Neither had Obadiah, Emily or Kovak.
Chapter Fifty-One
“Sorry we’re a bit late with dinner,” James said, sitting down next to Yvonne, who was eagerly awaiting further news about her daughters.
“That’s okay,” she said. “I’m hardly on a tight schedule. Glad you decided to sit next to me.” She surveyed the large dining room table. “If we were sitting opposite, we’d be shouting to pass the salt.”
James smiled. “Yes, it does seem to be a bit of an overkill, and you’re probably wondering why one person needs such a large home.”
“No, not really,” she replied quickly, and then paused. “Well, yes, actually.”
“I hold many charity functions here. You wouldn’t believe it looking around you now, but sometimes there’s not even enough space to move inside the house.”
“What type to charities?” she asked.
“Mostly those connected with children and the homeless.”
“That’s really commendable of you.”
“I trust Antoine and Amy are treating you well?”
“They are such lovely people,” she replied. “I understand Antoine does all the cooking.”
“He’s a man of many talents,” James said. “You should see him prepare Irish coffee. It’s a floor show on its own.”
“Oh, I’ve seen that done,” she said, excitedly. “Pouring a flame between tumblers. It’s amazing to watch.”
Just then, Antoine arrived from the kitchen with their starter; shrimps on a bed of lettuce, covered lightly with a creamy seafood sauce.
“This looks delicious,” she said.
“Well, get stuck in.”
She did, savouring every mouthful.
“Who takes care of the gardens?” she asked.
“I have a service to look after the heavy stuff like mowing, aerating and weeding, but the actual flowerbeds are a bit of a weekend passion of mine.”
Yvonne couldn’t imagine this handsome, well-groomed man, dressed in anything other than expensive suits.
“It’s an interest I inherited from my mom,” James went on. “After a strenuous week playing boardroom games, taking care of flowers and small shrubs is really very therapeutic.”
“I can imagine.”
“Watching something grow from seed is also quite gratifying.” He paused in thought. “Plant life really demands very little, you know.”
During the entrée◦– beef medallions, mixed vegetables and greens◦– they discussed which plants thrive best indoors versus those outdoors. Living in apartments and condos most of her adult life, Yvonne knew little about gardening.
“You want something that requires very little attention? Cactus,” James said. “You can even forget to water them for a few months.”
“That’s mean,” she said, knitting her brow.
“Not at all. Nature ensured they evolved that way,” he said. “Did you know that they didn’t even exist before the last ice age?”
“But that was millions of years ago.”
“Actually, it wasn’t,” James said. “The last one ended just over eleven thousand years ago. That’s just a few thousand years before the dawn of human civilisation and recorded history.”
That surprised Yvonne.
“If you want to know all about cactus, Nathan’s the guy. He has quite a collection inside his home.”
“Nathan?”
“Nathan McIntosh,” James qualified. “He’s our Info Tech manager.”
Antoine removed their empty plates and moments after, wheeled in a cart with a selection of delicious looking pastries.
“This dinner has been absolutely delicious, Antoine,” Yvonne said, looking up at him with a satisfied smile. “I didn’t expect I’d be able to eat any more, but this I can’t resist.” She picked a small chocolate eclair off the tray.
Sitting inside the helicopter on the roof of Cevallos’s mansion, Nathan, Obadiah, Emily, Uri and Kovak waited patiently. After a few minutes, Gene’s voice came through the Huey’s overhead cabin speakers. “Okay, I’ve transmitted your photos to the Nano-bots.”
“Which did you use?” Uri asked through the mic.
“The same used for your security access badges,” Gene replied. “Full face and shoulders.”
“Perfect,” Uri smiled. “Thanks for your help, Gene.”
“Good luck.” Gene signed off.
“How was Gene able to do that?” Emily asked.
“For the bots, it’s just the same as your phone receiving an image through Wi-Fi or your data package,” Uri said. “They’ll be added to those photos already loaded of the twins. We’ll be quite safe now.”
Emily still couldn’t grasp the true level of miniaturisation today’s technology had advanced to. And, according to Uri, these weren’t even true Nano-bots, but instead, a somewhat larger and clumsier version.
“Let me go first,” Obadiah volunteered. Sniper’s rifle at the ready, he slid the door open and jumped out. After a few moments’ hesitancy, Nathan and Uri followed. Excited, and a little scared at the same time, Emily was last to exit. She ducked extra low, remembering what Uri had told her about cross winds potentially being able to bend the large flexible blades. Not that bending made too much difference to her already diminutive stature.
Kovak remained at the controls, keeping the Huey’s engines hot.
Obadiah walked the perimeter of the roof, collecting the AK-47s and tossing them with remarkable accuracy into the garden pond a good thirty feet away from the back walls of the mansion.
“I’d hate to be in your line of site when you start throwing rocks,” Uri chortled.
Domestics immediately scuttled out of sight seeing Obadiah, his weapon, and the other three rushing down the stairs to the left wing of Cevallos’s lavishly furnished hallway. Obadiah caught up with one particularly fearful looking young maid and spoke harshly to her in Spanish.
Uri, Emily and Nathan continued along the second-floor passage and entered the bedroom where Gene confirmed the twins were still huddled.
Sitting on the couch and saying nothing, they clutched each other tightly. Emily could see confusion and fear in their huge eyes.
Emily tilted her head, smiled and spoke softly, “We’ve come to take you home.”
“Is our mommy here?” one of the girls asked, with a tremor in her voice.
“No,” Emily said, crouching to her knees. “But you’ll see her really soon.”
The twins looked at each other, and then, without a moment’s further hesitation, leapt off the couch and rushed into Emily’s open arms.
The group dashed up to the roof where the helicopter was waiting. Uri was carrying one of the frightened little girls, Nathan the other. Door closed with passengers secured, Kovak engaged the collective and the Super-Huey was airborne in seconds.
“I didn’t know you could speak Spanish,” Emily shouted to Obadiah, above the noise of the engines.
“I learned it during my years as a construction worker. The crews I worked with were mostly from Colombia.”
“What did you say to that poor maid? She looked petrified.”
“I said that when she sees her boss, to tell him that a band of thirty armed US Marines invaded the estate and took off with the girls.”
Emily looked at him puzzled.
“I was clear that if she didn’t relay that exact message, we would know and have her and all the other illegal migrants working for Cevallos deported.”
Emily had no doubt that Obadiah’s message would be conveyed to Cevallos exactly as stipulated. There always seemed to be another surprising revelation about SkyTech’s head of security.
Chapter Fifty-Two
The helicopter flight back to Groom Lake from Cevallos’s mansion seemed a lot faster for Emily. She held the twins close to her, sensing their insecurity. It would have been impossible to speak to them reassuringly over the noise of the Huey. From take-off just before sunset, to landing back at Groom Lake, only two hours had passed.