Page 35 of Magnum, Volume 2

She threw the dice and made her move. I threw the dice and made mine.

No one said anything the rest of the game, and when she beat me again, she stood and walked to Squatch, climbed into his lap, and made herself comfortable. He held her as a father would hold a child, complete with a quick kiss to the top of her head.

“I like Storm,” Squatch told her. “I think it would be sad if she can never know the truth about her new friends. Not just what Magnum is, but the rest of us, too. She’s all about digging for the truth and learning the uncomfortable facts about people, and if she never knows our true natures? She’ll never really know us.”

“Our Kitty likes her, too,” Brooke said. “Your Magnum’s time in prison fundamentally changed him. He’s a different person now than he was before. Slower to trust, and he values his life in a way he never did, before. He is harsher with women now, and I’m not a fan of the rigidity, but based on what he sees of Storm, she seems to be.”

No one said anything for several long moments, and then Brooke said, “I must meet your Storm before I can make a decision. I will leave it up to Squatch and Kitty to make that happen, so you don’t have to bring her here. Will the two of you have a tea party with me now? I want to enjoy the fun peppermint treat you brought me.”

It turns out, this meant all schnapps and zero tea, but that was okay. We sat at a fancy table and used fancy manners, and twenty minutes later, Squatch and I drove out of the gate.

I didn’t breathe easily until we made it to the interstate, though.

“Kitty and I can have Brooke over to our house, and we can invite you and Storm over,” Squatch told me through our headphone microphones. “We’ll tell Storm we’re babysitting Kitty’s niece.”

I was about to agree to that when he said, “Actually, we might do better by giving Brooke a special treat. Maybe a ride on your boat. Something she doesn’t often get to do. Can you make that work?”

I blew out a breath. “Sure. Any chance we’ll be able to tell her on that night, if she agrees Storm can be told? Also, is there someone else we can go to, if Brooke won’t do it?”

“The Chattanooga chapter is close to Cora and Marco. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to it, but they’d probably be able to get you an audience with him.”

Marco is the leader of the new Senatus ruling body, so that would get me to the top person, but fuck, I hoped it didn’t come to me having to go to him.

“I’m thinking you invite us over to grill steaks and then go out in the boat,” Squatch said, “and we have to bring Kitty’s niece at the last minute.”

- - - ❖ - - -

Magnum

Three days later, Skippy had helped Squatch, Mad Dog, and me gameplan the best way to tell Storm about us, and how to get Brooke to our house. Kitty had run our plans by Brooke, and we were, supposedly, ready to go.

“Do you know what Mason feels he needs to tell me?” Storm asked while we chopped the veggies for the huge salad we were making. The steaks were marinating in the fridge, the oven was working on the baked potatoes and the squash casserole, and we had plenty of snacks to take with us for the boat ride planned after our meal.

Before I could answer, she added, “I can’t believe Kitty and Squatch are bringing a child with them. I mean, I get it, that Kitty’s sister had a work emergency while her husband is out of town, but maybe we should’ve just put this off until another night.”

“Brooke isn’t a brat. She’s smart and quiet. It’ll be fine.”

Brooke sat in front of an empty plate while the rest of us ate, but she was making it so Storm didn’t notice her not eating. She’d come dressed in a white dress with large turquoise polka dots, a turquoise bow with smaller white polka dots, white patent shoes, and cute little turquoise socks with white ruffles. Her hair was curled in perfect ringlets, and she looked like something out of a magazine or movie — as long as you didn’t look at her eyes, which were clearly ancient and wise, with so much power behind them it made my teeth and jaw ache.

But dinner, and the conversation around it, was good and seemingly normal despite my nerves.

“I’m looking forward to the boat ride,” Brooke said near the end of our meal. “Do you believe in bigfoot, Storm?”

Storm’s brow furrowed, and she said, “I believe there has to be something to the myth and the stories, but I’m not sure what that something is. Do you believe in bigfoot?”

“I am undecided. What do you know of the myths? Can you tell me about them?”

“A lot of Native American tribes have stories of a creature they call by different names, but it seems to be the same… whatever it is. Animal, I guess. Not just American traditions. It’s all over the world. Even the Yeti, in the Himalayas, seems similar, though it’s a different color.”

“But you investigate things, right? Would you investigate Sasquatch?”

Storm shook her head. “I focus on things with an answer. Facts. Not myths.”

Brooke smiled. “Yes, you do, and this means it’s okay to tell you of myths.” She looked at me. “It’s a loophole.”

Chapter 17

Storm