Kyle took a moment to collect himself. He had to. Otherwise, he was pretty sure he'd combust from the whiplash of the last five minutes.
He took a deep breath, then asked carefully, "So…just to be clear…is the gift and message your main way of deciding if someone's pursuing you?"
Ollie shook his head, looking mildly bewildered.
"No, of course not!" he huffed. "My mom said sometimes gifts don't work. You have to try other methods."
"Other methods?"
"Yeah!" Ollie nodded. "Because, get this, according to my mom, my pop didn't notice anything. So my mom nearly hogtied him so he'd finally open his eyes!" He said, though he wasn't even sure how it helped his mom at the time, but according to her, it did.
"…Hogtied," Kyle repeated slowly.
Ollie nodded with the solemnity of someone detailing a legendary war tale. "Pop thought she was just being nice—even after she sent him gifts and dismantled an entire crime organization that was going after him."
