Page 36 of Mercenary Princess

“After she told the guard she was staying.”

“What did Pavel say?”

“The frequency indicates a compact VTS150.” A coin-sized piece of radio-signaling equipment that would fall under the radar of most security systems, white noise, or jamming equipment because it was set to a specialized frequency that was set beyond those specialized pieces. It would have been pressurized and only detectable by specialized systems and, even then, only when activated.

Viktor had given the order not to be disturbed, but he still wasn’t pleased. The question was, had it been his princess or the guard sending a message? “Did the guard do anything in that time?”

“The woman shifted at that exact moment. The cameras were trained on her, so it wasn’t missed. He thinks it was in a shoe.”

His princess had backup watching the house… in case he tried to harm her? That thought pleased him. He did not approve of her going out with only a single guard. But he would have the identity of who had received that ping.

Viktor felt more than curious at this new information. The actions, along with the equipment, were more suited to covert operations than that of a hired guard, even a high-tiered security guard assigned to royalty. What was the crown princess of Porenza involved in that warranted the need and awareness of such equipment? His memory conjured up the image of her climbing the hotel wall.

It wasn’t the act of an overachieving guard. The technology would have been out of the woman’s pay grade. His princess had somehow acquired the equipment. He’d read the guilt in Sophia’s eyes when she’d taken the jamming device under the pretense of ensuring it was charged. He had little doubt she knew what that device would do. That was exactly why he’d offered to let her leave it.

Ivan nodded slowly. “If our system wasn’t keyed to it, we wouldn’t have known.” His man was talking about the other equipment. The ping.

Viktor nodded absently.

“The half-mile radius should have made it easy to discover who got the message. Not authorities. We check them,” Ivan practically growled.

Ivan was correct; old habits and paranoia had been ingrained in Viktor at birth. His men always monitored law enforcement at all levels. He had the funds and equipment to make it simple enough.

“Should have,” he murmured. Yes, they should have found their mysterious friends, yet Ivan’s frustration proved they’d come up empty in their search. He flexed his fingers.

“The jammer?”

“The system locked down. They will get nothing,” Ivan confirmed.

He turned to look at Ivan. That device alone sold for tens of thousands of dollars, and to his knowledge, the princess’s bank accounts were ruled by her brother. Was she sent after something of his? No. That didn’t feel right. He’d forced both meetings. Her suspicious activities started before their first encounter.

“I want the list of everyone who ordered both pieces of equipment.”

His man nodded.

“Did her guard say or do anything else?”

Ivan nodded. “She described all the precautions she put in place should anything happen to her or your princess. She also refused to allow her phone to be turned off. Pavel looked it over. It was clean. No contact numbers, only thumbprint-access apps. Pavel hacked them remotely later. One was to forward an alarm from another device. Another was for an intercom, as she’d said. Everything was routed in a way that hid her location. She acted as if it had been set up for this meet alone, but that was a lie.”

“It’s too professional.”

His man nodded. “She insisted it was in case the royal guards found the princess missing. I believe that. But it seemed like more.”

He nodded. It was all in line with a princess escaping her security, so who did her guard signal and what had it meant? “I want to know who received that signal.”

Ivan shook his head, brows furrowed. “The signal cut off before it was tracked. The physical grid search found nothing. He is attempting to hack security cameras of surrounding homes. Nothing yet.” After a moment of silence between them, Ivan finally spoke. “Do you think her a threat?”

Viktor shook his head. His instincts said no. But what was she up to? First, her guard had lost his men, twice, and now she had someone hiding out beyond the shadows. He would bet the unknown person had been there to cover her back as she entered the home of a potential blackmailer. That made the most sense.

There was more to his princess than she showed the world, and he wanted to know what that was. He would have all her secrets. He told himself he wanted them because she would be sharing his bed and had accessed his home.

“Reschedule New York. Cancel all evening appointments here. We’ll be staying in London for two weeks.”

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