Part Thirty-Two

Kelley stood in the foyer of his childhood home, now his home and left his suitcases right there as his phone rang. He fished it from the inside pocket of his jacket and looked at the name highlighted on his screen.

“Hello, Charles.”

“We need to talk. You went too far this time, Kelley!”

“With what exactly? I’ve been quite busy the last few weeks.”

Kelley could hear the irritation in Charles’s voice and he had to smile. He loved irking the old man. “Are you still in St. John’s City?”

“No, I’m in town.”

“Where are you?”

“My house on the hill overlooking my new kingdom.”

Charles’s intake of breath was audible and Kelley waited patiently for him to recover from the shock of that news. “I’ll come to you.”

The line went dead and Kelley grinned as he pocketed his phone again. It would be an enlightening conversation. Approaching footsteps made the grin disappear and his features returned to stoic as the man stopped in front of him.

“We’ve cleared the house, no bugs and no cameras. Your secu