Page 40 of Risky Match (Royal Spies #1)

brIANNA

I ’m not sure how to explain our recent tennis success. Perhaps, it’s because there’s no time for nerves with the investigation nearing a turning point. Or it could be that my suddenly supportive partner is raising my level of play.

Whatever the reason, today’s win was a complete surprise. Our match was much tougher than the previous two. We split sets and were behind in the tiebreaker. Somehow, we came back and won. Now, Blake and I are headed to the championship round for mixed doubles.

It still hasn’t sunk in. I should be elated. Instead, I’m disappointed that Blake and I won’t have a chance to celebrate. The mission isn’t over, but it may be in the next few hours. And unless I can prove Blake isn’t a willing participant, he might be arrested along with the other smugglers.

I was worried about how I’d meet with Stephen or Adrian after the match. But the problem solved itself when Noah arranged an unscheduled interview for Blake. Hopefully, our Covert Royals team has someone following Blake in case the handoff takes place before we meet up again.

A staff member escorts me to the meeting I requested with one of the princes. Ironically, we’re headed toward the same area of the tunnels where Blake and I had our private celebration yesterday.

At first, I was surprised they wanted to meet in the tunnels. But in hindsight, it makes sense. We couldn’t keep using the clubhouse without drawing attention, and there are only so many private spaces at Wimbledon. Repurposing one of the private training rooms is an obvious choice.

As we walk, I organize my thoughts. There’s so much to explain, and we’re running out of time to prevent the handover of the coins.

When the princes said we couldn’t meet until after the match, I considered breaking protocol and calling them directly.

In the end, I stuck with our plan and followed orders.

Hopefully, I won’t regret that decision.

Our escort turns to Erin, who is a few steps behind me. “I understand you will want to check out the meeting room before Her Royal Highness enters,” he says, motioning to the middle door.

Erin nods and steps inside to do a security sweep. I wait with the guide near the room to our right.

Hearing a soft click, I turn my head and see the door opening on my right. Before I can utter a word or scream, the guide and one of the guards push me inside. My hands are yanked behind my back as a dark cloth covers my eyes.

My training kicks in automatically. I assess the situation, look for my captors’ weaknesses, and prepare an escape plan. With a guide and three guards nearby, I need to wait for my opportunity. Fighting my way out at this point won’t work.

Pressure on my shoulders forces me down as a gruff voice barks, “Sit.”

The sound of duct tape being torn off a roll rips through the air. With the proficiency of professionals, they tape my mouth and begin securing me to a chair—binding my wrists and ankles. The room is soundproof. Screaming would be pointless.

The guide asks the gruff guard, “Do you need me to stay and help?”

“No. Go make sure her bodyguard is secured. We can’t have her interfering. When we’re through here, we’re supposed to help with the other player.”

“Okay.”

The door opens and shuts again. That’s one fewer person to fight off.

The sound of another door opening causes me to turn my head toward the far side of the room. Heavy footsteps approach, and a familiar voice says, “I never would have expected a princess to be involved. I guess you can’t trust anyone these days.”

“Noah,” I say through clenched teeth. “It’s you who can’t be trusted.”

“I’m very loyal. You’re the one who infiltrated my business and have wreaked havoc. It’s your fault that Blake won’t be around to continue his successful career.”

“What are you talking about? What have you done to Blake?”

“Nothing yet, but neither of you will be playing again. You’ll disappear without a trace. Rumors will abound that two lovesick players eloped to an undisclosed paradise never to be seen again.”

“No one will believe that.”

“I don’t care as long as it gives me enough time to clean up this mess.”

“I assume you’re referring to retrieving the racquets with the coins in the handles and giving them to David, the CEO of ProLuxe.”

“You are quite clever aren’t you.”

“How did you talk Blake into going along with your plan?” I ask.

“Maybe you aren’t as smart as I thought.

Blake has no clue what’s going on. He’s merely a convenient courier.

We hide the coins in his racquets. He carries the racquets across borders.

Then he hands them off as gifts to the sponsors.

And we don’t even have to give him a cut of the proceeds.

It was perfect until you came along and started interfering. ”

That’s a relief. Blake’s innocent. My instincts were right. If I can get out of this alive, maybe there is hope for us.

First things first though. I need to keep Noah talking, so I ask, “What about Marco and Thomas?”

“Thomas is a pain in the arse. He’s almost as much trouble as you with all his questions to Marco about his recent lifestyle improvements. Marco’s going to dump him as a doubles partner, so Thomas won’t cause any more problems.”

