Page 79 of My Crazy Killers
My head swivels back to Sly, and he nods. “No cauliflower.”
My hand finds Elias’s, and I squeeze it silently in thanks.
“Sooo…” Dex draws out, breaking the silence. “Are we gonna eat or what?”
“I could make lunch,” I say, setting the laptop on the table.
“Nope,” Elias says, immediately grabbing my hips and dragging me into his lap. He wraps his arms around me like a giant seatbelt as he speaks. “If Dex wants lunch, he can cook.”
“Uh…” my eyes bounce to Pete as I imagine a repeat of breakfast. “Are we sure that’s a good idea?”
“I can make sandwiches?” Dex suggests. “No side order of food poisoning this time,” he says, grinning at Pete.
“Ha ha, very funny. I poisoned Wren, let’s all laugh about it.”
“Would you rather we yelled at you?” Elias asks as he nuzzles my neck, making me relax back against him.
“Come on, farm boy. You can redeem yourself and help cut the tomatoes.” Dex beckons him to follow him to the kitchen.
Pete grumbles but moves to follow him. “That’s Falcon to you.”
“No bird names,” Sly reminds him.
“Well, I still think we need code names for when we’re in the field.”
“Wren should pick them,”Jagger signs from the armchair he’s been sitting in silently up to this point.
Sly looks at me as if trying to gauge if I’ll be good at it. “You can have full veto rights,” I tell him hopefully.
“Fine, as long as Pete’s not picking, I’m good with it.”
“Hey!” Pete yells in outrage from the kitchen,
I grin at him, excited to give everyone code names.
Elias turns me sideways in his lap as he asks. “So, you got any ideas then?”
“Hmm.” I tap my lip as my eyes bounce around at each of them. I want code names that suit them, but that they’ll like, too. I look at Jagger sitting in the chair, silently watching me. He needs a name that reflects his stealth and ability to get in and out without being heard. “Ghost!” I say, pointing at Jagger.
He nods his head, and I smile. “You like it?” He gives me a thumbs up in approval, and I move my gaze to Sly, who’s standing behind him with his arms crossed, looking at me expectantly.
“You need a name that reflects how you fight. You come in so fast, they don’t see you coming until you’ve already struck.” I think back to how he took down those guards yesterday, and an idea comes to mind. “I know! Viper!”
He looks a little surprised before the corner of his mouth kicks up in approval. “It’s perfect, good job.”
I try to think of one for Elias, but nothing seems right. After a few minutes, Dex and Pete start passing out plates filled with sandwiches and chips. I slide off Elias’s lap so he can eat easily as I continue to think of names. Dex and Petestart offering terrible suggestions, so I eventually tune them out and decide to focus on Dex first.
“You were called The Berserker when you fought for money, right?” I ask him.
“Yep.”
“But you can’t use that,” Elias tells me. “The FBI knows that name and would recognize it.”
“Maybe something similar, then. Oh, how about Crash?”
“Crash?” Dex asks with a frown. “Like crashing a car?”
“No, like crashing into people—Oh, even better, Bash!”
