They fell into pleasant conversation, and soon enough were pulling up next to Stone’s Gulfstream, which sat waiting in front of its hangar.
While Fred retrieved the luggage and loaded it onto the aircraft, Stone walked Tamlyn over to Faith, who was doing a safety check outside.
“Good morning,” Stone said. “I want to introduce you to Tamlyn Thompson. She’s the new CTO at Strategic Services. Tamlyn, this is my pilot, Faith Barnacle.”
The two women shook hands.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Faith said.
“And I you,” Tamlyn said.
“Ooh, I love your accent.”
“I’m not the one with an accent,” Tamlyn teased. “You and Stone are.”
“Are Dino and Jack Coulter here?” Stone asked.
“Mr. Coulter’s inside,” Faith said. “No sign of Dino yet.”
Right on cue, the commissioner of police’s sedan came around the side of the hangar.
“I retract my previous statement,” Faith said.
“You sound like an attorney,” Tamlyn said. “Do you practice law, too?”
“God forbid. I’ve just been working for one for too long.”
“Too long?” Stone said.
“Is that what I said? I meant for a while. Is that better?”
“Marginally.”
She smirked and said to Stone, “Will you be handling takeoff, or shall I?”
“I’ll do it,” he said.
“You’re a pilot, too?” Tamlyn asked. “So am I. Smaller craft only, at this point.”
“Would you be interested in sitting up front for a bit after we take off?” Stone asked.
“Can I?”
“Faith?” There were only two seats in the cockpit.
“Okay by me,” Faith said. “I’ll let you know when we can switch seats.”
The police sedan stopped behind the Bentley, and Dino exited.
“We’ll let you finish your safety check,” Stone said to Faith.
He and Tamlyn walked over to the plane’s entrance, arriving a couple steps ahead of Dino.
“Right on time,” Stone said.
“I would have been here sooner, but I got caught on a call with the mayor,” Dino said.
“Was he worried the city wouldn’t survive the weekend without you?” Tamlyn asked, tongue firmly in cheek.
