Page 93 of Hunter

“And you’re sure they know I’m . . . a clone?”

“Yes.”

“And they still want to meet me?”

“Yes. Not everybody is like the jerks who work for Colonel Emerson.”

Lily Wardman had been in to examine Hunter and pronounced him fit. And Kathryn had gone out to tell the Decorah team that Hunter was anxious to meet them. More like just plain anxious, but she knew the group would make him welcome.

She kept herself from grabbing his hand as she opened the door and stepped into the hall, then preceded him to the great room and stepped to the side.

Everybody looked up, smiles on their faces as they spotted him.

The company head came forward, holding out his hand. “I’m Frank Decorah, and I want to welcome you to our family,” he said.

“Family?”

“Yes. You’ll find out that we’re very close.”

Hunter grasped his hand and shook. “Pleased to meet you,” he said, his voice strained.

“Nobody here bites,” Frank said, exchanging a quick look with Knox Marshall.

Kathryn, who was in on the joke, kept her face neutral. Then Hunter was busy meeting the others.

“We were just having lunch,” Frank said, gesturing toward a table laden with food. “Grab a sandwich or we have fried chicken.”

Hunter hesitated. “I think I would make a mess with the chicken.”

Frank laughed. “Everybody does. They just don’t admit it.”

“Could I have a sandwich?”

“Anything you want.”

She watched Hunter deliberate for several moments, knowing he’d had few chances to make similar decisions. Finally, he picked up half a roast beef sandwich and half a tuna sandwich.

“Have some potato salad, too,” she suggested, pointing to one of the dishes.

“It looks strange. What is it?”

“Try it; you’ll like it.”

He dutifully scooped up a little.

“What do you want to drink?” Kathryn asked.

“Can I have a Coke?”

“Of course. Find a seat, and I’ll get it for you.”

He sat next to an agent named Matthew Houseman.

The man grinned at him. “I think Frank got a bunch of his weirdest agents together to impress you with our eccentricity.”

Hunter nodded cautiously.

“Like, for example, I was a ghost for fifteen years, haunting a ranch in Arizona.”

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