Page 94 of Trained Royal

Andrew snorted. “She willingly rang me to get her son out of prison. That was either to reduce the chance of him talking or because she cares for him. Either way, it’s something we could lean on.” He nodded. “I like the idea. William? Victoria? Thoughts?”

William rubbed a hand over his jaw, the scratchy noise advertising his five o’clock shadow. “I think it would work. If I know her as well as I think I do, she wouldn’t have got her hands dirty, but when it comes to her son, she’ll want him to keep quiet. Even if he’s not privy to all her plans, he’ll know enough to put her behind bars. She won’t want to chance that.”

“I agree,” Victoria said. “She would want to pretend she was ahead of everyone, even if she wasn’t. She never liked being the last to know something.”

“Okay, so focusing on Charles then. If she doesn’t bite, we can try again with something else,” Freddie said.

“Damon, did you find anything of significance in your work?” Andrew asked.

“I have three companies who, although passed the audit, appear to have dummy businesses on their books. I didn’t highlight them at all, but I made a note of who they were.” He pulled out his phone. “Jamison Investments, B.G. Construction, and Elemental Financials.”

Andrew shook his head. “I don’t recognise any of those, but that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t know the names of all the companies involved with the crown. Why do you say they’re dummies?”

“When I looked into them, I was rerouted through several other companies and still didn’t find a significant name to pin it on. I need someone with better computer skills.”

“I can help with that,” Brett said. “I know someone.”

“Okay. Are we doing this at Christmas, or can I suggest doing it a few days before, and we can actually have a nice Christmas break?” Victoria said.

“Just before would work better,” Brett said. “We have less staff over the three days of Christmas when you stay at Sandringham, remember?”

Andrew nodded. “Good point.” He sighed and checked his phone. “Let’s leave for Sandringham on the Wednesday. That gives us two days to work on the plan before we quit and celebrate, regardless of the outcome. Can the team manage that?” he asked Brett.

“Yes, sir.”

“Set the wheels in motion, Eric. You take point on the two people you found. Give them something about Charles and evidence, and we’ll see if it nets us results.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Eric said.

Andrew smiled and shook his head. “One of these days, you’ll all call me Andrew.”

“Never, Your Majesty,” several of the security team said, resulting in laughter from all.

The security team said their goodbyes, as did Andrew, William and Lou. Victoria and Patrick Senior disappeared with Henry and Robert, leaving the rest of them in Henry’s sitting room.

“Should we leave them to it?” Kieren asked.

“No,” Christian said. “They’ll be back out soon. They just want to reassure themselves Henry is fine. Henry will need the distraction. He might even need to be a pup. I’m sure if he does, he’ll find someone to play with.” Christian grinned at Oscar, whose eyes lit up. “Yeah, I thought so.”

“How are you finding all this cloak and dagger stuff?” Christian asked Kieren.

Kieren blew out a breath. “I think I prefer being able to see the threat and get rid of it rather than having it play hide and seek through nefarious means.”

“True. We’ll get her, eventually. I’m sure of it.”

“My concern is how widespread it all is. Who else does she have in her pocket?”

“Well, we can count on my father to be there,” Christian said bitterly. “And my siblings. Possibly Uncle Arthur and his family. They were close with my parents when I was growing up.”

“In other words, there could be plenty of people we miss when we chop off the head of the snake,” Kieren said.

Christian nodded but said no more. Patrick leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Kieren’s neck.

“We have each other,” he said, pointing at those in the room. “We’ll get through this.”

Kieren could only hope he was right.

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