Page 106 of Passenger Princess

My stomach sinks to the ground at his question.

“I don’t?—”

"If you don’t, do it. Get your eyes on that woman right now.”

My pulse starts to beat in my veins. “Miles, what are you talking about?—”

“You’ve got a good gut, Jaime. I was just looking in the wrong spot. Anne Holmes—you know her?"

"I... yeah, I know her. She's Miss Utah."

"Did you know she's Regina Miller's niece?"

My body goes cold.

"Miles—"

"She was a shoo-in for the crown, apparently. Everyone knew it. I just got some information that she was gunning to be the youngest Miss Americana."

"Okay..." I say.

"I got some IP addresses from Ava's social media accounts, the death threats and stalker shots." My heart stutters, and I wonder if it will start again. "Those messages Ava got? They came from the IP address of Anne Holmes.”

My heart starts again, this time pounding. “What?" I ask, the words cold.

“They were a bit scrambled, redirected a few times, but eventually I could find the source, and it's Anne Holmes' phone. She has a dozen burner accounts made from the same location, it seems. Now I’m working on the actual letter sent to the Miss Americana offices—I got a photocopy of it from my source, and apparently, there were a few more sent in and not reported. I'm running a handwriting analysis software now, but at least four of the seven most alarming messages Ava received directly through her social media were sent from Anne Holmes' phone.”

“We're just learning thisnow?"I ask, even though I know I'm directing my panic and fury at the wrong person.

“Calm the fuck down, most of this came up in the past few hoursor so from the last twelve hours I spent putting pieces together. I didn't need you jumping in and going all Rambo off a hunch. But then I got a call twenty minutes ago that made things a bit more interesting.”

I had been moving towards the elevator we took to get Ava to the third floor, but I froze at the way his words hung in the air. “Miles, I swear to fuck?—”

“The man who tried to assault Ava in Georgia cut a deal with the DA and spilled everything. Don't lose your shit, but he says he was asked by Anne to try and get Ava riled up, get her some bad press shots, or at least freak her out enough to want to step down. According to him, he was supposed to make her uncomfortable, touch her ass, or whatever, but make it seem like she was exaggerating, crafting something out of nothing. Unfortunately, your girl is a bit of a loose cannon?—”

“Watch your fucking mouth,” I say, feeling the need even now to protect her.

“I just mean they didn’t expect her to snap back the way she did or for the press to lean in her favor. Seems your kitten bites.” Despite everything, I can’t fight the tip of my lips for just a moment, because he’s not wrong. “I'm going to do more digging, particularly on the hotel break-in and any other reports of strange incidents at any of your stops. It could all be unrelated, coincidental, but I don’t trust Regina Miller or anyone on her payroll.”

“Fuck,” I mumble, deciding to skip the elevator, and looking for the stairs. “I gotta go.”

“Jaime—” But he doesn’t finish because I’m hanging up and sprinting toward the door to the stairs.

“Sir, you need to—” Someone tries to stop me, but I don’t listen.

Instead, I’m storming up the stairs, eyes glued to Ava’s location on my phone, and praying to whoever the fuck will listen that I didn’t make the biggest mistake of my life by leaving her side.

FORTY-EIGHT

AVA

When I walked into the room, I wasn't sure what to expect since I was certain everyone had read or at least heard about the article. A part of me expected utter silence and mean looks, but instead, I was welcomed in with warm hellos and hugs and even a fewhell yeah, girl!.

I quickly came to the understanding that I am not even close to the first Miss Americana who has been outed for dating someone while reigning, and until now, everyone thought it was some outdated rule no one abided by, like how it's technically illegal to eat a pickle on Sundays in Trenton. No one actuallyexpectsit to be enforced.

"Hell, I gotengagedduring the last month of my reign, and Regina congratulated me!" Laura, the queen from two years ago says. "And then she asked if I'd be interested in having it televised as a royal wedding."

My eyes widen, and I let out a small laugh at that.

---