What was Lost and Found in the Fire

Ch. 17 Nap and Nibble

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Kay'ari's/Kayli's POV

Location: Here and There

Date: October

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Time went by quickly after Cyan placed her calls with the emergency phone. 

Our contact agreed to meet us immediately. We gave her the place, and made our way straight to the international airport in Los Angeles. 

Cy and I talk on our way, but it isn't about what we need to do next. That's all been planned out for weeks. 

We just talk small: Should we get Lucy's molars taken out? Do we prefer home-schooling for the kids or a public education plan? How long is an appropriate amount of time to bother an author about the next book? 

We arrive at the airport after a few hours and after our initial perimeter check, we sit in the abandoned parking lot for a long time.

We nap and nibble on some snacks from the gas station we passed on our way here. We chat a little more. 

Finally, one of the sensors Cyan set up when we got here goes off, and we both snap to attention. 

Lallara Richardson, affectionately known as Lala, finally pulls in next to us and my eye twitches as she jumps out of her little Mercedes and strides up to Cyan's side of the car without even a cursory look around us. 

Her bright, vivid blue eyes take us in with suspicion, and yet she doesn't take in her surroundings at all. Her eyes look striking against her flawless olive skin and rich mahogany brown hair that falls into blonde curls at the ends.

She is incredibly recognizable, with such a unique face and yet she isn't even a little bit concerned with her own visibility.

How she survived this long without getting picked back up by Dontavion is beyond me. She apparently has no survival instincts to speak of.  

I was skeptical when Cy told me who to expect as our contact. More so when she explained to me what we needed her for.

While Lala is brilliant, she isn't exactly someone I would trust with such a covert operation.

Lala is one of the few people Leninora extracted from the Mav Estates, due to her families history with the military and her father's occupation; the president of a major tech company and an underground arms dealer. 

Because of those two things, Leninora made a deal with Lala's family:

In exchange for Lala's freedom, she and her family had to promise to supply us with armed guards for the main safe houses, and access to Lala's father's labs and armory. 

Old man Richardson was happy to comply for his only daughter's escape from the Mav horror house for a few men and the chance to have the famous Leninora Lockheart working in his very own labs.   

Lala herself works at as a PR agent, and that's why we called her instead of old man Richardson: for her ability to bring together a bunch of media-moguls without raising suspicion. 

Lala looks down at Cyan with a guarded expression.  

"It's about time. I didn't expect to have to wait so long to hold up my side of the bargain." Lala's voice has the smoky tenor of someone who owns their sexuality and comes in the unique twang of a southerner. 

For a brief moment the way she speaks brings to mind a specific person, but the thought drifts away like smoke and irritation bordering on disgust replaces the melancholy sense of deja vu.