Page 45 of Philly
“Don’t trust her,” Philly said.
Sabina shot him a pitying look. “Don’t mind him,” she said, handing them both USBs.
“What’s on these?” Callie asked.
“Dossiers on Aiden, Rian, and Joseph Nolan. You’ve been investigating the financial aspects, but Ava—who cannot relax—needed something to do while on bed rest. She decided to do deep dives into their lives. Don’t lose those,” she added, nodding to the drives.
Philly handed his back. “I don’t need it. I’ll use Callie’s. I’m going with her to Utah.”
“Uh—”
“Good idea,” Sabina said, cutting Callie off and taking the device back. “It’s always better to have a partner on an op.”
“They may not have space. My registration was last minute, and I leave tomorrow,” Callie said.
Sabina waved the comment off as she rose. “We’ll take care of it. And travel. I assume you’re flying to Vegas, then driving from there?” Callie nodded. “Great, we’ll get it all arranged. I’ll email you both the details,” she said, then turned and walked out.
“Have I just been railroaded?” Callie said.
“She does that,” Philly replied. “Usually only for the good, but keep your eye on her.”
Callie swung her gaze to him, a question hovering in them.
He shook his head. “Not in that way,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about her integrity or ethics or anything like that. She’s as solid as they come, and I’d trust her with my life. You wouldn’t have joined HICC if you didn’t agree,” he pointed out. “But she’s wily when it comes topersonalmatters. And, as I’m sure you’ve figured out, the line between personal and professional is a little blurry around here.”
Callie made a face. “I noticed. A little different than my last job. Not sure how I feel about it, but it’s a small price to pay for bringing those responsible for Liza’s death to justice. I guess.”
“Show me where we’re going. I want to see what kind of extreme activities we’re doing so I pack the right gear,” he said.
She stared at him, then sighed. “I should fight this more. I’m perfectly capable of doing this on my own.”
“You could fight it, but why? It will be a lot more exciting than that day we pretended your grandparents’ barn was Mount Everest and we tried to scale it.”
Callie fought a smile and lost. “My grandpa really didn’t like the holes we made with our ‘ice axes.’”
“Or the fact that our ‘axes’ were your grandmother’s good knives,” he added, drawing a laugh from her.
“Okay, fine, I’ll roll with it,” she said, typing something into her computer. When she turned it for him to see, the website of the resort showed on the screen.
“Fancy,” he said. “Which means their definition ofextremeis different from yours and mine.”
“It will definitely be different from yours, Mr. Spec Ops,” she teased, clicking on the Activities button.
“Hmm, all the usual stuff. Mountain biking, rock climbing—maybe we can redeem ourselves this time—hiking, BASE jumping. Um, ATV-ing isn’t a sport,” he said, pointing to the last line in the list.
“Neither is golf, but hey,” she replied with a shrug and a grin. He raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s a skill, not a sport. Try to change my mind.”
He chuckled. “Nope. I agree. I wouldn’t mention that around Scipio or Superman, though. Not unless you want to end up arguing for hours.”
She inclined her head. “Noted.” Neither of them commented on the presumption she’d be spending time around Scipio and Superman.
“When’s the flight?”
“Assuming they book you on the same one, we leave from the Mystery Lake airport at nine in the morning. It’s a short hop to Vegas, then a three-and-a-half-hour drive from there. We could have flown into a closer airport, but that involved changing planes.”
He rose, already rearranging his schedule in his mind. “I’m always up for a good road trip. I’ll bring the snacks. You still like salt-and-vinegar Pringles?”
She blinked. “You remember that?”
