Page 53 of S.O.S. Billboard

O’Shea was fairly sure his voice had cracked with exasperation.

“Yeah,” Rainee dared.

“Because you’re not paying attention,” he growled. “You haven’t even had the good graces to pretend that what we’re showing you is important.”

“We’ve been watching,” Rainie argued. “We have.” Her lower lip jut out in a pout.

“Fine. Prove it.”

Oh, shit.Billboard was about to put them to the test.

“Uh, okay?” Lakisha looked less than certain with the edict.

Billboard turned to the two younger kids.

“Ethan, you and Rory go hide. Use every technique we’ve shown you today to obscure your path. You’ll have five minutes, then I’m sending these two after you.”

Ethan’s smile couldn’t have been any bigger as he turned to a shocked-looking Lakisha and Rainee. “Good luck, suckas,” he taunted smartly.

The boy had really come out of his shell with the one-on-one tutelage he’d been receiving. O’Shea grinned. Ethan had bonded with Rory, as well.

“Come on, Rors.” He reached for the girl’s hand and the two quickly sped off into the woods.

“Hey,” Billboard barked at the two older girls. “Turn around.”

“Why?” Lakisha sulked, craning her head to look past him as the young pair disappeared.

“Because it’s cheating, watching what direction Ethan and Rory took,” Sarge supplied, a little more evenly than how O’Shea figured Billboard would have answered.

The girls reluctantly turned, but…

“Papa-Prez,” Rainie whined. “Do we really have to do this? Haven’t we been out here like, all day already?”

“It’s only been two hours,” Prez answered stoically, not looking particularly pleased.

Drama much? O’Shea rolled her eyes but held her tongue.Yup.They’d started this little exercise at eight, and it was now only ten in the morning.

Prez continued, a wheedle in his tone. “Listen you two. Behave, and I promise I’ll get you hot dogs and fries for lunch.”

Lakisha’s ears perked up. “And ice cream for dessert?”

O’Shea couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. Big, bad Prez was being manipulated by his daughters and…giving in? If O’Shea, at their age, had done anything close to what the pairwere pulling, her parents would have shipped her off to her grandmother’s in a heartbeat.

O’Shea grimaced. That wasnota memory she wanted to dredge up on such a fine, summer day. Still, she’d heard enough, and felt an intervention was necessary.

“Uh, you guys?” O’Shea stepped in. “Food comesafteryou find Ethan and Rory, andafterwe’ve put you through your paces with some self-defense lessons at Wiley’s,” she asserted.

Wiley had recently erected a barn on his property a few towns south of the Blue Hills. He owned the place with his wife, Solina, who ran an antique store in another building on site; a spot up the long driveway from where they also maintained their lovely little home.

O’Shea had visited the previous day while the team was working, hitching a ride with Brigid who’d had the day off. They’d had a wonderful time, and Solina had cooked them the most amazing Indian food for lunch. She’d loved Solina, and had marveled over every eclectic collection that the woman displayed, but after those tours were over, she’d ogled the enormous barn. It was at least twice as big as the house, and equipped to the rafters with all things horsey, and all things fitness.

Out of necessity, of course.

Half the structure housed Wiley’s three horses, while the other half he’d made into a state-of-the-art gym. Whenever the team needed to work out, they headed to Wiley’s and hit the mats, hard.

“After?” Lakisha whined dramatically, bringing O’Shea’s attention back to the scenario she’d painted. “That will be at least one o’clock.”

“Probably,” O’Shea responded without an ounce of sympathy. “But it’ll be sooner if you find Ethan and Rory quickly.”

---