The Mysterious Mr. Hastings

r pools. I owned the farmland across the road, too-ensuring no one could hide out or spy on me. Beyond the back fence lay a dense, impenetrable forest. Thick, towering thujas

e gate, and the guard s

rived in a cab. The wrought-iron gates swung open, and we drove past the towering hedges. I had the driver stop at the

pulled a U-turn, and I start

hurrying toward me as

was. His hair was elegantly trimmed, his stubble was on point, and his suits we

ce trip," I mutter

s on going undercover," he

y, I start tomorrow,"

e replied. "Carol Monroe in HR has been

" Theo continued. "In a few days, I'll

tea. Theo and Simon lived in the mansion with me; with ten be

ed woman with glasses. She had lived at the orphanage her entire life, first as a child and then as a staff member, until they let her go when she reached retirement age. I to

. "He's been terrified of yo

I told him. "Remember that woman

ves and those eyes," he l

id. "She returned Chris Stewart's walle

now the addres

t it," Simon laughed. "Changing apartments every year i

r people in need. Tell the super to toss him and fix up the place, or I'll find a new manager. Simon, mo

o late," Theo grinned.

-but not yet," I said with a grin. "But I'm go

, and she won't even have di

e from the flight manifest. I'm not used to asking, but hers int

into it,"

e give me?" I asked. "The fli

ieved it was a sedative, and the placebo

th a smile as I laced my shoes back

his wife have been like parents to me since I was twelve. My mansion was only a few minut

ly a small structure on his lot with a cellar and a tunnel leading to my basement. The tunnel was built

nd tore down the private p