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“Thank you.” I didn’t quite have it in me to feel completely at ease.
We quickly arrived at Sullivan & Wheelock, the upscale law firm where Li Na’s attorney was a senior partner. Bethany was waiting on the sidewalk. “Everything okay?” she asked.
I reached out and hugged her. “Yes. I don’t want to say anything more right now, but yes.”
Bethany’s eyes sparkled. “Does this change things?”
“Maybe.” Maybe, if the car that’s fleeing Oakland with Hannah and Gabe inside isn’t intercepted before it gets back to the house.
“Any instructions?” Bethany looked eager.
I shrugged. “Maybe just to drag this out a little, until I say so.”
She nodded, looking happier than she had in weeks. “I love it when you have a plan.”
Levi appeared on the sidewalk, seemingly from out of nowhere. “Are you ready?”
I nodded. “I think so. I haven’t heard from her—Li Na—so I’m not sure how to proceed. I don’t know how much her lawyer knows about what’s been going on, and what’s expected of me today.” Now that we just shot up Li Na’s guards and rescued my sister.
“We’ll follow her lead, then. But listen,” he said to me and Bethany, “if it seems like this is going south, you need to do what I say. Even you.” He gave Bethany a warning look.
She rolled her eyes. “Okay. Geez.”
“We might have to move fast,” Levi said. “I hope not, but we’re about to find out—so be ready, and stay alert.”
My nerves thrummed as we went through the revolving doors. Bethany let out a low whistle as we entered the opulent lobby. “Can you imagine this firm’s overhead? Yikes. You think I charge a lot. Imagine what Li Na’s paying—oh wait, that’s right. We don’t care!”
Bethany checked in with the black-clad, immaculate receptionist. “We’re on the sixth floor,” she said, coming back and eyeing the group. “All of us.”
There were a lot of us, I noticed as we filed into the elevator. In addition to Timmy, Levi, and Ash, there were three other Betts Security employees attending the closing. I wondered if Li Na’s attorney, Petra Hickman, would be surprised by my entourage, or if she’d expect it.
Another sleek receptionist ushered us into a vast, modern conference room on the sixth floor. Levi took a seat at the table, close to me, while Ash and the others spread out around the room. Bethany started setting up her paperwork. “Petra texted me early this morning—she said she’d received the signed documents from Li Na via Federal Express.”
I swallowed hard. “Then we should be good to go.”
I looked nervously at the men. “Have you heard anything from Brian yet?”
Ash nodded. “They’re on their way. No signs of trouble yet.”
Yet. My heart pounded as I focused on the yet.
Attorney Petra Hickman sashayed through the doors in a stylish suit a few minutes later, a nervous-looking paralegal at her heels. Petra didn’t even glance at the men I’d brought—Li Na must’ve prepared her well. Her tawny hair hung in perfect panes around her heart-shaped face; she would have been very attractive, but she had a nasty scowl on her face as she sized up me and Bethany.
“Let’s get this over with, shall we?”
Bethany didn’t look up from her files as she said, “It’s a pleasure as always, Petra. Could we get some water, please?”
Petra rolled her eyes and got on the phone with an assistant, asking for water. She glared at Bethany when she hung up. “Anything else?”
Bethany smiled widely. “Just some coffee, with extra cream. And crackers, if you have them.”
If Petra were a cartoon character, she would’ve had steam billowing out of her ears as she got back on the phone. When the water, coffee, and crackers arrived, she put a hand on her hip and glared at Bethany again. “Are you finally satisfied?”
“For now.” Bethany jauntily tossed a bite of cracker in her mouth.
I cleared my throat, interrupting before Petra launched herself across the conference table at my attorney. “Let’s get started.”
The paralegal practically tripped over herself as she set up stacks of paperwork, casting nervous glances at her boss. Petra, clearly a joy to work with, ignored her and the rest of us. She tapped out nonstop texts and emails. I held my breath, praying that my sister was about to make it home.
