Leapholes

Chapter 19

From a very early age, Kaylee knew she was different.

Kaylee was just a toddler when her mother started fighting off the modeling agencies. Your daughter should be in commercials, they told her. Maybe even movies. She had perfect features. A natural beauty. Cha-ching, chaching. Her mother was smart enough to realize that the only thing those people cared about was the sound of a cash register ringing.

Kaylee was no dummy herself. In fact, she was so intelligent, it sometimes scared people. Once, when she was a little girl, she tagged along to the doctor's office for her mom's annual checkup. Her mom sat on the examination table. She was so pretty, looking exactly like the woman Kaylee dreamed of becoming. Kaylee watched intently as the nurse rolled up her mother's sleeve and checked her blood pressure.

"Very good," said the nurse, reading from the gauge. "One-twenty over eighty."

"One and a half," Kaylee volunteered.

"One and a half what?" her mother asked.

"One-twenty over eighty. That equals one and a half."

The nurse looked up from her chart and almost dropped her pen. "How old is that child?"

"Six," said her mother. "Well, almost six."

The look on that nurse's face was unforgettable. Over and over, throughout her childhood, Kaylee would see that same spooked expression. Hearing the amazing things that came out of her mouth, adults would guess that she was just small for her age. "You're special," her mother would tell her. She always made Kaylee feel that way.

It had taken Kaylee's mother a while, but finally she warmed up to Hezekiah and his leapholes. Some parents would freak out if an eccentric old man told them that their daughter has what it takes to become a Legal Eagle. Kaylee, however, had been pursued all her life, whether it was the modeling agencies or top private schools. Her mother checked out Hezekiah carefully. Eventually, she came to see him as a private tutor of sorts, though her affections ran much deeper than that. He was like family to her, and she adored him like a grandfather. It was difficult for her to accept the fact that Hezekiah was gone.

Naturally, her heart fluttered when Jarvis called her with the good news.

"Ryan and his mother are driving to Hezekiah's office right now," he said into the telephone.

"Awesome!" said Kaylee. She was speaking from her bedroom on an encrypted satellite telephone that the Society had given her. Secrecy was at the core of the Society. "What time are you meeting them?"

"Three o'clock."

"Do you want me and my mother to come over? Maybe it would put Dr. Coolidge more at ease if she met my mother."

"It's best if I handle the first meeting by myself."

"Why?"

"Because we can't trust Ryan or his mother yet. Your membership in the Society is secret. I can't run the risk of exposing your identity until I know more about Dr. Coolidge. You and I will be dead meat if she shows up on the nightly news talking about the secret Society of Legal Eagles."

Kaylee fretted for a moment. She didn't like leaving this in the hands of Jarvis, but he had a valid point. "All right. As soon as you develop a level of trust, call me. It will be easier to convince Ryan's mother to let him go looking for Hezekiah if my mother is there to reassure her."

"No problem."

"Oh, and just a reminder: Don't even think about taking Ryan by yourself to search for Hezekiah without me. That would be way too dangerous. You're not a Legal Eagle. Ryan may have what it takes to be one, but he doesn't fully understand leapholes yet."

"Yes, I'm fully aware that I'm not a Legal Eagle, that you are, and that Ryan probably will be. Is there anything else you'd like to rub my nose in?" He sounded quite annoyed.

"Sorry," said Kaylee. "I wasn't trying to put you down. I just want to make sure that this is done right and that we get Hezekiah back."

"Then we're all on the same team."

"Good. Don't forget to call me."

"I won't."

She said goodbye and hung up. But the tone of his "I won yt" made her wonder. Did he mean I won't forget?

Or did he mean I won 7 call?