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We had an hour to kill between lunch and the meeting to discuss whatever this mess was. Chance and I went to our room. Now that I was calmer, I was starting to worry about everything. "I'm sorry about your hunt. I didn't ask them to find you. I don't even know how they did find you."
"It's OK, Babe," he said, patting the bed beside him. "I'm glad they found me. I wouldn't want you doing this alone."
"I never meant to do any of this, Chance. That's the thing. It sort of took on a life of its own. I need to find a way to wrest control back from these people."
"Honey, it's their organization that has the problem. They're better equipped to deal with it than we are. We need to focus on Gracie Layne and the BFFam. The rest of it is internal BITES crap that they can sort out however they choose as far as I'm concerned."
"OK. That helps. I need to make sure we get Gracie Layne back safe. How do we do that exactly?"
"Stop talking. Stop thinking, and relax," he said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against him. I realized lying there that I had no idea if he'd gotten any sleep the night before or not. I knew I wouldn't fall asleep, but it was nice to just lay there and enjoy the feeling of being safe in Chance's arms.
"Stay close," I said as Chance and I headed out the door. That's when I realized I had no idea where the conference room was. At the bottom of the stairs, I saw Cassie and Jared further down the hall and followed them into a room.
"Grab coffee or tea in the dining room before we get started if you want," Jared said. "This could take a while."
We went back down the hall. I was pleased to find Earl Grey tea bags. It wasn't my preferred brand, but I still was glad to have it. Chance poured a cup of coffee, and we headed back to the conference room. Matt came over, and I introduced him to Chance. When Mr. Meecham came in, everyone sat down. "You all have come into this from different places, and some of you have only part of the story of what this is all about. We'll correct all of that this afternoon. First, the introductions." We met Greg Talbot who was the other man on the video when we called from Cassie's loft. Henry Alcalde, was a member of Jason's team along with Matt. Jim was there as well. I leaned over to Chance. "Should we have involved Tom?"
"If we need him, we'll call him, but I think this is more than enough people."
I was surprised, when Chance spoke up first. "Mr. Meecham, do you mind if I say something before we get into the details."
"Go right ahead," he said.
"We've been dealing with this for a while, there are a lot of pieces, and it seems like we all have information to share. For Everly and me, we want to concentrate on a plan to get Gracie back safely and find a way to protect the BFFam, sorry the bigfoot family. The rest of this seems like an internal BITES issue that you folks are going to have to deal with yourselves."
"Well put, Mr. Munroe. Thank you," Mr. Meecham said. "I want to reiterate what was just said. We must come up with a plan for the safe return of Gracie Layne Mason to her family. That is our top priority."
It was a long day that bled into evening. I'd been surprised when we took a break to refill drinks, and I came back in to find Jim and Chance with their heads together. I'm not sure why it bothered me, but it did. I felt Jim had betrayed not just me, but all of us. I know guys are much better at forgiveness, but I didn't have to like it. By the time the meeting ended, we all migrated to the dining room for dinner. Jim sat at a table with Henry, Matt, and Greg. Cassie and Jared sat with Chance and me. I didn't see Mr. Meecham.
It felt so normal, it was odd. We enjoyed dinner and conversation with another young couple. The strange part was that we all talked about cryptids. "Maybe you can help explain something to Everly," Chance said. "She's had a problem understanding why we've been more worried about being attacked by people than by the cryptids we hunt."
"I can see how that would seem strange. Hunting cryptids, even for us, isn't the same as going on a deer hunt. Because of the rarity of the animals, we actually want to protect them."
"But aren't they dangerous?" I asked.
"They can be," Cassie said. I saw a look pass between her and Jared. "I dislocated my arm when we took down the Thunderbirds. It really wasn't the creature's fault, we just hadn't been prepared for how they'd react to our attack. My first hunt with BITES, a teammate was attacked by a bear but not a cryptid. There have been two instances I can think of where we've been attacked by the cryptids. We all were bitten by the robotic black flies, but that's not quite the same since they were manufactured and controlled by a human. The only real cryptid attack we suffered is when I was attacked by a pack of Chupacabra."
I was shocked by how she could say that so calmly. "Were you badly injured? Are you more cautious when you hunt cryptids since the attack?" I asked.
"Probably not as much as Jared would like."