Page 92 of The Best Trick

Suddenly a snore ripped out from my left.

Zeus.

Thor snorted, and Odin and I snickered softly.

Another snore, and then there was calm from the Zeus side. We said nothing more.

Odin dropped off. Then Thor.

Soon there was just the sound of breathing. Peaceful sleep breathing.

Except for me. I stayed up, watching my guys.

We’d missed our chance at freedom. If it had even been real. Even so, somehow I knew that, sure as the matching tattoos that adorned our arms and ankles, we’d have our day in the sun. And on that day, we’d celebrate and live large out in the open, wild and free. We’d blast back into our Hollywood home—after kicking out the James gang, who were using it at the moment. We’d dance and celebrate. Be in the world.

But it wouldn’t be that day I’d look back on with the greatest fondness; it would be times like this. Us as a family, making our way. Helping each other journey through life.

YET ANOTHER EPILOGUE

Yet another epilogue

One month later

Odin and I were strolling along the beach one morning...yes, the Southern California beach. With all of the places that we could have gone, that's where we ended up.

Weird, I know. It was Odin’s idea to come back to L.A. not too long after we’d sent Doris back with the Gigis. I think we were all just excited that he was back in the land of the sleeping together that we would have done anything for him.

We'd rented an out-of-the way bungalow near Huntington Beach. It was nice, with some amazing fruit trees out back. The Wisconsin farm girl in me still got very excited about being able to pick fresh lemons and dates right from the yard. It seemed so unbelievably exotic.

And there was the beach. The beautiful Pacific.

I stopped to pick up a pretty shell and went into the water to wash it off while Odin fussed with his phone. He was spending a lot of time on the phone these days, monitoring various kinds of official communications channels. It's like he was obsessed with hearing all of the chatter from every government agency. When Zeus asked him about it, he just said it's his new hobby.

“You're like those guys who obsess about the police scanners,” Zeus had said. “Nothing important gets said on a scanner. It's ridiculous. You need a different hobby.”

“Dude, you can't choose another person’s hobby unless that person is under five years of age,” Thor reminded him.

“Anyway, hobbies are supposed to be ridiculous,” Odin said. “Do you think I should go back to video games? Do you think that would be a less ridiculous hobby?”

“Yeah, I think it would be less ridiculous,” Zeus said.

“I don't think it's ridiculous to be interested in the world,” I said. “Odin is interested in the world around us.”

Zeus just grumbled.

We strolled along in the sand right where the water rushed up, washing our footsteps away as we went. Odin pocketed his phone and I showed him my shell. It was a perfect pink and white one, small and bright.

“Your favorite kind,” he said.

I closed my fingers around it. I’d keep it until we had to move again. Even little things like that shell had to be left behind when you lived on the run.

Just then Odin’s phone beeped. He stopped dead in his tracks and pulled it out.

“That's a weird alert,” I said. “What does it mean?”

He just stared at the phone, wide-eyed.

“What?” I asked.

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