Clover Undercover

HOW BAD COULD IT BE

"Bite me."

The knife in my hand spreading butter on a piece of toast for Bella stops mid smear. I slowly turn my head and glare at my brother.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he spits, slamming the fridge door closed so he could cross his arms and lean against it—looking every inch a stupid teenage boy.

"Bite me? Seriously? You wouldn't being saying this if Luca were here."

"You wouldn't even be talking to me about this if he were here. Where is he anyway?"

"Touche," I grin. "His buddy Thayer called and he had to go into work. Said he'd be back by 5 and would pick up dinner."

Elliot nods but jumps right back into arguing with me. "I deserve to come with you, and you know it. Maybe you forgot while because you've been busy playing secret agent.. but she was my mom too."

All the irritation his attitude stirred up evaporates at that utterance.

"I know, E. I'm sorry."

"So, I can come with you?"

I sigh and set the butterknife down, turning around to make sure Bella still has her headphones on and can't hear us.

"Obviously not Elliot, you wouldn't even be allowed into the establishment for crying out loud."

"Oh, but you are old enough?"

I give him a purposefully goofy smirk and waggle my eyebrows and him. "The ID in my purse says I am."

Elliot runs his hands down his face and glares at me even harder. "I don't like this. I just have a feeling it's going to go wrong."

I pick up the knife to finish buttering Bella's toast, cut the crust off and set it down in front of her.

"THANK YOU!" she yells over the theme song of Gabby's Dollhouse playing in her headset.

Her little feet swing back and forth as she shimmies her shoulders to the music.

"You're welcome," I exaggeratingly mouth, running a hand down her long black hair.

When I turn back to face Eli, he's trying his best to stay mad, but I can see the turmoil beneath the surface.

"You'd be lucky to pull off the same ploy twice," he says softly. "If they figure out who you really are..."

His breathing catches and my feet are instantly moving across the kitchen to give him a hug. When I pull away, his eyes are glassy, so I poke the tip of his nose to make him chuckle.

I know he's terrified of mom's fate becoming my own, so I say the only thing I know to ease his worries: the same thing she would say to ease mine..

"Good thing clovers are lucky."

*

Luca tosses his car keys onto his co-worker's desk.

"Whatcha got for me Thayer?"

"Like I said over the phone.. we got movement again. New players, but it's gonna be in the same location."

"Do we have surveillance of the prior showing yet?"

"Martinez is working on it, but so far cameras in the area keep coming back wiped two hours before and after the event."

"Martinez is new, isn't he?"

"New to us, but the guy's the best, Luca. I'm sure he'll scavenge something."

Luca nods and rubs his chin. "You think these two showings are connected?"