Fen waved to the people in the boat. “Hey, can you help us? We’re lost. Our cool new dragon-shaped drone there doesn’t have GPS.”
The man who had pointed at Precious beamed at her. With apparently sincere approval, he said, “Dragon-shaped drone is agreatidea. Why didn’t I ever think of that?”
His comment was so baffling that Fen could only stare at him. He had rumpled blond hair, bright blue eyes, an even brighter smile, and a lithe gymnast’s build. He wore blue jeans and a T-shirt with a picture of a T-rex wearing a T-shirt, captioned T-REX. As the boat came closer, Fen could see that the T-shirt the T-rex was wearing also had a picture of a T-rex wearing a T-shirt, captioned T-REX. When she squinted, she could almost see that the T-shirt within the T-shirt also had a T-shirt, and so on to infinity. The effect was hypnotic.
“Merlin…” another man sighed. He was a burly, handsome black man with silvering hair and beard. His demeanor of effortless command made it obvious that he was the boss, and his tone made it obvious that Merlin was a complete loose cannon of whom he was nonetheless very fond. Fen had several employees to whom she was always sighing “Juan…” or “Lydia…” in identical tones. She warmed to the boss immediately.
A muscular Latino man with a military haircut and bearing elbowed the T-rex guy aside. Eyeing Carter, he said, “You’re a mess. What did you do, dive into the swamp head-first and then go finger-painting?”
“Pete…” began the boss. This tone was more warning than indulgent.
“Hey!” Fen exclaimed, her temper flaring. “We’re the victims of a crime—we were kidnapped and dumped here—and you’re going to insult us for beingdirty?In aswamp?!”
A slim white woman with rainbow-dyed hair stepped forward. Even that simple movement had an astonishing grace. If she wasn’t a dancer or an acrobat, Fen would eat… well, not a bullfrog… another pawpaw, maybe. With a teasing grin, the rainbow-haired woman said, “Say something, Carter.”
Fen twisted around. “Carter? You know these people?”
Carter had the oddest expression, as if he was torn between being astonished, pleased, and disbelieving. Clearing his throat, he said, “They’re my tea—uh, they’re people I work with. Sometimes. They’re the ones I told you about. The Defenders.”
A tall man with auburn hair and a professorial air said dryly, “And are you going to introduce your companion, Carter?”
“Like you don’t already know, Ransom,” Carter snapped.
Ransom replied, “As a matter of fact, I don’t. We were only looking for you.”
Merlin straightened his T-rex T-shirt and offered Fen his hand. “Please to meet you! I’m Merlin Merrick.”
She shook it automatically, covering his palm with mud and blue paint. “Fenella Kim.”
It wasn’t as if Fen wasn’t used to her name causing a stir. She was famous, after all. But she wasn’t used to it getting the reaction it provoked from the Defenders.
Merlin, Pete, and the rainbow-haired woman burst out laughing.
Ransom remarked, “As a high school student once wrote in an English paper, ‘And then the hand of fate stepped in.’”
Only the boss managed to react like a normal person, though even he had an amused twinkle in his eyes. He said, “Pleased to meet you, Fenella. I’m Roland Walker, and I’m the boss of this odd crew. Take no notice of them. They’re laughing at Carter, not you.”
“I know they’re laughing at Carter,” Fen snapped. Far from being quenched by his words, her anger burned hotter. Turning to the rest of them, she said, “Odd is a nice way to put it! Let me tell you, Carter put his own body between me and men with guns! Sure, they weren’t real guns, but he didn’t know that. They were kidnappers and assaulters—that blood on his head is plenty real—and he defended me from them, even though for all he knew, it would cost him his life. That’s where the mud and paint came from. Oh yes, so hilarious. Ha ha.”
“Fen…” Carter began.
But she wasn’t finished. Glaring at the Defenders, she added, “HA!”
They were all silent, looking properly abashed.
Carter caught her by the wrist and turned her around. To her surprise, he was smiling. “Fen, it’s okay. They’re weird and annoying and tactless, but they don’t mean any harm. And they did come to rescue me.” Turning to the Defenders, he said, “Right?”
They nodded.
“We’re not laughing at Carter as a person,” Merlin assured her. His smile practically lit the swamp. “We’re laughing because he was so mad at you over you trying to do a hostile takeover of his company, and then he somehow got trapped in the swamp with you, and now you don’t seem hostile anymore. You’re not, are you?”
“No,” she admitted. “And the hostile takeover is off.”
“See?” Merlin spread his hands wide. “That’s all.”
“It ispretty funny to see him covered in mud and paint, considering how fussy he is about his clothes,” put in Pete. “I have a thirteen-year-old daughter who thinks less about how she looks.”
Fen gave him a freezing glare. “I’m fairly certain your thirteen-year-old daughter isn’t the CEO of a Fortune 500 company whose stocks rise and fall depending on people’s trust in her. I expect she’s never had to consider that if her image isn’t exactly right, her many employees might find their livelihoods in danger.”
