Page 16 of Undercover Savior

I caught his and Mrs. Drummond’s muffled voices but couldn’t make out anything they were saying. A few seconds later, I heard the front door close. When I peeked out of thebedroom window, I saw David walking away from the cottage and down the same trail I’d seen him on earlier.

“Bloody hell,” I muttered when I saw the amount of rubbish that had been in my car and was now in the box. Had I really had all this garbage in there? It was a wonder it didn’t smell. Or perhaps it had and I’d gone noseblind.

My computer was completely dead, of course, and I didn’t see a charging cable in the box. Not that I kept one in my car that I recalled. The thing I didn’t find that I was certain had been in it, was my mobile.

After sifting through and making sure all that was left was trash, I took the box back out to the main room.

“Is there a place where I can discard this?” I asked.

“I can take it for you,” she offered.

“Much appreciated, but if you’ll just point me in the direction of where to go, I’ll handle it.”

“If you set it outside, either David or Angus will take care of it.”

“Yes, outside would be best,” I said, chuckling.

When I opened the door and lowered the box to the ground, I saw David approaching. He was on his mobile, and while I couldn’t hear what he was saying, he appeared angry.

“I’d ask if everything is okay, but one, I know it isn’t, and two, you wouldn’t answer me anyway.”

“Apologies,” he muttered.

My eyes widened.

“Oh, don’t look so bloody surprised. I am capable of being sorry.”

“Sorry. It’s just that…”

“Go ahead. Out with it.”

I shook my head. “I’d rather end the conversation with you saying something nice to me.”

“Don’t get used to it.” He pointed to the box at my feet. “Rubbish?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Good Lord, what all was in your car?”

“Stop.Don’t say another word. I’m going back inside and will pretend the last thing I heard was you apologizing.”

Once there, I realized I hadn’t mentioned my missing mobile. When I stepped out the door to do so, I looked in either direction he could’ve gone, but didn’t see him.

6

SAVIOR

Icouldn’t help but smile when Sullivan walked away. It was astonishing how similar she was to the girl I remembered. Not physically, of course, but in the way she said what she thought and could be relentless when she wanted to know something. Obviously, the mark of a good reporter. A profession I’d been guarded with most of my life, even before I was hired at SIS.

Knowing I wanted to go into intelligence meant, as the then-Marquess of Ravenscroft, I had to maintain a low profile. When my father passed away prematurely three years ago and I became the Duke of Ashcroft, it became doubly important that I keep my likeness out of the press as much as possible.

Con—more than even SIS—stayed on top of any potential sightings of me and had images and reports disappear moments after they went live. Not just for me but for himself, Tag, and Gus too.

Years ago, Con created what he called the Data Center, a place dedicated to safeguarding the privacy of his clients. It wasn’t his only business. He also owned an ultra-elite private membership club, which provided high-adventure experiencesto those who paid millions of pounds to join. Added to that was a whiskey distillery and a renewable-energy collaborative.

I didn’t kid myself into thinking he’d given up some of his morally gray holdings. I kept my distance from them, and Con respected my desire to. The one I had made use of and planned to again today was a subsidiary of the Data Center dedicated to collecting information about anyone doing business in the United Kingdom.

Last night, after Sullivan retired to the bedroom, I’d sent him a message, asking that he dig up everything he could on Eric Weber and Tower-Meridian.

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