“Tell me what I can do.”
“Isn’t one of the girls planning to become a PA.”
“Pen, and she already is.”
“Perfect. I need to think this through, but I’ll get back to you in a few. Stay where you are.”
“Tabon?”
“Yeah, sweetheart.”
“You’re sending a team in. That means Striker is still alive, right?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Ava looked in the mirror and took several deep breaths. What she was about to do would be the hardest thing she’d ever done. She was going to have to lie to her twin, repeatedly. Some would be out-and-out lies and others would be lies of omission. She just prayed that Aine didn’t catch on to either.
—:—
Alegria wasn’t exactly a girly-girl, which meant convincing her to hang out with Ava’s best friends wasn’t going to be an easy sell. But, she was part of the K19 team, and as such, they had to give her the support she needed, even if she didn’t want it.
“How many bedrooms in the guest house?” Razor asked Gunner.
“Three. Why?”
“Who’s staying in it?”
“For Christ’s sake—why?”
Razor pulled Gunner outside. “There’s a team goin’ in after Striker and Mantis. Dutch is on it. He and Alegria are on their way here, and he’s shipping out tonight.”
Gunner scrubbed his face with his hand. “Let me think what my mother said. I’m pretty sure she had Dutch and Alegria penciled in. And Odette.”
“Can we move your sister?”
“Nice, Raze. Why? Princess Alegria needs her privacy?”
“Penelope and Tara are here.”
“What did you bring them in for, moral support?”
Razor looked out at the bay.
“You did, didn’t you?”
“Aine is my sister-in-law, and she’s f’ing miserable, and it’s Christmas.”
Gunner put his hands on his hips. “I don’t even recognize us anymore.”
“Me either.”
“Okay. Let me see where we can stick my sister.”
“Wait. Did you say it had three bedrooms?”
“Now what?”
“Well, Aine.”