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“What’s that for?” Kinslee voiced the question I was about to ask.
“This can go on Christine’s car. I have another one for dad’s car.” He grinned at us, pleased.
“West, that’s brilliant! So we’ll be able to track where they’re going?” I beckoned to Weston to pass me the tracker, and I examined the smooth plastic object with interest, before passing it to Caiden.
“Yeah, if all goes to plan. Just got to put the trackers on their cars without them noticing, which I reckon we should be able to do next time we’re at my dad’s house.”
“Nice one, mate. What’s next?” Cass looked at West expectantly.
“Let me see…these.”
“Binoculars? That’s a bit boring.”
Weston rolled his eyes at Cassius’ lack of enthusiasm. “Mate. These aren’t normal binoculars. They’re night-vision ones.” He passed the heavy binoculars over to him. “And they’re really fucking expensive, so be careful.”
“This all feels very James Bond,” Kinslee commented, curled back up on the sofa now she’d stopped massaging Cassius’ head.
“Is this a good time to bring up code names?” Cassius’ eyes gleamed with excitement as he examined the binoculars from every angle.
“No. Please, no,” I begged. “I am not getting into another bloody code names argument with you and West.”
He huffed but said no more, bringing the binoculars up to his eyes before recoiling. “Fucking hell, Z. Will you stop with the psycho looks?” Zayde totally ignored him, and he passed the binoculars up to Kinslee, muttering, “Don’t look at Z through them.”
Weston cleared his throat, shooting Cassius a warning look before returning his attention to the table. “Final item.” It was a small, shiny black oblong-shaped object, a bit like a really chunky retro mobile phone. I watched as West fiddled around with it for a moment; then suddenly the sides popped out.
“A drone? Fuck, yes. I need to see this.” Cade reached for it, and I kind of zoned out as the Four began discussing camera resolution and flight times, Zayde finally thawing out a bit as they talked. I moved off Caiden’s lap, scooting over to Kinslee.
“All this stuff? I really hope it helps us get some answers. I’m so tired of not knowing. I feel like I can’t properly lay my dad’s memory to rest until I know what happened, if that makes sense.”
“Perfect sense.” She squeezed my hand gently. “I’m here for you. Whatever I can do to help, I’ll do it. And I’m crossing everything that my brother will have some useful information about the Argo Navis when he comes home.”
“Thanks. And same, I mean, I’m here for you for whatever.”
“I know.” We both sat quietly for a moment, letting the boys’ conversation flow around us, and then she shifted in her seat, angling herself to face me more. “Did you ever google Andromeda, by the way? It kind of stuck in my mind, so I looked into it a bit.”
“I did, but I never found anything useful.” I sighed.
“You know Andromeda is something to do with space, right?” Her expression was thoughtful. “I might be way off, but I couldn’t help wondering about the whole thing with the Argo Navis being a constellation. I know that was a coincidence, since the boat was actually called the Argo Navis, but what if Andromeda is a code name or something that your dad came up with?”
“You think?” I eyed her doubtfully, but as I actually thought it through, the more I felt like she could be onto something. “You know what? This could definitely be worth investigating. Maybe there’s something I’ve missed.” A thought hit me. “What if his star charts contain answers? Or clues, at least? I never thought to look at them.”
She grinned at me. “Dream team, baby.”
“You know it. Let’s tell the others once we have the charts to hand; I’ll come and pick them up in the week.” Although I’d moved in with the Four, since it was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement, I’d left some of my stuff back in my room in Kinslee’s apartment, including the star charts.
I suddenly realised that the others had stopped talking and were watching us curiously.
“Anything you wanna share?” Cassius stood, stretching, then flopped onto the sofa between me and Kinslee.
“No,” I started to say, then stopped. “Actually, yeah. We need to talk about the ball.”
I gave them a rundown of my conversation with James. As soon as I mentioned his name, Cade grabbed me and pulled me into his lap, tightening his arms around me possessively.
“You really don’t like James, do you?” I murmured softly, while the others were distracted, talking about someone who had got drunk and started a fight at the ball—which I’d completely missed.
“I never liked him, but I have even more reason since you came along. He used you. He’s had his dick in you. I fucking hate him.”
I stared into his darkened eyes, hard and angry, but I could see the vulnerability underneath. “We’ve talked about this before, but you have to know that no one could even dream of measuring up to you, in my eyes. You’re not even in the same galaxy.” Hooking my arms around his neck, I stroked my fingers through his soft, dark hair as he stared at me silently. “You have to know how I feel about you. James is insignificant to me, to us. A blip in my past. You? You’re my future.”
