Page 14 of The Duke's Surprise Heir

“Why not?”

“Because my car has been vandalized and my house burned down. I won’t put Kyle in danger again.”

“Good. You won’t have to.”

“But you still want me to log in and find the anomalies.”

“Yes,” he replied firmly, his fingers loosely interlaced between his knees. “You’re the only person I can trust. Someone very high up in the company, plus several warehouse staff members, have to be in on the arms shipments. I don’t know who else to trust.”

She looked down at Kyle. “And what about him? Who’s going to take care of Kyle?”

“I’ll hire a nanny for the day. Then you and I can protect him at night.”

She laughed. “Your village is tiny, Edward. I drove through it when I came in from the airport.”

“That just means that I know most of the residents. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“For normal life, yes. Knowing your neighbor is wonderful. But if you’re trying to hide out, which I’m trying to do so that the thugs who burned down my house can’t find me, then being surrounded by villagers who know everything about everyone doesn’t seem like a good solution.”

“Why not?”

“Because if the villagers suddenly discover there is a nanny working on your estate, then they’ll start to talk. Speculation about the village nobleman always runs rampant. They’ll want to know everything. And social media allows gossip to spread fast. You don’t think the people in Philadelphia who are using your company to ship illegal arms won’t be monitoring social media about the company’s owner?” She asked, barely pausing before she continued. “I certainly would. If I wanted to ensure that my boss didn’t know what I was doing, then I’d check out his social media as well as the accounts of his children and wife. Something is bound to come out.”

He nodded, agreeing with her. “You’re right. So, what’s the solution?”

Macie tilted her head to the side. “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier. Can you really protect me and Kyle?”

“With my life, Macie,” he told her, a vehemence in his voice now.

She nodded slowly. “Fine. You take care of Kyle during the day and I’ll get back onto the computer. Once I find the anomalies and figure out the pattern, then you can send your people in to investigate.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “I can’t just stop working, Macie.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have responsibilities, love. I have meetings and people depending on me.”

She nodded, pursing her lips. “You’re right. I have no idea what it’s like to have something, or someone, completely upend one’s routines and job aspirations. I wouldn’t know anything about having one’s life completely change all of a sudden.” She stroked Kyle’s fuzzy head, waiting for Edward to grasp her point.

Slowly, his eyes moved to Kyle. She saw the exact moment when the penny dropped.

“Okay, point taken.” He stood up and looked out the window. He was silent for a long moment, then he turned back to her. “You’re right. You’ve taken on the bulk of Kyle’s care so far.”

“The bulk of his care?” she prompted, her dark eyebrows lifted.

Another chuckle and he looked down at his feet, his fingers looped into the waistband of his jeans. “Right. You’ve taken on all of his care so far.”

“Thank you.”

“So, you’re right. It’s my turn.” He shifted to face her once more. “How long do you think it will take for you to come up with enough evidence to stop whoever it is that’s using my airline as an arms dealer.”

She shrugged, then shifted Kyle so that he could feed from the other side. “I don’t know. I’m not a professional investigator. I’ve never had to dig into data this way, but I have a good start. I have an idea of what I’m looking for now.” She looked at him again. “Do you have people you can trust to check into various crates to find out if the anomalies I’m finding are new crates of weapons?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Yep. I’ve already called Sean Byrne and Antonio del Campo. You remember them from Antonio’s wedding, right?”

She shrugged.“Sure.Nice guys.”

“They’re the best,” he asserted. Then he moved back to her. “What do you need from me?”

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