“I gather you have to give Marco a cut.”

“Unfortunately, we do. You won’t live long enough for my answers to matter, but that’s enough questions. I’m out of patience.”

“Indulge me in one more question. Why did you poison Blake?”

“I said no more questions. Now shut the fuck up.”

Apparently, that’s all I’m going to learn, but it’s enough.

Unless something changes quickly, my life will end shortly.

I moan, leaning forward in my chair, writhing from side to side. “I’m going to be sick.”

Footsteps walk past, toward the door behind me. “Just don’t get it on me,” Noah says with disdain.

He’s such a jerk. I groan and continue moving, visibly in pain.

Speaking to the guard, Noah says, “She’s not going to be a problem now. Go check on Blake. He’ll put up more of a fight. I’ll be there as soon as I confirm David received the coins and we’ve silenced the problem princess.”

Using my teeth, I nick the duct tape on my wrists. I jerk my arms upward, freeing my hands. My loud groaning successfully masks the tape ripping.

Doubling over in apparent pain, I yank upward on leg zippers at the bottom of my sweatpants, cutting through the tape binding my ankles to the chair.

I slowly raise a corner of the blindfold. Noah’s by the door with his back to me.

Perfect.

I toss the eye covering aside and yank off the mouth tape, causing intense pain. My groans are real now. I cover my mouth, hoping he won’t notice the difference.

In one swift move, I jump to my feet, pick up the chair, and slam it into the back of Noah’s head. The wood makes a satisfying crack. Unfortunately, it doesn’t knock him out.

He lunges at me. I duck, evading his hands and land a solid kick to his groin.

He screams, doubling over in pain.

The soundproof room works in my favor now. His guards don’t hear him.

I lock my arms around him and flip him onto the floor. Freeing his belt from his trousers, I roll him onto his back and secure his hands.

Stripping off my sweatpants, I use one leg to bind his ankles and the other to secure him to the massage table that’s bolted to the floor. He won’t have a chance of reaching either door. For good measure, I gag his mouth with one of my wristbands.

It’s time to find Blake. I grab my phone from my bag and open the tracking app. His phone and tennis bag are both nearby.

Cracking the door slightly, I see two guards. Softly re-closing the door, I lock it from the inside. Going to the back of the room, I check the other door.

I’m in luck. Slipping through the door into the adjoining room, I find Erin. She’s tied up but working to free herself. Her eyes flash with relief when she sees me.

I hurry over, remove the gag from her mouth, and finish untying the ropes holding her captive. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let them capture you. How did you get free so quickly?” Her words are filled with remorse, anger, and more self-blame than necessary.

“It wasn’t your fault. They used duct tape on me instead of rope. They underestimated me. My bigger problem was Noah, but he’s not going anywhere now.”

“Excellent.”

“We have to find Blake. They plan to kill him.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“Yes. He’s nearby. I’m tracking his phone. We have to get past the guards though. There are at least two out front.”

“These rooms are all connected. We can move from room to room until we’re past them. Then we’ll slip out.” She says as she pulls off her sneakers.

“What are you doing?”

“I have a few things hidden that will help.”

She pulls a knife from underneath each insole in her shoes, hands me one, and quickly puts her shoes back on. She takes her jacket off and turns it inside out, revealing a Wimbledon volunteer logo.

Finally, she extracts two baseball caps from her jacket pockets, saying, “We can hide our hair under the caps. They won’t be expecting us to escape, and they definitely won’t be looking for two people with short hair.”

“Good job. Have you been carrying these the whole time?”

“Of course. I’m always ready to sneak you out of crowds. I just never thought we’d be using them for this.”

“Glad you’re prepared. Let’s go, but this time I’m taking the lead. You’re my backup.”

“I’m right behind you.”

Thanks to Erin knowing the layout of this area, we sneak through four rooms. We startle a player in the last room who’s mid-massage.

We quickly apologize, grab a couple of towels to improve our disguise, and hurry out the door to the main hall.

We quickly blend into a group of people passing by and distance ourselves from the unsuspecting guards.

I follow the tracking signal. Something’s wrong. “Blake’s tennis bag is moving but his phone isn’t. Maybe we should split up.”

“No way. You may be in charge, but I’m not leaving you.”

“Okay, let’s go to his phone first. It looks like it’s in a room down that side wall,” I say, pointing to our left.

“I don’t see a guard. That’s good.”

“Or it means they’ve taken him somewhere else.”

