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“Pierce Benning?” I asked.
Andrew frowned. “Did you not read the client brochure?”
“I skimmed it,” I said. “Why? You’re saying his name like I should recognize it.”
“Honestly,” Andrew said, turning around and looking up to the sky, “I’m surprised you don’t recognize his name.”
A helicopter appeared from behind a distant building, descending toward us. Andrew put an arm across me to keep me back, although the helicopter landed a good hundred feet away.
“This is our ride,” Andrew said. He cocked his head at me. “You really don’t know who I work for, do you?”
No, I thought while the whine of the helicopter rotors died down. But I think I’m about to find out.
2
Andrew
Melinda Norris hesitated only a moment before climbing up into the helicopter. I politely waited until she was seated before following her inside. The roar of the rotors rose an octave, and then the helicopter lurched into the sky.
I tried not to eye Melinda sitting across from me. It was hard not to. We had waited years for the right surrogate. Tristan and I had spent much of the past two weeks researching this woman. I had only met her five minutes ago, yet it felt like I knew her as well as I knew anyone.
I pulled out my phone and started a group text.
Me: We’re airborne. ETA ten minutes.
Tristan: I’ll be waiting. How is she?
Me: You’ll like her. She’s perfect.
Tristan: There’s no such thing as perfect. Everyone has their flaws. Sometimes they aren’t apparent until you look closely.
Me: Fine, Mr. Negative. Maybe she’s not perfect, but she’s about as perfect a candidate as we ever could have hoped for.
Tristan: Very good.
Me: She’s a little skittish. I can tell we caught her off guard. I don’t think she knows who Pierce is.
Tristan: Excellent. She will make an objective decision without allowing herself to be persuaded by Pierce’s… details.
Me: Something tells me she’ll figure out those details when we land on the Bellerophon.
Tristan: True indeed.
Me: Regardless, she’s an ideal candidate. You’ll like her. I hope she agrees to our second offer.
Pierce: We shall see. Don’t get your hopes up until the contract is signed.
Tristan: Understood.
Me: Yep.
I put my phone away and tried to study Melinda Norris without seeming too obvious. Everything in her file, all the research we had done, indicated she was the perfect surrogate. But the things that weren’t in the file…
She was a tight little thing, compact and fit. There was an alluring curve to her chest, and a sexy way that those jeans clung to her athletic legs. Although she had remained quiet on the journey so far, I could tell she had a fighting spirit. The kind of woman who wouldn’t take shit from anyone without a fight.
Yeah, I thought to myself. As long as she buys into the crazy offer we’re about to make, she’s perfect.
3
