Page 46 of Lost & Found

I was impressed by the steadiness of her demeanor. Marcel must have said something to encourage her, because she radiated as she glanced at him.

“Declan, honey, run along now and find Marcus—”

“But mummy, I wanted to stay and listen. I’m family, and this is a family meeting.” A loud groan erupted from the tow-headed boy, making me stifle my laughter.

Victoria’s face softened as she knelt beside him. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I know, little man, but this meeting is for the grown-ups,” she explained patiently. “There will be plenty of time for you to join us in the future. Plus, it will get boring after a few minutes.”

It was fascinating to see her as a mum, and my heart warmed as I watched them. God, if ever I had children, I wanted to be like her.

“Nuh, uh. Aunt Kinsley told me she is going to ask Uncle Nik to instigate, no that’s not right. Integrate. That’s not right either. What was it again?” He turned his cherub face toward Kinsley.

“Investigate. And Nik, I’m serious. I know you thought I was joking earlier, but this is serious business. We simply must find Bobo.”

“And I told you a thousand times, baby girl, we don’t find missing animals.”

“But it’s suspicious, don’t you think? How does a bird let itself out of its cage and open a door? Come on, it had to have had help. We have to do something.”

“We’ll leave that to those that specialize in it, and that ain’t me, baby girl,” Nik said.

“But—”

“Do you wish to join Declan and Marcus for pizza and soccer?” Victoria asked, frowning at Kinsley. “We have a lot to discuss tonight, and a missing bird isn’t one of them.”

Alek laughed in his seat, catching Victoria’s attention. He winked, signaling his approval, and she squared her shoulders.

Kinsley pouted. “Fine, but if something bad happened to her—”

Ivan yanked her over and promptly kissed her long and hard. When she finally pulled away, she looked dazed and confused.

“You’re next to Pasha. Sit,” he ordered, gently shoving her over to the other side of the table. “I see what you did, buttercup,” he remarked to Victoria, who blushed beautifully before nodding.

The seating arrangements made complete sense now. Kinsley was sitting next to Pasha and me, opposite the Kings. Last week there were some questions on if they paid attention at all. Declan’s face was crestfallen as once more Victoria placed her hand on his back to guide him to the door.

“Poor chap,” Sebastian remarked. He sighed. It echoed through the room, a testament to the fondness he held for him.

“He’ll be fine the minute he sees Marcus,” Marcel boasted, and knowing him the way I did, I agreed.

I filled a plate with several treats and moved over to the table. Plopping down between Kinsley and Sebastian, I bit into the brownie first. The sweet taste of chocolate chips melted in my mouth. They were fantastic, and I eyed the tray, wondering if it would be too much to get up and grab another before I finished this one.

Victoria cleared her throat and handed out notepads and pens. Jesus, we were going to have to take notes? But for my girl, I’d play along. She wasted no time.

“Alright, everyone, let’s start with the first order of business—Nik’s new app. It has been custom designed with our family in mind. If you’ll direct your attention to the monitor, I will show you the features.”

“I still don’t see why you need to know where we are during the day,” Bash said.

“For many reasons. I know you’re not comfortable with a tracking app,” Victoria continued, a hint of humor shining through. “But let me assure you, it’s not optional. It’s either the app or a chip implant. Take your pick.”

Alek chuckled and nodded his head toward Marcel. Everyone had been working with him to get Victoria to be more assertive, so this gave her practice.

“With this app, we’ll be able to track one another. This ensures that we can always reach each other in case of an emergency,” she explained. “It has car crash detection, the ability to send out an SOS if the situation arises. It is important that each of you put in an emergency contact of someone else in this room. Again, it’s not up for discussion. Pick a buddy. Also, there is no feature to turn off your location,” she directed the last part to Bash.

He tried to snatch a cookie from my plate, and I slapped his hand. “Get your own,” I murmured, finishing the brownie. “And grab me another brownie while you’re at it.”

He stood and made his way over while Victoria walked everyone through the app features. After addressing the tracking app, she shifted her focus to the second order of business. With a few deft clicks, she brought up a demonstration of the FamilyWall App.

“Now this app is another one that is going to revolutionize the way we communicate and coordinate as a family.”

She gestured toward the screen. “We have a shared calendar, where we’ll be able to schedule and coordinate family activities, Declan’s games and practices, not to mention commitments. I expect Death Squad business to be imported. Of course with code words, but we’re all familiar with those. Each family member has their own color-coded section—”