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It was late in the morning when Lara’s phone rang. Sipping on the rest of her coffee – she had woken not half an hour ago, after the late-night stroll she had – she answered it and didn’t have to fake all the surprise at who was calling. She hadn’t been sure if he’d call her, or if he’d indeed call her rather than her son, who had actually been seen at the crime scene last night.
“Anthony Babbs, it has been a long time,” she said in a neutral, dry tone.
“Lara,” the older man greeted gravely, “I wish this were a social call, unfortunately it isn’t so.”
“Good, I wouldn’t be interested in a social call,” Lara walked across the kitchen, staring idly outside the window.
Babbs chuckled. “No, you wouldn’t, would you?” Then he turned serious again. “There has been a break-in in my residence last night, and something very precious to me got stolen. Several security personnel were killed too.”
“Oh no. What a tragedy,” Lara gulped down the rest of her coffee. “And why are you calling me about it?”
“One of the guards who had survived the… incident… has seen your son in the private parts of the mansion. I’m afraid there could be a connection.”
How nice of him to put it so delicately. Lara wouldn’t be offended at a direct accusation. Especially as he wasn’t even accusing her. “Then why didn’t you call my son? He is an adult.”
“A young adult, still,” Babbs was trying to sound stern, it reminded Lara of the rare occasions when a teacher had called from school during Ethan’s childhood. “I thought you might have known more about what had happened. Has he arrived home safely yesterday?”
“Yes, of course,” Lara recalled the enormous black-and-blue mark that covered her son’s shin, not to mention some other scrapes, cuts and bruises. “I think he enjoyed your party.”
“Yet none of my other guests could recall seeing him for most of the evening.”
“I would say Ethan can blend rather well in the crowd when he intends to.” She had made sure to give him such skills a decade ago, after he’d revealed his wishes to be more involved in the higher society.
“Some guests have seen him with a young woman with dark curly hair,” Babbs continued and Lara sighed:
“He was talking to another person? At a party? Anthony, what do you want from me? I don’t know what had happened there and I don’t follow my son’s every step. I think you should contact the police about the theft. And deaths.”
“I don’t mention her for nothing, Lara,” Babbs was persistent. “He was later seen in the restricted area with a woman that might have been the same one. It is possible that she was the true culprit, while he was merely trying to stop her. Do you know who that might have been? Has he mentioned anyone?”
At that point, Kurtis entered the kitchen, barefoot and yawning, but glanced at Lara curiously when he saw her on the phone. She rolled her eyes expressively and answered Babbs:
“No, Ethan hasn’t mentioned any woman. As I said, if a crime has been committed at your house, call the police.”
Kurtis made a soundless “aaaha” face on his way to the coffee maker.
“Of course I’ve contacted the police,” Babbs said dismissively, getting slightly impatient but still polite, “but I can’t put all my faith into their hands, it is too personal for me to do nothing. Has he really told you nothing?”
“Not much more than a greeting. He retired shortly after he’d come home.”
“I see...” Babbs sounded disappointed. “If you would be so kind, would you still call me back if he tells you anything of relevance?”
“Certainly,” Lara agreed non-committally and turned around when she heard steps from the hallway. “Will that be all?”
“One more thing, if you please.”
“Very well,” Lara’s patience was running short but it wasn’t a bad idea to learn as much as she could about last night, and what Babbs planned to do about the stolen statuette.
Ethan limped into the kitchen, giving a tired smirk in greeting. It was clear his whole body hurt from the heist yesterday, but it wasn’t his first time. He would be fine.
“The… object, that was taken. I really wish to have it back. You have so much experience finding lost things, would it be possible for you to find it and bring it back to me?” Ah, the hope in his voice, the faint desperation. He really wanted the statuette back, and Lara still didn’t know if it was simply his lifelong collecting hobby, or if he actually knew of the artefact’s true purpose.
“I am not a private investigator, Anthony, I don’t look for lost things.”
Ethan, who had since gotten a cup of coffee for himself, nearly choked at her words and moved further away so his coughing fit wouldn’t be heard over the phone.
“Yes, yes, I understand. But many years back, when you were so unfortunately accused of murdering that professor, you have investigated it yourself, haven’t you?”
