a black steel bowl on a small pedestal in the middle.  The flue was a mirror image, only it had the chimney poking out the top and through the roof. 

The den had been a large addition, it stuck out on the backside of the house overlooking the rear garden.  It ran thirty feet along the back of the house and nearly twenty feet out into the garden.  Having five acres meant she could spread out all she wanted. 

The addition was only one story and that was why Becky had been able to put the fireplace there.  A steel mesh curtain hung from the flue to keep embers from flying out.  She’d put colorful pillows upholstered in a thick tapestry fabric on the bricks where people could sit. 

The left side of the room had a couch, two recliners, and a loveseat.  The recliners were medium brown leather and the two couches were striped in deep blue and cream with a faint overlay of gold fleur-de-lis.  A large, low coffee table had been made out of some old cellar doors.  They still had the original leather bands and large round hand-hammered rivets holding the boards together, as well as the original pull rings and slide bolt.  They were mounted on a base and you could open the doors and find additional storage below.

The recliners faced the wall to the yard.  There were two sets of French doors leading out and you could see a brick patio stretching for about twelve feet on the other side. 

Against the wall and even with the fireplace, between the two doors, was a long low Chinese Altar cabinet in a rich cherry with brass fittings and decorations.  It held all of the peripherals for watching television: her cable box, Blue-Ray player, VHS and DVD players, as well as her Xbox, Wii and a wireless router.  The four drawers along the top of the cabinet held games and accessories.  Above the cabinet was a wall-mounted sixty-inch plasma TV. 

The drapes ran along the garden side of the room in three sections.  If she wanted, she could cover the entire wall on that side.  The dark, hunter green velvet drapes made the room quite cozy on a cold winter night.

The right wall matched the left with floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelves with a row of drawers in the cabinets below.  There were also some club chairs, two each with a round end table between them. 

The pool table took up most of the space.  The rack with the cues and chalk was along the back wall.  That wall was painted a pale grass green to reflect the outside.  The paintings along that wall were all spring landscapes.

This was the room, other than her office, where Becky spent most of her time.

“Okay, guys,” she said, piling up boxes in her arms.  “We have a large selection of games here.”

“Let me carry those for you,” said Kai, getting out of his chair.

“Thanks,” she said with a smile. 

She followed him back to the coffee table, where he put the games down.  Ari picked up the remote and turned off the television.

“It was nice of you to light the fire.  I’m going to close the drapes; it’s chilly out tonight,” she said, as she walked across the room and pulled them shut one at a time.  She checked first to make sure the doors to the outside were locked. 

They spent the next three hours playing various games.  Since there were six of them, they played
Chinese Checkers
first.  Then they split into two groups of three.  Kai, Nyal, and Markus played
Sorry
while she, Ishme, and Ari played
Trouble.
  They were children’s games that were popular when she was growing up and rarely got to play, but they were still fun.  The guys were cutthroat players, not cutting anyone any slack - except for her, so she easily won.

Next, Kai and Ari played
Battleship
, while the rest of them played
Parcheesi
.  Last, they all played a round of
Clue
. 

Becky didn’t bring out the
Pictionary
or
Trivial Pursuit
because until they’d learned more about Earth, it would be too difficult for them.  She didn’t want to get into the involved games like
Risk
and
Monopoly
.

During the second round of games, her bat phone rang.  It was Jett.  He’d spoken to Captain Udaka: a police officer named Sgt. Sam Cooper was going to come by the house to pick up the information from her. 

He came and left during the final game of
Clue
.  Though Becky did invite him in for a beer, he declined, saying he wanted to drop off the evidence and get back to his protection detail.  He wasn’t going to trust anyone else to watch Captain Udaka’s back until the Kadyrovs were out of commission.

As Becky handed him the storage device that held all the information she’d dug up, she told him he was holding the final lock that would put the Kadyrovs away for good.  He had an ear-to-ear grin on his face and a bounce in his step when he left.

“Okay, guys, I’m going to put dinner together,” she said, after Markus won their game of
Clue
.  She got up and so did Ishme.

“I will help you,” he said.

“I will help, too,” said Kai giving Ishme a look.

“Okay, it’ll go faster that way,” said Becky as she left the room.

