Super Secret | Half Hero Book 2 [ON HOLD]

Chapter 2: Warning Tingle

I'd finally crossed the threshold of my mom and brother's new house, but it wasn't anything like I'd pictured. The mod architecture, muted tones, and impractically hip furniture didn't match my mom's warmth or Aaron's chaotic panache. Then again, they'd been in town less than a week.

"Hey, butt-munch!" My brother's sincere greeting prickled the hairs on the back of my neck.

It was striking how much Aaron had grown up to look like a gangly (and somewhat pimply) version of our dad. They had the same squared jaw and wide expressive eyes that made you feel right at home.

"What's up skid mark?" I shot back, wrapping him up in a big hug.

"Language!" Our mom sighed, breezing through the solid wood door ahead of Varun. "Not in front of company please, it's disgusting!"

Aaron's unfortunate underarm odor was covered in a layer of pungent body spray, but his arms felt good locked around my shoulders.

"Missed you fart-face," he whispered, squeezing me tight. He'd lost weight since our last video chat.

"Missed you too barf-breath," I sighed, ignoring our mom's fussing.

Their gorgeous detached two-story home was on the outskirts of Washing DC in an uber-swanky suburb over an hour from wherever I was being kept. The cloistered bubble of white privilege stretched for miles and included several pristine parks and sprawling colonial properties. There was a fence around the security hedges surrounding each house! Theirs wasn't the biggest home on the block either. Not by a long shot.

"Ella, why don't you take off your coat?" My mom suggested as I unzipped the ugly mucus-green puffy jacket the department had provided me.

She opened a dark-paneled door to a small closet, pausing when Varun lightly touched her shoulder.

"Allow me," he said kindly, helping her out of her smart woolen pea coat.

My cheeks burned with daughterly intuition at the subtle (but furtive) look they exchanged. It could be nothing, or maybe I was just paranoid from constant shellshock, but something was up.

"Varun, have you had a tour of this place since they moved?" I asked, interrupting their goo-goo eyes.

"Uh, yeah," Aaron scoffed with teenage insensitivity. "Varun helped us move in, dumbass."

"Seriously, dude?" I shot him the hairy eyeball.

"I don't expect Ella to know anything about me, but yes, I have seen the house," Varun replied pleasantly as he finished putting the coats away. "I would, however, like to get a crack at that surround sound system again."

"I figured it out," Aaron puffed up his sunken chest with pride. "It was a faulty wire in one of the auxiliary speakers."

"Do I need to know what that means?" My mom smiled through her worry.

As a teen, my brother had a habit of engineering his low-tech thrift store finds into fire hazards. When he was a kid, his dream was to be an engineer or a billionaire playboy, whichever came first.

"It means your son is smarter than a man with two doctorates," Varun answered, curling his lips upward to match my mom's.

"Tell me something I don't know," my mom agreed, beaming at my little bro fondly.

"And," Aaron crowed. "It means we can finally watch Avatar the way it was meant to be seen."

While they continued chatting, I let my gaze wander over the mid-century modern dwelling. The very few shabby chic accents my mother had brought from Seattle stuck out like sore pimples and made my heartache. In the octagonal room adjoining the foyer was my dad's striped tangerine recliner in all is matted glory, languishing in the waning afternoon light.

"I'm going to get dinner in the oven to warm," my mom told us, trailing down a hallway that branched off of a set of floating stairs.

I followed her down the wide-planked floor into an open-concept dining and living space complete with a kitchen made up of stone and wood elements. The entire back of the house was expansive glass panes that followed the butterfly angles of the roof and bathed everything in natural light. My mom bustled up to the wide silver double-door fridge behind a giant marble island.

"This place is amazing!" I exclaimed, watching her remove a covered dish to pop in the high-tech oven.

"Isn't it exquisite?" She said, fiddling with the automated keypad to set the temperature. "Varun has been incredible throughout all of this, he's the one who found this house."

"Why?" I couldn't help myself.

"Because he wants to help us, honey, he wants to help you," my mom closed the oven to face me. "He lost his brother, and Varun feels like some good can come out of this terrible situation."

"OK," I nodded soberly, not wanting to sound ungrateful. "But-"

"Ella," my bother's voice cut off my question. "Settle an argument for your fans. Can you, or can you not, cook an entire turkey with one hand? And would you be willing to post a video trying?"

As the social media director of my mother's Scion foundation, Aaron took his duties very seriously. Even with the monumental gag order we were under, he'd managed to amass a small legion of online fans dedicated to my rights.

"That is both an unsanitary and intriguing ask," I replied, matching the wide grin Aaron was sporting under his mop of dark blonde hair. "Maybe if I stuck my fist up the-"

"If you're going to do any at-home poultry experiments, please take in the courtyard." My mom chimed over the click of Varun's elegant cane as she directed our attention toward the stylish patio. "And no posting Ella's face or location online, you know the rules."

I followed the line of my mom's finger to find a gurgling orbicular fountain surrounded by landscaped rock structures and hanging bamboo furniture off of the dining area. Aaron jogged ahead to show me how the vaguely tinted windows pushed inward like a pivoting garage door.

"Hey!" My mom stopped us before I could join my brother outside in the frigid evening. "Dinner's going to be ready in twenty minutes, and I need you two to set the table."

"We're going to eat at the table?" Aaron's jaw dropped. "Are we expecting royalty?"

"No, but we are civilized human beings, most of the time." Our mom reminded him. "And close that door, it's letting in the cold!"

"If I help, it will go faster," Varun agreed supportively while Aaron latched the glass wall closed.

I kept my attention on the murky courtyard beyond our reflection. Unsure of what I was looking for, I took a few steps closer. Nothing seemed amiss, yet a warning tingled at the nape of my neck.

Yikes!! Looks like Ella's 'Spidey-Sense' is already on high alert! Then again, she should be pretty used to people following her around...