Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Kestrel was closest, so he reached forward and pressed the speaker button. “Hello?”
“Ah, good. Have you all arrived?” came the voice of an older man. He sounded distinguished. Important.
Rocco listened for clues as to where he might be from. There was something formal about his speech. Perhaps he was British.
“How should we know?” Magnus murmured, looking around the room.
“We have,” Rocco responded. “At least that’s what the reception manager told me.”
“Good, good. Let’s get right to it then.”
“Who are you?” Phoenix asked.
“Who I am is not important. What matters is that each of your lives, or the life of someone close to you, was spared because of my power and contacts.”
Rocco looked around the room. Every gaze was the same, glancing at each other. No one refuted the claim.
“You were each given a marker at the time of your rescue. It’s time for me to activate you so that you will be in place when the time comes for you to repay it.”
Rocco shuddered. “This better not be illegal.”
“Oh, my dear man, I can assure you I do not deal in anything that’s not for the betterment of society. Let’s not get bogged down in legalese. Were you concerned with the law when my men took out those six drug smugglers and disposed of the bodies on the ridge, Mr. Thompson?”
Rocco jumped in his seat. It unnerved him greatly that the disembodied voice in the speaker knew who’d asked the question.
“Now, where were we? Oh, right. Trust me when I say you were all chosen for a reason. You have skills that will eventually come in handy. You all served in a branch of the U.S. military at one point. You’re a team now.”
“Skills?” Magnus asked. “I’m a computer geek. I hope you don’t expect me to do roof repairs. This building looks like it’s falling in on itself.”
The voice laughed. “Ah, Mr. Taverson, I assure you the building is not in as much disrepair as it appears. I had an inspector out just last week. It’s been vacant for some time, but most of the issues are superficial. A construction team is already working to get the resort up and running as soon as possible.”
“So, you intend to reopen this resort? What’s our job?” Hawking asked.
“Hawking Winther. Good to hear your voice.”
Hawking looked just as unnerved as Rocco felt. Equally unnerved, all of them now glanced around the room, looking for hidden cameras and finding none.
“To answer your question,” continued the man, “the resort will reopen in a few weeks. It will be fully operational. Guests will once again stay in the surrounding cabins and the main building. I’ve assigned the six of you to various jobs around the property, but your work at the resort is mostly a front. Your primary concerns will be unrelated to the resort.”
“Pardon?” Caesar grumbled. “You speak in riddles.”
“All in due time, Mr. Heskett. All in due time. Your variety of skills will come in handy when the time is right. The reason I chose this location for you all to gather is because it has everything we need to run a separate operation behind the scenes.”
“And what the hell is that?” Kestrel asked.
“Mr. Galison… Welcome. You’ll need to obtain the building survey from Sadie. You’ve all met Sadie, I assume?”
Rocco’s breath hitched at the reminder. He’d met her all right. It unnerved him that everyone else had, too. At least none of them were smirking or smiling too broadly for his taste. They simply all nodded and murmured their acknowledgment.
“Good, good,” the man continued. “She has surveys for you. You’ll notice from the original building schematic that entire sections are inaccessible to the public. Most people will not even know some areas exist.”
Rocco glanced around as if he could discern any such thing from this conference room. He could not, of course, but he was itching to see what this benefactor of his was talking about.
The man continued. “The entire top floor and the basement of the resort are completely blocked off to anyone whose fingerprints aren’t entered in the system or who doesn’t have a temporary keycard. You have each been assigned to your own living quarters on the fifth floor. There are six individual apartments and an open communal space, which I believe you will find more than accommodating. The stairs serve as an emergency exit for the guest floors, but the fifth floor and the basement will only be accessible by you.
“Guests will not be aware of your private quarters. Unless, of course, you take someone to your apartment. The building was originally designed to maintain privacy for those working and living inside the resort.”
Rocco found himself frowning as he listened. “Please tell me there’s a better method of accessing the rooms than the old-fashioned keys I saw out front.” Sadie had already told him those were outdated and just for show, but Rocco was feeling surly and a bit argumentative. This entire arrangement was surreal.