“She’s out back with Lola. She’s having a blast playing with Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander.”
“Who?” Nico blurted.
“Oh, hi, Nico. Those are our goats,” Calliope said.
Mal and Nico exchanged confused looks. Calliope owning goats was no less confusing than Thomas being friends with the head of a crime family. Mal had met Calliope. She looked much younger than her actual age. She had the same dark hair and light eyes as her son, Dimitri. But Nico said that, up until Thomas and Aiden got together, nobody had any idea what Calliope looked like. They hadn’t even believed Calliope was her real name. Mal supposed it wasn’t weird to find a tech nerd who wanted to live completely off the grid…but goats?
“You…have goats?” Nico asked, clearly on the same page as Mal.
“Yes,” she said, as if the answer should have been obvious.
Nico blinked several times, like he was processing this new data. “Whydo you have goats?”
Calliope scoffed. “The chickens were lonely, obvi.”
“Oh, right. Of course, how stupid of me,” Nico deadpanned.
“What are your chickens’ names?” Mal asked, suddenly desperate to know.
“Bang Chan, Hyunjin, Changbin, Han, LeeKnow, IN, Seungmin, and Felix,” she rattled off, like these were all perfectly normal names for chickens.
Those names sounded weirdly familiar. How did he know those names?
“You named your chickens afterStray Kids?” Nico asked.
Oh, that made sense. Calliope shared Shiloh and Ever’s love of K-Pop. Shiloh had pictures, posters, trading cards, and DVDs scattered all over their bedroom. Levi said he’d probably be jealous if they weren’t all so hot and so unattainable.
“Does Ever know?” Nico continued. “He’d go crazy. He’d probably beg Arsen to buy him chickens, too.”
“More importantly,” Mal cut in, “does Felix know he shares a name with one of your chickens?”
Calliope’s responding laugh was borderline diabolical. “No, I’m saving it as a surprise.”
“So, do you live on a…farm?” Nico asked. “I thought you lived in the city.”
“God no. Just outside it. And it’s not a farm so much as a homestead. Lola and I prefer to be self-sustaining…just in case.”
Nico shot a startled glance at Mal. “Just in case of what?”
“The world is a chaotic and unpredictable place. You never know what could happen. We like to be prepared,” she said, sounding both vague and ominous.
Nico frowned at the phone. “You’re not, like…bunker people, are you?”
“Bunker people?” Calliope repeated, her amusement obvious.
“Yeah. Or one of those doomsday preppers?”
Calliope ignored him, promptly changing the subject. “Can I help you two with something since it seems you’re not simply calling to check on Casey?”
“We need some information, please?” Mal asked.
There was a sound like she’d clapped her hands together. “Of course, ask and ye shall receive, my lovelies. How may I assist you?”
“We need information on Jason and Frankie Zhao, given names Zhao Jun and Zhao Feng,” Mal said.
There was a squeak like a protesting hinge and then the delicious sound of fingers tapping rapid-fire across a creamy keyboard. Finally, she said, “Hmm, let’s see. Zhao Jun, born May 6th, 1995 in the Yuen Long District. Arrived in the U.S. approximately seven months ago, lives in a condo in Wellington Heights.”
“A condo? Really?” Nico asked, face scrunching.
