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By the time they’d returned to Belle Fleur, Fred had spoken to his father, promised to do whatever the team told him to do, and was guaranteed that he’d be a part of any future conversations.

When Luke, Cam, and Eric called to say they’d be taking a trip of their own to vet out something, everyone was a bit surprised.

“We just had a bad feeling about the call from Jewel. She’s not at her apartment, her neighbors weren’t even sure of what her name is, and I can’t find anyone that’s seen or heard from the woman,” said Hiro.

“This is crazy,” said Tillie, shaking her head. “What is going on? We’ve got two people missing. Again!”

“Were either of those women on the dig with you in Laos?” asked Leo.

“No,” said Fred, shaking his head. “I met them on the plane and then met Tillie when we landed. Gemma is nice but seemed to be all business, which I respect. Jewel was just fun. I mean, nothing happened with us. She’s far too young for me.

But she was fun and energetic. I liked being around her. ”

“Fred, when the men took us in Botswana, did you notice anything different? Anything unusual about Gemma or Jewel?” asked Tillie.

“Not really. I mean, I guess neither seemed terribly upset,” he frowned. “I have to admit I was shaking on the inside, worried that I might embarrass myself in front of the three of you. You were cool as a cucumber. Pretty badass if you ask me.”

“But they weren’t?” asked Mav.

“No. I mean, yes. Gemma and Jewel seemed fine. They would say that they were nervous or worried, but it didn’t look that way. When Tillie said she was getting us out of there, they tried to stop her.”

“They did,” whispered Tillie. “I’d forgotten about it. They didn’t want me to do anything stupid because they were afraid of what the men might do. In fact, it was the only time either one of them yelled. They didn’t want me to drive the truck away.”

“We need all the information we can get on Gemma and Jewel,” said Mav, turning to AJ and Hiro.

“What do you think we’ve been trying to do?” frowned Hiro. “The Earl was kind enough to send us their applications. Their ID was good but not good enough. It was all fake. Both of them.”

“Are you kidding me?” asked Fred. “Why?”

“I think they wanted to get to you, Fred,” said Tillie.

“Maybe they wanted to get to you,” he said, looking at her.

Eyebrows shot up, and Tillie stared at him in disbelief.

“Listen, I don’t doubt that someone might want to come after me.

I’m not doubting that possibility. But considering what I’ve heard in the last few hours, it seems far more likely that someone would be after you. ”

“I didn’t see anything that someone would want to kidnap me for,” said Tillie. “We think that you did. You might not know what it is or what it was, but you saw something in Laos. We’re certain of it.”

“I just don’t…” Fred’s voice trailed off as he looked around the room, then stared out the window. “I took photos. Damn. I took photos when I was there.”

“Where are they?” asked Leo.

“They were on my phone, which was destroyed. I mean, I destroyed it because I was worried someone was following me. They’re gone.”

“Oh, no, they’re not, my friend,” grinned AJ. “Give me all the details for the phone.”

Fred sat down with AJ and recited his phone number, the provider for service, style of phone, all of it.

“What do you think, Tillie? Were either of these women odd during your limited time with them?” asked Saint.

“Yes. I don’t mean that to be cruel. It just seemed as though they shouldn’t have been there.

I’ve been doing this for a while now. You can tell when there’s a rookie in the group.

Their hands definitely gave it away. Soft hands mean they’ve done little to no manual labor. But it’s also suntans.”

“Suntans?” frowned Leo.

“Yes,” she smiled. “Men will invariably get the proverbial farmer’s tan. You can see the line of where their t-shirt sleeve was, the white and the dark. Women, it depends, but you almost always see sun damage on their face, neck, chest, and back of their hands.”

“And neither of these women had that?” asked Pax.

“No. I noticed it but didn’t think much of it. But no. Neither had any of that. Their hands were soft, much softer than Fred’s. Their skin tone was relatively even, and neither had any freckles or other sun damage.”

“They’re in on this together,” said Brax. “We might not know how or why just yet. But I’d stake my reputation on it.”

“Then our priority is finding them,” said Mav. “We’re going to let the comm boys do what they do best. In the meantime, let’s grab some dinner and get Fred into a cottage. Maybe by then, we’ll have some of those photos.”

“Sounds good,” said Leo. “Hey, Fred? How do you feel about crawfish étouffée?”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever had it,” he said, smiling at the men. Leo gripped his shoulder, turning him toward the door.

“Prepare to be wowed, my friend. Prepared to be wowed.”