Page 44 of Rise of the Queen
“What’s option three?”
“I think you should put them in his apartment. We never lock our doors. We don’t need to. But I think he’s gonna need a minute and it’ll be better if we’re not watching him.”
“Yoden, you’re so incredibly smart. That’s perfect. I would’ve tortured the poor man,” I said. I glanced at the clock on the oven. “Okay, so now we have to hurry slightly to get whatever we’re doing done and down to his apartment and back to the office by six. Oh my God, the pressure!” I said, dramatically.
Stephen laughed, shaking his head at me. He joined in the dramatics though, taking an extra baking sheet and fanning the cookies so they’d cool faster, which made me laugh.
“You’re my favorite. Don’t tell the others,” I said.
Stephen and I finished up Viktor’s favorite cookies, then snuck downstairs to deliver them to his apartment and made it to the office with five minutes to spare. Everyone else was already in the office, waiting on us, but also still waiting on Henry to arrive. Just as we walked in, Viktor’s phone beeped, signaling that Henry was in the lobby. He walked out right after we walked in.
“What have you two been up to?” Adrik asked. I could tell he was amused that I’d disappeared with Stephen and not one of the others.
“Strategic planning. Vlad’s army is going to be magnificent,” I said.
Stephen surprised us all by laughing loudly. I could get him to laugh when it was just the two of us, but he rarely laughed loudly in front of the group. It made me happy to see. “Seph has a mind for logistics. He was only defending Wallachia before, but now he can finally see the complete destruction of the Ottoman Empire. I can’t wait to tell him. Those Turks totally have it coming.”
Everyone laughed at his answer. Several of the guys looked surprised at how relaxed Stephen looked. They all caught my eye at one point, giving me small, knowing smiles.
“You shouldn’t fight sleeping in for so long next time, princess. You look much better tonight. Andrei does too. He’s prettier,” Ivan said.
“He is a pretty, pretty princess, Squish. You’re absolutely correct. I think we both needed it,” I said. I heard the doors tothe elevator ding, so I got up from Adrik’s lap after kissing him quickly. He still had a very amused expression on his face.
Viktor walked in with Henry and the mood turned more serious in an instant. Everyone went into boss mode.
Adrik extended his hand to Henry as he walked to his desk. They shook hands before Henry sat down in front of Adrik’s desk. He glanced back to me, smiling. “Sephie, you’re looking much better than the last time I saw you.”
“I mean, that depends. Sometimes I want to be colorful,” I said, referring to the heavy bruising I’d had the last time. “But life is much better with two arms again.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. He looked at Adrik. “What do you have for me this time?”
“Your police chiefs. How well do you know them?” Adrik asked. He was now very serious. There was no trace of the amusement that was evident not two minutes ago.
“Well, before you asked me that question, I would have said very well. Now that you’ve asked me that question, I’m wondering if that’s the correct answer,” Henry said, a look of worry on his face.
“We have it on very good authority that two of your police chiefs are loyal to the mayor,” Adrik said. We both saw Henry’s face fall.
“Do you know which ones?” he asked.
Adrik nodded his head. Ivan got up and put two files down on Adrik’s desk in front of Henry. “They both met with the mayor. After you met with all of them to discuss taking down the mayor. We only have confirmation on these two, but I wouldn’t trust any of them at this point,” Adrik said. Henry looked stunned. “How much have you told them about the mayor? Or about Ricardo?”
“Nothing about Ricardo. I’m sitting on that one. I’ve been after that guy so long that I don’t want to risk messing it up. But they have everything I have on the mayor so far,” Henry said.
Adrik looked to Viktor, saying in Russian, “We definitely need to hurry that journalist up.”
Viktor responded, still in Russian, saying, “I contacted him earlier. I’ll check when this is over to see if he responded.”
Adrik nodded, then looked back to Henry. “We’re working to gather more information on the mayor, but it takes time. Until we get more on him, be very careful what you tell the other police chiefs.”
“Agreed. Let me know when you get something definitive on the mayor. Until then, I don’t think we should do this again,” Henry said. He suddenly looked worried, like he was nervous. I glanced to Andrei, who caught it as well. We both focused back on Henry, trying to figure out the reason for his nervousness.
“We have other places we can meet the next time, if you’re nervous about coming here,” Adrik said. He had also picked up on Henry’s nervousness.
They conversed for a short time more, while I quietly studied Henry. The first time we’d met with him, I got the feeling that he was a good man, trying to do the right thing. This time, something had changed about him and I wasn’t sure what it was, but I wasn’t sure I liked it.
Henry stood up to leave, once again shaking Adrik’s hand. When he did, I saw Adrik stiffen ever so slightly.That’s new.I glanced to Andrei, who had seen something as well. Stephen’s phone beeped as Viktor was walking Henry back to the elevator. “Dinner’s here. Be right back,” he said, jogging out of the office to catch the elevator.
Once we heard the doors close, I walked to Adrik. “What happened when you shook his hand before he left?”