She went into the kitchen and first turned on the ovens.  Out of the refrigerator, she pulled out all the ingredients they had prepped earlier.  She added five packages of crescent rolls, a large package of shredded Mozzarella, and a package of bacon bits.  Next, she walked to a cupboard and pulled out two large bowls, which Ishme took from her, and pulled out two jars of pasta sauce.  One was a creamy Alfredo and the other was a creamy tomato sauce.

“Okay.  First, put all the red sauce in the first bowl and all the white sauce in the other.  While you do that, I’m going to start cooking the veggies.” 

She returned to the cupboard pulled out a large casserole dish and put an eighth of an inch of water in it.  After she put in all the chopped zucchini and yellow squash, she added a couple of tablespoons of butter and sprinkled Spike over it all.

“What kind of herb is that?” Ishme asked.  “I like the smell.”

“It’s a spice mixture.  I love it and search through all the stores to find it.  It’s really great on veggies and especially potatoes.” 

She put a cover over the casserole, leaving an opening at the corner.  Walking over to the microwave, she put the casserole inside and set the timer for ten minutes, but didn’t press the Start button.

“Ishme, you add meatballs to the red sauce and Kai will add the chicken to the white sauce.  Then I’m going to add the chopped spinach and bacon bits to the white sauce. We’ll split the bag of shredded Mozzarella between the two bowls,” she said.

It took them a few minutes to empty all the refrigerator dishes and stir the contents in the bowls. 

“Okay.  Now we open the crescent rolls.  You guys open the packages while I get the baking sheets,” she said.

Ishme and Kai picked up the packages of crescent rolls and looked for the openings.  Ishme was just starting to read the package when Becky came back in with the baking sheets.

“Sorry, I should have shown you how to do that first,” Becky said.

She picked up one of the packages and showed them how to peel back the label, bang the package on the counter, and pop the seal.

“Take one roll, detach the individual pieces, and roll them out.  Then pinch the large sides together to make a cone.  I’ll spoon in the chicken mixture and you do the meatballs,” she instructed, as she did one herself to show them.

Becky started with one crescent roll and the two guys quickly caught on to the idea.  They could fit about a tablespoon of mixture into each pastry cup.  Then she pinched the tops together and placed it on the baking sheet.  They filled all five packages of crescent rolls, about forty of them.  They were small and these guys were huge; she didn’t want them to go hungry.  

This would also make enough for them to snack on as appetizers.  She put the trays into the ovens and set the timers per the instructions on the crescent roll package, about twelve minutes. 

She started cleaning up the empty bowls and food-saver dishes, loading up the dishwasher. 

“Are the vegetables already cooked?” asked Ishme.

“No.  Thank you for the reminder.  Now we just need to cook the steaks; would you find out how everyone likes their meat cooked?” she asked and at the microwave, pressed the
Start
button. 

She went over to the fridge and pulled out five steaks.  She, herself,  was just going to have appetizers and veggies, she didn’t need a steak, too.  However, these guys would.  The steaks would cook fast on the grill built into her stovetop and the entire meal would be ready in fifteen minutes.

They had put all the meatball pockets in one oven and the chicken pockets in the other.  Becky got some paper plates, utensils, and napkins and asked Ishme to take them to the den. 

When he came back, Nyal was with him.  She watched them enter the room.  Seeing those two together, her heart gave a little leap.  They were so ruggedly handsome with their broad shoulders.  She tried not to think about what had happened earlier when Ishme had walked in on her.  Part of her had wanted him to stay, which was completely crazy, she thought.  She’d known him for less than one day.

She took the vegetables out of the microwave and Kai carried them into the den with a slotted serving spoon.  She and Nyal brought the mini hot pockets piled high on two large trays, while Ishme took in the platter with the steaks.

“Does anyone want another drink?” she asked. 

Becky pointed to the cupboards over by the pool table.  “The two on the far right are coolers, they have beer, water, and sodas in them.”

Kai offered to fill everyone’s drink requests so Becky sat down on the floor at the end of the coffee table where she had been sitting while they played games earlier.  Markus sat on the loveseat and Ishme and Nyal took up most of the couch, while Kai and Ari had the recliners.

“This is one of my favorite meals to prepare.  I like it because you can put almost anything you want into the pastry to your own taste.  I call it my pocket picnic but in honor of you guys, I’m going to change the name to HeVanly Crescents,” she said with a smile.  “What I want to try next is Samosas.  I just need to get some spices from the Indian grocery first.”