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“Alexis?” Annie asked.
“She just finished a case so she may be available. Nikki and Jack are vacationing in Toronto at a film festival.”
“Okay. Let’s go over the situation completely after we have dinner and then we can decide who we need to pull in,” Annie said. “I assume there will be some travel involved so I’ll be sure the jet is ready.”
Zoe still couldn’t figure out what was going on. Jet? She then realized who she was talking to. Two of the richest women in the country, one of whom was a countess. Of course, she would have a jet, right? But she found Annie very much down-to-earth. Maybe she’d give off more of a royalty vibe if she was wearing her tiara? Zoe thought to herself.
“Like I said, you’ll get used to it,” Izzie said in response to Zoe’s puzzled expression. She pulled Zoe up from the deep-seated chair and walked her into the kitchen area.
Barking dogs signaled an approaching vehicle. It was Fergus, driving the slower of the two golf carts. The sound of gravel under the tires came to a halt and Fergus jumped out. Annie was waiting at the door. He gave her a peck on the cheek. “ ’Allo, lovey.” Fergus had a distinct Londoner accent. Slightly different from Charles’s. Over the years Charles had modified his pattern of speech and enunciation to get him farther away from his rough-and-tumble childhood and adolescence.
“Gambling again, I hear?” Annie pretended to scold him as they made their way into the kitchen.
“Afraid so.” He frowned and pulled out a five-dollar bill from his wallet.
Charles snapped it from Fergus’s fingers. “I love nothing more than besting you.”
“It’s not as if you were out there breaking a sweat. Running in your knickers,” Fergus argued.
“And you were?” Charles bantered back. Then they gave each other a slap on the back. “Good to see you, mate. How long’s it been? One? Two days?” Charles wasn’t kidding. Fergus and Annie lived on the other side of the property. They were in each other’s company constantly.
“Not long enough,” Fergus joked. “I hear we are getting a treat from Yoko this evening?” At the word treat all the dogs lined up. Fergus never entered the house without a pocketful of them for the dogs. “Here ya go.” He gave each of them a dog biscuit.
“Yes, Yoko is on the case,” Izzie said. “Fergus, this is my good friend Zoe. She’s from New York but we met in college and worked together for a couple of years.”
“Ay. Nice to meet you, Zoe. In the engineering game, are ya?” he asked.
“Yes. At least for now,” Zoe answered.
Izzie gave Fergus the ten-second version of Zoe’s job and title.
Charles gave Fergus a look. Both men were typically suspicious of most large corporations, especially the international sort. “I don’t mean to belittle you, but given your experience and education, wouldn’t your current job title appear to be a demotion?”
Zoe raised her eyebrows. Izzie continued. “Not on paper, but certainly in scope of accountability. But it gets a little convoluted.”
Myra began. “What we know is Zoe works for a large manufacturing company. REBAR. They have a very large global reach in both steel and masonry. Zoe wanted reassurance from their quality control director, but he brushed her off.”
“Men don’t like to be questioned,” Charles said in a friendly way. He didn’t want to spook Zoe, so he kept it a bit light. “Fergus and myself, well, we’re a bit more educated in that arena, wouldn’t you say, old mate?”
Fergus chuckled. “You’ve met Annie, eh?” A few chuckles circled the room.
“Please continue,” Charles urged.
“A week or so after my conversation with Donald Walsh, I got abruptly reassigned, and my executive clearance for the database has been declined,” Zoe explained.
“Yes, that’s when I walked into the conversation. Rather than put our guest through another round of explanations, shall we wait until everyone else arrives?” Charles asked.
“Brilliant,” Fergus agreed. “How soon will Yoko be here? Haven’t had a good teriyaki in a dog’s age.” A disapproving snort came from Rufus. Fergus tossed him another treat.
“Any minute,” Myra said. Lady’s tail concurred as the sound of vehicles crunching the gravel reached them.
The first one out of her car was Maggie, her curly red hair bouncing in rhythm with each step. Right behind was Yoko’s van.
“Let me help you.” Maggie started toward Yoko.
Yoko put her hand up. “Stop right there. You have to promise you will not eat anything on the way from here to the kitchen.”
“Oh geez. Yes. I promise. Girl Scout’s honor.” She held up her three fingers.
