Page 29 of The Dauntless (Spy Girl 5)
When the door opens, the butler rolls in a rack full of clothing with Dr. Kate behind him.
“Hi!” I say, actually excited to see her again.
“I have some great pieces for you,” she says as the butler wheels everything in my room and then retreats. “I heard you quit,” she whispers to me.
“Yeah, that’s why I want to hire you to shop for me.”
“While I appreciate your offer, I can’t do that.”
“I’ll pay you well.”
“You know that I’m not doing this for the money,” she states, which is apparently the end of our conversation in that regard. She immediately starts showing me what she brought.
I get a text with the name and address of the restaurant and decide it’s now or never. “I need a copy of Ares Von Allister’s will or trust documents.”
“What for?”
“Tomorrow, I’ll be attending the Von Allister Industries board meeting, and Ari and I will be expected to vote our shares. There is some question regarding how those shares are to be voted—whether individually or as a block—and the documents should add clarity to the situation.”
Dr. Kate regards me for a moment. “Let me make a call.”
She goes into my bathroom and shuts the door. Like that will help. I simply put my headphones in, pull up the eavesdropping app, and listen to her side of the conversation.
“She wants Ares Von Allister’s trust documents.”
“Something to do with voting shares at a board meeting tomorrow.”
“Um, yes. She said she was going. No, she didn’t say why. Do you want me to ask?”
“She said she quit. Tried to hire me to be her personal shopper.”
“Lunch today. Knighting ceremony at Buckingham Palace tonight. Board meeting on Friday. British Grand Prix this weekend. No, I don’t know how she’ll vote. I don’t even know what she’s voting on.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll tell her to expect them momentarily.”
I pull the headphones out of my ears and flip open the magazine in my lap to make it appear as if I’m ideally killing time.
“The documents are being emailed to you as we speak,” she says. “If that is all, I have to be going. Hair and makeup will arrive shortly.”
“Thanks, Kate. I really appreciate it,” I say sincerely, giving her a tight hug.
“You can’t quit,” she says. “I might not know everything, but what you’re doing is important. I know that much.”
“I know that much now, too,” I tell her.
Once I’m dressed and ready, I make my way downstairs where I’m greeted by Malcolm Prescott, who immediately pulls me into a fatherly hug.
It catches me off guard in the most surprising of ways—with tears. I really don’t want him to be a bad guy.
Malcolm lets go of me and brushes them away. “I’m so glad you kids are okay. Tell me everything.”
“We were driving back to the base—”
“Not that part. I heard all about it from my son. Tell me everything about your visit,” he says. “What did you think of your father’s TerraSphere?”
Oh boy. He knows.
“It was truly amazing,” I say honestly. “Hotter than Hades outside but cool and comfortable inside. And the water, oh my gosh, it tasted so good. Our tour guide told us they purify it themselves.” I look down, acting like a naughty child. “We did something though that I’m not sure we should have.”
“And what was that?” he asks, leaning closer.
“We toured all of the underground facilities.” When I say this, I look up to gauge his reaction, finding nothing other than surprise.
Maybe he doesn’t know.
“They let you in?”
“Um, not exactly. I sort of knew the code.”
“What code?”
“Ares’s code. It opens all the things in the DC home. It worked there, too.”
“I see,” he says. “That is a little concerning.”
“Why?”
“Well, who else knows this code? It could cause a major security breach, which would be bad for business.”
“So would your son being dead,” I say harshly, wanting to remind him that, if he had sicced the men on us, he would have been responsible for his son’s death.
Although, when I think about it, maybe, to the men with the rings, that isn’t a big deal. If Hillford ordered the hit on my mother, it’s probable he hired him again to take out his own son.
“I wasn’t implying—I heard it was a team of mercenaries who were probably looking to kidnap and ransom you.”
“I don’t know what Peter told you, but I don’t think that was the plan. They had two vehicles. We had one. They could have boxed us in. Shot out our tires. Instead, they fired at us. Round after round. Even threw a grenade at us. I know everyone assumes they wanted to kidnap us, but I don’t believe it. They wanted us dead. Was it because we were at the TerraSphere? I mean, we toured the whole thing, and I didn’t see an indication of anything sinister going on there,” I say, being very deliberate in how I phrase my words.
“Nothing sinister that I’m aware of either,” Malcolm says, “but definitely top-secret research. You went in each facility?”
“Yep. All thirty-three of them. We talked to the people who worked in each one, too. I felt like I needed to understand everything in order to cast a vote at the board meeting.”
“That’s against their security protocol. They shouldn’t have allowed you access.”
“They didn’t. The code opened each one.”
“But each facility sets their own code.” He chuckles. “Ares must have installed some kind of fail-safe. Although I don’t know why that would surprise me. Then what happened?”
“Peter and Viktor got some food, and I spent some time alone in what I was told were Ares’s quarters.” Might as well let the cat out of the bag. See if a team of eight comes after me on my way to lunch.
He tilts his head, looking at me in question. “Why?”
“I didn’t know him. I’m at this amazing place that he designed. A way of life that is different than what we are used to. Everyone I meet tells me that Ares had a brilliant mind, and I saw that on full display at the Sphere. It was a little … overwhelming. I wanted to lie under the dome for days and just stare up at the ceiling. I wanted to spend more time looking at the art. I wanted to interview every single person who lived there and understand what their daily life was like. Even though you and everyone who knew him have been so wonderful and welcoming, it’s the first time I sort of felt like I was a part of his world, if that makes sense.”
“It almost sounds like you don’t hate him anymore,” Malcolm says gently.
“I have a lot of mixed emotions. It’s really hard to see all evil in someone who created something so beautiful.”
“Your father wasn’t evil, Huntley. He was a good man. And the more I’ve thought about it, I don’t think there is any way he would have given up his son. There has to be another reason for your brother’s adoption.”
I’ve been thinking that, too. If what the man in the lab s
aid was true, he didn’t discover we were his children until recently. It’s hard to know what to believe.
“Maybe,” I reply tentatively. “I understand you are on the board of directors for Von Allister Industries, and there is a big vote coming up.”
“What big vote is that?” he asks, looking confused.
“Um, I was told there is a contract up for renewal.”
“Not just one. Lots of them. We vote on renewals and new contracts at every meeting. I wasn’t aware of anything out of the ordinary, and I chair the board committee that deals with the governmental contracts. Where did you get your information from?”
“Mike Burnes,” I say with a sigh. A really big, frustrated sigh, wondering if Malcolm will tell me the truth.
“The CIA has no business in our business,” Malcolm replies. “Don’t listen to what he says. He’s a spy and a liar.”
“Are you telling me that there won’t be a vote on renewing the exclusive contract on the TerraSphere?”
“Yes, there will be, and my committee will not be endorsing the renewal.”
“Why not?”
“Because we have fulfilled our contract. And the design will be highlighted at the upcoming Olympics for all the world to see. We stand to make billions when we sell the model to the countries of the world. Although the US government has been threatening to pull other outstanding contracts from us, we have no recourse. We couldn’t renew if we wanted to. Everything has already been set in motion in Montrovia.”
I freeze at his wording.
“Burnes said that it’s a matter of national security,” I counter.
“Trust me, Huntley. They toss that word around whenever they want to get their way.”
“Once he explained the situation to me, I told him that, as a stockholder, I understood why the company wouldn’t want to renew. They’ve put years of money and resources into the project, and to be the first to sell the technology would probably mean a windfall of revenue for the company.”
“You’re very astute in that regard. That is exactly why the committee won’t recommend the renewal.”
