Bullet Point

Chapter 3: The Rundown

"Okay, so where did you go to school before?" Mrs. James asks, handing a glass of orange juice to Eamon. 

"Uh, I went to a public school in Annapolis." He says staring at the cup intently. 

"Well, the kids here go to private school across town. It's called D.C. Prep and it's my vision that sending foster kids to quality schools helps them have a better life." Mrs. James gives him a soft smile. "Three of our oldest kids take turns driving the kids to school."

"What about Miss CIA who just ran out of here?" Eamon cracks a small smile of his own.

"Ninette's a much different case than the rest of them. She's the oldest, she's the only one with a room to herself, she has a older boyfriend, and of course her work situation is a little out of the ordinary."

"Yeah, how exactly does a 17 year old get hired as an international spy?" Eamon laughs a little.

"Well, my husband- before he passed away- had been a major corporate officer in their headquarters. One day when Ninette was 15 he was in the White House with her and got a call. He couldn't just leacve her there so she followed him. She ended up persuading the criminal to drop his gun and surrender. They've been bringing her in ever since when they get that kind of case on their hands."

"Oh, so she's never seen Area 51?" Eamon jokes.

"No, that's a different branch." Mrs. James says with a hint of seriousness.

Eamon just looks at her.

Meanwhile, Ninette stares through the glass at an interrogation of a portly man with his small amount of hair slicked back with a little too much gel.

Kellan wraps an arm around her waist and looks on as well. "They've been on him for thirty minutes and nothing." 

Ninette narrows her eyes and Kellan lets out a fast breath.

"Oh my god." Ninette's eyes light up and she pushes out of Kellan's hold. "Holy shit!" She grins a little and Kellan can tell she's figured something out.

"Hey, what is it? What've you got?" Kellan asks facing her, taking her hands in his.

"Two years ago. A sniper was aiming at the Capitol Building from the curb though his car window. Do you remember?" She urges him.

"Uh, no. That happens like once a month." Kellan smirks.

"Wll, anyway! That man went to federal prison, but there was also a man in the back seat. They couldn't charge him 'cause all he did was sit in the car. They let him go." Ninette explains.

"What exactly does that have to do with this case?" 

"That's him." Ninette thrusts her finger in gesture toward the interrogation room. "I know, because he has that disgusting mole above his left eyebrow. And the porn stache is the same too."

"Did you just describe an international threat as having a 'porn stache'?" Kellan shakes his head with a light and airy laugh. 

"Yes I did." Ninette argues triumphantly. 

"Well either way, how will that help?" Kellan asks.

"Because! It means we already have a testimony from him. He gave a statement in the previous case and it should still be on file somewhere. If they bring that out it might throw him off, like thinking that we have something on him that we don't. If we can come off as knowing more than we do, we have a better chance of getting him to call of the bombs!"

"Damn." Deborah Collins comes up from behind Kellan with a large file in her hands marked CLASSIFIED. "You have a remarkable memory, Miss James." She turns her head around. "Fisher, get that file out for me and give it to the men in the investigation department." She orders a man at the coffee machine, his incorrectly buttoned dress shirt coming untucked from his kahakis in few spots.

Ninette smiles proudly, her eyes shimmering in the sunlight coming in through the sky light.

.

***

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"Okay, so what about the other kids? What is there to know about them?" Eamon asks kindly.

"Well, you met Ninette. Tre and Darien will be your roommates. They're both 16, and they're Ninette's adopted brothers. They've been here for a very long time. Be careful of Tre, he can get very heated. Don't let him offend you. Darien plays football, he has a girlfriend named Jessica, and he was never in the foster system." Mrs. James rattles off.

"Good to know."

"Oh, and that's another rule. No girls upstairs unless I'm home and when girls are here, all door must be unlocked." 

Eamon nods. "Got it."

"Okay, the other adopted one is Madison. She's 17 and she's from Australia. Hands off. She shares a room with Hailey and Naya. Hailey's 15 and the newest foster kid and Naya's 16 and the cheerleader."

"Okay." Eamon says.

"Next room is Adrian and Chad. Adrian is 12 and Chad is 10. Give Chad a break, he's been having problems with bullies at school and at home. Adrian has been here for four years and Chad's been here about 4 months."

Eamon ponders a bit. "So, you have a variety of ages?"

Mrs. James nods, her hair flopping around her shoulders. 

"And last you have Cya and Christal. Cya's 12 and Christal's 13. Cya's very artistic, but she never talks. She's had some bad experiences in foster homes in the past. No one has ever heard her speak, besides Christal. She just sits in her room and paints. And Christal on the hand never stops talking. Her mother had a meth lab in her basement and she had problems with drugs starting when she was 11. She was only in one other foster home before she came here a year ago."

"Is that everyone?" Eamon asks.

"Yeah, that's all of them. When they get home from school and when Ninette gets back we'll have a little meeting with everyone. Now I just need to go make your bed and readjust the bathroom schedule."

"Bathroom schedule?" Eamon asks dumbfoundedly.

"When you have ten kids who all need to use one bathroom, you need to limit shower times. Half the kids get the shower at night, the other half in the morning."

"Oh, okay." He says softly.

"So, what is there to know about you, Eamon? Anything special?" 

"Not really."

"Well, what do you do for fun? Any hobbies?"

"I write." Eamon states, looking down.

"Really? What do you write?"

"Journals. Stories. Poetry." 

"That's really nice." Mrs. James places her hand on his elbow comfortingly. "Do you do well in school?" 

"Usually. But my school wasn't very challenging so I really don't know."

"Well all of the teachers and students are very nice at D.C. I know you'll do great."