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She stared at hiu place Sorry to bother you" He paused "Ma’aled not to laugh

The lady surprised hiht place, sir Gunner Skale, I presume? My name is Cherry Mr Hartley will see you now"

Gunner wrinkled his brow as he eyed the establishment His question was obvious

"We value our security," Cherry responded "We value it very, very ht, where no one would think to look" She picked the gum out of herlot "Please cole-jangle as she closed it, locked it The waiting roo in the middle A dusty desk with a phone that must have been a century old--and couys don’t even try to make this place look like a real business," he said, surprised by what he was seeing What do these people do for a living? he wondered

"We keepthat for some reasonyou in the Exhibit Room"

"The Exhibit Room?" Gunner repeated

"You’ll see"

6

As theyhallways, Gunner started to wonder if he was the biggest idiot in the world for following this woman He was, after all, fa sorry for hi For all he knew, these people were about to blackmail him, kidnap him, ask for ranso rush of fear, irrational but thrilling He kept walking, following his spritely guide

They finally reached a section that looked e was abrupt--plush carpet, freshly painted walls, plas Soon after, they came upon a set of double doors that looked to bethat’d be on an industrial refrigeration unit Cherry swiped her finger in funny little patterns on a section of the door, and the heavy steel panels popped open with a hiss

"After you, Mr Skale," she said with a slight sht never know

Gunner stepped into the roo were black with tiny pinpoints of white light that looked like stars It was a moment before he noticed the people There were three: one woman and two men, their faces in shadow Their attire was somewhere between business and casual, and oddly, despite the darkness, they were all wearing sunglasses Cherry, who’d so cheerfully guided Gunner through the strange building, stepped around hied She fit in with the strange group of three, and he was sure he’d guessed correctly--that she was far e Hartley?" Gunner asked, not knohat else to say He’d never had a consulting gig quite like this