Amanda looked at Michael and saw that he really did look embarrassed. Amanda thought that maybe he wasn't embarrassed because Solange was talking about him getting married, but embarrassed because maybe he was beginning to think that would not be a bad idea.

Solange showed Michael all the changes she had made to the wiring, including showing how she had capped off all the wires with rubber caps.

"So now, everyone needs to memorize where these switches are. If there is someone in the house at night, hit the switch and all the electrical lights downstairs will be disabled and the black lights will turn on," said Solange.

Solange had camouflaged the black lights as best she could, placing them high on shelves and taping some of them on the tops of door jambs.

The next step was the fake blood and the fishing nets. Solange mixed the blood powder with water and then filled a bunch of old plastic milk bottles with fake blood and hid them in the kitchen and the living room next to canisters of pepper spray she had bought at the sporting goods store. And she placed the fishing nets above the doors and rigged a rip cord that would make them drop.

Solange wanted to paint glow-in-the-dark graffiti on all the walls but changed her mind when everyone else protested that the graffiti would not make them safe but it certainly would make the house look much worse than it already did.

"You're right. I was just getting carried away," said Solange.

Michael was going through all the now empty bags and looking at all the receipts. "You spent over a thousand dollars buying all of this stuff."

Michael looked like he wanted to be mad but just couldn't.

"You can never spend too much to stay alive," replied Solange.

No one had anything to say about that.

Amanda looked at the house now that it had been turned into a Halloween haunted house and asked, "But what about the things you bought from the Santeria man? What are you going to do with them?"

Solange looked at Amanda for a moment and then she said, "I will put them out later on tonight after everyone has gone to bed."

"But why?" Amanda asked. "Why can't we just do it now?"

"I can help," said Michael.

Solange looked at them quietly and said, "I have to do it by myself. I just can't tell you about it." She looked directly at Amanda and said, "I know I told you that I would tell you when you were older but I can't tell you now."

"You mean you won't tell me now," replied Amanda.

"I guess that's true. It's something my mother passed down to me that has been in our family ever since my ancestors were slaves. They brought their spells over from Africa and they are sacred to them. They are not sacred for me, but I respect what they are for them," replied Solange.

"You said they used them to scare white people who were trying to harm them," said Amanda.

"And that is exactly what I am going to use it for-to scare those South Africans to death if I can," replied Solange.

The rest of the evening was spent cooking dinner. Solange insisted on preparing three vegetables, but she also sauteed some chicken breasts and heated up a loaf of French bread so there was actually something to eat on the table. Amanda helped Solange cook and clean up and then she got on the internet for a few minutes.

Amanda looked out the window and saw that Thibodeaux was standing by the pool and without saying anything to anyone, she walked outside. When she reached Thibodeaux, she grabbed him and pulled him behind the grotto and kissed him.

"Hey, who taught you to do that?" asked Thibodeaux.

"I looked it up on the internet," replied Amanda. "Do you want to try again?"

"Sure," replied Thibodeaux.

Amanda grabbed the back of his head and kissed him again and said, "There. If anyone asks when we get back home, we know how to regular kiss and French kiss."

"Right," replied Thibodeaux kissing her one more time.

"So give me five," Amanda held up her hand to slap Thibodeaux's hand and then turned to walk back into the house.

"You are one crazy girl," Thibodeaux called out after her.

"No one has ever told me that before so thanks, I guess," replied Amanda.

Amanda walked back into the house, took a shower in the Joan Crawford memorial bathroom, fell into her bed and went to sleep. Spending seven hours running around Los Angeles on public transportation carrying huge shopping bags was certainly exhausting and something she never wanted to do again. Amanda had never thought much about cars before. They were just there and they were nice. Her mother had a Range Rover. But after spending a day shopping without a car, she would give anything for a used Hyundai.

