Page 60 of Broken Princess
“No idea.”
His lips flattened. “Jamie Torrance.”
My brows shot up. “Really?”
“Yup, and he’s basically your mom’s right hand man, isn’t he?”
“I think so.”
“Well, I think this is part of the reason why. Having someone like him around—with all those weapons and tech connections—is a smart idea for the leader of a secret society.”
I furrowed my brows. “So what do you think happened? You think my mom and Jamie shot the plane down for some reason?”
“Nope. I think Jamie’s gone rogue. Working for himself instead of serving Q.”
“Why?”
Rowan leaned forward, twisting his thumbs on the desk. “Remember how I told you that I’ve always thought he has a bit of an obsession with Willow?”
“Yes.”
“I think he might’ve decided to steal her for himself. Probably couldn’t stand the thought of putting her on a jet with the Keshari prince, knowing he’d never see her again.”
I frowned. “There’s no way he’d get away with that. My mom would kill him.”
“Only if she found out,” he said, leaning back. “But she’s getting a little rusty lately, and she isn’t ten steps ahead of everyone anymore. I mean, we’re onto her, and she has absolutely no idea.”
“True,” I said, nodding slowly. “So what do you think Jamie did?”
“I think your mom probably gave him the responsibility of getting Willow ready for transport with the prince after the auction finished. He could’ve convinced everyone that she needed to be sedated, blindfolded, or stuffed into a sack, just to avoid any trouble, and then he could’ve hidden her somewhere. Then he could’ve brought out another girl from the mansion, one who looks similar to Willow. Tall, reddish hair, pale skin. She would’ve been sedated and partially-hidden with a blindfold as well.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You think he put the wrong girl on the prince’s plane and pretended it was her?”
“I think so. That would explain why the prince was screaming about ‘the wrong fucking one’ not long before the plane blew up. He probably went to wake Willow up and realized it wasn’t her,” Rowan replied. “Jamie knew that would happen at some point, obviously, but he couldn’t let anyone find out what he’d done, because he’d be totally screwed if that happened.”
I set my jaw. “So you think he used his connections to take the plane down with a missile as soon as he possibly could, and he made it look like a terrorist attack or an assassination.”
“Yes. Everyone involved in the auction—like your mom—would assume Willow was on that plane with the prince. Because it exploded, there’s no bodies to be found, so there’s no real way to prove she wasn’t on it.”
“That’s true.” My shoulders sagged slightly. “Wait, no… I’m pretty sure my mom would notice if another girl from the mansion went missing. Jamie wouldn’t be that stupid, would he?”
“He’s a smart guy. He’d be able to figure out a way to explain her disappearance.”
My heart began to race again. “So you really think this could be real?” I asked. “You think Jamie could’ve actually taken Willow behind my mom’s back without getting caught?”
“Yes. I think he’s operating all on his own, just so he can have her.”
“Jesus. If it’s true, then it’s fucking horrible for that poor girl,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“You mean the one Jamie put on the plane with the prince?”
“Yeah.”
Rowan nodded slowly. “It’s awful, I know. But if it’s true, it means Willow is still alive. That’s what we need to focus on.”
My forehead creased. “How do we know this isn’t wishful thinking?” I asked. “We both love her. We both want her alive. So what if we’re just grasping at straws? What if a rebel group actually took the plane down after all, and Jamie had nothing to do with it? It wouldn’t be that weird, because a lot of people hated Prince Darius.”
“I considered that,” Rowan said. “So I explored other angles.”
