Chapter 21

"Phoebe, can you stop anyone from uploading video of our unusually exciting morning?"

"Already on it, Boss. Police cams do work, but none show us misbehaving. Four people shot smart phone videos, but the second they tried to upload, we hit their devices and erased the data. They were forced to brag in 140 characters on Twitter. We, on the other hand, have excellent coverage."

Pete penned a press release giving a generic explanation of the events: That known criminals attempting to kidnap several young girls viciously attacked the residents of the house. They resisted, utilizing techniques learned in self-defense training classes. Fortunately, the armed assailants were defeated and were apprehended by the authorities. All but two of the intended victims are minor children whose names would not be released. The other two would not be giving interviews. Any attempt to contact or photograph the victims would result in prosecution. Further questions should be directed to the police spokesperson.

When he was satisfied that it answered questions, was accurate without giving away too much information specific to the house, and was truthful, he passed copies to the police guard outside the door. He noticed yellow 'Crime Scene' tape and the ubiquitous blue police barricades forming a 'do not enter' space at lease a hundred feet in all directions. The CSIs would be busy for days.

Meanwhile, the Pixies were sitting around the conference room table with cokes, rehashing the battle. Pete opened his senses and evaluated their moods. With perhaps a touch of resentment that the situation was forced upon them, he was pleased to find they had little remorse over what they had done. They were proud of their cool reactions once the battle was on.

The audible conversation reflected their sense of accomplishment. "It was just like Sir said. We are faster, smarter and focused. For me, it was like I knew what Mary was doing next. I either covered her back or blocked a counter attack. If I went high, she went low." Allison observed.

"When those four creeps grabbed Star and Rani from behind, I knew Kim was going to cut one behind the knees, so I did the same to another. They went down and the other two found out that messing with pixies is a bad career path."

"Thanks, Mary. When you dropped him, I selected the guy holding my arm out of the gene pool. Then, Selena jumped over Star and kicked that one guy in the face. I think Star gave him an appendectomy before Selena landed on the other fucker's hand."

"Penny and I were almost dancing around our attackers. I felt like we were in perfect unison and the bad guys missed the rehearsal. If one reached a hand for me, Penny stabbed it. If one grabbed Penny, I broke his elbow. It was the twin connection in overdrive."

"I knew when Kim turned to help Rani, because she grinned and sliced the creep trying for me before she disconnected that one's knees."

"Lisa was like a tornado." Athena laughed. "She had a blade in each hand. If she could reach it, it bled. I don't think anyone got a finger on her."

Lisa answered with, "And I almost swallowed my tongue when you insisted that guy stay down. When you told him his mama could wipe his ass, I nearly laughed out loud."

"I did have to make my point. I don't like having to do crap twice."

"We shocked and scared our brothers out of their gourds. And made them stupid proud of our Spartan heritage. I mean Kris talks and teases all the time. Quiet Theo positively blabbered today. He was always the strong, silent brother type. He used his entire quota of words for the year in one sentence. But I don't think either will ever tease us again."

"My Pixies do more before lunch than most armies do all week." Pete cut in. "You sweeties were the cutest commandos ever. The Raging Reaperettes: Cleaning the streets of the West Side and looking good doing it."

"You weren't slacking off either, Daddy. Spring and I saw you take on six or seven dumbasses all at once. It was cool the way you popped the idiot with his own gun and shot the other in one move."

"What happened to the one wearing his head crooked?" Spring asked.

"It must have been a faulty head installation. I didn't twist it that hard. But I was in a hurry and, like Athena, I did not want to have to deal with him more than once."

"I know we all want to wash the bad guys off, but I have one more bit to show you. So please follow be to Tar Beach." Pete led them up all the stairs, into his room and showed them the new spiral stairway to a trapdoor in the ceiling.

"I have not inspected this yet, so I will be as big a surprise to me." He went first and turned the lever shaped handle. The door popped open on spring-loaded hinges. The spiral continued up and out.

Pete was impressed. The enclosed, 20'x15' spa/bath/lounge room was a few steps away. Beyond that, the large, 25'x30' sundeck was connected by a short walkway. The whole structure was raised about a foot above the classic flat tar roof. The 10' privacy fence, going completely around the perimeter of the roof, included a10' gate at the rear with an overlook above the mystery courtyard. There were two 10' gates over the street and two over the driveway.

