“Even when you’re here?” he asked staring at her. Lennon thought about it a moment and then turned back to Gaspar.
“Actually, no. When I’m here, I feel as though the world will right itself or that you’ll all help the world right itself. But you’re a few hundred people. Can a few hundred people help millions?” she asked.
“We started with a handful of people,” he smiled. “Now look at us. We’re helping hundreds, sometimes thousands a year. We have helped millions when it involves preventing countries from doing something fucking stupid.”
Lennon laughed, shaking her head.
“I love that you all are so direct in your conversations,” she smiled. “Sometimes I felt as though my editor was shielding me or keeping things from me. Like maybe he didn’t think I was mature enough to handle the world.”
“Maybe he did think that,” said Gaspar. “Would it have been such a bad thing that a man, old enough to have been your father, wanted to protect you, even if just for a little while?”
“I never thought of it like that,” she said quietly. “No. I guess it wasn’t such a bad thing. I think he was protecting me when he died.”
“I’ve done this for a lot of years, Lennon. Even the worst of men will often have a turn in their final moments. Your editor was a good man and probably knew he was going to die. He wasn’t about to waste his last breath giving you up. Had you sent him photos or notes?”
“No. I hadn’t had a chance. The only notes I had were from those witnesses and I gave them to Brooks and Mitchell. No photos. They were too afraid.”
Gaspar nodded, Chaos now squeezed between him and the young woman on the bench. Lennon laughed at the dog, his tongue hanging out in complete and utter bliss.
“He’s such a sweet thing for being so big,” she giggled.
“He doesn’t realize that he is big,” frowned Gaspar. “Damn dog weighs almost as much as me and thinks he’s a lap dog.”
“A lap dog,” whispered Lennon.
“Yeah, you know like one of those tiny, yappy little things that just sit on your lap being lazy,” he smirked.
“Yes, I know. I mean, I was repeating that because of something one of the witnesses said. Mrs. Ruvienne had two Pomeranians. They were her prize possessions. She had no grandchildren and didn’t want them, apparently. But one of the witnesses said the dogs barked at anything and everything, especially if it was strange to the palace. She never let the dogs out of her sight. If that’s true, they must have barked when those men stormed the palace or if they didn’t bark, they knew the people.”
“I agree,” nodded Gaspar. “See. You are a great investigative reporter. If she got away, it was because of those dogs, which means she probably still has them. I’m going to go let the team know. Nice job, Lennon.”
She stood and hugged Gaspar, smiling at the sweet dog beside her.
“Can I sit with him a while longer? I think I’ve made a new friend,” she grinned.
“You definitely can. It’s almost feeding time so watch your fingers.” He ran toward the offices and Lennon laughed looking down at the sweet face. Then she sobered.
“He was kidding, right?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Gaspar explained what Lennon had shared with him and AJ and Hiro went back to the videos to search once again. Tanner was still trying to coordinate the drones and lidar to seek for possible escape routes.
“Hi,” smiled Brooks walking toward Lennon under the hanging cypress of the trees.
“Hi, yourself,” she grinned. She boldly stood on her tiptoes and kissed him and he grinned.
“That’s something I could get used to,” he said pulling her closer.
“Do you mean that?” she asked.
“More than anything in the world. I know it feels fast, Lennon. I know we haven’t had a lot of alone time. But you’re all I think of. The only thing I think of.”
“Same,” she smiled. “I had a really great conversation with Gaspar earlier today. He was wonderful.”
“And scary,” smirked Brooks.
“Scary? No. No, no,” she said shaking her head. “He was sweet and kind and very helpful.”
