eb93c43e214c621f9157c05b4b6a6878

“Yes, I need to go—urgently!” Little John added.

“What can I say, you guys,” I said. “You probably should have gone when you had the chance.”

And then we were hurrying back to the house, Little John and Little Janine walking a little awkwardly, as they had a bladder control issue to contend with.

CHAPTER 21

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Chase was helping the delivery guy wrestle the box spring and the new mattress up the stairs and into the nursery, which had temporarily morphed into a guest room once again, also assisted by a large and burly male he’d found standing in the living room and who had announced he went by the name Wilkins and was John Boggles’s personal protection officer. The work was slow going, as the staircase had never been designed to allow for the transition of large objects like bulky box springs. Still, while Wilkins pushed, and Chase pulled, and the delivery guy was vocal in his helpful instructions, they were slowly getting there.

Once upstairs, they found John Boggles in‘his’ room reading a Churchill biography and looking a little shaggy, as was apparently his personal style. “Oh, there you are,” he said when they came a-knocking with the requested goods. “Just put it… over there somewhere,” he said, gesturing in the general direction of the wall, where the butterflies Odelia had painstakingly painted and the Smurfs Chase had cut out and glued in place were still very much in evidence. Perhaps one day, when these people had left, the room would be a nursery once again.

“So are you the English guy?” asked the delivery man, staring at John as if he was some kind of superhero in the flesh. “The one that got kicked out of office?”

“Um, yes, as a matter of fact I am he,” said Boggles. “That is to say, he is I. I am him, so to speak. Though I think you’ll find that I have not, as you so aptly put it, been ‘kicked out of office,’ but am in fact still very much in possession of my position.”

The delivery guy, who’d been listening with rapt attention, seemed confused as to what Boggles had actually said, as evidenced by his next statement. “So are you moving into a Hollywood mansion now, like your Prince what’s-his-face?”

“I can emphatically state that I am not moving into a Hollywood mansion,” said Boggles. “I am merely enjoying the heartwarming hospitality of Mr. Pringsley here and his lovely wife Ophelia, and very soon I’ll be back at my post, leading my country to infinity and beyond.” He chuckled, then patted the man on the back. “Now if you could show me how to work this intriguing contraption of yours I’d be very much obliged, good sir.”

Wilkins, who’d been standing at attention near the window, glancing out, now announced into a wrist mic, “All clear, I repeat, all clear, over.“

Chase sidled up to the man.“So are there a lot of you guys out there, Wilkins?”

“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say, sir,” said the security man stiffly.

“No, of course,” he said. “It’s just that you guys usually travel in packs, right?”

But Wilkins merely stared at him, then returned his gaze to the perimeter of the house, scanning it for known and unknown potential threats. Just then, Odelia moved into view, accompanied by two dogs and two cats. She waved at them and Chase waved back, while Wilkins muttered into his wrist mic,“F1 has returned with Boggle one and Boggle two, over.”

“Her name is Odelia,” said Chase helpfully. “And she’s my wife.”

“I know she’s your wife, sir,” said the man. “Now if you’ll please let me do my job?”

“Oh, absolutely,” said Chase, and decided to head downstairs to greet his wife. As he did, he couldn’t help but wonder how long these people were going to stay. He didn’t mind that Odelia had decided to help out a friend, but the request had come at an inconvenient time, to say the least.

He met Odelia in the living room and saw that she looked perturbed.“What’s wrong?” he asked as he watched the two dogs scoot through the pet flap and into the backyard, then make a beeline for the rose bushes for some reason.

“I met Kurt and Ted just now, and Ted says Boggles was fired from his job. He’s no longer a Prime Minister, which makes me wonder what else he hasn’t told us.”

Chase frowned.“But… he just told us he’s still the Prime Minister.”

Odelia threw up her hands.“He’s lying! It’s all over the papers!”

“Calm down, honey,” he said, placing his hands on her arms. “So what if he’s not the Prime Minister anymore? What difference does it make?”

“The difference is that he might stick around here forever, Chase!”

He could see that she was a little—or a lot—overwrought, and it wasn’t hard to understand why. Instead of enjoying those blessed postnatal weeks, she was running around doing the Boggles’ shopping and playing the perfect hostess.

“So maybe we should find them some other place to stay?” he suggested gently. “I’ll bet there’s plenty of Airbnb’s in town where they could stay.”

“Tessa said they need to lay low for a while—to hide from the press.”