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“Thank you. Seriously, I’ll never be able to thank you guys. Watch out for MQAE,” he said. “They were almost as bad as Ramirez and were super tight with her.”

“Good thing we have her phone,” smirked Doug, waving the device in the air. Hudson could only laugh, taking his brother’s arm.

“You guys really are the real deal.”

Saying goodbye to their friend, they were able to turn their attention to their next meeting. Nine turned on the television, a news channel leading with the headline of an unidentified aircraft crashing into the northwest side of Mount Hood. Although they’d sent rescue helicopters, no signs of life were seen. Strangely, the plane appeared to be completely disintegrated.

“Well, I guess that confirms what we already knew. The plane was a piece of shit,” said Doug. “I’d just like to say it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.”

“I’ll agree with that,” said Dan. “What’s our plan for MQAE?”

“They’ve called Ramirez’s phone several times,” said Nine. “Ryan is pulling the messages off now. We’ll try to text back, letting them know that the meeting with us went perfectly.”

Ryan walked into the room with a stack of printed notes. He’d printed every text message, every voicemail message, and every e-mail between the two businesses.

“These are enlightening, to say the least,” he frowned. “For instance, this one.The bitch escaped. I played my role. I’m done.From Ramirez:You’re not done. It’s just started. She’ll be dead soon either way. Just figure out how the floodgates work. With the system connected to the jets and the gates, we’ll destroy their reputation.From Zachary:I don’t think it’s as easy as that. Just make sure everything works, and I’ll make sure Finley is dead.”

“Loving father,” frowned Dan.

“There’s a lot more here. Zachary is replying for MQAE. We need to find out if he bought that business as well or if it’s just a front for all of this,” said Eric.

“It’s a helluva lot of trouble to destroy our rep,” frowned Gaspar. “I knew the Bakers hated us after what happened in New Mexico, but we thought they were all dead. It makes me nervous to find out how many illegitimate children he actually had.”

“We’ll deal with that later,” said Doug. “I think we need to brief the president on all of this, just in case something comes back at us.”

“I’ll do it with you, Doug,” said Nine. “The rest of you, order some dinner for us.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Finley sat on the bench at the dock, watching the easy flow of the bayou. It was cool but not cold, causing her to wear a shawl around her shoulders. It was so incredibly peaceful she was nearly able to stop her mind from racing. Nearly.

Watching the water move in the direction of the Gulf, she judged the distance between all the small islands, calculating in her head their possible heights, knowing they were all below sea level. Almost the entire region was below sea level. She was so lost in thought she barely heard the two men coming up behind her.

“May we join you?” asked Wilson.

“Oh, yes,” she smiled, scooting to the center of the bench. Antoine sat on one side of her, Wilson on the other. “I was just thinking about the need to elevate the islands before we begin the dam project. If I don’t do that first, I risk flooding the island during the construction of the dams.”

“You don’t have to think about that right now,” said Wilson.

“Oh, I know. I mean, I know I don’thaveto. But my brain tells me I have to,” she grinned. “It’s impossible to stop. When I was little, I would see things and think that’s made wrong. Or the measurements of that bookshelf are off by a tenth of an inch. It drove everyone crazy. It nearly drove me crazy.

“When I was placed in a special class, there were other kids like me who couldn’t control the things running through their heads. This other girl about my age, she had this incredible ability to hear a song one time and then play it on any instrument, writing down the sheet music as she went.”

“That’s pretty amazing,” said Antoine.

“It really was. She couldn’t cope with it, though. The music never stopped for her. She would hear Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and think, I can make that better. She would stay up for hours writing addendums to it.

“Eventually, the doctors and her parents medicated her, forcing her to sleep. That’s the worst thing you can do, by the way. Medications never seem to work the right way with people like me.”

“I’ve found that as well,” nodded Wilson. “No one will ever medicate you, Finley. Not here. You are gifted, honey. I know that sometimes it may not feel that way to you, but you are truly gifted, and those gifts are going to help millions of people.”

“He’s right,” said Antoine. “I was never very good at math. I used to copy off my brother, Luc. Of course, he copied my English homework, so it was a fair trade.” She laughed, shaking her head at the two men.

“Are you here to tell me bad news?” she asked.

“No, why would you think that?” asked Wilson.

“Usually, when people come to speak with me, it’s bad news. No one ever volunteered to come and speak with me. It would hurt their head. I never meant to hurt their heads, but sometimes, you just have to talk about what’s in there, or it will be worse for you.”

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