Finn smiled cheekily. “Oh, yeah. About Elle and her little friend and all the shenanigans you guys would get into. How is Elly these days?”
“Elly?” I snorted. “Familiar, are you?”
“We may have crossed paths when she came to visit William.”
I hummed in amusement. “She’s good. Although her mother recently passed from cancer a couple of months ago. But she’s strong and running the family pub really successfully, thanks to some help from William.”
Archer seemed the most unassuming out of the bunch. With his glasses and messy hair, he looked more at home in a library than on the field. But then I looked down at his corded forearms and broad shoulders and quickly checked myself.
Archer smiled warmly. “Ah, that William always had a brain for business.”
They rehashed a few more memories before everyone finished, and I started serving tea and coffee. The conversation turned more serious as they discussed the current situation.
William leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I appreciate you lads coming at such short notice. As you know, this thing with Angus has been going on for some time, but I have something more at risk now more than ever.”
Archer gently sipped his coffee. “I did some recon of their warehouses. It seems like Angus does a lot of his work at the shipping yard.”
“Noah’s been working on the inside for the past few months.” Finn chimed in.
Noah had a British accent now that I could hear him better.
It wasn’t as proper as Theo’s, a little grittier. “A guy hired me months ago to look for his missing daughter. Thinks she was trafficked through Angus’s crew.”
“The cops are closing in on their investigation.” Finn balled his napkin in his fist. “But you know how these things work. He’ll be out of jail in a few years if the police get to him first. So if you want a more permanent solution, we gotta act now.”
William nodded tightly. “Alright, so Noah can get me in there, and we can finish this.”
Archer waved a hand in protest. “Nuh-uh. Noah can’t blow his cover. Plus, he already heard rumors about their plans for Nairie.”
“They’re assembling a crew to try and kidnap her from the inn,” Noah said.
“So we’re going to hand her right to them,” Finn said lightly as if it were a practical joke.
They all looked at me and back at William, and he immediately sat up. “No.”
Finn pointed at William. “It’s the quickest way.”
“There are other ways,” he growled.
My head was spinning. “What are you guys talking about?”
Finn continued speaking to William. “She’ll be perfectly safe. Controlling the strategy this way lets us protect her. We’ll be in and out, thirty minutes tops.”
William was silent and got up to look at the fire.
Theo, who I was quickly coming to know as the voice of reason in their group, spoke up. “Will, this is the best option.”
“I can do it,” I said.
William scowled at me, and I scowled right back. “Hey, I’ve had self-defense training for almost twelve days now.”
Finn and Theo laughed. Archer smiled while Noah stayed silent.
Theo got up to meet William at the fireplace. “Noah will be with her the whole time.”
William looked at Noah, and they squared off in a silent exchange.
I sidled up to William and squeezed his hand. “Sweetheart, I can do it.”
