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Callum slammed his mug down on the table. Somebody really needed to teach the guy how to call a meeting to order without getting all grumpy. “We about ready to start?”
“Wait.” A thought popped into Megan’s head. She pointed at Elle. “If she’s the tech liaison, what’s the point of Rachel?”
“I’ve been wondering that for years,” Elle mumbled.
“Rachel is division manager,” Callum said as though that would put an end to the discussion. He had a lot to learn. “Before we get into it—Joe, what’s the status on Durand? Our captive mentioned to Megan and Dimitri that he was still in Scotland.”
Megan instantly dropped the issue of Rachel’s purpose as worry for her twin took over. She’d been so occupied with stomach problems the night before that she’d had to trust Dimitri to get the word out about Claire. Obviously he had. She wanted to pat his head and tell him good boy. But she didn’t.
“Grunt says there’s no sign of him,” Joe said, “but he’s on the lookout. Lake too. They’ve got guys on Claire twenty-four seven. They managed to track him to a clinic outside Edinburgh where he demanded someone re-stitch the wound in his ass, where Megan shot him. Apparently he burst it open making a run for it.”
Was it wrong that Megan felt all sorts of glee at that news? She didn’t think so.
Joe looked at her. “He’s gunning for you. He knows you aren’t Claire and he’s looking for payback.”
Megan stiffened. “Did he tell Rudi that Claire is a twin?”
“As far as we can tell, Durand hasn’t been in contact with Rudi since the Scotland screw up,” Joe said.
Megan didn’t know what to make of that and from the looks on the faces of her teammates, neither did they.
“Keep an eye on things,” Callum told Joe.
“Let us know the instant you hear something.” Joe nodded as Callum pointed at Dimitri. “Fill everyone in on the status of your contact with Rudi.”
“I called him last night on Johnny’s phone. He was pissed about losing his head of security for the house, but I promised to return him after the deal went through.” Dimitri looked around the table. “I think Johnny’s days working security will be over pretty fast if we hand him over.”
“Good for Johnny that he’s getting a holiday courtesy of Her Majesty then,” Ryan said.
“Safer,” Dimitri agreed, and Megan knew even Johnny Rotten would rather be locked up in prison than wearing cement shoes at the bottom of the Thames. “Anyway,” Dimitri said. “Rudi’s checking me out. Thanks to Elle, he’ll only find what we want him to find. An ex-army guy turned private contractor, looking for a fast buck and crazy enough to kidnap Claire to get it.”
Megan held up her hand. “Wait. Why is that a cover story? That’s what you’ve done.”
“Elle buried the parts we didn’t want him to find. Parts like I’m working for Benson Security now. Parts like I have a sister called Katrina Raast. Elle gave me another last name, a different birthplace. Made sure the connection to Katrina was buried deep.”
“Oh, okay.” She felt a bit embarrassed at asking the question.
Dimitri gave her a heart-warming smile before turning his attention back to the group. “We have a tentative meet for Friday morning. At his house.”
“That’s two days from now.” Megan thought she’d have more time to prepare. Now it was happening it seemed awfully fast. She looked at Dimitri, she’d only known the man two weeks and yet she was going into a situation where she had to trust him with her life. He stared back at her and it was as though he could read her mind.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised.
For once Megan didn’t remind him she could take care of herself. “Is that enough time to set up cover?”
“We’re all over it,” Joe said. “We’ve been watching the house and grounds for days. Cover is under control.”
The door opened and Julia appeared. She clasped her iPad to her chest like a shield and spoke to her feet.
“Rudi’s wife is on the phone. She wants to talk to Joe.” Her cheeks flushed red as she started to back out of the door.
“Take the call here,” Callum ordered. “Put it on speaker.”
Julia took the phone from the top of the cabinet against the wall and placed it in the middle of the table. She pressed the flashing button and nodded at Joe who gave her a dazzling smile.
Callum pointed at Julia and mouthed “stay”. Her frown of disapproval at being ordered around like a dog disappeared quickly and she scurried to sit in her usual spot behind the huge plant.
“Hope? It’s me Joe. We’re in conference right now. I’ve got you on speaker with the team. Is that okay?” His voice was gentle, coaxing.
