A Shade Of Blood(70)

He was hoping? Why and how would he even know I exist? To that, I didn’t know how to respond, so all I ended up saying was, “Great.”
“Where are you?”
“At LAX.”
“That won’t do. One of our men will have a private plane waiting at Van Nuys Airport in three hours. Does that suit you?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “Of course.”
“See you soon, Ben.”
He hung up and frowned, confused by the conversation I just had. I took a sip of coffee and set it on the table before returning to the car. It didn’t take long for me to reach the city limits of LA and get to Van Nuys, where private, chartered and small commercial aircrafts flew.
I had arrived early, so I was waiting a while before a tall, lean man approached me.  Tattoos crawled up his arms and his head was completely shaven.
“Are you Ben Hudson?” he asked.
“That would be me.”
“I’m Fly. Ready to go?”
I nodded and he motioned for me to follow him to the tarmac where a private plane was already waiting. I was impressed upon seeing the jet’s comfortable interior; white leather reclining seats, a large flat screen television and a small bar were the first things to catch my eye.   
“We’ll get cleared to fly in a few minutes or so. Make yourself comfortable.” Fly told me before motioning to go to the cabin.
About three hours into the flight, I walked up the cockpit to ask Fly where we were headed for.
“All you need to know is that we’re going to Hawk Headquarters. Anything beyond that will be revealed to you in time.”
I returned to my seat and looked out the window. We were about to land. On the ground below I could make out a large private estate somewhere in the country. Acres upon acres of orchards lined one side of the estate, while a vineyard lined the other. Rows of various villas lined one area of the estate while what looked like an interconnection of buildings with one big dome in the middle represented what I assumed was the center of the hunters’ headquarters. It wasn’t long before we touched down on the the estate’s runway.
The moment I got off the plane and stepped onto the tarmac, I was greeted by a petite young woman with short, blue-streaked black hair and a wide smile.#p#分页标题#e#
“You must be Ben Hudson!” she exclaimed. “We’re so excited that you’re finally here! I’m Zinnia Wolfe.”
I immediately noticed the small scar on her left cheek as we shook hands. I thought to ask about it, but decided not to. I was still somewhat bewildered by the warm welcome. Why are they expecting me? Why do they even know me? “I’d introduce myself, but it seems you already know me.”
“Well…” she shrugged one shoulder. “Who doesn’t?”
I motioned to get my bags but she shook her head and waved the notion off.
“Don’t worry about your luggage. We’ll have them brought to your room later.”
We began walking side by side out of the runway toward the ‘Hawk Headquarters’. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the responses I was getting from her.
“After Vivienne Novak was captured, you and Sofia have been the talk of the town.”
About a thousand internal warning alarms went off at that statement and I found myself stopping on my tracks before we could reach a block section of the estate. It had steel gray exteriors and large glass windows from floor to ceiling. I gave the building a wary glance, no longer certain if I wanted to be there.
Who are these people? What have I gotten myself into?
“How do you know about Sofia?” The mere mention of her name caused an inescapable ache to settle in my chest.
Zinnia smiled, long dark lashes fluttering over her big hazelnut brown eyes. “I think I’ve said too much…” Her pupils rolled to the edge of her upper eyelids as she chastised herself. “I do that a lot.”
“Well?” I asked, unwilling to let her off the hook.
“All I know is that you and Sofia Claremont have been on our watch list for quite some time now.” Her hip swayed to one side, her weight falling on one leg. “Especially after you disappeared and magically showed up again, some of our best hunters were deployed to keep you under surveillance twenty-four seven.”
“Why?” I stepped forward, fists balled, brows furrowed. I found the idea of being watched disturbing. “How did we even get on your watch list?”
“I honestly don’t know. Good thing you are both on the watch list though, because we never would’ve caught Vivienne Novak if you weren’t.” She had a way of talking about issues as if they didn’t matter and that the best way to tackle all of it was to laugh about it. She reminded me a lot of myself – my former self.