“Out of desperation, yes. It is not something I would do if I had a choice.”
“Not even for me? An old friend? Please, Lara, I know we don’t speak much, but I would have hoped out past was somehow special...”
Lara nearly gagged. ‘Our past,’ yuck. One regrettable night.
Ethan has since ceased his coughing and was now listening to her side of the conversation intently, large brown eyes peeking from behind his auburn shock of hair. It was a good thing he preferred his hair messy – if he began slicking it back, he might start looking too suspiciously similar to his unknowing biological father who was currently talking her ear off. Maybe Ethan would even realize it himself when looking in a mirror, and Lara wasn’t in the mood for that conversation, even if Ethan had always said he didn’t care who his father was.
His annoying, persistent father.
“No, Anthony, not even for that. I don’t hunt common thieves, I wouldn’t even know where to start looking if you invited me to the crime scene.” Not a lie, she truly wouldn’t know where to look to make herself look believably focused while not actually revealing anything relevant. Who knew what hints those two had left there last night.
Babbs sighed desperately. “Would it not be worth a try? Such an excellent piece, maybe you would be curious yourself to see it, if only you were to find it.”
A young woman with dark curly hair entered the kitchen, happily tossing a small golden statue up and down with one hand, occasionally helping herself with telekinesis. She opened her mouth in greeting but when she saw Lara on the phone, she just smiled and nodded, then waved at her father and went over to Ethan to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“Yes, maybe I would,” Lara agreed, eyes still on the statuette, “but there are plenty of other artefacts on my radar, and most are certainly in more interesting locations than in some thief’s pocket.”
“Is there really nothing I could say or do to convince you?” Babbs was still trying. “I could invite you to a nice restaurant-”
“I am taken,” Lara blurted out to prevent herself from saying “yuck” out loud, or possibly recommending him to jump off a cliff. ‘Shielding’ herself by being in a relationship seemed a bit pathetic, even if true, but at least she managed to remain somewhat polite. She could hear some renewed choked coughing from her son’s direction.
“Oh, I see. That is… unexpected...” Babbs truly sounded disappointed.
“Yes, I agree. I need to go now, I truly apologize,” Lara managed to push the pleasantries from behind her clenched teeth.
“Yes, yes of course. Good bye then.”
“Goodbye,” she quickly hung up.
“That was Babbs?” Kurtis asked at the same time as Ethan blurted out: “Since when???”
“Yes it was,” Lara answered Kurtis. “Since what?” she raised one eyebrow at her son.
“You said you were taken,” Marianna reminded her, sipping her own coffee.
“Yeah, we didn’t have time to tell you last night,” Kurtis grinned at his daughter and while she didn’t get a coughing fit, she dramatically sprayed the wall with her gulp of coffee instead. Ethan had the presence of mind to catch the statuette falling from her palm before it fell to the floor, but he glared at Lara accusingly.
“You can’t be serious,” he glanced at Kurtis and back. “You got together?”
“You can’t do that!” Marianna squealed. “If I say my dad dates my boyfriend’s mum, it’ll sound like incest!”
“Wow, you were right,” Kurtis turned at Lara, amusement twinkling in his eyes, “they are horrified.”
“Oh,” Ethan blinked and perked up, much more put together now. “It is a joke?”
“Oh no, it’s absolutely true,” Lara shook her head and moved to grab another cup of coffee, “I have been just predicting your reactions.”
T he two twenty-year-olds’ wide eyes met.
“So do we break up now or...”
“Hell no dude, we won’t let them win.”
“Uhhh, we didn’t do it to break you up or anything,” Kurtis took a step back.
“You were actually our inspiration, you made us realize our old feelings we hadn’t acted on back in the day,” Lara added.
“I am not awake enough for this,” Ethan pronounced dramatically, drained the rest of his cup and went for another.
“Did you say the artefact can help us save or doom the world? I’m seriously weighing my options now,” Marianna announced in a world-weary voice.
Lara smirked in amusement as Kurtis silently chuckled and she wondered if Babbs would be glad if he knew that the thieves were currently living through quite a tragedy of their own.