Page 84 of Sunflower

“I heard Callum talk earlier about someone being anormie.”

I frowned and tore my eyes from Callum’s confused ones to look at my dad. He was already watching me, deep in thought.

“I assumenormiemeans someone without a power, and yet, they still work with people with powers. Is that correct?”

I nodded warily.

Dad nodded in return before he turned to gaze steadily at George. “Then I want in.”

My eyes widened. “Dad—”

He returned his determined focus to me. “Joey, if it’s safe enough foryouto work here, then it’s safe enough formeto work here.” He wiped his hands down his cheeks, suddenly looking tired. “I’m bored, son. I’ve been working in the same place for a decade, and I need a change. A challenge. If I work here, I’ll get that, and I’ll be able to keep an eye on you.” He glanced down at Erin, who was staring at him in stunned silence. “If you come back with me, we could work together. If you and George are right, and Iama boost like Joey, I could help you, just like Joey would help Callum. If I’m not, and I’m just a normie, then I can still be of use here. Either way, we could be part of what helps keep our boys safe.”

Blinking in astonishment, I watched Erin reach up and gently cup Dad’s face. This wasn’t going at all the way I thought it would.

“Are you sure?” Erin asked softly, her previous rage at George vanishing instantly as her love for Dad poured out of her. “We’re both in our mid-forties. It won’t be easy.”

“I’m not expecting that it would be.” Dad straightened his shoulders in determination. “It wouldn’t be a challenge otherwise.”

Erin choked back a laugh. “Okay, sweetheart. Let’s do it.” She spun on her knees so she could face George. “That’s our condition. If you want our boys, you get us as well. This is non-negotiable.” She narrowed her eyes. “And I want back in at the same clearance level that I left. Which I believe would remain the same as yours, correct? Top level?”

George grit his teeth but begrudgingly agreed with a nod.

“Excellent.” A slightly evil smile lit up her face as she clapped her hands and rose from the floor. “Then let’s get started interrogating this person who’s been giving everyone so much grief.”

Alarmed, I turned to face Callum. “What just happened?”

Wiping his hand over his mouth, Callum groaned and slumped in his seat until he nearly disappeared under the table. “We just witnessed the birth of our impending doom.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Joey

Ittookafewmore hours, and several heated calls to Orchestra, to get Erin, Dad, and me signed on as consultants before anyone was in a position to interview Leland Buckner. Plenty of time for us to bring Erin and Dad completely up to speed with everything.

To say that Erin was pissed that none of us, including George, had come to her and let her know what was going on was like saying the Hindenburg had had a minor run of bad luck with a matchstick.

Now, Callum and I stood in a narrow room facing a one-way mirror. We’d been allowed to watch the interrogation unfold, as George deemed itgood training for the future.Erin had eventually, and reluctantly, agreed, but only under the proviso that we remain in this room or watch via the TV in the office. At no point were we allowed anywhere near Leland.

When George had readily agreed to her request, I began wondering exactly how much say Erin still had in the agency,even after several years on the outside. Just how high and far did her reach go?

With my head tilted to the side and my arms crossed, I watched the man who had tormented me for days and Callum for months. Callum sat on the table behind me, his legs spread so I could lean against his chest with his arms wrapped around my waist and his chin resting against on my shoulder.

“He looks tired, doesn’t he?” Callum murmured into my ear.

“Mm,” I hummed in agreement, nodding slightly, even as my eyes narrowed to appraise our antagonist. It made sense for him to be tired, as it would have to be pushing three in the morning at this point. “He looks… smaller.”

His clothes rumpled, Leland sat slumped in an uncomfortable white plastic picnic chair, alone in the small, yet brightly lit room opposite us. The walls were a gunmetal gray, with a door to the left of us the only way in or out, and only two other white chairs and a white trestle table the other furniture in the room. The window we looked through spanned the length of the wall, allowing more people to join us later.

Just as Leland was currently alone in the interrogation room, Callum and I were alone in the viewing room, but that would all change soon enough.

Marcy was the first person to enter our room, sitting down and switching on the computer that was on the long shelf in front of us. After it finished booting, it showed four different points of view from the various hidden cameras in the interrogation room’s ceiling. She sat back in her chair and looked over at us. “You don’t have to be here for this, you know. This’ll all be recorded so you can watch it back later.”

A sense of determination came over me. She was right. I didn’t need to be here, but I wanted to. I wanted to see the man who had threatened my family, everything I held dear, and see him get what he deserved. Staring at Leland, I made absolutelyno effort to move from where Callum held me steady. “Yeah, I know.”

She shrugged, turning back to watch the silent man opposite. Her hands rested on the armrests like she was getting ready to get up but was holding off for some reason. Her chair spun from side to side, fidgeting as she waited.

As time went on, I felt the need to fill the silence. “How’s Kiddo?”

---