“Justtry to keep up, ‘kid.’Andtry not to cry when you’re eating our dust.”
Footvolleyis basically volleyball but uses soccer rules when it comes to touching the ball.Sofeet, legs, and heads only.Jaceserves the ball, drop-kicking itover the net.Blaketakes it, using his head to bump it toward me, andIkick high, sending it back over the net. “Ifwe’re playing on a pickleball court, we can’t just call this footvolley.Whatdo we call it?Footpickle?”
“No,”Blakesays, catching the ball with his hands, stopping its motion, which goes completely against the rules of this game. “Weare not calling it that.Iveto.We’restill using a footvolley ball, anyway.”
“Volleyfootpickle?”Isay. “Pickle-volley-foot?Foot-pickle-volley.”
“Juststop.Seriously.”
“Footvolleyfor the height-challenged player?”Milessuggests.
“I’vegot it,”Jacesays. “Footvolleyin a pickle.”
“Footvolley for those with skills too low for a high net,”Ioffer, mostly because our suggestions are annoyingBlake.
“Idon’t know,”Milessays. “I’mkind of a fan ofPickleFoot.”
Maybeto get us to stop with the bad jokes,Blaketosses the ball back toJaceto re-serve then says, “So, you were out in the field today, huh?Anywherefun?”
“That’sclassified.”Andhe knows it. “ButIwill say it was close enough to travel to by helicopter.”
Idon’t think thatBlakeappreciates everyone in the family except him being in the know about cases we’re working on at theCSA.Buthe’s the one who chose to turn his back on the family business and become a dentist, of all things.Heprobably wouldn’t like field work, but he’s smart enough that he could’ve been an analyst, likeEmerson, or a handler, likeCharlie.Orhe could’ve worked in any of the sub-levels.Withhis knowledge of facial anatomy and his precision skills, maybe he could be likeAbrahamand work with disguises.
Ormaybe he just wishes he could travel to different locations at the drop of a hat like we do.ButwithHeidi, that isn’t exactly possible.
WhoamIkidding?Blakedoesn’t do anything without spending weeks planning it first.Evenif he didn’t hate theCSA, he would hate being an intelligence operative.
“IfZoebeat you to the objective,”Blakesays as he kicks the ball over the net, “does that mean you didn’t finish the mission?”
Amuscle in my neck twinges. “Idon’t think you get how this smack-talk thing works.You’resupposed to be antagonizingour competition, notyour teammate.”
“I’mjust trying to understand.You’reokay just walking away from the mission, leaving it unfinished?”
Blakewould never just walk away from something, leaving it unfinished, whether it was a root canal, aDIYhome project, or a five-course meal.
“I’mnot just leaving it unfinished,”Isay. “Themission is still moving forward, and right now, it’s inEmerson’scourt.”Ido a twisting jump kick, sending the ball over the net and downward like a missile.Jacedives for it but doesn’t get it before it hits the ground.
“Howare you not calling him every five minutes to get an update?”Blakeasks.
“Firstoff,”Isay, not taking my eyes offMilesbecauseBlakeis going to serve to him, and he’s wearinga pretty intense expression, “any info he discovers goes straight to the director—”
“ToMom,”Blakeinterrupts.
“—toMom, first, so he’s not going to tell me.Asof right now,I’vealready done my part of the job.”
“Ifby his ‘part of the job,’”Jacesays asBlakeserves the ball, “he means lettingZoesecure the objective before he does.”
“See?”Isay asImotion toJace. “That’show you smack talk.”ThenIkick the ball thatMilessent my direction over the net, aiming straight atJace’shead. “Anyway, right now, it’sEmerson’sturn with the case.It’scalled working together as a team.”
MilesandJacework together—Jacebumps the ball toMilesusing his head,Milesbumps it back to him using his knee, andJacetwists in the air as he sends the ball over the net and toward the ground.Blakegoes for the ball but doesn’t get there before it bounces off the pickleball court.
Ihold out a hand to pull him up. “Somethingthat you clearly know nothing about.”
“I’mjust saying thatIwouldn’t walk away with things not finished,”Blakesays, picking up the ball and throwing it back to the other side.
“Whenit’s my turn again,I’llbe there with bells on.Inthe meantime,I’mgoing to enjoy some family adventure.Thismoment right now is for blowing off steam.Andthe only thingIneed to worry about is smack-talking and making sure we win.”
CHAPTER 4
