Shared the wonder that was Evan and his connection to the Kramers, which meant they were likely connected to Strauss and Villanova. "Christopher, you need to get back to the Embassy. Lorraine, Claudia, go with him. Get Hacker International working on piecing together whatever's been shredded. Clearly it's key."

"Kitty, you need to take a shower," Serene said. "We used you taking a bath as an excuse for why you've been gone. It's only been about thirty minutes, but that's almost too long."

"Hyperspeed shower here I come. See you three later."

They zipped off and I zipped into the bathroom and took the fastest shower of my life. Didn't wash my hair because I figured I could use the excuse of blow-drying it as a reason for my being so absent. And, despite everything, figured a good brushing would solve most issues.

Serene had clothes out for me, a navy skirt and pumps with an iced blue top, and I got into them quickly but carefully. While I brushed out my hair and put it up in a banana clip, we discussed what we knew and concluded we knew a lot and nothing at the same time.

"We need to get anything Elaine has on Evan out of her."

"That'll fall more to you than me," Serene said. "Honestly, right now, the two of us need to get back into political mode, and fast."

"Only sort of. We have the head of Titan here as well as Drax. We're just in that What The Hell Is Going On mode, versus this other What The Hell Is Going On mode. Speaking of which, what's our story for what happened with the Kitty-Bot?"

"I checked with Tim while you were showering. Suspected intruder issue that was handled is the official word. I don't know that you'll even be asked about it-the Planetary Council has been mingling, and most of what everyone's talking about are Jeff's personnel announcements and the Drax situation."

"As long as no one suggests the Kitty-Bot as my replacement, I'm good with it."

She laughed. "I'll get my people on the Kitty-Bot What The Hell problem. We're better suited to that than the Titan and Drax issues."

"Which is your polite way of saying that the FLOTUS can't be caught up in all the intrigue and illegal B&E that's going to go on."

Serene shot me a very innocent look. "Kitty, we would never do anything illegal." She sounded totally honest and completely ditzy.

Laughed and hugged her. "You're really our best secret weapon."

She hugged me back. "Have to take care of my family."

We headed downstairs. Serene either had the White House layout memorized or was a lot better with spotting the signage, because we reached the dining room where everyone else was without issue. Spent the time regressing my mindset back to what it had been before the Kitty-Bot appeared. I had to FLOTUS up and take one for the political team, and I had to do it now.

We separated, and I went over to where Thomas Kendrick was. Unsurprisingly, he was with Culver, Gadoire, and Vance. Tito was also there, and he nodded to me, meaning that he'd double-checked Kendrick and he was indeed a real human.

Everyone asked if I was alright, said I was, and that was that. Presumably because Kendrick had been here waiting for a good forty-five minutes or more and no one wanted any more delays. Worked for me.

"Madam First Lady, thank you so much for inviting me into your new home," Kendrick said as he stood up and we shook paws. No joy buzzer or similar in his hand. One for the win column.

"Kitty," Vance said as he stood, too, "I'm sorry, but I need to grab you for just a moment. It's a point of etiquette that our new First Lady might be unaware of," he added with a gracious smile for the others. Then Vance took my arm and led me out of the room.

"What point of etiquette am I unaware of? I mean besides all of them."

"None, I just wanted to tell you what we've gotten out of Thomas while you were out of the room doing whatever it is that you were really doing that we're all going to pretend was taking a bath and calming down from a false intruder alert."

"Really?" Tried not to sound shocked. Failed, based on Vance's expression.

"Yes, really," he said, sarcasm knob easily at eight and heading for nine. "We're not idiots and we're on your side. And he'll tell us things he might hold back from the rest of you."

"As always, not trying to insult you or the skills."

"Whatever. Anyway, Lillian got him onto Drax Industrial right away. Thomas knows about the Invisible Commandos, and he told us that he had no idea that was Drax's sales pitch. He's horrified, and has been subtly cutting ties. He did say that if Jeff wants him to keep an eye on Drax, he will."

"I have just so, so much trouble believing that the head of Titan Security is our friend. I'm sure it's possible, but it's still a leap."

Vance shrugged. "He's not Antony Marling. You know how it works here."

"I do. I also know he's pals with the heads of Gaultier and YatesCorp."

"You're pals with one of the other heads of Gaultier."

