Page 31 of The Unlikely Pair

“Your wife must be beside herself.”

“Yes, I’m guessing Prunella will be very concerned about my safety right now,” Harry’s voice is cold.

There’s not enough light to see his expression, but guilt flashes through me.

“I’m sorry.”

“Pardon?”

“I didn’t mean to make you think about it.”

“You think I haven’t been thinking about her today? That I haven’t been dwelling on my family and what they’ll think when they discover I’m missing?” Somehow, he manages to keep his voice as composed as it is when delivering a crisp retort across the Chamber.

“But I don’t actually think focusing on them is productive,” he continues. “I need to harness my energy into ensuring I survive this.”

His words settle into the dark of the night.

I guess this is Harry as I expected him—cool, rational, and unemotional. But the fact he’s let me get a small insight into his thoughts unsettles me.

But what unsettles me the most is the knowledge that I don’t have any family who will miss me. I don’t have a significant other who will be beside themself for not knowing where I am.

How does Harry Matheson, the pompous, snobby git he is, have more people who’ll be missing him right now than me?

“I’m guessing the royal family will be doing everything they can to find you,” he finally speaks up.

The royal family.

Oliver and Callum.

They’re pretty much the closest thing to family I have left.

And Harry’s right. I’m sure Oliver will exert all his influence to ensure every resource is directed to finding us. I almost feel sorry for the foreign secretary right now.

“The problem is, if we’re in Finland, as I suspect, they won’t have the first idea of where to search,” I say.

“I guess it depends if our flight was tracked,” Harry says.

“Could Kade have turned off tracking for it?”

“I’m not sure. I have to admit my knowledge of aviation technology is fairly superficial.”

“But do you agree Kade was trying to kidnap us before the plane crash?” I ask, partly because I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of hearing Harry say I’m right about something.

There’s a pause from across the dark clearing.

“There is definitely evidence to suggest that,” Harry says finally.

“Do you think the plane crash was part of their plan, or was it an accident?”

“I haven’t the foggiest. But Kade did seem perturbed by the crash, so I guess that provides evidence it was unexpected.”

“Have you got any thoughts about why someone would want to kidnap us?”

“No, I have no idea. It had to be opportunistic because no one could have predicted we would both miss our flights.”

“I know. That’s the thing I don’t understand. No one could have planned for this.”

“It’s very likely that someone one of us trusted betrayed us,” Harry says.