"Go on then?" Xeno asked, curious.
"I've been trying to get Dad to do that for a while. Like, before you came back, I mean. He won't tell you, but he's actually really impressed with you. You were the first one in our family to go to university, you know?"
"Did he tell you that?" he replied. Despite the apology, his father wasn't usually the type to put his feelings into so many words.
"No, I worked it out." Shane said. "When you live and work with someone, it's easy to figure out. I think so, at least."
"When did you get so.. emotionally intelligent?" Xeno asked, amazed. He hadn't realised how much difference six years could make - when he'd left, Shane had barely turned eleven.
"I'm not, really." He looked away, bashful at the compliment. "I just saw something that needed to be done, and I helped it to happen."
"You're like dad, in that regard. You know that, right? You look like him, too." Xeno replied. It was true; he could fault his father for a lot of things, but being lazy had never been one of them.
"Yeah," Shane replied. "I get that a lot."
Suddenly, he came through the doors. "Xeno, there's some people sitting down out there who were asking for you."
"Really?" He asked, confused. As he stepped out of the double doors, he froze. From across the room, he made eye contact with Jess, and behind her was..
"Haiden." he whispered.
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR:
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, incredulous.
"Xeno, sit down." Jess commanded. "I've been trying to get through to you over the phone for the last week. We have huge news."
He did as she asked. "What's been happening at the museum since I've been gone? You've been all right, right?"
"The sabotage war's worse than it ever has been, and we're almost certain they're going to cut both astronomy and palaeontology." Jess' lips pressed together into a line. " Everyone in palaeontology thinks that you were the one that threw all that paper mache on the ground, some even think it was you that destroyed that pterodactyl in the first place."
"Not everyone in palaeontology." Haiden piped up. "I don't."
Xeno turned around to face him. It felt like it had been years since they'd last talked, like this. Jess continued; "Ms. Pepper basically forced Aruda to become the head of astronomy, and the sabotages basically mean that she's never free."
"How did you know I'd be here?" He asked.
"We'll get to that, I have a lot to explain to you." She pulled out her sketchbook. Clearly, she'd been making notes.
"Well go on then." He stated. He didn't mean to come across as rude, in actuality he'd really missed the pair of them, but seeing their faces brought back unpleasant memories from his last day.
"After you left, I got to thinking. What kind of museum's security cameras don't have night vision? I mean, night's when all thecrimes are going to happen, right?" She paused, sipping a coffee that she'd ordered beforehand, possibly just to add dramatic effect to her words. "So I asked Dr. Aruda; she's good with that kind of thing, you know? And we found the exact make and model of the security cameras in the hall. I looked them up on their website, and their main selling pointistheir night vision."
"Maybe they broke; why would-" He began.
"Don't interrupt me, I wasn't finished." Jess cut him off, clearly engrossed in her thoughts. He imagined that she'd perhaps rehearsed this speech beforehand.
"I knew you had this whole investigation with Haiden, so I went to ask him if you'd found any leads." She said, gesturing to the other man with her pen.
Haiden perked up. "Yeah, she asked me about the cameras. The only thing that we found out was from when we asked Mr. Crossley. He told me Ms. Pepper has all the camera footage linked to her computer in her office. Remember, Xeno?"
He looked at him, confused. "Yeah, I remember that. But I don't get it. Why would she lie?"
"Ahem?" The three of them turned around to see Robin with a notepad in his hand. "Are the three of you going to order?" It was jarring for Xeno to go from the worker to the customer so quickly.
"Uh, could I get another latte?" Asked Jess.
"I'll have what she's having." Continued Haiden.