"Stop using your evil logic on me. So, do you guys believe him?"

"Well, Jeremy Barone does." Jeremy was the brother half of a brother-sister Field team. He was the empath, his sister Jennifer was the imageer. She was now Jennifer Barone-Gaekwad, but she was still working with us and was on-site at the White House, too. "He was hanging out nearby, and he gave me the signal that Thomas wasn't lying. He could be wearing an emotional manipulator, of course, but until he's strip-searched, we don't have any way of telling. But Jeremy thinks he got enough emotions to feel confident that Thomas isn't wearing a blocker or an overlay."

"Or he's testing out the next level of Titan tech. But, fine. That gives me a lot to work with."

Vance grinned. "That's what I'm here for."

Decided that, regardless of what my role was now, I was still the Head of Recruitment for Alpha Team. And that meant I could hire as I saw fit. And, per Elaine, I had a lot of staff positions to fill. And we had at least two evil plots working, and more always loomed on the horizon. It was time to fill the ranks.

"Um, Vance?"

"Yeah?"

"By any chance, are you interested in a job?"

CHAPTER 17.

VANCE STARED AT ME for a long moment. "What kind of job? I don't want to run off to retrieve a briefcase while being shot at again. I'll do it, but I don't want to."

"That's not what I meant, but good to know that you're always willing. No. I need a First Lady's Chief of Staff along with a Social Secretary and Press Secretary. Or, as I think of it, I need a Pierre. I don't think it's right for me to rip him away from the Embassy, though."

"I agree. He's the only one there who isn't changing jobs or having massive life upheavals."

"Wow."

"What?"

"It's literally like you read my mind."

"I'll be thrilled if I'm reading this right. You want me to be, what, your Chief of Staff?"

"Yeah, I do. I really do."

Vance stared at me again. "Why?" he asked finally.

"Because you, like Pierre, know all the right things to do, who's zooming who, what to do in all the social situations. You dress like you just stepped out of the pages of GQ, you know everyone, and you're smart enough to make everyone think you're not smart at all. I have no idea why you were even in the Washington Wife class-you didn't need it."

He grinned. "I take it every time it's offered. So does Abner. It's how we help our spouses meet new players, Kitty. Darcy likes having ringers in the class, and she also likes our money, so she doesn't let on to the new students that she's known us for years."

Blinked. "Wow. That hadn't even occurred to me. But it's brilliant, really."

"Thanks. You mean it? This isn't a joke job offer?"

"When have I ever offered you a joke job? When have I offered anyone a joke job?"

He shrugged. "I just want to be sure."

"Be sure. Do you want the job?"

Vance hugged me. "Hells to the yeah. And I don't even care what it pays."

Hugged him back. "Thanks. Get to work. In addition to having no knowledge of what your salary is, I also have no freaking idea what I'm supposed to be doing in that dining room."

He laughed. "You mean besides eating and determining what's going on at Bad Guy Central?"

"Right. I'm great on the Megalomaniac Girl side of the house. The FLOTUS side on the other hand . . ."

Vance put his arm around my waist and headed us back. "Oh, don't worry, my chipper strip of seaweed . . . Your Mister Beaumont has you covered."

Managed to control the Inner Hyena, but only barely. "Thank you, Jeeves."

He grinned. "This is going to be fun. As for what you do, just sit and eat. This isn't a formal gathering, and everyone in here is aware of how you roll, plus those who don't know you well think you had a scare before the intruder was handled. But definitely eat. The food's great."

"Got it, I'm a scared bunny. Do I get to sit next to Jeff?"

"No, not right now. And just be you, no bunny needed. You're going to sit with us, and keep Thomas entertained. Trust me on this one."

"That is now your job, dude. To be the guy I trust."

Vance stopped walking, took his arm from around my waist, and looked at me seriously. "I promise I won't let you down."

"Thanks."

"Speaking of which . . . you said you needed a Chief Floral Designer, right?"

"Yep. Along with God alone knows what else."

"Probably a Decorator or similar. I'm going to get in touch with Pierre and tell him that, as of right now, Akiko Designs only works for American Centaurion and the White House and have him ensure that's the case by the time we're done with this lunch." He was texting like mad as he said this. "Also, and don't take my head off for this suggestion, but I think you can cover two jobs with one person if you hire Abner to be your Decorator and Chief Floral Designer."

