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Riss was right. I had no direct evidence. Which meant I needed to get some. I couldn’t do that if I challenged him and gave the game away.
The beginnings of a plan appeared in my mind.
“Raphael, you were concerned. Do you have anything else to add?” she asked me.
I managed a shrug to hide my conniving. “Maybe I’m overreacting.”
“No kidding.” Johnnie folded his arms.
Riss gave me a surprised look but returned to the task of checking through articles about the princess on social media and in the press.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I checked it, swallowing a shock of happiness at the name on my screen.
Alex had messaged me. I didn’t want to risk reading her words with the team right there, so I stowed the phone and pretended to listen to the rest of the debrief.
Riss wound it up with a parting comment. “Next week, I believe we’ll have Toni rejoining us. His mother has made a comeback in her health, and he’s indicated he can rejoin the team. I’ve also been informed of a significant increase to our workload from there onwards.”
Both Will and Johnnie grouched.
Toni coming back meant they didn’t need me anymore. Tomorrow, we had an evening event for Alex. The two days after were more of the same mixture of meetings and day events, ending with a formal banquet. After that, I was done. I should mind my business, and yet still my mouth was moving.
From what Ben had told me, Alex was only doing public engagements for a short time. She’d said the same.
“Why the increased workload?” I asked.
“The princess’s engagement calendar is busy. We’re expected to accommodate that. I’ll share more when I know more.”
I opened and closed my mouth. “I could?—”
“It’s for me to handle, Raphael. You’re all dismissed.”
I’d pissed her off by jumping to action the minute Alex said she wanted to leave the stadium, but I couldn’t regret that. I also desperately wanted to know the content of the message that burned a hole in my pocket.
Outside the bodyguard office, the two other men headed straight for the exit. I scrabbled for my phone, then died a death when I read Alex’s text.
She wanted to see me.
I was moving through the palace with purpose, entering a coded door which gave me access to stairs.
A secret route to the maze of an interior I hadn’t known how to access.
Any thoughts I’d had of flying went out the window on my approach to the tall, white doors that I guessed were hers. A voice came from inside. I tapped gently, then the door unlocked and Alex appeared in the frame.
With a phone to her ear, she mouthed to me, “You came.”
“Ye asked,” I whispered back.
She watched me, beautiful in loose shorts and the t-shirt she’d changed into, and her hair in a messy bun. With her free hand, she gestured for me to enter the spacious living room.
While I locked the door, Alex held up a finger to indicate I needed to wait a second.
Of course I would. I parked myself against the wall and watched her pace as she handled whoever was on the phone. The room reflected the design of the palace overall, with antiquefurniture and little of the personality of the woman who lived here. It couldn’t hold my attention like she did.
On the sofa, the hot water bottle sat in a nest of blankets, though it was a warm enough day not to need them. She obviously felt rough.
“No, I don’t want to schedule a meeting to talk about it. Not when that meeting can’t happen for three weeks. Please put me through to him now.”