Page 51 of The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties

“I won’t.” Fourth Aunt takes the glass from him and hands it to me without even looking at me. Her eyes are locked on the guard, studying his every movement. “But it’s a nice treat, isn’t it? You feeling happier? Looser?”

The guard shrugs. “It’s okay.”

“Oh, big guy like you,” Fourth Aunt says with a coquettish smile. “Here, have another.”

“Fourth Aunt.” I don’t really know what to say beyond that. I hope she gets that I’m trying to hint at her not to make the poor guy overdose.

As usual, Fourth Aunt ignores me. She pushes another glass into the guard’s hand with a wink. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

The first glass of spiked champagne must have loosened the guard up a bit, because he drinks the second one without much resistance.

“So,” Fourth Aunt says, leaning against the doorway. “What super-secret, vitally important thing are you working on in there?”

“Oh, you know. Security and stuff.” His words are coming out noticeably less enunciated.

“Really? Sounds very important. You must be such an essential member of this household.”

“Oh yeah, without me, things would come to a...” A crease appears between the guard’s eyebrows as his voice trails away. “Wow, it’s going straight to my head.”

“Oh dear. Maybe you’re not such a big guy after all. Come here, let’s get you to a chair before you—oh.” She pauses as the guard tips over like a fallen tree and slumps to the floor with a thump. She grimaces. “That’s going to leave a bruise. Poor kid. Why didn’t you catch him, Meddy?”

“Uh...” I gesture madly at the tray of drinks in my hand. “Because of these?”

Fourth Aunt tuts like she’s disappointed that I’m unable to catch a full-grown adult male while also balancing a tray of champagne glasses. But then she shrugs. “Oh well. Young people heal fast. Come on.” She steps over him and sashays into the room.

With one last furtive glance behind me, I follow her, closing the door as gently as I can.

Ahead of me, Fourth Aunt is staring at a wall of screens. “Jackpot.”

“What is it?” The words are out of my mouth by instinct before I see the screens and realize there wasn’t a need to ask because it’s obvious what they are. Security camera footage. Fourth Aunt is right; we really have hit the jackpot. There are over twenty screens, lined up into a neat rectangle, each one showing different parts of the house. Bedrooms, swimming pool, garden, nothing is unwatched.

Already, Fourth Aunt has taken a seat in front of the screens and is rubbing her hands. Before I can stop her, she puts her hand over the mouse and clicks on it. Noise bursts out from the speakers—what sounds like gunshots and shouting—and we both jump.

“Turn it off,” I hiss, and she scrambles to do so. Blessed silence. We both breathe out slowly. “Did that come from one of the camera feeds?” My nerves are so frayed by now that I feel as though my entire body is about to unravel into electric wires. Gunshots and shouts. That’s not a good sign. We need to—

“Ah, there it is.” Fourth Aunt points at one of the screens at the bottom, which, instead of showing the usual bluish-tinted security camera footage, is paused in the middle of a Netflix movie.

Thank god. I nearly sag onto the floor with relief. Then I feel silly for even thinking that the gunshots could have come from real life. Of course they’re from a movie. What was I even thinking? I’m too anxious, too far out of my comfort zone, and my mind is flitting about like a frightened butterfly. I really need to get a grip of myself. Taking a deep inhale, I stand next to Fourth Aunt and study the screens one by one.

“It’s weird that they have cams in the bedrooms as well,” I mutter. “Feels like a real breach of privacy, doesn’t it?”

Fourth Aunt shrugs. “My guess is that they get turned off in the evenings.” She pauses, a wicked grin melting across her face. “Or maybe not. Maybe Mr. Kristofer is into that kind of thing. The more I learn about this guy, the more I like him.”

“Fourth Aunt,” I groan. “You really need better taste in men.”

“Hey, I know what I like, and I’m not going to apologize for it.”

A movement in one of the rooms—looks like a gym—catches my eye. My muscles turn to stone as I recognize Nathan and Ma walking inside, carrying their trays of drinks and looking around. When it becomes clear that the gym is empty,Nathan says something and starts to leave, but Ma stops him. What’s going on?

“Sorry, Fourth Aunt, can I just—” I take the mouse from her and click on that screen, turning on the sound receiver.

Ma’s voice floods the room. “—still no grandbaby. You can tell Ma if there is problem, you know.”

Oh. My. God. Tell me that my mother isnotcornering my poor husband in the middle of a literal heist to grill him about grandbabies. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course she is.

“Um, there’s no problem, Ma, I swear. Anyway, I think we should—”

“Aiya! If there is no problem, then why no grandbaby? Hanh? What you two waiting for? I tell Meddy, don’t you go on those birth control pill, later they will dry up all her eggs. You know that happen, right? My neighbor’s daughter’s friend’s cousin, she taking birth control pill all the time, and now her eggs are dry up. Like powder!”

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