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A couple of the older women broke out into enthusiastic applause, and Finn winked at them all in turn A furious blush flooded Bria’s cheeks at the unexpected, unwanted attention, but her blue eyes were sparkling Whatever his faults ht be, Finn made my sister happy, and that was all I really cared about, even if I’d wanted to keep a lower profile this ot a booth in the back and sat doith Finn and Owen sliding into the opposite side fro a silverstone briefcase, but he didn’t open it and put it on the table He didn’t need to I kneas inside already - all the infor up on Dekes in the last few hours In addition to his prowess as an invest Well, perhaps dabbled wasn’t the right hen you had an extensive network of spies and snitches in Ashland and beyond like he did Either way, there were few things he liked better than unearthing other people’s deepest, darkest secrets, whether it was for cold, hard cash or just his own personal ah the files later Right noas determined to enjoy a meal with some of the people I cared about the most I was still on vacation, and I was determined to act like it - at least for the next hour or so

We ordered enough food for an arhed and talked and joked while aited for everything to arrive, like ere out on a casual double date instead of getting ready to consider what to do about Dekes Or ainst the bad guys while we chowed down

Thirty minutes later, Callie ca food balanced on her forear behind her carrying even ian waffles drizzled with peach syrup, piles of fresh-cooked bacon, sizzling sausage, golden hash browns, deep-fried cinna, toasted pineapple lasses full ofthe smells of the sticky waffles, flaky ether with all the othera cloud of succulent aroma over the table

"It all looks wonderful," Bria said "Thanks, Callie"

The other wouys enjoy it"

She sht expression didn’t really lift her lips Callie looked like she hadn’t slept well last night Purple s out across her skin like a football player’s greasepaint, and her whole body was tight and rigid Even her blue work apron and the casual white T-shirt and khakis she had on underneath see?" Bria asked, picking up on her friend’s darkin the pool at the Blue Sands hotel this ," Callie said in a soft voice "It’s the talk of the whole island"

Yeah, I’d figured it would be, and co into the restaurant had only confirmed my suspicion I’d heard more than a few folks around us say words like dead bodies andin our booth Not too hard to figure out what everyone was buzzing about

"The Blue Sands happens to be the same hotel where you told me that you had booked a suite," Callie continued "One of the men was Pete Procter, and another was his buddy, Trent I’uys who caht and threatened uys that your sisterdealt with"

Callie looked at ured out by now that there wasattention Callie didn’t strike me as the kind of woether, and all she needed noas confirmation from us How she would react when Bria told her what had happened as going to be interesting

Bria hesitated "Cos that we need to talk about, including what happened to those two guys In private"

Callie stared atat Bria "Sure Just as soon as I get a chance"

She turned, threaded her way through the packed tables, and headed back into the kitchen to start on her next order, with the waitresses trailing along behind her Nobody at our booth spoke for a moment

"Well, that was rather aard," Finn said

None of us answered hinored the silence, smiled, and picked up one of the platters of food "But on to more importantThe food was just as delicious as it had been the night before The waffles were light and fluffy, the peach syrup ithout being too sugary, and the ne punch toaway the rest of the day in a chair out on the beach

Finally, though, the food was finished, the platters were cleared away, and it was just the four of us at the table once more, which ht," I said "Lay it out for us, Finn"

"Why, I thought you’d never ask," he drawled

Finn put his silverstone briefcase on the table, popped it open, and pulled out a thick manila folder He flipped it open, turned it around, and scooted the file over to me and Bria

"Randall Michael Dekes," Finn said "Vauy Exact age and ical abilities unknown, but he’s rumored to be more than three hundred and exceptionally powerful, with lots of eleic to spare"

Finn had included a color head-and-shoulders portrait of Dekes that looked like it was taken off some corporate website I picked it up so I could study it a little closer Randall Dekes had sable brown hair, a thick, bristlingwhite teeth made his skin seeray suit that even Finn would be envious of A diamond shaped like a ray tie that trailed down his chest Overall, he remindedthe part of a tropical island lord - dark, strong, sleek, and handsole" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>