Page 34 of Kiss Kiss Bang
It was a smallish home, not at all what he had expected. Not when she was the future governor, not when she drove a Lexus, not when she looked the way she looked, and not when he knew she had a shit ton of money thanks to her late husband’s very generous life insurance policy and her hefty portfolio. But even though the house wasn’t very big, the land it sat on was. At least two acres with a lot of trees surrounding it.
Stepping over a broken log, he stopped when he heard leaves rustling behind him. He had his hand on his Sig before he turned around.
“Hi.” Sophie stood a few feet behind him with a cute wonky smile, a big floppy hat, a little net, and a clear box.
Immediately he let go of his weapon, which he’d luckily not unholstered. He did note, however, that this was the second time in less than twenty-four hours he’d come close to pointing a gun at the girl. She was a sneaky little thing. If he was going to be spending time with Olivia and Sophie, he needed to take extra precautions with his weapon, especially since the little girl had a tendency to sneak up on him, ask a lot of questions, and touch everything.
“Hey, freckles,” he said, kneeling down to get eye level with her.
“I’m Cwocodile Hunter,” she said, with that little lisp and the r’s sounding like w’s.
He chuckled. “Is that what the net is for?”
“No silly. It’s to catch lizards. Lizards are baby cwocodiles. Did you know that?” It was said very matter-of-factly.
He chuckled again. “I actually did not know that. Shouldn’t you be a princess or a fairy or something?” Wasn’t that what little girls played? She was wearing overalls and big rain boots with ladybugs on them.
“My mommy says girls can do whatever they want and I want to play with lizards.” She had a hand on her waist and her hip out. She said it with the same sass her mother had.
“You certainly can.” The girl was as fearless as her mother. “And are you supposed to be out this far from your house?”
She bit her fingernails, which were full of dirt, making him cringe but also smile. He noted that the Russo girls fidgeted, bit their nails, were feisty, and had a lot of energy.
“Tell you what, I won’t tell your mom you wondered off this far if you promise you won’t ever do it again.”
“Okay I pwomise, but only if we find lizards first.”
“Are you negotiating with me?”
She looked at him with confusion and it made him chuckle.
“Sophie!” Olivia called from afar. “Sophie!”
Her eyes widened big, so he winked at her and said, “Hurry.” He walked ahead of her. On his way he stopped and caught a lizard with his palm. “Open the box.”
“Eww!” she shrieked, but then did as he said. He dropped the lizard inside which made her giggle and forget she was two minutes away from getting in trouble with her mom.
“Sophie Alexandra, you better not be by the Bougainvillea trees.”
She looked up at him through the wide brim of her hat and he had to stifle a laugh. “We’re here, catching lizards!” he hollered.
Sophie looked up at him in utter shock, like he’d just blown their cover. A moment later Olivia appeared through the bushes. “Sophie! What have I told you about running off by yourself?”
Her lips started to wobble and he quickly stepped in. “It was me. I saw all those lizards and lost track of where we were.” He winked at Olivia, and she narrowed her eyes. “It was all my fault, isn’t that right, Sophie?”
He was sure she was going to agree so she could get off the hook with her mother but her bottom lips started to tremble and a second later she burst out in full blown sobs and tears. “I ran off. I’m sorry, mommy.”
“Inside. Go wash up for dinner.” Sophie jogged quickly into the house.
“That was sweet of you, trying to protect her. But we don’t lie to each other.”
“Okay. I’m sorry, I was just trying to be nice.”
She looked down at the clear box. “You caught her a lizard. You’re her new favorite person.”
“How do you know it wasn’t her who caught it?”
“We Russo girls, we like to play in the dirt, but we don’t necessarily like to get dirty. Now let that thing go.” She pointed to the lizard and shivered. He laughed as he turned the box over, allowing the lizard to escape.