And just before she went to sleep, she thought about Thibodeaux. Did she like him like a boyfriend? She did like kissing him. Amanda sleepily decided that she should wait to think about Thibodeaux until everything was over and she was safely back home. That would be the time to think about kissing boys. Well, she would try to not think about kissing Thibodeaux. Yes, that is what she would do, try to not think about kissing Thibodeaux or wonder just what Solange was going to do with all the gris-gris stuff she purchased today.

Chapter VII.

Amanda slept in the next morning. When she finally did get up, it was ten o'clock and Solange had left to buy more groceries. Amanda walked down the stairs and she saw them, the same kind of altars that Solange had placed in their apartment in New Orleans. But knowing they were there and knowing why they were there were two different things and Amanda was pretty sure she wasn't going to find out about the second one any time soon.

Before she left for the grocery store, Solange had made waffles and coffee and left them to be heated up in the microwave, so Amanda made herself a plate of food and went outside to eat while she watched Peter and Thibodeaux swim. She was glad to see that Michael was sitting outside watching because even though Peter had taken a lot of swim lessons, he was not an athlete.

It was beautiful outside. Los Angeles had gorgeous weather. Amanda had always wanted to go to Harvard. Both her parents had graduated from Harvard; that is where they met, and they encouraged her to study and make top grades so she could go there too. But now she wondered about the University of Southern California which was right down the street from where they were staying. They had passed it when they were in the cab and it was beautiful. The Los Angeles that Amanda had seen while she was shopping with Solange was really ugly, just lots of down-in-the-mouth strip malls. But Amanda had seen enough films set in Los Angeles to know that there was another Los Angeles, one that was beautiful and hip. And it was so nice to have a moment to just sit and think about normal things like the weather and where she wanted to go to school and whether Solange had made these waffles with organic flour.

Solange returned from the grocery store and came outside in her bathing suit, jumped into the pool and started swimming laps. Some of Amanda's swimming instructions seemed to have paid off.

But Amanda's break from drama was soon over. Michael's phone rang and it was Cyrus with some bad news. When Cyrus went to Miss Gaby's home to pick up their car, he could tell that someone had been there. Miss Gaby had left for Austin the same day they left for Los Angeles so there was no one in the house, but Cyrus had left a very tiny thread in the door of the car and someone had opened the door. When he went inside the house, he could also tell that the house had been dusted for fingerprints. Someone had not only been to the house, they were obviously looking for them.

Cyrus had other bad news. He had called an old friend with the New Orleans police to ask what happened to the thugs they had left tied up in the convenience store. His contact told him that by the time the police arrived at the store, the men were gone. Someone had broken the locked front door and rescued them. Cyrus asked his contact if they had any fingerprints from the store. They did and they sent them to him. Cyrus then ran them against the fingerprints he had taken from their car and the house and they were a match. Those thugs were free and they had followed them as far as Natchitoches. Cyrus had also called Gaby and asked if she had phoned Lafayette from her home number and she had, so they should assume that they knew about Lafayette Loomis. Lafayette did not officially live in the house where they were staying. He still lived in a condo where he planned to live after he returned from New Zealand while all the renovations were being done. Miss Gaby also said she called Wally from her home phone number a lot in the past (just as Amanda suspected) so if they found her house, they must be able to access Amanda and Peter's grandfather's cell phone records. Cyrus thought these guys were obviously very sophisticated, so he did not think it would take them long to research Los Angeles property records and learn about the house. Cyrus thought they might have a day or two before they were found, but not more. Cyrus wanted to get on a plane and come to Los Angeles right now, but Michael was afraid that if he did, he would lead the thieves/terrorist right to them. Besides, Michael said he would call his father and ask him to make arrangements to move them.

Michael had Cyrus on speaker phone with the volume loud enough so everyone could hear but not loud enough to be heard by anyone next door; although the lot was huge so it was doubtful it could be heard even if the volume was turned all the way up.

Peter touched Michael's arm and said. "I need to tell Superintendent Bernard something."

