Mostly, Cam managed to avoid being the target of her wacky schemes. That didn’t mean it was out of the realm of possibility.
Aunt Dixie spent the bulk of her time haranguing his eldest brother Diesel, in his capacity as Fearless Leader and manager of the Big Bang Truck Stop, to approve her never-ending and completely outlandish ideas to make money for the old folks’ home. A recent one involved a wet T-shirt contest at the home using Big Bang Truck Stop T-shirts. Aunt Dixie insisted it would be good advertising for the upstairs side of the business.
Diesel put the brakes on that plan.
A month before that, she’d wanted to produce a very candid silver fox calendar and had already lined up twelve elderly volunteers to “drop trou,” as she put it, to “rake in the big bucks.” Diesel quashed that plan seconds after hearing it.
Cam felt sorry for his brother, but didn’t want to inherit the job of keeping Aunt Dixie in line if Diesel decided to run screaming from her seemingly endless schemes.
He parked his SUV in the truck stop’s side lot. He’d once helped carry Diesel’s Earther girlfriend, Juliana, to her car after shooting her with a Defender to make her forget about seeing a Moogalian alien on the loose in the side lot. At the time, they’d thought she was pure human, and had just witnessed the drunken half-sea creature, half-humanoid attempt to enter a forbidden door to the basement facility.
Diesel had been rather perturbed, but Cam had just been doing his job as chief of security. He smiled at the memory, but quickly frowned as he thought about Ria being zapped and forgetting things about their time together.
She was an Alpha, which meant the Defender wouldn’t work on her. It was a great tool to keep earthlings from finding out about what really went on at the Big Bang Truck Stop’s basement facility. He realized now he had a better understanding of his big brother’s supreme frustration with him over the matter back then, even though it was the right call. He was also lucky Juliana forgave him.
Last night, he’d contemplated the possible need to use the device on Ria if she found out about his alien identity, but hoped it would never come to that. Well, now it neverwouldcome to that. Alphas were immune to the effects of the Defender and his Ria was a beautiful, free-spirited Alpha…and very nearly promised forever to another man.
He frowned and tried to think of something other than dwelling on her possible future with someone else.
Cam wasn’t certain he wanted to talk to Axel just yet. Would Diesel know about the cruise liner and what had happened? Surely he would. With his quick plan in place, he raced downstairs and headed toward his office to discuss the matter with someone—anyone—other than Axel.
Diesel spotted him before he made it to the sanctuary of his office and waved him over. As Cam approached, one of three women from the recovery team dispatched last month to Nocturne Falls, appeared from the basement entrance right next to Diesel.
“Elise Greene, as I live and breathe,” Diesel said. “How are you doing after your adventures in Georgia?” Elise’s gaze cut to Cam, her boss, as if she wasn’t certain how to answer. Cam knew exactly why.
“Diesel, what’s wrong with you? Her last name is Midori, not Greene. Victoria’s last name is Greene.”
His brother frowned, turning to Elise for confirmation. She looked sheepish and said, “That’s right. Midori, not Greene.”
“Wait a minute. How long have I had your name wrong?” Diesel’s horrified expression as he asked the question was likely answer enough.
Cam chose not to let it go. His team member deserved his support. “Well, gee, Diesel. How long did you think her name was Greene and not Midori?”
Elise Midori, Victoria Greene and their cousin Stella Grey had been dispatched after a UFO from Alpha-Prime crashed near Nocturne Falls on its way to Alienn, Arkansas’s underground way station. Their mission had been to retrieve the pilot, guard and prisoner on the transport, and conceal the existence of extraterrestrials on Earth. They’d found a lot more than they bargained for, but that was a story for another day.
His brother shrugged. “Well, I guess…since she’s worked here.” He looked confused and dismayed over his mistake. “But Midori means green, doesn’t it, in Italian?”
“And yet her name remains Midori and not Greene in whatever language you choose.”
Elise smiled indulgently. “Honestly, I don’t think you’ve ever called me by the wrong last name before. Usually, you just say, ‘Hey there, Elise’ and move on.”
Diesel pushed out a sigh. “Well, I’m sorry I’ve had it wrong in my head all this time, but—”
Cam broke in. “Wait for it, Elise, he’s about to play the ‘I’m a lovesick dude’ card because he’s got a woman in his life.”
“Bite me, Cam,” Diesel said with a grin. To Elise he said, “Again, my apologies for the error and, yes, I’m also a lovesick dude, by way of explanation.”
“I accept your apology even though it isn’t needed, and I hope you aren’t further thrown off when I tell you that my last name isn’t Midori anymore.”
“It’s not?”
Cam narrowed his gaze. “You changed your name? Really?”
“Well, it’s not common knowledge yet, but Riker and I eloped. We wanted to have a ceremony in Alienn with Riker’s brother Draeken before we head back to Alpha-Prime.”
Diesel and Cam both said at the same time, “You married The Calderian? Awesome!” The Calderian was Alpha-Prime’s top law enforcement entity. Riker Phoenix was just as well known on Earth as on their home planet.
Cam and Diesel looked at each other and said, “Jinx! You owe me a soda.” They also punched each other in the shoulder.
