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“Also well in hand,” Fisher replied.
“Is it?” Davis demanded. “Gina, I didn’t put you there to make trouble. I’m quite concerned about all this. The girl was supposed to be a dry run and it did not turn out well.”
“That’s not my fault.” Gina had been silent until now, but she was quick to deny his words. “We couldn’t test the tunnel from the beach because of the storm. The water was too high. We brought her in and had her here to test the room. It was fine but then she had to use the restroom, something we didn’t consider and so we had her wait in the library until it was free. Dumb bitch panicked when she discovered the door was locked. She freaked out and had to be subdued.”
Davis growled, “My sources tell me she was beaten to death.”
“That’s on him,” Gina huffed. “That wasn’t the plan, and he knew it. We had a buyer lined up and we were ready to ship her out, but he got carried away. If you have an issue, talk to him.”
Flynn’s stomach hit the floor watching Harper’s face blanch as she realized they were talking about Astrid. She swayed slightly. He put his arm around her and gestured for her to go but she shook her head. He wanted to kill these people for the pain they were putting Harper through. And then he’d resurrect them and fucking kill them all over again for trafficking women. That’s what they were talking about, human trafficking. Nothing more than a bag of limp dicks, the lot of them. Adrenaline spiked in his bloodstream, making his rapid heartbeat thump in his ears. He wanted to storm in and kill them all. He took a deep breath and then a second one. It took him a few moments to calm down and focus again.
Fisher spoke up. “Don’t worry about the murdered girl. We have someone in the police department. He is going to take care of everything for us.”
Flynn glanced at Harper.Jason, she mouthed the name. The bastard had broken into Harper’s place so Flynn didn’t know why he was so surprised that Jason was that bent. Maybe he was losing his touch. He hadn’t had that read off Jason at all.
“At least,” Bryson said, “we know that the system works in theory. The bathroom thing has to be worked into the plans along with soundproofing but other than that, it’s quite solid. We will have to shore up the tunnel in spots just to be on the safe side and depending on the cargo we’re bringing in we might have to be cognizant of the fact certain things might have to be brought in smaller amounts. Otherwise, I think it will work beautifully.” The sound of ice cubes rattling in a glass preceded athunkthat Flynn recognized immediately.
“Jesus, be careful. That makes a loud thump in the library,” Fisher admonished.
“No one is in the library so it doesn’t matter,” Bryson said.
“Steve, just be more careful,” said Gina.
“Well, the plans are impressive,” Davis started. “The development looks amazing. The pool and tennis courts will be popular along with the inside pickleball courts. I am quite sure we can convince Will Findley with all this detail. Probably a few of the other members too.”
“Agreed,” said Bryson. “We will have to explain about how we’re going to keep the members separate from the outsiders that buy into the development. That’s going to be a thing with some of the members.”
“Yes,” Fisher said, “but I think we can reassure them that activities will continue as normal, and we can encourage certain new people to join the Lock and Key Society. Those who are less desirable, we can keep separate.”
“The only real problem is Archer Gray,” Bryson pointed out. “He’ll go ape shit if he finds out about this.”
Flynn’s heart rate ticked up. He needed to get Harper out of there immediately if they were going to discuss the Society, but he also needed to hear what the response was about Archer. If trouble was brewing, he needed to warn his boss. Turning, he gestured to Harper to leave. She shook her head. He glared and gestured again but she crossed her arms over her chest and stood resolute.Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“That problem will be resolved in the not-too-distant future,” Davis stated. “I have plans in place to replace Archer Gray as the head of the Society.”
“And not a moment too soon,” Fisher said. “Well, if there’s nothing else then I think we can adjourn the meeting. I will follow up about the zoning etc. and Gina, you follow up with the police. Davis, we’ll keep you updated.”
Flynn turned toward Harper and turned her around. He made her as move quickly as possible without making a sound back down the passage. When they got to the fork, she turned to go back toward the kitchen, but he shook his head and made her go back the way she’d come.
They got to the stairs going down before Harper turned to him and said, “I don’t know how to open this door.”
He brought out his penlight and flicked it on. Then he scanned the area around the door. Finally, he located a button on the side of the door frame and hit it. The door opened and they emerged into the basement.
Harper stepped on the black button and closed the door behind them and then turned her back and leaned on the wall.
“Are you okay?” Flynn asked. He leaned his shoulder on the wall next to her.
“No,” she said in a wavering voice. “I’m not.”
There was nothing he could do that was going to make this better. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him. “I’m not. I wanted to know what happened and now I do. Except I don’t know who did it. Do you?”
He had a theory he wasn’t ready to share. “No.”
“We need to talk to Gina. She knows everything.”
Flynn waited a beat. She was upset and he needed her to stay calm but there was no way in hell he was going to allow her to talk to Gina. Gina was his problem and then she was going to be Archer’s problem to solve. Instead, he tried to point her in another direction. “Knowing Jason is bent doesn’t help much. There’s no way to prove it.”
