12
Tennyson
Tennyson lifted the crockpot lid. Kaye had made chicken stew and left it to cook for the afternoon. All Ten had to do was slice the fresh Italian bread Kaye bought and dinner would be served. Ronan was at Jude’s talking about how to approach Maria in the morning. Ten had no interest in that meeting, so he’d taken Everly home with him. Ezra and Lizzie had been in the middle of a movie.
He grabbed bowls and spoons and set them beside the crockpot for when Ronan came home.
“Do you want to talk about Maria, Dad?” Everly asked, taking her seat at the table.
Ten sighed and slumped into his seat across from her. “This is grown up stuff.”
“Dad, my entire class is talking about the head in the freezer. They want updates from me, Woofie, and Aurora since our fathers are working the case. It’s like we’re celebrities.”
Ten snickered. He believed it. “What do you say when kids ask you for updates?”
“I tell them I don’t know what’s happening, but our classmates don’t believe me. It makes them ask even more.”
“What if you told them the information was Top Secret and if you told, your father would have to arrest you and throw you in jail!” Ten surprised himself by laughing.
“Imagine little me in jail for being a big mouth.” Everly giggled. “It’s a good thing talking too much isn’t a crime, otherwise Daddy and Uncle Jude would be cellmates.”
Ten laughed again. “Imagine how quiet it would be at night. We could watch our shows without Dad’s big mouth spoiling them. His snoring wouldn’t wake me up all night.”
“But we’d miss him. Daddy might be a dumbass sometimes, but he loves us and keeps us safe. That’s more important than hearing our shows, but thank God we can rewind them!” Everly seemed to study Tennyson. “You met Fat Sal today.”
“I did.” There was no sense in lying. Everly already knew the answer.
“He knows who the head belongs to.” Shivering, Everly wrapped her arms around herself. Her eyes slid shut. “His name is Anne Ree. Anne Ree Pascal.” Everly’s eyes popped open. “I wonder if he’s related to that hunky Pedro Pascal, you know, Baby Yoda’s father? He’s so cute!”
Ten laughed. Everly was dead on, Pedro Pascal was hunky, but Fat Sal said Maria’s forbidden boyfriend was French so the odds werenotin Everly’s favor. “Is the first name like Henry only the ‘h’ is silent. Like Enri?”
“That sounds like right,” Everly agreed.
The door alarm sounded and Ronan called out, “Ezra is staying overnight with Lizzie.”
“I hate to ask, but do you know how he ended up in the freezer?” He had so many more questions he wanted to ask, but didn’t know if he’d be able to get them in with Ronan walking into the kitchen.
“I don’t know, Dad. I’m really trying to see it, but it’s red.”
“What’s red?” Ronan asked, kissing the top of Everly’s head. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“We’re talking about the dead head, Daddy. I saw his name.”
Ronan slumped into the seat beside Tennyson. “Yousawhis name?”
Everly nodded. “Henri Pascal. Dad was asking if I could see how he ended up in the freezer. I don’t know. All I see is the color red.”
Ronan grimaced. “Red like blood or red like anger?”
“Anger. Whoever hurt Henri was super angry.” Everly sounded absolutely sure of herself.
“If I show you a picture, do you think you’d recognize who did it?” Ronan asked.
“Maybe,” Everly said, leaning over the table toward her fathers, obviously eager to help.
“Just for the record, I hate this,” Ronan said. “You shouldn’t know about heads in freezers and the bad people who put them there.”
“Yes, I should, Daddy,” Everly said gently. “There are bad things in this world and kids need to know how to spot them. It’s great that you want to protect me and keep me safe, but sometimes I need more information.”
