“Well, that’s the thing, Patrick. After the break-ins, I did enough research to ID Mr. Ross, but some stuff didn’t smell right, and I’ve done a little more digging. Phil Ross has no discernable source of income, and no employment history to suggest a pension. In fact, he doesn’t seem to have much history at all. Or social media presence, other than his obsession. And before about four years ago, there are no, and I mean zero, pictures of him on the net anywhere. He’s a cypher.”

“Do you think he’s Lorann?” Patrick asked.

Nat shook her head. “That wouldn’t make sense. Why would he investigate their landing site?”

“Or not set off the detector himself,” I added. “Or not recognize a disruptor. No, he’s human. Just … ”

“There’s more to him than we can see,” Nat finished for me.

“Which brings us back to the eternal question.” Patrick looked from one of us to the other. “What do we do now? Can we go to the cops to report this? Should we?”

“Uh-uh,” Nat said. “At some point they’d ask us why we think someone would want to do this to us. Do you have a good answer for that?” Without waiting for a response, she buried her face in her hands. “I think we’re past the point where we can hand this off and just walk away. Even if we wanted to.”

Chapter Twenty-Four: Spies R Us

Chapter Twenty-Four: Spies R Us

Day 18. Monday

After much discussion, we’d decided to try to act as normal as we could. While disappearing completely would certainly be possible with the Halo, it would leave us with zero options for hitting back. Instead, we would turn up the pressure with some moves of our own, now that we knew where to look.

The afternoon at work was interminable. Every time I thought of the whole scene with Phil, I started vibrating with excitement. We’d actually, finally, made some progress on the Loranna thing. It was odd, but having a solid lead on their base of operations made things somehow more real than, say, owning a flying saucer. I decided I wouldn’t mention that to Nat; she would mock me mercilessly for the illogic.

It took several centuries, but finally the clock hit five. I had my apron off and was heading for the front of the store within seconds. It would still take Patrick five minutes to get there, but somehow the waiting was easier to take on my own time.

Patrick pulled up and Nat scooted over to make room as I climbed in. “Let’s get this party started,” Nat said to me. “We have some planning to do.”

“And about damned time,” I said. Bravado notwithstanding though, I was fighting an uneasy feeling that we’d just stepped in over our heads.