“Good evening.” He kept his face blank.
She glanced at him and nodded. “Gregori.” She smiled slightly at her father and the CIA director, Nick Caprese. “I hope I didn’t miss anything important.”
“We’re just getting started.” Her father motioned to the couches, then sat in the chair at the head of the coffee table.
Gregori sat to the president’s right and set his folder on the coffee table. Abigail took a seat on the couch across from him, next to Caprese. She must be trying to keep a distance from him. Hopefully that only signified she was trying to keep their relationship a secret. He didn’t want to consider that she might be having second thoughts.
She laid her portfolio on the couch beside her, then shifted her gaze straight to her father.
“Gregori teleported straight to this office from New York,” the president told her. “Very impressive. And he tells me you practiced teleporting with him last night and did extremely well.”
She nodded. “Yes.”
She was purposely trying not to look at him, Gregori thought. “I was just telling the president and Mr. Caprese about MacKay Security and Investigation.”
“And I verified with the British prime minister that they have a good working relationship with Angus MacKay and his employees,” Caprese said.
“Excellent.” The president turned to Gregori. “So you were about to tell us about a plan you developed with Mr. MacKay?”
“Yes.” Gregori opened his folder. “Angus and I selected the members for the team last night. We’re calling it the A-Team. A for Abigail.”
Her father smiled. “I like it.”
Gregori glanced at Abigail. She was focused on his folder, her cheeks slightly flushed.
He picked up the paper on top. “This is a brief bio and photo for the team captain, J.L. Wang. He speaks fluent Mandarin and can blend in among the locals. He’s been a vampire for two years. Before that, he was a FBI special agent stationed in Kansas City. For the past year, he’s been head of security for the West Coast Coven, headquartered in San Francisco.”
“Sounds good.” The president scanned J.L.’s profile, then passed it on to Caprese, who glanced at it, then set it on the coffee table.
Abigail slid the paper closer to her so she could see it.
Gregori picked up the next profile. “The second vampire on the team is Russell Ryan Hankelburg. He was a major in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He’s an expert in weaponry and survival techniques.”
The president looked over his profile. “He was declared MIA in 1971. What happened to him?”
“He was discovered by some MacKay employees a year ago in a cave in northern Thailand,” Gregori said. “We believe he was in a coma for thirty-nine years. Angus managed to revive him by transforming him. The minute he heard about this mission, he volunteered. He’s eager to serve his country once again.”
“Admirable.” The president handed the profile to Caprese.
“So not only did he wake up Undead, but he lost thirty-nine years of his life?” Abigail asked. “That must have been traumatic.”
Gregori shrugged. “He’s a Marine. From what I hear, he adjusted quickly to all his new vampire capabilities.”
Caprese scanned his profile, then set it on the table. “These two men appear to be excellent choices. I’ll have to vet them, of course.”
“Of course. As vampires, we won’t be able to do much during the day.” Gregori refrained from saying they were actually dead. It was a vulnerability they didn’t want the government to know about. “We don’t want to leave Abigail unprotected while we sleep, so we’re bringing a few day guards.”
He lifted the next profile. “This is Howard Barr. He was a defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears.”
President Tucker took the paper and frowned. “I can see why you might need some humans, but why not take Josh and Charles?” He motioned to Charles, who stood by the door.
“Or some operatives from the Agency,” Caprese offered. “They have experience in this sort of mission.”
“Yes, but they’re not going to have abilities like our day guards.”
Caprese snorted. “I say we go with a few of my men. It’ll show that you Vamps are willing to work with us.”
Gregori winced. “I’m afraid we have to insist on our own guys.”
“Why?” Caprese sat back. “What’s so special about them? Do they crap golden eggs?”
“Something like that,” Gregori muttered. He and Angus had debated this for an hour. The shifters expected the Vamps to keep their secret. But if Abigail traveled with them, she’d have to know. And if she knew, then her father should know. If he found out after the trip was over, he’d be understandably angry that they had withheld the information.