Peter was shivering because he was still wet from the pool. Amanda grabbed an extra towel and wrapped it around his shoulders as Peter started to talk to the speaker phone, "I have been doing research on the internet about the bombing and one of the downtown buildings that was blown up had a tenant named Mara Investments and I could not find out anything about a Mara Investment when I searched. But when I put the building address into the search engine for news, I found a story about how an Arab woman had been arrested for demonstrating in front of the building. She had a bullhorn and she was yelling that some company called Knightsbridge Associates and another company called Cerebrum Inc. had killed her family in Iraq. When I searched for Knightsbridge, there was a story on a blog that said they had their New York offices in that building. I also found a news story that the heads of both Knightsbridge and Cerebrum were supposed to testify before Congress in November of last year but they didn't because the head of Knightsbridge and a lot of the employees were not available. It did not say that they had died or were blown up, but then none of these articles said very much. "

"Well, son, you are quite the investigator. If you move down South when you grow up, you can certainly have a job with the Louisiana State Police. Let me look into this and I will call you back. I always thought there were two layers to this thing. The guys who chased you through New York City were really incompetent, but the job they did finding you in New Orleans and tracking you to Miss Gaby's was pretty sophisticated," said Cyrus.

Amanda spoke up and said, "I bet that guy Kilgairn is the one who rescued them."

"Could be," said Cyrus. "Let me look into it, see if I can find anything about him."

"I never found anything about a Kilgairn when I was searching the web about the buildings that were bombed," said Peter.

"I'll check," replied Cyrus.

Everyone said goodbye to Cyrus. Their beautiful day was gone. Michael went into the house and found his gun, loaded it and put it on a bookshelf in the living room hidden behind one of the cheap decorations the former owner seemed to have loved. He then lectured everyone about gun safety. Amanda looked at him and then at Solange, who had since returned from the grocery store, and thought that you never really get away from parents when you are a kid. If your parents are missing, other people just volunteer to take their place and get on your case.

After the phone call, no one wanted to swim in the pool anymore or even watch television. They were on warning that they could be found again anytime. The rest of the day passed slowly. Michael spent a lot of time on the phone with his father but by nightfall, they still had not come up with a plan to move them. A very quiet group made dinner and took turns being on watch as the others watched television. Peter, however, was on the computer.

About 10 p.m. that night the phone rang again. Michael put the phone on speaker so they could all hear. "Hey, Peter. That was quite some catch about Knightsbridge. I called an old contact at the CIA and found out that Knightsbridge was supposed to testify before Congress and at The Hague about some war crimes committed by Cerebrum when both companies were working on the same project in Iraq. But Knightsbridge is no longer able to testify because all of their records and some of their witnesses were blown up in the bombings. Knightsbridge was supposed to have a videotape of a group of Cerebrum mercenaries gunning down a truck load of civilians which would prove that they, Knightsbridge, were not involved. My friend at the CIA told me that the Knightsbridge and Cerebrum companies are in thick with the FBI-that many of their employees are former FBI and CIA so that's probably where the leaks are coming from-someone they know at the New York FBI office."

Peter walked over to the speaker phone and said, "Do you have the names of all the employees of Cerebrum?"

Cyrus replied, "No, they keep that information pretty close. But I can see what I can find out."

Solange turned to Peter, "Why do you want their names?"

"If we have to deal with the police again, we will need those names. If we know who they are and they hurt us, the police will think they did it," replied Peter.

Amanda put her arms around Peter and hugged him as he squirmed, "You know, sometimes it's okay to have the smartest brother in the world, I mean the state, oh well, the city. I've got it-this room. You are the smartest brother in this room."

"I am the only brother in this room," replied Peter.

"See, I told you that you're smart," replied Amanda.

Cyrus said, "I am going to work with my contact in the CIA to see if we can find out who is leaking information about you."

Michael spoke up, "But is that safe? We know the government must be the source of the leaks. Shouldn't we just continue to rely on ourselves."

