Chapter Sixteen #2
Perhaps she’d always known her role would be to look pretty
and be elegant. Learning French would certainly help. After all, they did
business in France. But the exchange seemed odder than that.
The earl moved closer to Tatiana and put a hand on her arm.
“That’s our Tati. She’s not only beautiful, she speaks French like an angel.
Heard she breezed through it so easily in school that they tried to get her to
be a translator.”
“Like Tati would get a job,” Edward said under his breath.
“She would last five minutes.”
Normally this would be the moment when Tatiana said
something incredibly rude right back at him, but she stood there like she
hadn’t heard a thing. Her eyes were steady on Charles, her expression as blank
as a doll’s.
“Vous couchez avec les deux
hommes?” Charles asked.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kenzie stiffen like
she’d heard something she couldn’t quite believe. It was only a moment and she
was back to relaxed perfection.
“Bien s?r. C’est
la meilleure facon de contr?ler
un homme,” Tatiana replied and then tilted her head up to look at the
earl. “He asked if I’m a happy bride. I told him of course. I have the best
man.”
“Holy shit,” Taggart said. “Damon, could we have had this
wrong the whole time?”
“Has Sosa seen Tatiana?” Charlotte asked. “Why isn’t Lucy
replying?”
“Mal, Tatiana is lying about what was said,” Damon replied.
“Charles asked if she was sleeping with both men. She said yes. It’s the best
way to control a man.”
Tatiana was working with Charles. Or at least she knew him.
No one would ask that question of a stranger. Though he suddenly doubted they
were strangers.
He needed to tell Vivian. She wasn’t wearing a comms
earpiece and neither was Oliver. They had no reason to, and her hair was pulled
back to show off the drop earrings Charlotte had given her. He glanced over and
she was laughing at something, holding Oliver’s hand.
They didn’t have any idea the world had just flipped.
It was Tatiana. She was the connection to The Chateau. Which
had to mean that the target of the kidnapping was Vivian. Why would The Chateau
want to kidnap their own person?
It didn’t make sense, but right now it didn’t have to.
Fear trickled along his spine. Was this all an elaborate
trap? Were they after Sosa?
“Kenzie, I need you to run out to the van,” Charlotte said
over the line. “I can’t get Lucy to respond.”
Kenzie took off without hesitation.
How would they know Lucy and Sosa were even there? He
doubted there was a single employee that Ian and Damon hadn’t fully vetted.
Something was happening. Something they hadn’t counted on.
“Mal, let’s get Vivi out of here quietly,” Damon ordered.
The music stopped, and the violinist stepped up to the
microphone. “On behalf of the earl and countess, we welcome you. This is a
special song dedicated to the couple. We hope you enjoy it.”
He settled back in his chair, and the music started again.
The band changed to another number. A haunting tune. The
somberness did not fit the party, but it did fit the way he was feeling. He
wanted to run and grab Vivian and haul her out of here.
Instead, he turned toward Edward, about to explain that he
had to check on something.
“What is that song?” Edward asked. “I didn’t request
anything special, and Tati hates chamber music. If she’d had her way, there
would be a DJ playing pop.”
“Who told that man to speak for me?” The earl looked
outraged. “The welcome speech isn’t for another half hour.”
Charles’s face turned grim. Something about the last few
moments had definitely had an effect on him.
“Excuse me, Earl Kirkallan. I need to make a call,” Charles
said and started to walk away.
It didn’t matter because he could see that the earl wasn’t
listening. He was busy yelling at his assistant and the party planner.
Oliver and Vivian were moving his way, so he stayed where he
was. He had to do this gently. Robert was watching Charles. He started
following behind him as he left the ballroom.
“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked, and he knew she wasn’t
asking him. The team could see what was happening in the ballroom.
“Tatiana?” Vivian approached them. “Are you all right?”
The bride-to-be had gone a ghostly pale, and her hands
shook. “I need to fix my dress. I’ll be right back.”
She started to walk toward the exit.
Vivian began to go after her, but Mal caught her hand.
