Page 71 of Trained Royal

“But we’ve tried this already, and we couldn’t find anything to pin them down,” Christian said.

“We were focusing on them. We need to focus on who isworkingfor them. There’s only so much one person can take before they give away their secrets.”

Damon grinned. “We’ve already started that.”

Freddie glanced at him. “What?”

“You know those visits you came on?” Freddie nodded. “Information gathering. Companies who we thought could be in Charlotte’s or John’s pockets or had some link to them. I’ve been checking them out under the guise of completing audits.”

“Wouldn’t that put a red arrow above our plan?” Douglas asked.

Damon shook his head. “I’ve been doing it forallcompanies, not just theirs. Any that are related to the crown in any way gets audited.”

“You told me…” Freddie clenched his jaw and looked away.

Damon winced. “I know.”

Douglas filled the silence. “I think we need to speak with Father and the security team. We can’t just go in, guns blazing. We need them to help.”

“I agree,” Freddie said. “No time like the present.” He headed for the door, and everyone followed.

The journey to Uncle Andrew’s suite was fast-paced, and Patrick’s heart hammered as he thought about what could happen. There were too many things that could go wrong with what they had planned—mainly one or more of them being killed in the process.

“Randall, is Father in?”

Randall stood, rounding the table and bowing his head. “Your Highnesses. Yes, he is, but he’s on the phone at the moment. Is it urgent?”

“Rather than disturb him, could you ask him to join us with the security team when he’s finished, please?”

“Of course. He shouldn’t be long.”

“Thank you.”

They retraced their steps, going past Freddie’s suite to the security team’s allocated room. Freddie knocked and waited. The door opened partially, then further as a guard saw them.

“Your Highnesses,” he said.

Freddie entered and shook hands with Brett, who’d have moved over to greet them.

“Your Highnesses. How can I help?”

“Have you received the information from Neil?” Christian asked.

Brett nodded. “Just have. We’re in the process of coming up with strategies to keep you all safe.”

“Did you happen to see who was on the list?”

Brett’s jaw tightened. “I did.”

“We have a plan, but we need some guidance,” Freddie said.

No expression passed across Brett’s face as Freddie’s words sunk in. “Understood. Locke, Sam, Eric, could you get some additional chairs, please? I have a feeling this will be a long meeting today.”

“Father will be along shortly, too.”

“Should we move this somewhere else?” Brett asked.

“If you’re okay with us being here, we’re okay being here,” Christian said, sitting on a chair someone had provided for him.