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Cora steeled herself. Time for the big argument.
“Yes, I do,” she said.
There was a short silence.
“No, I think you need to reconsider,” he said gently. It was difficult to resist that tone. Gabe was persuasive, and he was gentle. Cora had forgotten how hard it was to fight with him.
“It’s my mission,” she said.
“It’s ours,” he insisted. “Everything that happens here is ours to solve. Remember, I’m your partner now. I’m part of the team. This is an investigation you’re being paid for. It’s just a job. Like any other. Just a job. On a job, you use the available people. That would be me.”
Cora glared at him, but she couldn’t put her heart into her argument any longer. His logic was persuasive.
And they needed all the manpower they could get.
Plus, she had to admit, so far, Gabe had been far more successful in getting information, with his charm, than she had.
"Come along," she said, relinquishing the idea that had seemed so important and so nonnegotiable to her in the darkness of the night. "We'll both go."
***
The foundation’s headquarters were down the road from the old church and the manor house. Cora’s GPS led her there with a few false turns. Even in the daytime, the country roads were winding and confusing, and the signal seemed patchy out here.
In the light of day, the stone manor house where the ball had been held looked even more imposing as they passed it, and the fields beyond looked golden against the cloudy morning sky. The stone church was hidden away in a valley, invisible from the road.
A mile further on, Cora saw that the foundation itself looked to be a large converted farm, with a large, sprawling main house and several outbuildings and barns. She pulled up at the gate, which was closed. She was not surprised to see a dark uniformed security guard on duty.
"Who are you here to see?" he asked, looking her up and down when she buzzed down the car window.
"I'm here to see the leader, Pierre Maison." Cora said, giving him a steely look that dared him to question her further. "He's expecting me."
He blinked in surprise. "He is?"
She nodded. "We spoke last night. Tell him it's Cora. We had a private conversation. He knows who I am."
He looked dubious, but he made the call. He spoke in a low voice. She wondered if it was directly with the leader or with one of his lower-level ranking assistants.
Behind her, she was startled to see a police car had pulled up. It, too, was waiting outside the gate, waiting its turn to go in. Looking at its flashing lights, Cora sensed that there was something afoot. The police inside the car was looking impatient as if they had an urgent job to do.
After a minute, the guard returned to her window.
"Drive up to the main building," he directed her. "Park on the right. Someone will meet you there and take you in."
Cora did as directed, heading through the gate as soon as it had opened, powering up the winding driveway, and parking on the right, where there were already a few other cars and some tractors and farm vehicles.
And another police car. Two police cars on the premises now?
“Gabe, I think something’s happened,” she muttered.
They got out and strode up to the front door of the main building.
A dark-haired woman dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a simple white long-sleeved top was waiting there. Eyeing her intently, Cora decided that there was a definite air of stress about her.
"Cora?" she asked.
Cora nodded. “This is my partner, Gabriel Finch.”
"Come in, please."
