Page 29 of Finding Lord Landry

I closed my eyes and covered them with my hand. “I-I’m not ready, sir. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t stepped forward as the head of the family?—”

“I understand. And I’m sorry about Ed. He’s a good friend and a good man. But I need some energy in the Lords. Allies to outweigh the antagonists. I’ve been following your career, and you’re quite popular with young people. You acquitted yourself well at Yale, and I know you’ve been working diligently on the Davencourt holdings behind the scenes since then. I think you could do a lot for the party… and for the country.”

“Sir…” I hesitated, my stomach twisting with nerves. “Even if I agree to run, there’s no guarantee I’ll be selected?—”

“Leave that to me,” he said. “At least tell me you’ll let me submit you to the Clerk for consideration.”

Panic flared beneath my skin, but what else could I say? “I… yes. Alright.”

“Excellent! Come to Downing Street and bring your man’s information. We’ll see what we can do.”

When the call ended, I raced to my closet and grabbed the nearest things, for once not caring whether any of it went together. Then, I made my way through the city.

After giving Kenji’s information to an assistant, I was escorted to a conference room where several people were gathered. I immediately recognized Jim Winthrop. Before I had a chance to greet him or anyone else, one of the officials in the room quirked her head at me. “You’re Landry Davis.”

“Yes.” I nodded, knowing where this was going.

“But…”

“I am also Everett Davencourt,” I explained. “EverettLandryDavencourt.”

She paused while trying to work it out. “Bit like a stage name, I guess. And it’s your fiancé in San Cordova?” Her eyes went wide. “Oh, wow. Did you give the coordinator his information?”

I nodded as the prime minister entered the room.

Teddy came over and shook my hand. “Everett, welcome. Have a seat.”

“I prefer Landry to Everett, sir.”

“Noted. Helen, do we have any updates on the situation?”

The woman nodded and returned her focus to the laptop in front of her. “The protesters want to use the resort tourists as a bargaining chip. They’re demanding a repeal of the decision to allow the copper mine to operate without the proper safety measures. The companies who purchase from that mine are involved now, and they’re in the process of trying to balance putting pressure on the San Cordovan government without…”

As she continued to explain the geopolitical complexity of the issue, it became clear that there were more players involved in the crisis than I’d expected: various countries and companies, not to mention the upset workers and locals.

I glanced across at Jim Winthrop, whose nostrils were flaring in annoyance. He finally cut in. “Sir, bottom-line this for us. Are you sending in a team to get our people out of there, or are you leaving it up to the private sector to solve?”

“Right now, we’re still assessing the situation. As you can imagine, it’s a delicate matter, considering our history with San Cordova and our relationships with various players. Our hope is that the corporate customers involved will put enough pressure on the company to do the right thing in regards to the safety protocols. We need to give them time to do it. If we get involved prematurely, it could be considered an aggressive act by a foreign nation.”

Jim folded his arms across his chest. “How much time?”

Teddy met his eye. “That remains to be seen. Thus far, we have no reason to believe there are British citizens in immediate danger.”

I leaned forward to remind him, “The protesters murdered someone already. That seems like danger.”

Teddy turned toward me. “I understand. But they murdered someone they felt had caused the problem. The tourists aren’t part of this conflict.”

Jim’s tone was incredulous. “Except for the part where they’re being held as a bargaining chip!”

He was right. As Jim did his best to convince Teddy to send in a team, my head began to pound. I didn’t have the capacity to be patient. I wanted to fly to South America, source some especially lethal weapons, tactical gear, and a speedboat, and take things into my own hands, vigilante-style.

When the discussion turned into a repeating loop, Teddy and his team left to take a call and gather updated information. I met Jim Winthrop’s eyes before moving closer to him.

“They’re not going in anytime soon,” I said. “Have you contacted Executive Rescue? I assume you have a policy on Jamie.”

He nodded once.

“What do I have to do to get my fiancé on that boat?”

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