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“What’s that?”
“That’s headquarters. It was an old, abandoned building in a ghost town not far from here. Willa and Mac had it moved, so it would fit in. It’s about the same age as their house, which was the original homestead.”
“It’s beautiful, the whole thing. It looks like it was always here,” Finn said with respect.
“That was the idea,” Avery added. “Inside, the buildings are all state-of-the-art, but if you just rode or flew by, you’d never know.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” Finn said, not failing to miss the look exchanged between Avery and Croft. The chopper set down outside the building, and Croft got out as Finn unbuckled her safety belt.
Avery turned toward her.
“John is pissed you weren’t forthcoming with what was really going on. I suspect he’ll let you know but will then defer to Croft. Take a bit of advice from a new friend who has known these guys for a while and Croft longer than the rest of them. Don’t do it again.” She reached back to Finn. “And we’ll get your brother. There’s nobody better at this than we are.”
Finn smiled as she grasped Avery’s hand. “Thank you.”
Turning toward Croft, he helped her out, and they headed toward the building. Finn was a bit surprised when the chopper took off.
“Where’s she going?” asked Finn.
“Avery is the consummate pilot. She’ll take it back to where we keep it, a bit off the grid, so to speak. She’ll get it gassedup and wash all the dirt and grit off, then she’ll do a thorough inspection. If and when we need her, it’ll be ready to go. I suspect John’s given her the heads-up we’re headed to Vegas, so she’ll make sure the company jet is ready to go as well.”
“You didn’t tell me Avery is a woman.” Finn smiled at the curious look he gave her.
“I didn’t tell you she wasn’t. It doesn’t matter. She’s the best damn pilot I’ve ever been around and takes care of transportation and most of the operational stuff as well. She has special-ops experience and is a member of the team.” Croft was surprised when she reached up to kiss him, then grinned at him.
“I’m not sure why it makes me so happy that it never occurred to you to mention she’s female.”
“It’s irrelevant. Behave yourself in this meeting. There’s going to be lots of questions, and you’ll probably get asked a lot of the same things more than once…”
“To ensure my story is consistent, and I’m not lying?”
Croft nodded as they headed into the building. Avery had been right. The historic outward appearance of the building gave no indication of the beautiful, modern interior. Once inside, a visitor couldn’t help but be impressed. A kind of open reception area that sat in front of an enormous glass-walled conference room furnished with a large table and chairs. On either wall were projection screens. Seated around the table were five men, none of whom looked pleased to be there.
They entered the conference room, and Croft held out a chair for her. Finn took some comfort when he sat down next to her and made no attempt to hide the fact they were together. He covered the hand she rested on the table with his own and gave it a gentle but reassuring squeeze.
The tall, dark-haired man at the end of the table cocked an eyebrow at Croft but directed his first comments to her.
“Ms. Reid. You lied to us. In most circumstances, that means this firm would fire you as a client and refer you to someone not nearly as skilled to deal with your problem. Croft assures me it was simply concern for your brother and won’t happen again. I’d like your word on that.”
Finn felt like a small schoolgirl being dressed down by the principal, although his authoritarian voice was softened by kind concern.
“You have it. And I’d like to apologize to all of you for not being forthcoming from the get-go. I will not make that mistake again.”
John nodded. The next two hours were spent going over everything Finn knew about her brother’s disappearance and his life. They repeated requests for information in questions designed to confirm the veracity of her statements as well as to elicit everything she knew about what had led them to this point.
The meeting was interrupted when the phone rang, and it was Fariq Abdal.
“Croft?” a cultured voice asked over the speakerphone.
“I’m here, Fariq, and I have Ms. Reid with me.”
“Ah, Ms. Reid. I’m sorry we didn’t have the opportunity to meet. Your brother has been most anxious about your safety. He would like to speak with you.”
Finn could hear a bit of shuffling in the background.
“Finn? Are you there? Are you all right?”
Finn burst into tears at the sound of her brother’s voice and leaned toward the phone.