Let that one sit on the air for a long moment. "Excuse me? The Akiko thing I have no issue with. The Abner thing on the other hand . . ."

Vance shrugged while still texting. "He's Lillian's husband, he's an artist, and he, like me, knows the movers and shakers. In case you're unsure, Lillian is, by now, one hundred percent on your side, which means Abner is as well." He looked up with a wicked little gleam in his eyes. "Besides, it'll kill, just kill, Marcia Kramer."

"Make it so, Jeeves, immediately if not sooner." Had a thought. "We need to ensure that we're watching her husband like a hawk, too. He was Gideon's VP replacement after we rescued the Cameron Maurer android, and even though Gideon's now on our side, I can't imagine that Kramer has joined him." Particularly after my extracurricular activity at Villanova's apartment.

"He hasn't. Like Marcia, he's bitter that they've been shoved out of the in-crowd in order to move you guys in. Zachary is definitely anti-alien and anti-you."

"Always nice to be able to keep one enemy for life, right?"

Vance grinned. "I'm glad Guy and I moved out of that circle, and I know Lillian and Abner are as well. She'll be thrilled with this, by the way. It will show her massive influence over you and your husband without her actually influencing anything. So it's a win for both of you."

"I hire so exceptionally well."

"I totally agree. I've texted Abner. He's possibly crying he's so excited. He's also on his way here to join us. I'll let Lillian know privately, just in case."

We joined Kendrick, Culver, and Gadoire, and, as suggested, I ate with them. Well, I ate the meal everyone else had already had while they lingered over dessert so I wouldn't eat alone. Jeff was with McMillan, Chuckie, Elaine, Raj, and Mom. Those members of Alpha Team present were with White and the Planetary Council. Decided to let Vance worry about seating arrangements and get some food into me.

As promised, it was excellent. Apparently I now ran Chef's life. As long as he continued to refuse to serve Alpha Four Boiled Tapeworms and continued to make food like I was consuming, he could count on only seeing me when I wanted to filch extra foodstuffs or lick the bowls. So, possibly regularly, but I wasn't planning to cramp Chef's style. He was a culinary genius. Shared this with Vance, who agreed we were keeping Chef on staff.

While I ate with probably a lot less social grace than the others around me had, in part because I was hurrying to be polite and in part because I was starving, so happy to shovel the food in, Culver and Vance kept the conversation flowing. Kendrick again proclaimed his love for all things alien and his horror at the depths Drax was willing to stoop to.

Wondered where Drax, Stephanie, Buchanan, Wruck, and Siler were. Not in this room. Wasn't sure how long we should leave them, because every minute we were eating and chatting was a minute the flyboys, the princesses, Camilla, and all the security agents were under an enemy's control. Planes and helicarriers could be replaced. The people couldn't be.

Or, rather, they could be.

Eyed Kendrick as I finished up my lighter-than-air chocolate mousse that I was going to demand that Chef make on a daily basis. Kendrick was a good-looking man-his father had been in the Marines and his mother was Vietnamese-and he was former military himself and, other than Culver, he still tended to hang with military folks.

Kendrick had the buttoned-down, crisp, intense look so many former military people had. The Department of Defense had essentially put Kendrick in charge of Titan. But that didn't mean he was a good guy-the DOD had been as infiltrated as every other government agency.

Of course, he was also part of the YatesCorp, Gaultier Enterprises, and Titan Security Unholy Trinity, which indicated nothing good. Then again, I'd just hired two people I'd have said were my bitter enemies not all that long ago and, technically, half of those around the table had, at one point in time, been against us. So that only proved that Kendrick was working in D.C. like the rest of us.

There was nothing for it. Time to do what I did best and see what reactions I garnered. Jeff was far too busy, but Jeremy was still close by. Waited until I'd made eye contact with him, then sent what I hoped was a clear emotional signal to be paying close attention. He nodded and shifted in his chair so that he was turned more toward us.

"Thomas, I have a question."

"Sure, Kitty, what?" I'd thankfully gotten him to stop calling me anything formal. Maybe there was hope for the White House staff, though I doubted it.

"What're Titan Security's thoughts about the android situation worldwide?"

CHAPTER 18.

TO KENDRICK'S GREAT CREDIT, he didn't immediately try to pretend he had no idea what I was talking about.