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“Ahh, to have the energy and appetite of a sixteen-year-old,” Cole said. “Those were the good old days.”
“Excuse me,” Lily said, putting her hands on her hips. “Your good old days haven’t happened yet.”
Cole shook his head and said, “That’s easy to say when you can still eat pizza after six p.m. and not be up all night with heartburn.”
“Old people problems mean more pizza for me,” Doug said, coming back in the room with a stack of pizza boxes.
I went to the kitchen and grabbed paper plates and napkins, and then figured everyone had been to our house enough that they knew where the drinks were.
“How’s it going, Mackenzie, love?” Doug asked when he settled back in his chair. “Find anything interesting?”
“Standard background check on both Kateryna Kovel and Nia Sowers complete,” Mackenzie said. “That pizza smells delicious. If I had a body I could enjoy the same things the rest of you do.”
“You know you can’t smell, Mackenzie,” Doug said. “You’re just trying to guilt me into designing you a body. I told you I’m working on it with Uncle Ben. He’s just a little busy right now.”
Mackenziehmphhed in a very realistic and adult manner.
“Let’s stay focused, okay,” Doug said. “Can you display any relevant information on the board?”
“Your wish is my command, master,” she said haughtily.
Doug rolled his eyes and he flushed with embarrassment.
The rest of us had gotten used to Mackenzie’s hot temperament—at least as much as you could get used to a sarcastic and volatile non-being.
“Those are very tidy background checks,” Cole said, scanning the information as it appeared on the board. “About as basic as you can get.”
“That’s what happens when you have a friend at the state department,” Jack said. “They make things nice and tidy for some and then complicate the heck out of things for everyone else.
“Yeah,” Martinez said around a bite of pizza. “Just ask anyone who was trying to bring down Jeffrey Epstein.”
Jack’s lips twitched, but he stayed focused. “Speaking of William Kirby, I’d like Mackenzie to run a deeper level check on him. Travel logs. Financials. Known associates.”
“Skirting a line there, boss,” Cole said. “None of it will be admissible without a warrant.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Jack said. “Wait until I ask you to dig into military records.”
“Ooh, I do love that man,” Mackenzie said.
“Why does she suddenly sound like Mae West?” Cole asked.
“Who’s Mae West?” Lily asked.
“You’re killing me with the age thing,” Cole said, shaking his head. “But I’m trying.”
“Bring it down, Grandpa Joe,” Martinez said. “Mae West was way before your time too. You wouldn’t know who she was either if you didn’t spend your off days watching AMC.”
Mackenzie continued as if no one was talking. “It’s nice when a man gives a woman a challenge. Isn’t that right, Doug. A woman needs to be stimulated.”
“Amen to that,” Lily said.
“Ssh, don’t encourage her,” Cole whispered.
“What’s happening here?” Jack asked. “I feel like I’m in the loony bin.”
“They didn’t take a nap like we did,” I said, winking.
“Gross, is that sex talk?” Doug asked.
