Page 23 of They Found Us
“How did they get out to the front?” I gasp.
“We’ll go put them back and have a look around.”
They take them out of the back door into the garden where their enclosure is.
“Aww, they’re so funny. Have they ever escaped before?” Vanna asks.
But I’m not finding it funny at all. Theres something they aren’t telling me. I can tell. Even Vanna seems like she knows something I don’t.
“Why does Alex have our camera alerts on his phone when Leo hasn’t even set them up on mine yet?”
Vanna looks a bit taken back by my question. “I have no idea. You’ll have to ask Leo that.”
Maybe I’m over thinking all this. Or maybe I’m not, but I will get to the bottom of it. Once the goats are safely back in their pen and the hole they chewed in the fence has been covered up, Vanna and Alex say their goodbyes.
“I’m going to take the boys up to bed, and then I think I’ll go too. I’m shattered,” I say to Leo.
“Okay. Good night,” he says, distracted, and it’s not his usual response, which annoys me.
I was going to let it lie, but I have now changed my mind. “What was all that about earlier?”
“What do you mean? All what?”
“The way you and Alex looked at each other when the cameras alerted you to activity at the front door. And why has Alex got our cameras set up on his phone when I haven’t even got them on mine?”
“La mia ragazza, non preoccuparti.”My girl, do not worry.
But when has anyone ever stopped worrying because they have been told tostop worrying?
“Alex and I went into our old fight mode. We just wanted to make sure everyone was safe, and they were. We thought it might have been a bear or something.”
“A bear? Are there bears on this island?”
“Yes, Alex said there are.”
I’m not convinced.
“And hand me your phone. I’ll download the app and set the cameras up for you now.”
“But why did Alex have our camera alert on his phone?”
“Because he was showing me how it all worked.”
While I wait for him to set everything up, I take the boys to bed. I know Leo, and I know when he is hiding something from me. I don’t feel like it’s anything big, though. I know he is only trying to take care of me, so whatever it is he thinks I don’t need to know is his way of protecting me and our boys. I trust him, so let it lie. For now, anyway. Once Mark and Zander are settled, I change into my pj’s—shorts and a vest top—and return with both baby monitors to Leo downstairs.
“Is it done?” I ask as I flop down next to him on sofa.
“Yes. You’re all set. Did the boys go off okay?”
“Yep, sound asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.”
Leo spends a few minutes showing me around the app.
“This icon here is for the live view. You can scroll down for each camera. There’s one on the front and the back door and one at each side. Tap and pinch to widen, zoom in closer, or move the direction, like this.” Leo clicks on the back door camera and zooms in to the goats in their pen. “There’s also this little clock here where you can go back through and see what has been recorded.”
“Ahh, okay. Let me see.”
I scroll through the times on the front door notifications until I see the two little billy goats running around our front lawn. Next, two large Italian men storm out of our front door and chase them around the garden. I can’t help the giggles that escape me. The goats really torment Leo and Alex, darting off at the last second, running through their legs, coming together, and then splitting off in different directions.
