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his mouth to answer, but Buchanan spoke first. “That call originated from the Cleary-Maurer campaign headquarters.”
    Oliver nodded. “Not a surprise. I believe what
is
a surprise, and the question that needs to be answered, is—why is Cameron Maurer’s mother calling to warn Kitty away from this campaign?”
    “I’ve got another question. Was she calling to warn us, to trap us, or to ask for help?” Another thought occurred. “Or was she, in fact, using the same equipment as Malcolm in order to determine our position?”



CHAPTER 5
     
    W AITED FOR THE SOUND of incoming bombs. None. Figured this just meant they’d launched the slow missiles. “Should we evacuate again?”
    Buchanan shook his head. “Your embassy isn’t safe to reenter right now.”
    “We could go to Dulce,” Lorraine pointed out.
    “No.” The way Buchanan said it, I assumed this meant that the Powers That Were My Mother, My Husband, and My Best Guy Friend had said they wanted us to remain right here.
    Took a deep breath. “Okay, in this order, I want these answers. Where is my father? Where are all the Embassy pets? Why is my embassy unsafe? Where are the other people who I’d expect to be here who are not in this room? And what the hell is going on?”
    Oren cleared his throat. “Your father and your pets are in our embassy, Ambassador.”
    Leah grinned. “We’re a little more pet friendly.”
    “There are half a dozen K-9 dogs in here. Mona appears to be quite pet friendly.”
    Mona laughed. “Your father has an old friend in town who is staying at the Israeli embassy, Kitty. He wanted the animals with him because he feels they would feel safer.”
    “My dad actually said that? And with a straight face?”
    “Honestly?” Jakob asked. I nodded. “Yes, he did. I think he misses his dogs and cats and just wanted to show the Poofs and Peregrines off. It’s not everyone who has not one but two alien animal races as part of their menagerie, after all. They’re quite a hit, so don’t worry about them, or him. Your father is under very capable guard.”
    Meaning other Mossad agents were there. Which was good and also made sense—Mom was the only non-Israeli, non-Jew to ever be in Mossad. A long story I still didn’t have all of, but I figured it was Old Home Week for Mossad and Dad was starting the party early.
    “Rahmi and Rhee are with him as well,” Raj said. “We felt that they would enjoy the company of Mossad, and they’re also guarding your father.”
    Rahmi and Rhee were princesses from Beta Twelve in the Alpha Centauri system, aka the Planet of the Getting Less Pissed Off Amazons. They’d been sent to us by the Planetary Council during Operation Sherlock, under the guise of attending Jamie’s first birthday party.
    Due to some issues going on both here and there, we hadn’t found a way to send them back. So, they’d become a part of our diplomatic mission, and were getting much better with the idea that all men were not enemies to be instantly smashed. They’d really bonded with my dad, which wasn’t a shocker, since they worshipped Mom and he was married to her.
    I’d been smart enough to not allow them anywhere near the protest, and unlike every single, solitary other person in my circle, they actually followed my orders. They lived to kick butt—which was why I’d kept them far away from the protest, lest they turn it into a riot—and sending them to the Mossad Kegger seemed like their version of heaven, so Raj was right on as always.
    So, Dad and the animals were safer than safe, and I could table concerns about all of them for later, including wondering why none of the animals had shown up to protect any of us. Since the Poofs and Peregrines were both bred for protection, it seemed odd that none of them had tried to at least warn us we were going into danger. But I had other, more pressing, questions.
    “That’s two down, three to go. Where are my husband and the rest of those who I’d expect to see