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“There are some men here to see you, sir,” Ayaan said. “And the banquet room manager called, Ms. Williams. They want to know if you’ll be back down to continue the dress rehearsal.”
Toni took a deep breath, then shook her head. “Please extend my apologies to the manager and tell him something unexpected has come up. I’ll call him later to reschedule for early tomorrow morning.”
“Very good, ma’am.” Ayaan bowed, then closed the door behind him.
Spencer stood and texted Kyle.
Arrieta just tried to snatch Toni.
Got her to safety. In hotel suite now.
“I alerted my team about what happened downstairs,” he said. “And I’m assuming it’s local law enforcement who’s here. If so, they’ll have questions for both of us.”
“Great.” Toni ran a shaky hand through her tousled hair, then checked her appearance in the full-length mirror beside her closet. “Any way you can stall them for a few minutes while I freshen up?”
“Sure thing.” He gave her a long look before leaving. Talking to the police was the last thing he wanted to do right now, but he didn’t know how to handle the primal need he felt to touch her all over, to assure himself with every one of his senses that she was safe, was with him—that Arrieta hadn’t succeeded in taking her away for good.
He walked out into the sitting room only to find the men waiting for him weren’t the cops at all.
“Christ on a cracker, man,” Gage said from the middle of the foyer, gawking. “Live like a king much?”
“No kidding.” Scotty shook his head and gave Spencer a what-the-hell look. “How come he gets to stay here while we hide out in Motel Hell?”
“Because Spencer is lead operative on this mission,” Kyle said, watching them from the corner of the room and holding up his phone, where Spencer’s latest text glowed bright on the screen. “At least for now.”
“Good thing we decided to show up, eh, dude? Given that the terrorists decided to crash your little party.” Gage grabbed a handful of grapes from a platter of fresh fruit Ayaan had set on an ottoman, then stretched out on the gold divan. “Would’ve showed up sooner if we’d known how pimped-out you were.”
Spencer exhaled and sank into one of the sitting room’s overstuffed armchairs, this one upholstered in deep purple. When he stopped to notice, it seemed every square inch of the place was festooned in some jewel-toned shade. The decorwasa bit over the top. Just like his friends were at the moment. He knew they could see that he was rattled, so they were playing up the ragging about his accommodations to help him calm down and center himself again.
It was working. Thank God for friends who knew him so well.
“Got that right.” Scotty picked up a golden candelabra from a side table and squinted at it. “You have any idea how much this place runs a night?”
“No.” He wasn’t footing the bill, and neither was Toni, so he figured it was none of his business.
“Try twenty-two thousand dollars.” Kyle pushed away from the corner.
Yikes. Was this the way Toni usually traveled? Somehow, he didn’t think it was. She seemed too down-to-earth to choose a setting like this, even though she could afford it. But the reminder of the price tag did rub in how very out of placehewas. Spencer gritted his teeth in annoyance and studied his fingernails, deciding they’d spent long enough centering him. It was time to get to business. “Anyone interested in discussing the kidnapping Arrieta attempted? Considering that’s why we’re here?”
“You’ve confirmed Arrieta’s involvement?” Kyle leaned against the wall opposite Spencer’s chair.
“Yes. I was there, remember?”
“Any idea how he knows Miss Williams?”
“She said he does business with her father. The old man introduced them.”
“That fits in with what we found, hey, Kyle?” Gage said around a mouthful of food.
“Yeah?” Spencer glanced up at his team leader, scowling. “What’s that?”
“We have reason to believe Coran’s more deeply involved with the SHEEPSKIN network than we first speculated,” Kyle said.
“How?”
“From the codes Hayley’s deciphered on the e-readers so far, their main purpose is to act as some kind of message system—to infect these cells, then alert interested parties to their whereabouts.”
“Wait. You mean SHEEPSKIN is actually intended to destroy the terrorists?”
