Ace

RODRIGUEZ

               Sam and I sat at our kitchen table that night, thinking about what LeBron had asked us to do.

               "His plan is absolutely fanatical," I said, shaking my head.

               "It's not that bad," Sam told me, "Besides, he said that we can meet him tomorrow to see how things work out." I chuckled sarcastically.

               "Oh, I've already met that little devil before! He almost killed me," I reminded her. "There's no way we're going to adopt that little ghoul," Sam's phone rang and she answered it, but I continued to talk anyway. "There's no way I'll introduce him as my son and say, 'This is my son, he stabbed me in the guts and tried to assassinate me one time, along with a contract killer named Sergei, who also assassinated my mom, so be careful!' Also, what about school? He can't even speak English, and who knows? Next thing we know, he'll be bringing a weapon to school and showing it off to everyone. Sooner or later, he'll get expelled and go to jail for killing someone! Who knows, he might even kill me in my sleep! And I can't speak Russian, so how am I going to know what or how–"

               "That was Ruth," Sam interrupted, putting her phone down. "Tod and Ruth rescued Daniel, but not the drive. She said that Daniel doesn't remember them. Anyways, what were you saying?" I sank back in my chair.

               "Never mind," I muttered, then realized what Sam was saying. "Wait, Ruth?! I thought she was in jail! Tod was supposed to keep watch on her!"

               "Tod was put on the phone and said that he was going to look for you, but then found out that Ruth went to Russia to get Daniel, so Tod went to Russia, too, to get Ruth and Daniel, since it would be like killing two birds with one stone," Sam explained.

               "Well, I guess that makes more sense since I had backup agents to protect me anyway–" I stopped and remembered the Ace Card. "Sam, where's the Ace Card? Sergei came to me looking for it. You might be in danger!" I warned. She laughed.

               "Don't worry, Rodriguez, it's back at the SIU along with your jacket because I stitched it into your pocket," she told me.

               "That explains why my jacket is missing," I discerned.

               "And it's in the strongest lock-down safe we have there. Even if traced, it has guards and agents protecting it at every angle. The safe is level thirty-two, I think."

               "Good," I said, "So, I guess this means that we can take a break and spend some time with Tony and maybe Adrian, too, as a family."

               "Aha!" Sam pointed at me and smiled. "So, you do love him!"

               "Huh?"

               "That's right. I heard everything you said while I was on the phone, and there's no need to worry about any of that. We'll go see him tomorrow, and if he hates us," she paused and suddenly her face turned all serious. "We'll still adopt him."