Page 30 of Dan

“And if you don’t, you won’t be around to see spring in San Francisco.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Finley sat back in the luxurious leather seats of the private jet. She was surrounded by large armed men. She knew where all the files were kept and knew the passcodes for her parents’ computers. Even if they’d changed them, she was fairly certain she could find the new ones. If she couldn’t, Hiro and Tanner were with her to help speed up the process.

“Are you nervous?” asked Dan.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I have all of you, and your dad gave me this stealth netting to wear under my jacket. He said it would stop almost any bullet. So, I feel safe.” Dan smiled at her, kissing her lips.

“I love you, Fin. Nothing will happen to you.”

“I know,” she smiled. “Because you’re all the best, and no one can beat the best.” She looked around to see who else was on the flight with them. She knew they had Luke, Wilson, Eric, Antoine, Ryan, Tanner, Hiro, and Code, but she wasn’t sure why Nine, Trak, and Sniff were with them as well.

“Why did they come?” she asked.

“Sniff was one of the homeless men that Faser took prisoner and experimented on. I think he feels like he needs to do this. They all thought this chapter was closed. For Trak and Nine, men associated with Faser killed Nathan, Trak and Erin’s grandfather. It touched a lot of lives in our family.”

“It was my family that did that,” she whispered.

“No,” said Nine. “It was your half-uncle. Great-uncle at that. It wasn’t you, and it wasn’t your grandfather. What we need to figure out is why your parents are trying to continue with this work.”

“I wish I knew who the man was that took me,” said Finley. “That might help a great deal.”

“It would, but don’t beat yourself up about it,” said Sniff. “It’s hard to remember things like that when you’re in the midst of trauma. When we enter the building, you’re going to go in first with Zeus and Monster.”

Finley smiled at the dogs as their ears perked up, hearing their names. She rubbed their heads, and both nuzzled against her.

“I think they like you,” smiled Sniff.

“I’ve never had a dog,” she said. “I always wanted a pet, but my parents didn’t approve. May I have a dog?” She looked back at Dan, his father and grandfathers smiling at him.

“I don’t think I’m going to have a choice in this,” smirked Dan. “We’ll get with Sniff and Lucy when we get back and find one that’s manageable.”

“They’re all manageable,” smiled Sniff. “We just got a Doberman in that’s already trained. Her owner couldn’t handle her any longer. She’s a sweetheart.”

“A Doberman, huh? That might be manageable.” Wilson and Antoine laughed, shaking their heads. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Her name is Medusa,” smirked Antoine. “She turns on you like a snake if you do something that upsets her. And she’s on the north end of a hundred pounds or so.”

“Sniff! Really?” frowned Dan.

“What? She’s not so bad. She’ll be a great watchdog, and she loves women. The police officer that had her was a female.”

“I think she sounds perfect for me,” smiled Finley.

“Okay, we’ll see when we get back. But if that dog tries to lay between us, we’re gonna have words.”

With only some mild turbulence over the mountains, Autumn landed the airplane on the small private runway. Although they were headed into longer daylight hours, it was still getting dark early in the evening. It would help them to remain undercover.

When the back of the plane opened and their own SUV rolled out, Finley’s eyes went wide.

“That’s very cool,” she smiled.

“The planes are much larger than they look from the outside,” said Antoine. “We can actually hold three SUVs below her, but we just need the one oversized one for all of us.”

“Finley, what’s the security system like at the office?” asked Hiro.

“The usual. Cameras, sensors in high security locations like the manufacturing floors and the lab. It should be easy to disrupt for all of you, but I can help if needed.”

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