“Yes, I did.It was an incredible opportunity.”Wayne, the nanotechnology scientist they’d also recruited, shook Drustan’s hand.
“Drustan has a lot of questions.I’m sure you can have that conversation over lunch?”
“Sounds great!What’s your favourite place to eat, Wayne?Let’s make it happen!”
Drustan raised his fist above his head, the two men went out the room.
Xander slumped in his chair.“When do we tell him that we smuggled Ida out of the country by our country’s request and our country has already paid for the research into this tech and has first dibs?”
“I think you’re going to have to before he finds his way to a podcast or something, no matter the NDA he signed.How is our esteemed guest doing?”Ares pointed to the ceiling, indicating the luxury suites above Xander’s office.
“She’s bored and wants to go outside.According to the report I got this morning, she needs to walk in nature to clear her head and get on to the next stage of the project.”
“We better let her out.We already have one prisoner we have to keep secure; I don’t need another one.We can protect Ida.”
Xander shook his head.“I hate how that whole situation went down.If Erik had called us in sooner.”
“But he didn’t.”
A few months ago, Erik and Kayleigh took down a sex club that was a front for a sex trafficking operation.It turned out that the ringleader of that operation was the ex-girlfriend of Quinn Walsh, Kayleigh’s brother and one of their former operatives.Quinn, along with Erik, was now working as communication central for Dax’s team.Dax’s team was responsible for getting Ida out of her country when it wanted to stop her from using the technology she helped bring to life.
“Any idea of where to store Ida?”Xander raised an eyebrow at him.
“I’m sure you have a plan.It’s your business.”
“Being snarky doesn’t become you.”
“Tell me your solution.”
“We stash her at the training facility with Dax’s team.”
“There are empty cottages.Lots of trees, fresh air.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Great, if only we could stash the other one there.”
“She’s not supposed to come back to this country.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Ares stood, needing to get out of the room.This was his department, the part of the operation he looked after with his sweeper team.
“I know.Hey did I mention that Logan, Harper, and I are leaving tonight to go to Whistler?”
Ares paused at the doorway, glanced over his shoulder at his brother with his feet up on his desk, his arms behind his head, a sly grin on his face.
“You hate Whistler.”
“Yeah, but Logan wants to ski the steepest hill or something.I’ve only seen our chateau once, and it’s my Christmas gift to them.”
“Your presence isn’t a gift,” Ares retorted.
“Me leaving the house is a total gift.We’ll be back on Tuesday and Harper made me promise to call first.See?We can work this out.”
Ares shook his head, wanting to believe that it was as simple as that, but what if Xander had an anxiety attack?What if he freaked out because of the crowds at Whistler and decided it was too much?If the man’s toast was burnt, it could send him packing.
“Harper and Logan aren’t going to let me turn tail.We want you to be happy, Ares.”
“She hasn’t returned my texts all week.”
