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She narrowed her eyes. “You’re still hoping for a takedown.”
“Hell, yeah, I am. I didn’t get dressed up in this monkey suit for...” He stopped, seemed to think better of it. Removed his comm and lowered his voice. “I got dressed up foryou, but I’m open to being rewarded. I mean—”
She covered her comm. “I know what you mean and your reward is coming,” she teased. “I promise.”
Hannah suddenly appeared, rushing over before he could kiss her. “Binni has to take off and I told her she can’t leave until she meets you. She’s waiting in the curator’s office. Come on. She has that bag she promised.”
Amelia clapped her hands. Yes! She was finally going to meet the designer and add a new purse to her collection. “Excellent.”
Rory helped her to her feet. Together they followed Hannah from the main room, Cal and Beatrice tailing them from a discreet distance.
They passed Masden manning the entrance to the office. Binni paced at the far end in a black and white men’s suit, talking to someone on the phone in Korean. A bold hat with a peacock feather sat on top of a gorgeous red box. She gave a curt wave and smiled at them but kept talking and pacing.
Amelia had a dozen questions for Hannah, least of which was about Chad. Probably better to start with the one she couldn’t stop thinking about. She checked to make sure the door was firmly closed. “Did you realize Masden is in love with you?”
Hannah drew back. “What?”
“He is.” Amelia felt terrible for the guy—it had been obvious Hannah had a thing for the billionaire. “I thought you should know.”
“Well, isn’t that something?” Hannah gave a tiny laugh. “I’ve had a crush on him since volleyball camp. Do you remember?”
“Camp? Of course.” They’d both dreamed of playing professionally one day. “I don’t remember him, though.”
“He was on the boys’ side of the lake, but that last night, when we all got together for the cookout? The first time I laid eyes on him, I was head over heels.”
“You never told me that.”
“I didn’t figure I’d ever see him again. We texted a few times, but he had a girlfriend, and I figured any relationship was out of the question.”
“And now he’s your bodyguard?”
They shared a smile. “In a rare moment, he once told me that it was a dream come true. I thought he was being sarcastic.”
Maybe there would be a happy ending to this after all. “What about Chad?”
Hannah gave her a perplexed look. “What about him?”
“You seemed infatuated with him.”
Hannah adjusted the wrist wrap, wincing slightly. “Who in their right mind wouldn’t crush on him, at least a little? He’s drop dead gorgeous and loaded, but trust me, I act that way with all potential donors. The more excited and invested I am in them, the more likely they’ll open their purses.”
“How did you meet him?” Rory asked.
“He contacted my office a few weeks ago when he heard about the event. Binni told him about it—guess they’re childhood friends.”
“Oh!” Amelia retrieved her phone. “Speaking of. This boy in the group shot.” She showed Hannah the picture. “Do you know who he is? Why don’t you two have a stuffed Bluebird?”
Hannah squinted and Amelia enlarged the photo. The First Daughter turned sad. “That’s Stanton. We both had those toys, and then some jerk took them. Said he’d give them back to us later but he never did. That poor kid. He was abducted a few days after the event. I remember my parents freaking out, and while they put on a brave face around me, I overheard their conversations about it. They were convinced it could’ve been me.”
“They marked you,” Rory said. “By taking the birds, that guy put a target on you for his crew. Do you remember what he looked like?”
“Hiscrew?”
“We’ve been investigating a child abduction ring and believe they were active in the area at that time.”
She shook her head. “That’s horrible. The FBI tried to get me to pick him out from some photos, but there were so many people there that night, and I was tired and had a stomach bug.” She stared at the photo again. “Stanton was kind to me. Brought me some ginger ale. The grownups all blurred together.” She sighed. “For years afterwards, I lived with guilt that they took him instead of me.”
“The FBI had no idea who did it?” Rory asked. “There was no official report.”
