15. Taking Our Time
Taking Our Time
Forest
Hope walks into HQ beside me looking a hell of a lot better than she did the last time I saw her here.
There’s still tiredness around her eyes, but she’s showered, changed, eaten and, according to Mercy, slept for nearly eight hours. She’s spoken to her relieved parents, and she looks lighter today.
I managed six. I’ll take it.
The operations room is quieter than yesterday, but one of the main screens is filled with photographs of the Las Vegas tower, floor plans and a schedule with tonight’s performance highlighted.
Another carries a live video feed from Vegas.
A woman with long curly hair is standing near the conference table.
Hope touches my arm. “Forest, this is Bliss. Matthias’s partner.”
Bliss gives me a smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
Hope glances toward Matthias on the video feed. “Bliss has been through what Meridian did to Thandiwe. Matthias helped her recover.”
I look back at Bliss. That explains why she’s here.
Jax and Matthias are sitting at a table with a laptop open between them, Jax’s phone positioned so we can see them both. Their comms are still available when they need them, but right now we’re having an actual conversation.
Hope stops beside me.
“They found her.”
“Looks that way.”
Jax looks toward the phone when he hears us.
His eyes go straight to Hope.
“You okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
He gives her the look of a brother-in-law who clearly intends to decide that for himself.
Hope sighs. “Janice cleared me. Mercy cleared me. I’ve eaten breakfast. I slept. I’m not dizzy, nauseous or about to collapse.”
Jax nods. “Okay.”
She looks at me. “See what I deal with?”
I smile. “Seems reasonable to me.”
“Traitor.”
Matthias hasn’t moved. He’s staring at the photograph of his sister on the screen.
Thandiwe.
Sandie Cross to everyone who’s known her in that tower. A stage name that’s probably spanned years.
“What have you got?”
Jax points to the schedule.
“She performs again tonight. Seven. Same venue inside the tower.”
“And she’ll be moved?”
“Backstage holding area before the performance, dressing room afterward. Security escorts her both ways.”
Matthias finally looks away from the photograph.
“Two men. Sometimes three.”
His voice is steady, but there’s nothing relaxed about him.
Jax brings up another image.
“We’ve identified the service corridor behind the performance space. No public access. Cameras at both ends and one covering the dressing-room entrance.”
“G?”
“Already working on them.”
Sounds about right.
Hope moves closer.
“What happens after she performs?”
Jax looks at her. “She gets escorted back upstairs.”
“So that’s your window.”
“Yes.”
“We’re not taking her before the performance,” Steve says. “Too many variables. If she fails to appear, the entire building locks down before we know where they’ve moved her.”
I nod. “Afterward, everyone expects her to be moving.”
Jax points at me. “That’s what I said.”
“Smart man.”
Hope laughs. It’s nice hearing it.
Janice looks at Matthias.
“The most important part is what happens when you reach her.”
His expression tightens.
“I know.”
“No surprises,” Janice says. “No grabbing her. No rushing toward her because she’s your sister.”
“I understand.”
Bliss holds Matthias’s gaze.
“She might know your face and still be afraid of you. She might remember you and not trust what she remembers. They mess with your head until you stop knowing which thoughts belong to you.”
Matthias looks at her. She knows exactly what she’s talking about. Hope said he was the one who helped bring her back from it.
The room goes quiet. Matthias nods slowly.
“So Jax reaches her first,” Steve says. “You stay back until he establishes she’s safe.”
I look at Jax. “You going in?”
“Yeah. I’ll deal with security. Matthias stays back until I’ve got a clear path to her.”
Makes sense.
Jax changes the screen. A route appears from the service level to an underground parking structure.
“Vehicle here. G kills the cameras only when we’re moving. Matthias stays with me. Once we have Thandiwe, we don’t stop until we’re clear.”
“Medical?” I ask.
“Ready,” Janice says. “And Matthias has already arranged everything she may need.”
As expected.
More than a decade searching for his sister. Now he has hours to wait.
Steve studies the plan.
“Run it again from the dressing-room door.”
Jax does. Every turn. Every camera. Every fallback.
Nobody rushes him.
When he finishes, Steve looks at Janice.
She nods.
Steve looks back at Jax. “You’re cleared for tonight.”
Matthias closes his eyes briefly. Jax puts a hand on his shoulder.
“We bring her home tonight.”
Matthias looks at the photograph again.
There’s something different in his face now.
Hope.
I know something about that.
Blackstone Ventures HQ, San Francisco. 1245 hours.
Jax’s video feed is still up when Steve’s comms unit chirps.
He glances at the display.
“Bear.”
Janice moves closer as he opens the channel.
“Talk to me.”
Wind blasts through the speaker before Bear’s voice comes through.
“We’re clear of Saint-Pierre.”
Steve straightens slightly. “Everyone with you?”
“Victor, Adrian and the three boys. All accounted for.”
