Page 77 of Not the Bodyguard's Princess
Andrew turned off the highway at the exit for the mansion. He recognized an SUV at the side of the road as one of the Dermot vehicles.
“Deidre, I see one of your team vehicles. Have they recovered the phone?” Andrew didn’t stop to confer with the bodyguards.
“Yes. As assumed, it’s useless. I’m a minute behind you. Wait at the gas station. The map I have shows multiple points of entry to the property. I want a plan going in.”
Having calmed down significantly, Andrew pulled off. “I’m waiting. Just make me part of the team.”
“We need to be clear on one thing. I’m in charge, not you.” Deidre pulled up behind Andrew. “Jordan is my principal, not yours.”
“Agreed.”
A couple of grunts, most likely belonging to Alan and Adam, echoed through the line.
“Alan, Adam, and Liam.” No softness remained in Deidre’s voice. “Please mute yourselves. I need you as support. Andrew agreed I’m lead. I don’t need you undermining him. Andrew, get out of that car, and let’s get a plan in place.”
Andrew wasted no time following Deidre’s orders.
* * *
Jordan wasn’t exactly sure they were in the mansion. The turns and stairs weren’t familiar to her. She was shoved to her knees. A door slammed. Jordan waited a few moments, then, sensing she was alone, cautiously removed her blindfold.
Through the windows overlooking the property, she could see the snow silently filling the yard. Jordan recognized the tree line from when they had filmed the wolf scene. She was in a room at the north end of the mansion on the second floor.
She looked around the room for a door only to discover there wasn’t one. But how could that be? She’d heard one close. With the window, it wasn’t meant to be a secret room, more like an escape room. She’d solved escape-room scenarios before, and though most of them had been according to script, it couldn’t be that difficult.
Headlights flashed across the window. Had Andrew gotten her message? She looked outside to see a red sports car. Storm? He was staying on the property. He would be the least likely to rescue her. Maybe he’d come to investigate. She pressed closer to the window, wondering if the dim light of the room was enough to alert him to her presence. The car drove around to the front of the house.
Storm could be using Rod and Kittie as his minions, not that she’d ever seen him talk to either of them with anything other than passing acquaintance. As eager as Kittie was to make a name in Hollywood, she might listen to Storm, but why Rod?
Starting at the picture windows, Jordan circled the room, running her fingers along chair railings and scanning the wooden panels. The second panel from the left on the back wall had a seam running along the left side. Jordan searched for a way to turn the overhead light off, hoping to see light through a crack, but there wasn’t a light switch either.
Thanks to Blake’s training, she found a hidden camera no bigger than a pea between the brass bookend and a pristine copy of the works of Robert Louis Stevenson. There had to be others. Disabling them would only use up her time. If someone was watching her, appearing to bumble around might entertain them and give her more time—time for Deidre and Andrew to find her. The bookshelf made an obvious trap door. They’d used them in at least two episodes of Princess Sam. Jordan lifted the bookends and pulled out the larger books, which were arranged in no order that she could determine. Classics next to little-known authors, nonfiction next to fantasy. She felt along the shelving. Nothing.
Jordan sat down behind the desk. It faced the panel she’d identified as a possible door. Her fingers explored the edge of the desk until they hit something smooth and round. Could it be that easy? She pushed the button, and the panel slid open. Storm stood in the doorway.
* * *
Andrew checked the clock on the dash. It had been forty minutes since Jordan’s use of aglet-initiated emergency protocols. Thirty since her phone had gone silent.
Deidre’s team used all three cars to cover the entrances to the mansion. No one joined Andrew in his. The snow became their friend as any side roads without tracks were quickly eliminated.
Andrew turned off at the entrance to the cottage Storm was using. He turned off the headlights and inched along the tree-lined lane. His car would only be hidden while in the shadows along the snow-covered road.
A black square of pavement marked the spot where Storm’s red sports car usually sat. Tire tracks marked the road up to the main mansion. Andrew followed them.
28
Rod pushedStorm into the room and leveled a gun at both of them. “Miss Lee, it’s unfortunate you found the way out so quickly. I gotta disable this door. Storm, I got her alone like you asked.”
Storm held up his hands. “Not like this, man. This isn’t what I meant when I said I wanted a moment alone with her.”
“No, I suppose not. You prefer to seduce your victims. No clear-cut #metoo moments. Always consensual. Making promises you never keep. You didn’t even like Kittie, did you? Even though she is still stupid enough to believe herself in love with you. Miss backup date of the year. That’s my twin sister you’ve been leading along and warming your nights with. And it all ends tonight.” He pointed the gun at Jordan’s head. “The world will mourn Hollywood’s cutest orphan one last time. What about the rest of us? You missed us!” Rod yanked Kittie to his side.
Storm glanced back at Jordan, his expression mirroring her confusion.
Keep them talking.The advice from the show in the second season where Princess Sam was kidnapped came to mind. “What are you talking about? How did we miss you?”
“You and your grandmother with all your fancy memorials and gifts and scholarships. You forgot us!” Rod’s face burned with rage.
