Page 105

“But not in Raph’s car.” Jackson held up his keys. “Mine’s outside. Have at it.”
I accepted them with a nod of gratitude. “Next, do we hide elsewhere or make a stand and face them?” That question was for Alex alone.
She chewed her lip. “I’m supposed to be at my father’s house, so if I’m there, the search is over. All I have to do is show myself and the speculation is done. Will you come with me?”
My lips twitched. “Asking me to meet your da already. I’m down.”
She laughed, then her eyes widened. “I’ve had an idea. We wanted to test out the theory that one of the bodyguards was selling information, right? That’s what started all this. It’s got to be linked.”
Valentine inclined his head. “It absolutely is. Whoever’s paying them off is behind this. You’re thinking it’ll help us get to that all-important why.”
Alex grinned agreement. “I’ll call each in turn and ask them to secretly come to me at a different location in Dad’s grounds. We can have people watch out. Then if unexpected bounty hunters or press arrive, we’ll have the proof with the side benefit of bringing the cameras to the site while I handle my family.”
I tried to picture what she’d described. “How many different locations are there that this will work?”
“At my dad’s estate? It’s massive. Tens of thousands of acres. There’s a café, a place outside the gates that does tours of the grounds, even one wing of the house that’s open to the public and has a gift shop. They’re each a fair distance apart.”
We all stared at her.
Dori blew on his nails. “Stop flexing the princess shit.”
Alex waggled her phone. “Got their numbers? Let’s get them all to Scotland.”
Rapid fire, she left voice messages for Will and Johnnie, asking them to meet her in the afternoon. “Lastly, I’ll call Riss and tell her to come to the main gates because I need guarding. She won’t say no. What happens when she arrives will speak volumes.”
I watched her. “Ye suspect her, too?”
“No, not really. But she’s in the thrall of Sir Reginald, and he’s the one pushing me to work more. He also made a comment once about anticipating the headlines I’d create. He’ll show up at Dad’s, and we can have it out in private. Several birds, one stone.” Her shoulders slumped, but she sent the final message.
“Sir J is creepy.” Dori shuddered.
I squinted at him. “Don’t ye mean Sir R?”
“He’s been on the palace scene for as long as I’ve known Alex, and back when we were teenagers, he was introduced to me using his full name. I think of him as that.”
A warning played out in my head. “What does the J stand for?”
“He’s Sir Reginald Jessop,” Dori supplied.
“Like Jared Jessop, the old head of your team?” I asked Alex.
Her brow furrowed. “Maybe? I don’t know the surnames for any of my bodyguards. Only you.”
Valentine was already on his phone, typing, Jackson doing the same on his own.
Valentine held his up in a flourish. “Father and son, if this old picture is the right people.”
Alex’s frown morphed into surprise. “It is. They’re related?”
I swore. “No wonder Jared had a chip on his shoulder. He thought he was untouchable. That’s probably why Barrington is working so hard now to not lose the contract. He already had to let the boss’s son go. I wonder if he knew.”
Ben had returned and leaned against the kitchen entrance. “My guess is not or he’d never have done it. But what a sneaky move on Sir Reginald’s part, planting his useless son on your team. Fingers in every pie and corrupt from the start. Even more, we need that paparazzo guy to tell us who paid him off. If we’re right about Sir Reginald, his pet photographer will show up today, too. Who wants to nab him?”
Valentine cackled. “At last, a little action. Jax and I will. Up for a jaunt to a palace?”
Jackson added his approval. “Hell, yes.”
Dori pressed both palms on the table and looked like he had something to say. “Can I help? I have zero experience in security work outside of being guarded when I’m doing royal shit myself,but I’d know Malcolm Dennis in the dark. He threw a punch at me, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him stepped on. Let me? Fuck knows I have energy to burn.”