Page 23 of A True King

“Cookies are in the jar, sweetie pie,” she says as she gives me an extra squeeze before pulling back.

I don’t even have to ask. I already know. She’s made my favorite, oatmeal raisin with walnuts. She knows all our favorites and, of course, her chocolate chip cookies are the collective fan favorite. The number of times she snuck those into my bedroom after a particularly hard day are too many to count.

“Thanks,” I reply. She looks over at Mia and smiles before opening her arms again. Mia accepts her embrace and I can visibly see her relax as the older woman rubs her back and whispers something in her ear. She nods and I can’t help but wonder what words were just exchanged.

Tessa took to Mia from the moment they met. She always says Mia’s my soulmate, but now, I’m not so sure Tessa knew what she was talking about.

“Come on, I’ve got your rooms all set up,” Tessa says with a wink. She knows. She’s known since the beginning. And that’s why Mia’s room is connected to mine by a secret passage.

Halfway up the stairs, my phone rings, and I motion for Tessa and Mia to continue while I take the call.

“Hello?” I answer, but I already know who it is.

“Your Highness, Jack Ross,” Jack states in his Scottish accent. Jack is a bit of an international man of mystery. I know his work has something to do with espionage. I believe he currently works at Interpol, but he might still be with MI6 or the CIA. All I do know is Jack Ross is the person you want helping you if you have a major criminal issue at hand.

“Jack, good to hear from you. Anna said you were in touch.”

“Indeed. I…well, no sense in beating around the bush. I don’t have a clear picture of what is going on yet, however, my initial intel is…interesting. I would prefer that we keep this matter between you, Anna, and me.”

“What?” I prod, interrupting him.

“I have reason to believe that The 44 is a much more widespread issue than we had previously thought. I think your staff may still be compromised. It’s not just a single person.”

“How is that possible? We thoroughly vetted everyone.”

“Yes and no.”

“Jack!” I growl in anger.

“It’s not like that, Christian,” he states, using my given name because whatever he’s about to say is serious. He’s methodical in the way he talks to people, and I haven’t missed that. “Your father insisted some of the staff only needed a precursory security check. I warned him against this, but he insisted.”

“Who?”

Jack is silent for a long moment. “Let’s not worry about that yet. I have my people performing a high-level security check on those that were missed last month. Once I know more, we can talk. I have cleared Tessa and the other full-time staff at the Summer Palace since Anna informed me yesterday that was where you would be staying with Mia.”

His choice of words draws my interest. “Why does it matter that it’s where Mia and I are staying? What about everyone else? What about the Royal Palace?”

Jack takes another moment to choose his words. “Everyone is safe, and I’ve put special security in place with them. Right now, I’m more concerned about who has access to Mia. While I don’t condone what she did, the threats she received and the knowledge those individuals had makes me think that others on staff have given out information. What I don’t understand yet is why would they have targeted Mia, and also who those people might be? But if there are other compromised staff, they may not have had your best interest at heart. They may be doing it because they believe in the cause and not because they want to protect someone.”

He means The 44’s cause. I have my own thoughts about a modern-day monarchy but doing what they are doing is flat-out murder. There are legal ways to change a country’s government.

“You have no suspects?” I inquire.

“Not yet. I’ll be in touch. Just…stay on the Summer Palace grounds. There are not many that I trust, and it’s safe there. Anna and Logan are leaving for Montelandia tonight, and August and Kate will be at King Edvard’s estate in the South of France. Your father will be on a goodwill trip to France for two weeks. My goal is to have all of this sorted by then.”

“In two weeks?”

“It’s my goal.”

“So be it. Keep me abreast of any new developments.”

“Of course. And, Christian, be extra careful. Mia poses no threats. I’m sure of this. I managed to get ahold of the phone that was found. Pete wanted to do his own analysis on it. He had sent me one message to analyze, but I really wanted to get ahold of the phone itself, but oddly the phone went missing. Luckily, it ended up in my office.”

“Jack,” I groan as I rub a hand over my face.

“I didn’t want to step on his toes and pull rank. Anyhow, Mia did her best to protect you. Her intel was crap. I’m honestly shocked they didn’t fulfill the threat based on the useless information she provided.”

“I see.” I hear voices in the background.

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