The plumbing and electric chase ran, in separate channels, to the wet wall above Pete's bath. Kris had installed GFCI outdoor outlets at each overlook, in the sun porch and around the deck.

They needed only lounge chairs, beach blankets and towels for the shower to make it complete. Pete liked the whole set-up.

"Pixies, welcome to Tar Beach at the Asylum."

The girls surged around him on a mission to explore the new turf. He followed after, bathed in the excitement and joy they broadcast.

<So, what do you think?>

<We think it's great. Star wants palm trees and a wet bar, though.>

<And you want cacti and yucca trees.>

<As long as the bar has good margaritas and piña coladas, I'm OK with both.>

"Hey, Mr. O'Neal," Rani yelled, "We need plants to do this right. It would be like a real beach. Except for the sand that we don't have either."

"And you won't get. You bozos would track it into my bedroom, and the shower drain goes to my bathroom. It's too much trouble. How 'bout we get another kiddy pool or two up here if they fit through the door?"

The teens and Allison spent the time checking out the sauna and showers, so Pete went to the rear to see his unseen courtyard. He pulled the hinged sections of the privacy fence open and looked out over the 36" wrought iron safety barrier. He was not surprised to see no trace of the access door from the lower level. The 'lawn' needed work but was not terribly overgrown. In fact, it needed very little work.

What did surprise him a lot was the total lack of windows on the sides of the buildings surrounding his brownstone. The ones on either side were the same height, but the ones behind were quite a bit taller. He looked to the 72nd Street end and saw the same. The privacy fence blocked the view from the high-rise apartment buildings on Central Park West. If you were sunning on the deck, you had complete isolation from spying eyes.

That did not happen in New York unless one of two adjacent buildings was razed. That did not explain the lack of overview from the structures several lots away. Curious. This brownstone does not want to be seen, he thought, I have to have a talk with my new friend, Amy.

He walked back to the sun porch and gathered the Pixies. "If you want, we can shower up here. If some of you will collect some snacks and drinks and others get some towels and extra clothes, we can have a picnic in the city. Shall we?"

The teenagers acted like teenagers and were all for it. "Bring your cell phones and some iPads. You are going to get cauliflower ears before the day is over."

<Star and Spring, meet me in the office before you come back up.>

<OK. See you in five.> From both, in unison. They were twins from different mothers, who were twins.

He felt mental giggles as he made his way down to the office. He stopped by his closet and threw a towel, pair of a navy boxers and a white tank top on the bed to collect on the way back.

In the office, he asked Phoebe what was going on outside.

"Not much, Boss. Looks like the CSIs are very busy. One had an iPad reviewing the recordings the police managed to capture. She was trying to walk her colleagues through the struggle, based on where the bodies landed. The reenactment isn't going well. The blood-spatter guy gave up."

"One cop had a helmet cam, but he was dealing with the stragglers toward Amsterdam Avenue who missed the fight. Apparently the cops, and the men Demopolis sent, had their hands full, too. But that was more of a fair battle. The good guys got the drop on the baddies, and Kris and Theo's people matched them in size. The EMTs had a few pick-ups there, too."

"How did the Demopolis Brothers do in the fight, compared to the cops and us?"

"Fearless. They are formidable warriors compared to the police and their opponents, almost as good as the girls and not nearly as efficient as you, even before the enhancement. I researched Kris' comment about the Athenians. Today, the Spartans did not need Athenians."

"Almost as good as the girls?"

"Nowhere near as fast, but bigger. When one of those men hits something, it stays hit for a while."

"Thank you, Phoebe. Sorry about leaving you down here. We went to the new sun porch on the roof. I'll take the laptop so you can get a view and give us your opinion. I want some eyes up there, also."

<We're almost there, Daddy. Spring can't decide what to wear.>

<Anything will do. No one can see us up there. Come on down, Star. I want you to help take some equipment up.>

<Do I have to wear anything, Dad?>

<No. Naked works for me. Your titties make me happy.>

<Then I'm dressed. Wait up, Star. Lets make Daddy smile.>

Two naked teens arrived in the office in seconds. "I love your swimsuits. They are perfectly tailored, and match your eyes nicely." Pete leered. "As much as I want you both bent over the desk right now, we have to get stuff together. Star, look in the tall cabinet over there and get four of the wireless cameras with the mounts, batteries and AC power packs. Get the iPads in the conference room, too. We need eyes on the roof. Spring, in the utility room you will find a cordless screwdriver and some drywall screws. We'll need those to mount the cameras."