We hurry toward the door to the room. I knock loudly and quickly move to the side, my back to the wall. Erin mirrors my position on the other side of the door.

“Who’s there?”

I recognize the gruff voice. It’s the guard who tied me up.

In my deepest voice, I mumble, “Noah. Open the bloody door.”

“What? Who is it?” he asks.

Instead of answering, I pound on the door again.

It swings open and he peeks out. Turning to see me, his eyes go wide in shock. As he reaches for me, Erin tosses a towel over his head and yanks it back while I give him a kick between his legs.

It works like a charm. I’ll have to thank my Covert Royal instructors. That kick is turning out to be particularly effective. Of course, my follow-up chop across his shoulders finished the job.

A voice inside calls out, “Roger, what’s going on out there?”

I’ve heard that voice before but can’t place it.

I put my finger to my lips, signaling Erin to stay quiet.

Lowering my voice again, I mumble, “Nothing. Toilet.”

“Good grief. Can’t you hold it?”

Erin and I remain silent, waiting for the right moment to burst in.

“Never mind. Find a toilet and get back here. Blake, we’re out of time. Drink this. They’re going to be here any minute to interview you about the sponsorship for this new sports drink.”

“None of this makes sense. Why aren’t we in a regular interview room? Why wouldn’t the sponsor want me to drink it while we speak?” Blake asks.

“Noah gave me the instructions. You know he has your best interests in mind.”

“I’m not so sure about that anymore. Is this the same drink I tried the day someone poisoned me? If so, I’m not touching it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Marco and Thomas recommended some sports drink that day. It tasted like crap. Maybe that’s how I was poisoned. I’m not drinking random shite again.”

“You saw me open this can. What’s the big deal?”

“Why do you care so much? What’s your interest?”

“Noah said you need this deal to be able to keep paying me.”

It’s someone on his team that’s working with Noah. No wonder the voice is familiar.

“Huh? That’s bollocks. That’s the last straw. Noah’s fired, and I’m leaving.”

“No, Blake. You’re not going anywhere. Sit down and drink.”

“Bloody hell! Why are you pointing a knife at me?”

I cover my mouth to stifle the impending gasp.

“Because you wouldn’t cooperate willingly. You have two choices now: the drink or the knife. You pick.”

I put my hand to hold Erin back. We don’t know how close the knife is to Blake.

“Have you lost your mind? What’s wrong with you? Why are you doing this?”

“All you had to do was play tennis and keep working with Noah. Your life would have been great. So would ours. But no, you had to start complaining about Noah, investigating his finances, and questioning his decisions. Now, you’ve teamed up with that nosy spy, Brianna.”

And just like that, my cover’s blown. Damn. There won’t be any chance for us even if we survive this mess.

“Spy? She’s not a spy. She’s a princess.”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You had to know about her. Otherwise, you never would have agreed to play doubles.”

“I’m playing because Noah said the sponsor made me. It’s also Bri’s dream.”

“That’s why she’s sending encrypted messages to British Intelligence? I don’t think so.”

How the hell does she know that?

“You’ve lost your mind.”

“Quit delaying. Now pick. You’re dying one way or the other.”

No, he’s not! I’m not losing him that way.

Holding up three fingers, I signal Erin.

She nods, and we ready our knives.

Blake says, “Fine, Natalie. Get that knife away from me, and I’ll swallow the drink.”

Ignoring the countdown, we burst through the door. I slap the drink out of Blake’s hand just as he’s throwing it at Natalie’s face.

Erin rushes to grab Natalie’s arm and slices it. Natalie screams as the knife clatters to the floor, harmlessly.

I’m relieved when the footfalls of a fast-approaching mob turn out to be Stephen, Adrian, Deputy Harrington, and a slew of others.

Finally. Where have they been? Didn’t they get my text last night?

Before I can ask, Blake pulls me in for a hug, asking, “What are you doing here? And why did Natalie say you’re a spy?”

Instead of answering, I turn to Deputy Harrington. “Don’t arrest Blake. He didn’t know.”

A look of horror and confusion crosses Blake’s face. “Arrest me? Why would they do that? I’m one of the good guys. Bri, what’s going on? Who are you anyway?”

Everything I’d feared is happening. Blake is going to hate me. I need him to let me explain. Even then, he may never speak to me again. At that thought, tears well in my eyes. But I can’t let them fall. Not in front of my team. This is not the place.

Holding onto the last thread of my self-control, I manage to say, “We need to talk.”