Free Kingdom Keepers: The Return Book Two: Legacy of Secrets by Ridley Pearson

He wasn’t only six foot five; his smile was big as well, his teeth blindingly white and perfect. It was the fact that all this came in a kind of goofy package that made Jess feel things for Tim she’d have rather not. “Break’s over,” he said, indicating the conference table.
    “Do you trust all these people?” she asked.
    Tim looked around carefully. “Well, I did until you asked me that. Now I’m going to have to think about it.”
    Back at the table, business chugged along. Tinkers raised issues or projects or problems. When a lull occurred, Jess spoke up. “I’ve got a question.”
    “Yes, Jessica?”
    “I’ve heard at least one file was confiscated from that storage area,” she said. “Can that be confirmed?”
    Shock registered in the eyes of the other Tinkers. “I can confirm that,” said the chairwoman.
    “Since I’m basically at the level of an intern on this board, I thought I could volunteer to inventory the collection, to reveal what else might have been taken.”
    “That’s a big job,” the chairwoman said. Her voice indicated at least passing interest. “But that’s quite an idea.”
    “When will you possibly find time for such a project?” asked a middle-aged woman with dark hair whose identity had stumped Jess so far. The woman’s apparent knowledge of DSI caused Jess to wonder if she wasn’t connected to the program.
    “There are nights,” Tim said. “I could help her. Since we’re both board members, I’m assuming the information wouldn’t be considered off-limits and,” he added, continuing before anyone could correct him, “it might be good to get the archiving up-to-date and into a database of some kind. Unless, of course, that’s already been handled.”
    “No, I don’t believe it has,” said a man with wispy gray hair, a thin, straight mustache, and drooping eyes. He reminded Jess of an old dog. “I like this idea,” he declared, nodding to the chairwoman.
    “If it hasn’t been done, Arthur, it would be of value….” the chairwoman said.
    Jess nearly shrieked! Arthur Chancefeldt was a Disney Legend. He’d written several best-selling histories of the company and had been a force behind forming the Disney Archives.
    “Of course it would!” the old dog proclaimed.
    “We could bring in others,” Jess suggested. “To help lighten the load, so long as Tim and I oversaw the work.”
    “I don’t recommend that,” the man said sternly. “Few outside this group know of the vault’s existence, much less its content. That material was tucked away for a reason.”
    “It was too sensitive for Cast Members, too important to destroy,” Jess said, theorizing, freezing the air and everyone in the room along with it. The effect was so profound and immediate that it startled her. She drew the scorn of Tim. But she had their attention now, and she felt the urge to push forward. “A schism. A challenge to authority—to the company itself. Damaging information, or at least potentially damaging. I can see I must be close! If we’re all sworn to secrecy, then why not tell me?”
    “And me!” Tim said. “Accidents in the park? Lawsuits against the company? What can be that damaging?”
    “Suffice it to say,” said the chairwoman, “that this is a committee that deals with the present and the future, not the past. There are others who handle such things, not us.”
    “But the completeness of the archive,” said Chancefeldt, nodding his support of the chairwoman, “is very much our concern. The absolute secrecy and security of the documents therein must be ensured.”
    The chairwoman’s disapproving face implied he’d gone too far. “Never mind all that,” she said. “Those in favor of Jess’s proposal?” A number of hands went up. “Opposed?” Two hands: one, from the movie director, who struck Jess as the type who enjoyed voting against the others; the second from a bone-thin woman with an artist’s flair to her appearance. Her lack of mass made