Page 17 of Over the Top

“I repeat: fuck off.”

“Don’t swear in front of a child. They learn words like lightning at this age.”

“She doesn’t talk, does she?” Gunner blurted in alarm.

“If we’re right about her age, she’s starting to.”

“I’ve barely heard a peep out of her since I picked you two up.”

Chas looked down at the little girl, who was currently tugging at the collar of his shirt. “She’s been scared silly ever since I plucked her out of Leah’s arms. I think that’s probably why she’s been so quiet.”

“Great. So once she relaxes, I’m going to have to evade armed killers with a screaming kid in tow? Jesus. It’s an operator’s nightmare.”

“Stop. Swearing,” Chas said firmly.

“I don’t know if I can. Every third word the guys I work with use is obscene.”

“Well, you’re going to have to clean up your act as long as you’re around Poppy.”

“You sound like a mama bear.”

Chas’s eyes narrowed. “Just because you have the parental instincts of a single-celled organism doesn’t mean I’m the same as you. I teach kids every day. Over the course of a school year, they all becomemykids. And until we find Poppy’s parents, she’smykid.”

Gunner threw up his hands in surrender. “You’ll get no argument from me. You deal with the kid, I’ll deal with the tangoes.”

“Tangoes?”

“Tango for the letterT.Tfor terrorists.”

“You think the shooters are terrorists?” Chas squawked.

“I have no idea who they are. I think it’s more likely they’re child traffickers or something criminal along those lines.”

Chas looked down at Poppy in shock. “As in, she was stolen from her family and is being sold to someone here in America? That’s barbaric!”

“It’s just a guess. I’ve never heard of an op where a kid was the primary package.”

“She’s not a package, Gunner. She’s a human being. With feelings and needs. And right now she needs breakfast. And a diaper.”

“All right, already. Let’s go shopping.”

They found a superstore nearby and went inside. Chas put Poppy into the child seat of a grocery cart and gestured for Gunner to push it. Gunner scowled and took command of the cart. Poppy commenced pulling at his fingers, and Gunner fished a plastic comb out of his pocket and handed it to her. Chas watched in amusement as it immediately headed for Poppy’s mouth and Gunner had to make a quick grab to save it from slobberdom.

Poppy, however, took umbrage at the maneuver and let out a high-pitched squeal. Gunner jumped about a foot in the air, and Chas laughed aloud.

“She sounds like a velociraptor,” Gunner muttered in distress. “Make it stop. Everyone in the store will look and take notice of us.”

“Honey, nobody will stare at a toddler screaming. It’s what they do.”

“Still. Make her shut up, will you?”

“If only magic spells were real, eh? You could swish and flick a silence spell at her,” Chas commented, amused out of all proportion at Gunner’s freak-out.

They turned a corner into the baby section, and Chas grabbed a stuffed toy off a shelf and passed it to Poppy. She hugged the plush blue elephant close and quieted.

Gunner let out an audible sigh of relief.

“Don’t get too comfortable, buddy. That’ll keep her quiet for about sixty seconds, and then she’ll be wanting something new to entertain her.”

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