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Mr. Meecham and I talked for nearly an hour. I learned a few things, but still had more questions than answers. I went into the dining room to get a mug of tea and pulled out my phone to check it. I had missed messages from Chance. One said, "Not sure what this is all about, but I'm on the plane. Stay safe. I love you."
The next one said, "Still don't know what this is all about, but I'm on my way to BITES headquarters."
I was sipping my tea and starring out the window, when an arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back into a strong solid body. "Chance. Thank God you're here." I turned to face him, but with my tea in hand I couldn't hug him like I needed to. He took the cup from my hand and took a step away to sit it on a table, before wrapping me in his arms and kissing me senseless.
"Are you OK? Is Gracie OK?"
"I'm fine. I think Gracie's OK for now. Everyone here thinks she's safe because her only use to whoever took her is as a way to get me to give them the BFFam location. Come on, I'll take you up to our room." I took his hand and pulled him along. "How did they find you? We're your clients upset? I could have handled this. They sort of steamrolled me."
"It's OK, Babe. Take a breath."
When we closed the door behind us, he dropped his bags and pulled me close. "Babe, I have no idea who these people are or what's going on, but I'm glad you're safe."
I couldn't get enough of Chance. That's not all that unusual, but this felt different. "Jim is a spy, sort of," I said. "I don't really know what you need to know. He sat down in a chair and pulled me into his lap. "Gracie went for a second interview with DHS except she flew to Spokane, and there's not a DHS office there. She didn't call Mama after the interview, and no one's been able to reach her."
"You were right all along. The job thing wasn't just a coincidence. Babe, you have to calm down. You're bouncing off the walls. He kissed me again and hugged me tight. When I started to say something, he kissed me again. "Just calm down, Babe. We'll figure everything out." We sat that way until I felt calmer. I was still anxious to get Gracie back, but I knew the other stuff would get sorted out over time.
We were heading out the door to get lunch in the dining room, when my phone rang. I knocked on Cassie's door, but no one answered. I ran down the stairs with Chance trying to keep up. I headed for Mr. Meecham's office. I slammed the door open so hard it bounced off the wall behind it. "It's them," I said as my phone kept ringing. "I have to answer it."
"Take a breath, Ms. Mason. It'll be fine."
"Hello."
"Everly Mason. You have one minute to talk with your sister. Go."
"Everly, I'm so sorry," Gracie Layne said. "I'm OK. They haven't hurt me, but they're not very nice. You have some location they want. Something to do with bigf..."
"You have your proof. You know what we want. We'll send you the coordinates. Come alone and unarmed. 11:00 AM tomorrow."
"I'm in Texas. I don't know if I can get there that quick. You have to give me more time. I'm miles from an airport. I'm not sure..."
"Fine. 11:00 AM day after tomorrow. Bring the location. No tricks. No cops."
I put my phone away and dropped into one of the chairs in front of Mr. Meecham's desk. It took a bit for me to calm down. Mr. Meecham pushed a piece of paper and a pen across the desk. "Write down everything they said."
Chance sat down in the chair beside me while I wrote. "He said..." Chance gently put his finger across my lips. "Now, write down everything you heard. Any background noises? Anything?"
When I finished, I looked back and forth between the two of them. "Can I talk now?" They both nodded.
"They’ll send the coordinates for the exchange at 11:00 AM day after tomorrow. I'm supposed to give them the location for the BFFam, and they'll give me Gracie."
"You did well, Ms. Mason," Mr. Meecham said. "I'm guessing you must be Chance Munroe," he said, looking at Chance. “I've heard a great deal about you." The two men stood and shook hands across the desk.
That's when I realized I'd burst into Mr. Meecham's office. "I'm sorry for the interruption, sir. Cassie wasn't in her room when they called, and I wasn't sure how to handle it."
"You handled it beautifully. We'll make plans after lunch," he said as Chance and I walked out into the hall and closed the office door behind us.
Chance hugged me. "Are you OK?"
"I guess. I just feel like this is a movie. It's not real. I have no idea what I'm doing."
We walked to an empty table in the dining room and sat down. "Do you mind if we join you?" Cassie asked.
"Chance this is Cassie and Jared Dickenson. This is Chance Munroe. Chance stood and shook hands with both of them.
I filled them in on the call and the plan for trading the location information for Gracie. We ordered our meals and were getting acquainted when Jim walked up to the table. "Do you have room for one more?"
"Sure.” After introducing Jim to Cassie and Jared, we all settled in and enjoyed our lunch. "Jim, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked when I finished my lunch.
"Sure, Everly." He stood up and followed me out of the dining room. When we were in the hallway, I looked both ways to see if anyone was around, "I don't know what the truth is, but if I find out that you stood by and let Chance, Tom, and me put ourselves in danger I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell. Got that?"
"Got it. I'm sorry, Everly. I was doing my job. I would have never let anything to happen to any of you."
"Yeah, but you did." I was so angry with Jim it had taken all my self-control to sit across from him at lunch. I might never learn the details of Jim's involvement, but I was sure he knew the risks and hadn't bothered to make us aware of them. That was unforgivable. I didn't know how I was going to explain any of this to Laurie, but I assumed once this was resolved, Jim would move on, and it would be a non-issue. I turned and headed back to the table.
"Is everything OK?" Chance asked.
"It will be, once this is over."