George must have determined that Sally Brookins was an unexpected asset; he had her positioned at the bar by Edward while he was seated on the stool to the left side of the man.
George was good. Damned good.
He saw Wes and Chloe and lifted a hand to wave. “Hey, you two. We are so happy that you’ve chosen to join us! We’re going to have a great party going on at our table—we’re stuffed with computer geniuses!” he said lightly.
Wes arched a brow.
“Well, at lunch, Amelia asked if she could come and then Broderick gave Edward a call once passengers were back on the ship and he’d barely finished that conversation before we heard from Celia and Jeff!”
“That’s fantastic!” Chloe told him.
“Hail, hail, the gang’s all here,” Wes murmured. “Chloe, seriously, how cool! We were so excited about meeting all these computer or web or whatever people... computer scientists? Is there a name for all that brilliance?” Wes asked.
Edward swung around on his barstool, grinning.
“Genius!” he said. “I’ll go with that title. I really like it. Though...”
He looked around and lowered his voice. “I’m more of a genius at supervising, at organizational tools... at being a boss!” he told them. “Some of these people... they can hack into anything, traverse the dark web as if it came with a street map! Don’t ever tell anyone. I’m not that...”
“Criminal?” Wes asked, laughing.
Edward grinned in turn but quickly dropped their angle of conversation. Wes saw that Celia and Jeff were arriving.
“Hey, we were early, so we stopped at the bar, but I think that our table is about ready. I like it that they have the round tables—round tables, you all get to talk together. Those long ones, you can only hear and respond to the people by you or across from you. And this! This is becoming quite the family we have here!”
Quite the family?Wes thought dryly.Hm.
Edward rose and Sally and George did the same. Wes and Chloe stepped back, leaving room for George and Edward to head to the restaurant’s host and to create a bit of a wall between them and the new arrivals.
But then again...
What could they do here, in the crowded restaurant? If they were to hit Edward with any kind of a drug—a quick needle like a tiny insect bite—what would happen? George was there; Edward would be immediately rushed back to the hospital and there would most likely be no way to just pull out a gun and pretend he was going to shoot himself or others and then himself.
Of course, these killers were learning.
Because Edward Thompson had been helped in his overboard dive, Wes was certain of it.
Chloe was greeting Celia and Jeff with enthusiasm, joking and laughing about how long it had been since they’dseen them, but then Chloe grew serious, asking Celia if she was really, truly okay.
“Of course! Hey, your strong man there caught me, I didn’t knock my head—I barely got a scratch! Ask Medicine Man George here, I’m fine!” Celia said.
“Not so fine,” Jeff said bleakly. “She thinks I dropped her!”
“No, I know that I just slipped, trying to move... You know, people were ahead of us, on all sides... I think someone brushed by me. Probably trying not to fall themselves!” Celia said. “Anyway, that is not going to be the topic of conversation for dinner. I’m fine!”
“And I’m fine!” Edward said. “We’re going to think happy thoughts and have happy conversations!”
“Of course! Although!” Sally put in. “I guess it’s terrible to be a bit glad we needed to worry about Edward for a bit. Maybe I wouldn’t have had the wonderful chances to talk with him that I’ve had!”
“And we have had some great chats!” Edward said. “Okay, table, surround and sit! Oh, yeah, the last seats are for the McClintock brothers. They should be here any minute!”
“Not to worry,” Wes said lightly. “We’ll be, um, ten, I think—George, Edward, Celia, Jeff, Daniel, Broderick, Sally, Amelia, Chloe and me! And it’s a table for ten. We’ll all be good and only take a seat per person!”
“Oh, he’s a funny guy!” Jeff groaned, his tone teasing.
Laughter followed his words; then they saw the last members of their group, Daniel, Broderick and Amelia heading in, and they all waved, showing them where they were.
Coming to the table early had been good; Sally and George had taken the chairs that were on either side of Edward.
