Page 63 of Little Fury

“No worries. I’ve worked with all of them before. I've also tried to get Harry to hire each of them. But he keeps telling me we don’t need another Theo or Sebastian and that we sure as fuck don’t want another Wes with his mouth.” I laugh out loud at that because it’s all true. The ranch would be crazy with more of the same type of guys.

“Perfect. Send me their dossiers, and I’ll take a look right away. I want to video meet them all today or tomorrow and then set up in-person meetings as soon as possible when I’m back in New York.”

Parker and I chatted for another minute, talking music and sci-fi movies, Dune Part 1 being the dominant topic. We hung up, and three minutes later, as I was walking back to the house, I heard a notification that the dossiers had arrived.

I spent the next three hours going over the guys Parker sent me. I like them all, but I have my top picks. Ben Williams is young and has done some impressive hacks. Parker has noted that the kid is genius-level and think-tank smart.

Next is Caden Harker. He is older than me.

Ava, you’re 20. They’re all going to be older than you.

“Ben isn’t,”I mumble to the empty house.

Caden was a ranger. He did one tour and was given an honorable discharge after his brother and half his team were killed out on assignment and his mother was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He’s an explosives expert and excels in small firearms. Lastly, there is Matt Forestt. Matt is a former MMA fighter. He coaches now and teaches self-defense classes after his little sister was killed by a mugger when she was 17.

Parker has included psychological evaluations for all the men. I see why he chose them. Matt and Caden have strong protective instincts regarding women and children. They both also have no problem, it seems, with a bit of questionable morality. And Ben is young, brilliant, and alone. According to his file, he bounced from foster home to foster home after his mom was killed by a drunk driver when he was eight. When he was fourteen, he hacked into the child welfare database and changed his date of birth so he would age out instantly. He’s been supporting himself by writing code and doing smaller hack jobs for the last three years. Parker’s notes all say that they all have strong loyalty tendencies and that all three will bond to form a strong unit. None of them have any indicators that make us think they won’t work for a woman. They all seem more likely to, especially when that woman is strong and intelligent.

I send messages to the three of them, and I go to the kitchen to make myself a bite to eat. I open the fridge and see a bunch of fruit and veggies and cheese. I grab it all in my arms and turn to drop it on the island. I grab a big platter and begin arranging the food on it. I open the cupboard and find some delicious roasted almonds, crackers and a couple of cookies.“Perfect,”I say to the empty house… “girl lunch!” I smile down at the food. My phone goes off, and I return to the table. I see it’s a video call from Ben.

“Hello,”I say, smiling at the screen.

“Oh shit, you’re way hotter than I was expecting.” I raise an eyebrow at him but can't help but smile at his bluntness.

“Hi, Ben, I’m Ava.”I look at him. He’s got dirty blonde hair that he has shaved on the sides, and the top is longer, falling over his forehead. He’s skinny, still in his gangly teenager body. He has a cute face, the kind girls swoon over, and a dimple to boot. “Tell me about yourself, Ben.”

“I know Parker, so I highly doubt there is anything you don’t already know.”

I bark out a laugh.“Fair enough. Favorite color?”

“Green, but like jade green.”

“Favorite food?”

“I’m not picky, but I do love Indian.”

“Favorite memory?”He doesn’t raise an eyebrow or miss a beat when answering my odd questions.

“When I was six, my mom took me to a fair. She let me ride every ride and eat everything I wanted. I threw up and then asked for ice cream, and she bought it for me.” He smiles at the memory.

“What do you know about me?”I ask him.

“I know you and your parents were in a car accident when you were seven. You survived; they didn’t. You were adopted, and the situation of your adoption is odd. From what I could see when I hacked Parker's archives, your birth mother has pull with a lot of people. Because the adoption contract between her and your parents was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, I also, no matter how hard I tried, couldn’t find out who she was, and I looked. She paid some very skilled people to make all records of her giving birth to you disappear from existence. What else? Harry Baird trained you, and every single record I've seen or watched says you’refucking good. You were also raised by Beth, along with Marcus Rossi.”

I’m impressed with his rundown of me. Parker works hard at keeping all of our digital footprints to a minimum.“Well done, Ben. I’ll be in New York in a couple of days. I want to meet you in person. Can you be in New York on the 17th? I’ll have a room for you at the Hilton in midtown.”

“I can do that.”

“Parker will send you your ticket and flight info. There will be a car for you at the airport. I look forward to meeting you in person, Ben.”

“Me too, boss.”

I shake my head at him and disconnect the call. I eat a bit of the food I have in front of me. I turn on the sound system and select a playlist. “California Dreamin’ By the Mammas and the Papas starts playing.

I let my mind wander momentarily and hear my phone ring again. I look at the screen; it's Caden Harker.

I answer the video call,“Hello, Caden.”

“Hello, Miss.”

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