“We’re starting to get that,” Layla responded, her head tilted back to take in the cantilevered roof that jutted strikingly out over the entrance, and the glass wall that lined the entire front wall.
Like the buildings on the rest of the campus, the mansion consisted of sleek lines and sharp angles, all elegantly understated and … perfect. The modern style reminded me of the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ray D. Crites, two of my favorite architects, both long gone now.
Straight boards of dark wood sheathed the exterior walls, beautifully complementing the rest of the long lines and angles, and all that open glass.
Layla chuckled at my obvious appreciation as she shored up beside me. “Uh-oh. Nerd alert, nerd alert.”
Griffin stepped to my other side, his arm a breath away from touching mine. Hunt and Brady joined us in staring at the place.
“It’s not just Joss,” Hunt said. “I really don’t wanna say it, but this place is …”
“Freaking. Awesome,” I said on a gush, not even attempting to hide how impressed I was. At least Chase wasn’t here to witness my reaction, though no doubt Fanny would dutifully relay our reactions later.
She raised her tablet, her fingers racing across it. Okay, never mind. She was tattling in real time.
When she finished and her tablet was back beneath her arm, she smiled. “It’s even better inside. Come on.”
Jaw as slack as when I’d seen Griffin’s long-absent “mother” appear in Chase’s office, I didn’t hesitate to follow.
“I think you’ll enjoy exploring the place on your own,” Fanny called over her shoulder, “so I’ll just show you some highlights before I leave you to it.”
We followed her up a path that wove around the house and led to a garage beneath the structure.
“Be still my beating heart,” Brady said.
I couldn’t help a snort. “Didn’t think I’d ever hear you saythat, Brade.”
“Neither did I.”
“Don’t blame you though,” I added as I took in the car silhouettes visible through the large wall of glass despite the failing daylight.
“Magnum thought you’d appreciate this,” Fanny said as she bent over another keypad, pressing her thumb to it. “The house is keyed to the five of you. All you need to do to enter is press your thumbprint to any of the sensors.”
Layla crossed her arms over the chest of her scrubs and frowned. “Of course you have them on file already.”
Fanny didn’t so much as blink. “We have every piece of data the scientists collected on you.”
So when “the scientists” spied on me and my friends, going so far as to tap our private spaces and phones, Chase now had all that info too.Fucking splendid.
Fanny pushed on the metal frame of the glass wall and the entire door spun on a hinge in the center.
Despite myself, Ioohed. Griffin stayed beside me as Brady, Hunt, and Layla rushed in. Only when I advanced did he enter too.
“Clyde,” he whispered reverently. And there it was, his 1976 Ford Mustang Cobra II coupe, its body and sleek silver paintjob still damaged from when he’d gone over the cliff.
Bonnie was parked beside Clyde, the 2014 Shelby GT500 as pretty as ever, her deep-impact blue shimmering beneath the warm, incandescent lights that came on automatically when Fanny opened the door.
My unfinished 1999 SVT Cobra coupe, which I’d named Cleo, sat up on blocks, alongside two other Mustangs that had amazing bones despite their current rust-bucket statuses.
There was a Mustang for each of us, even Layla, who was supposed to share Bonnie with Brady, though we all knew Bonnie was more his than hers.
And the garage wasn’t just for parking the beauties either. There were two fully loaded state-of-the-art bays, equipped with lifts, for working on our cars. There was even a contained paint booth off to one side. Five carts, each laden with brand-new tools for each of us, were tucked into a recessed niche in the wall that was clearly designed especially for them.
Slowly, I turned to look at Fanny, who was waiting with a smug smile. “Magnum also asked me to inform you that if you need anything else for your cars—parts, anything, no cost is too great—you just ask me, and I’ll make sure it’s delivered ASAP.”
“He’s really not messing around, is he?” Brady asked.
“He never is.”
