My mom doesn’t react. She knew last night what buttons to push to get me thinking straight. I was being overly dramatic and a spoiled brat.
“I think that’s a great idea. What time are you meeting them?”
“We’re meeting at the Cherry Cricket at eight.”
She nods toward the clock. “You’d better hurry.”
I’ve got fifteen minutes. Even on a Saturday morning, traffic can be severe. It’ll be tight, but not impossible.
I throw on clothes, and I’m out the door to my waiting rideshare.
When I arrive, Claire and Landon are already sitting at a table, and it looks like they’ve been here a while.
“I’m sorry. Am I late?” I ask.
“No, we were early and in need of coffee,” Landon says.
“We walked over, giving us time to get lost,” Claire adds.
I shake my head. “It’s hard to get lost here. The city is on a grid.”
“The concierge told us to head east and then north, and I was lost.”
I chuckle. “Well, if you’re going north, the mountains are to your left. South they’re on your right. West, you’re driving toward them, and east away.”
Claire looks at Landon. “That would have been useful information from the concierge.”
“At least you found it,” I offer.
The waitress arrives, and without looking at the menu, I order the huevos rancheros.
“I’ll have the same.” Landon winks at me.
“I’d like an egg-white omelet, with spinach…” Claire orders like Sally from When Harry Met Sally.
Landon shakes his head, and I chuckle. I have missed their company.
Once the waitress leaves, Claire looks at us. “What?”
“Could you make it more difficult to get a silly egg-white omelet?” Landon asks.
“I like it a certain way,” she says with a shrug.
“And we like that about you,” I jump in, before they start to argue. I change the subject. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I’m bothered by Tomas being at that bar. I know it could be a chance meeting, but honestly, I don’t think so.”
“We don’t either,” Claire agrees.
“I found out he’s part of a closed group on PeopleMover called the Stanford Octagon. I think it’s a group of my classmates who used to get together regularly to talk about how they were going to take on Silicon Valley. I wasn’t invited, probably because Tomas was one of the founders and we only went out for a minute. But a friend of mine, Dana Schwartz, was. I reached out to her this morning, looking for information on the group.”
“We need to let Jim know, but when we’re in a private place.”
“I agree. I’m still not convinced they don’t have something on our phones. I texted Dana from my cell phone and called her from the home landline. I hate that all of a sudden, I’m worried about big brother, but I started thinking—how did Tomas know I might show up at Whitley’s? The girls from my team had texted to invite me.”
Landon shakes his head. “He went to school with you and probably knows you grew up here. We need to get ahead of them, so you should move.”
I nod. “I don’t want to agree, but you’re probably right.”
“You can’t go back to San Francisco. Where should you go?” Claire asks.
“We can fly back to my ranch in Montana,” Landon offers. “At least if they’re coming there, we’ll see them. I can lock the cell phone booster down to only us.”
“Is it safe for Claire to be in San Francisco alone?”
“I think so, but if I can get Jim to sign off on this, I want Gage working out of our offices, and…” He turns to Claire. “You should have a team of two bodyguards with you at all times.”
“I’ll agree to that if you take someone with you to Montana.”
Landon nods. We finish our breakfast, return to my mom’s, and call Jim from the kitchen phone, filling him in on what we’ve learned about Tomas and the Stanford Octagon. Jim promises to investigate and makes plans to send a plane for us. He says he’ll meet us with supplies when we land. We’re to disconnect our cell phones and leave them here in Denver.
Jim also arranges for Claire to come back to San Francisco. He’s sending a team to meet her. Since she’s been living in a rental during her renovations, she’ll move into Landon’s place at The Adams, along with her security. Landon and I are heading to “Vancouver” with a quick stop in Montana that will put us at the Magnolia Homestead undetected.
I have just a little time to pack up my things, and then we’re off.
“I love you, sweetheart.” My mom holds me tight.
While I gathered my stuff, Claire and Landon educated her about keeping an eye on her surroundings, and she’s going to spend some time at her boyfriend’s. If she sees anything out of the ordinary, she’s going to call Jim and will have her own security team.
“You have the landline number for the ranch?” I ask her.
“I do, and I have Jim’s number, plus the burner phone he’s sending.” She looks at Landon. “I encouraged this reconciliation. If you make me sorry, I have no problem making sure you sit for a long time in a dark cell.”
He gives a curt nod. “I understand.”
We’re standing in the terminal as two Gulfstream jets touch down, one right after another.
The pilots disembark and file new flight plans for Vancouver and San Francisco while we walk out to our planes.
I give Claire a hug. “You be careful. Tiffany is super possessive of your brother. She wants him all to herself.”
Claire laughs. “I think Tiffany is the least of my worries.”
“I know, but I thought if you
