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“It’s short for ‘exfiltrate’,” Tyler explained.
“Basically, it means getting people the hell out of places,” Adam added.
“Oh, like rescue operations?”
“More or less,” I said. “Not just military, but civilians that find themselves in jams and need to be extracted as smoothly as possible.”
“We’re damn good at it, too,” Tyler said. “But we haven’t gone on operations ourselves in years. Most of the work is done through contractors that we hire.”
“This client wants Exfil,” I said, “wantsus,not some newbies three years out of their tours. But that’s really all I know so far, aside from the fact they’re offering the payday of a lifetime.” I turned my attention back to Aubrey. “That’s where you come in.”
“Uh, what, am I supposed to be the bait or something?”
Laughs sounded in the distance, catching all of our attention. We turned, spotting Aggie with the twins. Both kids stood on the lower rung of the wooden fence of the llama pen, nearly half the herd of llamas over in their direction. The twins were having the time of their lives, reaching out and petting as many of them as they could. Aggie was near, watching attentively.
“How much you want to sell those for?” Adam asked with a smile that made it clear he was only joking around. “Looks like our kids have made a dozen or so new friends.”
Aubrey laughed. “Not a chance. Those fuzzy goofballs are the most profitable part of this farm so far. Anyway, the job.”
I decided to get right into it. “Simply put, we need a nanny.”
Aubrey cocked her head to the side. “A what? A nanny? Like a Mary Poppins kind of thing?”
“You know, we almost had a Mary Poppins type for the job,” Tyler said. “Ended up being a convicted felon.”
Aubrey blinked hard, as if she wanted to make sure she’d heard me right.
“Seriously though, you want me to be ananny? Why me? I mean, I don’t have any experience taking care of any living thing that doesn’t get around on four legs.”
“They’re twins,” Adam said. “There’s four legs between them.”
Aubrey chuckled and shook her head. “But for real, why do you want me for the job? What makes you think I’m qualified?”
“Because we’re looking for someone who’s good with the kids,” Marcus said. “And so far, you’re the best we’ve found.”
“I wasn’tthatgreat with them. I mean, I just did what anyone would’ve done with a lost little boy.”
“It was more than that,” I said. “You gained his trust, knew just what to do to make him feel better when he was scared.”
She smiled. “Didn’t seem scared to me. That’s a brave guy you’ve got there.”
“He’s also reckless,” Marcus said. “Takes after Tyler; always getting into trouble.”
Tyler shrugged, not bothering to argue the point.
Aubrey pursed her lips, glancing aside in a way that made it obvious she had something on her mind.
“OK, I know it’s none of my business. But if I’m going to think about doing this, and make no mistake, I’m onlythinkingright now, I want to know what the situation is over at Thousand Oaks.”
“Makes perfect sense,” Adam said. “Not every day you meet twins with four uncles and no parents.”
Aubrey nodded, as if Adam had said in plain language the question she’d had on her mind since meeting us.
I drummed my fingers on the table for a moment, gathering the nerve to speak about a subject that was hard to bring up.
I took a deep breath and began.
“There used to be five of us.”
