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Fifty-Four
DELILAH
It wasn’t just a car, it was several. A whole column of sleek, jet black sedans, rolling together along our driveway with such precision and practiced movements it made me doubt they ever went anywhere on their own.
“I don’t like this,” I told Liam. I’d already told Duncan and Julius.
“Just stick behind us,” Liam said, positioning himself in front of me. “If this is what Ithinkit is…”
The children were napping, and I had the monitor on my hip. I checked it quickly and saw that they were still asleep, tucked warmly under their tiny blankets.
The crunch of our gravel driveway was always loud enough withonecar, but with a fleet it was damn near deafening. I had to wait until they’d rolled to a complete stop before continuing.
“What?” I demanded. “Tell me!”
Like the others, Liam wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation. “Hang on. I think it’ll be alright.”
All the cars were identical — expensive-looking and flawless — except the first one was so much bigger. I recognized the winged logo at the tip of the hood. It was a long, gorgeous, four-seat Bentley.
Talk about expensive!
The front doors opened right down the line, and men in black suits stepped out. It was like something out of a movie! But it was happening, right here in real life.
Whoa.
A tall, well-built passenger got out of the lead car and immediately opened the back door. He stood at attention while a second man emerged. Although shorter and broader, the second man carried himself with such presence and charisma he was undoubtedly the most important person here.
“Mr. Julius Wharton?”
Hell, he even spoke commandingly. Without hesitation Julius stepped forward and nodded his head. After a moment of eye contact, both men extended their hands.
“Pleasure to meet you, son.”
Julius turned back to face the others. They seemed to relax their protective stance over me, and they stepped forward as well.
“Do you know who I am?”
At first the guys didn’t answer. After a few moments of silence, Duncan spoke:
“You’re the client.”
“That I am,” the man said. “And you’re the soldiers who put together the team that rescued Bradley, my son.”
Recognition dawned, at least on my face. I allowed myself to relax. This promised to be a good meeting, not a bad one.
“Wraith had a big part in it,” Duncan said truthfully. “Also—”
“Archon,” the man cut in. “Another mercenary company. I know about it. I’ve visited them already, to thank them for returning Bradley safely into my care. But I saved this visit for last, because you did the most. You took the job when no one else would. You gave me hope when I had none, when I’d… I’d just about… ”
The man looked almost like he was about to get choked up. Instead, he shook it off and sniffed.
“Somehow though, you accomplished the impossible.”
He moved closer to Julius, and I wasn’t sure why. Then, abruptly, he enveloped him in a hug. The man squeezed his arms as far as he could get around the big ranger, then hugged Liam and Duncan as well. When he finished, his eyes were glassy.
“I’m Evan Andliet, and I wanted to—”
“TheEvan Andliet?” Duncan burst in.
