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Mak laughed. “Could you fall in love with that self-important ass?” He winked at Meghan, making her feel both welcomed and uncomfortable at the same time.
“She’s his match!”
She couldn’t correct him on that matter, so she decided instead to share her own personal opinion of her “husband.”
“Altair is an arrogant jerk. I would need to have brain damage to fall in love with him.” Mak smiled at her, but the young man still looked doubtful. “Besides, even if by some miracle I were to fall in love with him, it wouldn’t change my opinion about the kidnappings. I would never betray you.”
“The bottom line is, we need her help,” Brent said, in a tone that sounded final and didn’t invite any arguments. “Meghan, you can sit on the bed.”
A woman in her fifties gave her a friendly smile as she moved over to make room for her.
“And now that everyone is here,” Brent said, “we can start the meeting.”
He nodded his head at Neil to speak.
“The plans for the mine theft are almost finalized,” he said. “We only have two issues left. First, we need to find the route the cargo will take.” He looked meaningfully at Nova. “The Mudden government regularly changes the route they take to deliver the marble from the mines to Mudden territory. That information should be found in Altair’s office.”
Nova nodded. “So you need me to break into his office and find out where they will be taking the shipment?”
Neil looked back at her blankly, so did Mak and Brent.
“I was thinking you could flirt with him and get him to tell you the shipment route,” he said.
Nova made a face.
“Do you know how to break into his office?” Brent asked.
“I think so.”
“That’s probably best then, less suspicious.” Brent looked back at Neil. “What’s the other problem?”
“They’ve installed a new Fartech lock on the anti-grav storage shed that will make borrowing a cart for the night more difficult.”
“We’ll have to take the cart before they lock the shed,” a man sitting behind Nova suggested.
“They’ll realize it’s missing before our mission even starts. We could be dealing with guards looking for thieves while we’re trying to sneak around. It’s too dangerous.”
“We could borrow one legitimately,” suggested the woman sitting next to Nova, though she didn’t sound optimistic about her own suggestion.
“And be the prime suspects the next morning.”
Everyone fell silent. Nova had no idea how much of her background to reveal, but she’d already stepped in it so she might as well go all the way. The sooner she helped them out, the sooner Elizabeth would send her back, hopefully before Altair lost his patience and decided to break down her door at night.
“I can pick the lock,” she said.
“You can?” Mak asked with a wide grin.
“It’s a new model,” Neil protested.
“With the right tool I can pick any Fartech lock. And unless this new model came out while I was asleep on the ship being kidnapped, I’ve already picked it or at least practiced picking it before.”
Brent narrowed his eyes at her, then nodded slowly.
“Very well,” he said. “You can go on the mission.”
“But she’s new,” Neil protested. “We don’t know if she can be trusted.”
“Come up with a better idea before the big day, and I’ll hear you out.”