I look toward the main screen. The Vegas operation disappears from my attention for a second.
Hope moves closer beside me.
Janice asks, “Where are you now?”
“On the water.”
Steve gives her a look. “That narrows it down.”
Bear laughs.
“We picked up a smaller boat. Faster. We’re heading back toward Newfoundland now.”
“How long?”
“About ninety minutes, depending on the seas.”
Another burst of wind comes through.
Steve winces. “You lot freezing?”
“Adrian is deeply offended by the entire experience.”
A different voice carries faintly through the background.
“I can hear you.”
“He’s an Englishman. He should be used to it,” Steve says.
Hope smiles.
Bear continues. “Victor’s fine. Adrian’s fine. Everyone’s tired, and nobody’s injured.”
Janice visibly relaxes.
“Once you hit Newfoundland?”
“Straight to the Learjet. Already arranged. We’ll get everyone aboard and head home.”
Steve nods. “Send us your departure time before wheels up.”
“Will do.”
Janice leans toward the comms.
“And Bear?”
“Yeah?”
“Nice work.”
“Thanks, Janice.”
“And Victor and Adrian?”
“We’re listening,” Victor says.
Janice smiles. “Sensational intel scoop. Both of you. Well done.”
The operations room erupts.
Hope cheers beside me. Bliss joins in, and Steve gives the desk a couple of celebratory thumps while the rest of us applaud.
Victor laughs through the speaker. “Thank you.”
Adrian’s voice follows, dry as ever. “I’m pleased freezing to death has finally received the recognition it deserves.”
Steve grins. “Get yourselves back to Newfoundland and onto that Learjet.”
“Working on it,” Bear says.
Steve closes the channel.
For a few seconds, the room settles.
It’s all happening.
Hope is safe.
Victor and Adrian are off Saint-Pierre with Bear and the new boys.
And there’s a plan to bring Thandiwe home tonight.
Steve looks around the room.
“Right. Unless somebody has another international crisis they’ve been saving for lunchtime, I’m calling that enough excitement for the next ten minutes.”
Hope laughs beside me.
Janice points at him. “Don’t tempt fate.”
“I’m not tempting anything. I’m requesting cooperation.”
Hope turns toward me.
“So.”
I look at her.
“So?”
“Mercy is working. Jax and Matthias are in Vegas. Bliss is here making sure everyone behaves. Steve and Janice clearly have this under control.”
Steve looks over. “Clearly.”
Hope ignores him.
“And your friends?”
“Already out exploring.”
I check my phone.
One of the messages waiting is a photograph of the three of them standing somewhere near Fisherman’s Wharf, all grinning like tourists who’ve discovered they’re being paid to visit San Francisco. They’re planning on hitting Ghirardelli Square next.
Big kids.
Hope peers at the screen.
“They didn’t wait for you?”
“Apparently friendship has limits.”
“Or benefits.” She smiles. “Then we should go too.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Where?”
“You’re in San Francisco.”
“I had noticed.”
“No, you’ve been in headquarters, planes, rental vehicles and one very unpleasant tower in Vegas. That doesn’t count.”
True.
Hope hooks her fingers lightly around my wrist.
“Come on. I’ll show you somewhere that doesn’t have an operations screen.”
I glance toward Steve. He waves me away.
“Go.”
Janice smiles. “We’ll call if we need you.”
Hope starts toward the door. I follow.
For the last couple of days, every time I’ve gone somewhere with Hope, it’s been because somebody was trying to hurt her.
We’ll still be careful. We’ll watch our surroundings, keep our phones and Beacons on and make damn sure nobody follows us.
This time, we’re leaving because we want to.
And we’re getting lunch.
Pier 5, San Francisco. 1330 hours.
Hope wasn’t kidding about showing me San Francisco.
She takes me along the waterfront first, the Bay stretching out beside us under the afternoon sun. After days of aircraft, hotel rooms, surveillance feeds and the inside of Blackstone Ventures, being outside without an operation attached to it feels almost strange.
I’m still watching people. I can’t help that.
Hope catches me checking behind us.
“Anyone?”
“No.”
“You’ve checked four times.”
“Five.”
She laughs. “At least you’re thorough.”
We’re both being tracked, and I know exactly how quickly HAVEN could find us if something went wrong.
Still, I check again.
Hope bumps her shoulder against my arm. “Lunch, soldier.”
“Former soldier.”
“Your neck says otherwise.”
“My neck?”
“You keep turning it around like an owl.”
I stare at her. She grins and keeps walking.
Coqueta sits right on Pier 5, overlooking the Bay. The moment we step inside, I understand why she brought me here. It’s warm and lively without being too loud, Spanish influences everywhere, sunlight coming off the water beyond the windows.
Hope gets us a table with a view.
“This is considerably better than a surveillance van,” I tell her.
“I set a high bar.”