Page 74 of Jackal

Rooster chuckled, but honestly, I wasn’t sure.

“Prez,” I said. “I get they don’t need to know details, but if we drive these women in full wedding getup and then tell them to leave, I don’t see that going as smoothly as you think. Not without some explanation.”

Eagle and Falcon both dipped their heads. They knew I was right. Lacy would be devastated, Daisy would start cursing up a storm, and Shivana would have a million questions.

Hawk leaned back, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. “What if it came from Ma?”

Thinking back to the day at the mall, Shivana paused briefly, but when Cindy pushed her to head to the door, she did it. “It could work. They respect her.”

“Probably more than us,” Eagle joked.

Hawk rolled his eyes but nodded. “I think you’re right. I’ll speak to Ma. She won’t ask questions, but with a heads up, she’ll be better prepared to handle them.” Straightening in his seat, he said, “I promise you, those women won’t be in the middle of this. My mother and sister are part of this, so you can trust that I will do everything possible to protect them. But we need to end this and this is our best shot.”

Still uneasy, I asked, “So then, what exactly is the plan?”

Hawk looked around, then detailed how he thought the big day would play out.

Chapter 41

Shivana

“I understand, Daddy.” I squinted, covering my forehead with my hand to shield the bright sun.

“I don’t know why you didn’t mention this to me,Pidgin,” Dad said on the other line.

“It didn’t seem beneficial to give news without actually having news.” That was at least half-true. There wasn’t anything specific to tell them yet.

“Don’t play semantics with me, Shiv. You wouldn’t have applied if you didn’t plan to stay. I have friends there. I could’ve helped.”

“Is that how you found out?” I asked, my voice breaking. He wasn’t berating me about staying, he was upset I didn’t go to him for help. Still, did he have to be involved in everything?

“I graduated with the gentleman who heads the department you interviewed for. He was given your info for a secondinterview and recognized the name. It was a simple connection.”

Even though he couldn’t see me, my hands went to my face. My phone sat on the armrest of the Adirondack chair, since I had my earbuds in. Even when I tried to do something on my own, he still was involved. “What are the odds?” I asked dryly, finally moving my hands from my face.

“There’s school, conferences, classes, papers. You should know. You’ve been to some already. You meet lots of other practitioners and, in this day and age, it’s quite easy to stay in touch. It’s a small pool compared to the amount of people in the country, Shiv.”

“Apparently,” I said, picking at a loose thread at the hem of my shirt. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just really would love a position like this and the CDC is, like, the best place for it.”

“It’s a decent place. Not theonlyone to do research.”

“And where are you living?” my mother was asking in the background.

“Yes, have you been living out of your suitcase?” Dad asked. “All of your things are here. You were supposed to be gone for only a couple of weeks.”

“I bought a few things. They do have stores in Georgia.”Well that tone wouldn’t help anything. I needed to cool it.

“Why did you let me go on about the parties if you weren’t coming home?” Mom asked, still a little muffled from being in the background.

“I didn’t know what would happen. I didn’t want to say anything until I found a job and was settled.”

“Pidgin, that could be months. You’ve already been gone a couple of months as it is. Don’t you know how worried your mother has been?”

Blowing a breath through puffed cheeks, I answered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think this through. But I plan to stay, even if I don’t get the job at the CDC.” Oh God.I’m going to be sick.

A flurry of Hindi erupted from them both before Dad sighed. “Shivana, we love you and just want what’s best for you.”

“I know. I love you, too. But this is what would make me happy. I’m happy here.”

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