Cyrus replied, "I have known this guy Jack for years, ever since I helped him when he was in Louisiana looking for some drug runner who was being smuggled in on a fishing boat. I was based in New Orleans back then. Jack and I became really good friends and I know that your secret is safe with him. I bet 99.99% of the men and women who work for the FBI are patriots and love their country. But it only takes one traitor to compromise an investigation."

Peter replied, "If you get the names, would you email them to me tonight."

Michael then spoke up and said, "We need to move as soon as possible. I don't think it is safe for us to remain in Los Angeles. I called my Dad, but it's going to take him a couple of days to make arrangements. Right now, we are thinking we may just take cabs to a hotel tomorrow or maybe not because this house is pretty secure."

Cyrus replied, "I will have my contact at the CIA get in touch with some of the guys he trusts in California and have them come get you. But you should not worry too much. I think you have a day or two before they figure out that Lafayette owns that house. I looked at all of Gaby's phone records and she phoned a lot of people, not just Lafayette. I called Gaby, Bernadette, and that guy in Austin and warned them to get out of town and stay out of town until this is over. But I would think that since Gaby is from Austin, they would start looking there first."

"That's a good point," replied Michael.

"I will try to get those names, or at least some of them, to you by email later tonight," said Cyrus.

Everyone then said goodnight to Cyrus. When they were off the phone Michael said, "From now on we need to stay in the house. No more shopping, no more swimming."

"And so much for all that carrying on about getting the school books delivered here. We sure won't need those," said Amanda.

Michael walked over to the shelf where he had hidden his gun and got it out and checking to see that the safety was on, he put it in his belt.

And on that decidedly less than cheerful note, they all headed to bed.

Chapter VIII.

Amanda woke early the next morning to see Solange quietly getting dressed. "Why are you up so early? We can't do anything today, we are supposed to stay inside until Cyrus makes arrangements to move us."

"I am going to the Catholic Church to talk to Sister Ignatius," said Solange.

"What? You can't leave the house. Michael will be furious," replied Solange.

"I know he will be. He won't understand, but I think we need to move immediately, and if we talk to the nuns, we can ask for sanctuary," replied Solange.

"What is sanctuary?" asked Amanda.

"Hiding in a church. I stayed up late last night googling Mr. Loomis's name. Did you know that all of Los Angeles's property records are on the web. Those thugs won't even have to travel to Los Angeles to find out about this house. And when you put this address into Google Earth, you can count the chairs around the swimming pool which means if they looked while we were all out at the pool, they will know that someone is living in this house," replied Solange.

"Why don't you tell Michael and let him go. He has that gun and he knows how to shoot it," replied Amanda.

"Michael's not Catholic and I am," said Solange.

"Is that going to be a problem?" asked Amanda.

"Problem with what?" replied Solange.

"Oh, nothing," said Amanda.

"I can see you have questions again, but honey, you are just going to have to wait. I will be back in a bit," replied Solange.

"Oh, no you don't. You are not going by yourself," replied Amanda.

"Oh yes I am. There is no reason for two of us to be out on the streets at this hour," replied Solange.

"If you don't let me go with you, I will scream and wake up everyone," replied Amanda.

"You wouldn't," replied Solange.

"Oh yes I will. And it's 6:15 in the morning. Don't you think the nuns will be asleep?" asked Amanda.

"See that is why I need to be the one to go. Someone who isn't Catholic would not know there is a 6:30 a.m. Mass," replied Solange.

"Okay, so let's go," said Amanda.

Solange gave Amanda a stern look, but when she saw that Amanda was not going to give in she shrugged. Amanda quickly threw on a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, and her sneakers.

Amanda and Solange crept down the stairs and disarmed the alarm. Solange looked at Amanda and made sign language about how she wanted Amanda to arm the alarm. Amanda made sign language back that she did not know the exit code. After a bunch of hand waving, they crept out of the door and locked it behind them, leaving the alarm off.

It was beautiful outside even though the sun was barely beginning to rise in the East. A huge flock of birds were perched on the overhead wires and all over the trees. They were making a cacophony of sound. The air was cool and Amanda could smell the flowers blooming in the yards.