You Again by Carolyn Scott

foliage will cover us almost all the way to the house.”  He led the way along a path through a stand of trees.  A hedge of jasmine grew to waist level providing extra cover and a pleasant aroma.  But the arbor ended abruptly with several yards of manicured lawn between them and the wide colonnaded marble porch.
    “There’s the gargoyle,” he said, pointing to a jutting piece of masonry nested between two arches gleaming in the moonlight.  The house itself stood in complete darkness.
    “Damn it,” she muttered.  “I still can’t believe Harry missed that one.”
    “Harry?”
    “Uh, yeah.  Dad’s friend.  He kind of happened to mention where the cameras might be located.”
    “Kind of?  Happened to?”
    She kept her focus trained on the house.  Avoiding him.
    “Anything else this Harry person mentioned?”
    “Um, nope.”
    “So what’s his name?”
    “Harry.”
    “The rest of his name.”
    “I don’t know.  He’s just Harry.”  She smacked his arm.  “Quit interrogating me and work out how we’re going to get from here to there without being seen by the gargoyle.”
    He studied the layout.  The flat carpet of lawn was edged with a perfectly trimmed thigh-high hedge that would shield them from the cameras if they crawled.  He looked at Lily and smiled.  He might have to break protocol on this and allow her to go first.  No point wasting a good viewing opportunity. 
    She glared at him.  “What?”
    He explained the plan.  “And when we get closer to the house, those flowering shrubs will hide us until we disable the gargoyle camera.”
     
    Lily looked at the azaleas and the huge gothic style mansion looming above them like a vast and savage fortress.  “There’s a gap of at least ten feet between the azaleas and the house.  I’m sure your arm’s good, but I don’t think it’s that good, not with a cloth.  And if you get any closer the gargoyle camera will pick you up even if the one above the front door won’t.”
    “No worries,” he said.  “I’ll shoot it out.”
    “You brought your gun!”
    “Better.  And quieter.”
    “A silencer!  Jeez, Luke, does your boss know about this?”  She found it hard to believe that her by-the-book ex would do something without his boss’s knowledge, but it was even more incredible to believe the cops issued silencers to their officers.
    He rummaged through his backpack, found what he wanted and held it up for her to see. 
    She let out a breath.  “A slingshot.”  He dug in his pocket and pulled out a small ball bearing.  “Do you know how to use it?”
    He looked like a child with a brand new shiny toy.  “I used to own one when I was a kid until my father caught me with it.” 
    She smiled, picturing him as a cheeky boy getting into mischief.  It seemed at odds with the man she knew, the man who never drove over the speed limit and always followed procedure even if it meant breaking up with his girlfriend because of her family connections.  Then again, maybe not so odd.  He certainly had a mischievous side.  Especially in bed.  It must have been a trait that had become diluted over the years. 
    “My Dad would have loved a son like that,” she said.  Instead he got a good girl with a conscience.  He’d loved her fiercely, but she knew he sometimes wished he’d had a child with fewer morals and more of a sense of family tradition.
    “And mine would have loved a daughter like you.”  He placed a ball against the leather strap, pulled back and let go.  The ping of metal hitting stone could clearly be heard above the singing crickets, followed by a clunk.
    Luke looked through his night vision goggles.  “Damn.  Missed.”
    “So what was that sound?”
    “The gargoyle’s ear.”  He set up his next shot, fired. 
    Ping.  Clunk.
    “Another ear?” she said.
    “Nope.”  He lowered the goggles.  “Mission accomplished.”  He shoved the slingshot into his back pocket.  “Let’s go.  We’ll