Counting Sheep

Chapter 23

The front door opened and there was a hush of voices before Julian sighed heavily.

"It's okay, Layla." He called out. Layla leaned over to peek around the wall, finding Dave and Antonio standing in the entry way. She kissed Hazel's cheek and let the girl hop down from her arms. "Here, let's go get you settled in my bed. The big one and you can lay with the kitty and eat your pancakes, okay?"

The little girl eagerly raced into the back bedroom as Layla went into the kitchen to grab Hazel's plate. She nodded towards the chairs at the men.

"Sit. I'll be right out." She said and went in after Hazel, finding the little girl attempting to climb the great height of the bed. Her little butt was up in the air as her little feet tried to find leverage on the bedpost.

Layla giggled, walking forward to set the plate on the nights-stand to lift Hazel up onto the bed. The cat lay on a set of pillows at the head of the bed, licking its paw right next to where Hazel plopped down.

Once under the downy covers, Layla placed the plate on Hazel's lap where the little girl greedily began eating again. "Alright, sweetie. I am going to go talk to the nice men out there, okay? You stay here and watch some movies."

Grabbing the remote, Layla helped Hazel pick a movie, the little girl choosing in a set of two until they finally narrowed down to one- a classic- Sleeping Beauty. A girl after her own heart. With a soft giggle, Layla dropped a kiss onto the halo of curls that surrounded the girls head before she headed out, shutting the door behind her. She found the men sitting where she had told them to, surprisingly, while Julian leaned a hip against the countertop, big arms crossed over his chest.

Any trace of the man she had seen holding Hazel mere minutes ago, was now gone and replaced with the cold hard man she knew he had to become when it came to his work. She tied her robe tighter around her waist and entered the kitchen.

"Hello, boys. I was just making breakfast. Would you like some?" Asked Layla.

"They don't-" Julian started just as Antonio grinned and said, "Yes, please. I am starved."

Nodding, Layla began to cook, feigning nonchalance while her mind was racing with anxiety. She listened closely to the conversation as she began to whip up another set of pancakes. Two for both Dave and Antonio. "So? I take it you have some news? Something to tell us?" Asked Julian, voice sharp.

She could tell, though, that he was just as nervous as she was. Antonio cleared his throat before leaning back in his seat, looking relaxed and sharp. "Well, we looked at the footage from your camera and we agree with your thoughts that it is a woman. This woman, whoever she is, is trained," Antonio began, but Julian cut him off.

"'Trained'? What do you mean by that?" He barked.

Antonio sighed heavily as though saddened by the poor manners that Julian displayed. "Trained as in...ways of the mafia." He said.

At this, Layla turned to face them, spatula in hand. "In the ways of the mafia?" she repeated, biting her lip.

"You mean there is a way the families train their...members?" Antonio nodded his head slightly.

"Something like that. Whoever it is knew to use a paint gun to disable the cameras. There are many ways that we use to disable security cameras and this is one of the highly recommended." Layla's brow furrowed at this, but she still listened closely as Antonio tried to explain it better to her.

"It is fast and easy.  You can take out as many as ten cameras and you go for the lens first and then the rest of the camera and the surrounding areas. You can carry containers of reserve paint to be safe, as well. If you find the right paint mixture, you can totally obscure the view of the glass lens once it is done. They knew to use disposable clothing because of the back-spray. Usually you get splattered, no matter how far away you are. No climbing is required. And, it also draws further attention to the camera which...I found odd," he said quietly, almost to himself.