Oliver leaned in. “Something’s happening.”
Mal nodded.
“I’ll take Vivian to the buffet, and we’ll take the back
stairs through the kitchens,” Oliver whispered. “She’ll be safe with my father
and her uncle. I’ll return and back you up.”
“Something’s happened to Lucy,” Kenzie said over the comms.
“And Sosa’s gone.”
“Come back to base,” Damon said. “Robert is following
Charles, but it looks like he’s fleeing. We don’t have enough to hold him, and
I’ve pushed the police too much this week.”
“I should check on Tatiana,” Vivian insisted.
“Go with Oliver,” Mal replied.
“Something is off with her.” Vivian watched where Tatiana
was going. “This could be my chance to get her to talk.”
“Tatiana is with The Chateau,” Mal said as quietly as he
could. “And Sosa is missing. I need you safe.”
Vivian put her hand in Oliver’s without hesitation. “Be
careful.”
She walked away.
“Mal, I need you to find Sosa.” Damon sounded so grim over
the comm line. “I just heard from my wife. She was the one. Sosa hired the
kidnappers.”
“I don’t think this is what it sounds like.” But Charlotte
sounded grim.
For the first time Mal touched his earpiece. “Is Lucy
alive?”
He was happy he didn’t have to be the one to tell Vivian.
She was going to be devastated at the betrayal.
“She’s been drugged,” Taggart said. “Kenzie thinks she’s
fine, but she’ll be asleep for a while. Mal, the situation is fucked, and we
don’t understand a thing. The security cameras went black. Damon and I are
calling it. This mission is scrapped until we figure out what’s going on.
Kenzie will get back to her station and the bodyguards will remain. From here
on we do the job we were…”
Then there was nothing but static.
Someone took out the CCTV cams and their comms.
His leg ached. Like that brutalized limb could sense danger.
Some people’s joints ached with the rain or the cold. His flared up when
someone was about to die.
What was Sosa doing? Had she been lying all along? Had she
been biding her time, waiting for the right moment to pounce?
Despite what Damon said, he had to make sure Vivian made it.
He couldn’t stand around and protect other people when the person he loved most
in the world was in danger. Robert was walking back in as he moved to the
buffet room, which would lead him to the kitchens and back stairs.
“I lost the asshole,” Robert admitted. “Our target never
showed up. Now comms are down. I heard something about Sosa.”
“Okay, I’ll inform Damon and Ian,” Mal replied. “I’ll be
right back, and Kara is on her way.”
Robert looked like he wanted way more information, but he
was well trained. He simply stepped back and took up his former position. “I’ll
be here.”
Mal forced himself to slowly walk up the steps, but the
minute he could, he jogged.
He moved around the crowd in the buffet. He would feel
better when he saw that Vivian was safe. He could give Damon and the Taggarts
an update and then play out the rest of the night. They needed to retreat.
When he hit the door to the back stairs and saw all the
blood, he realized his time was up.
* * * *
Vivian didn’t want to go hide, but she understood
that chaos was the real enemy. Something had happened, and they couldn’t talk
about it. Not until they were out of sight. Oliver held her hand gently, but
she could feel the anxiety coming off him.
They wouldn’t scrap the mission if it wasn’t serious. Her
heels clicked quickly across the marbled floors and then the hardwoods in the
dining hall. All around them the party was going on like nothing had happened,
but Vivian knew it had. Something changed when that music came on. As though it
meant something to Tatiana.
“Mal will be okay,” Oliver said as they got close to other
guests.
“Slow down,” Vivian whispered. “We don’t want it to get back
to Edward or his father that we behaved oddly.”
This was part of the job, controlling the adrenaline. Never
letting it rise to the level of panic. They needed to look calm and cool. Like
nothing was wrong. She still had no idea what actually had gone wrong.
They calmly started to make their way around to the small
door where staff came through to restock the caviar bar and all the traditional
English delicacies, none of which held any temptation right now because her
whole body was on alert.
She leaned in toward Oliver. “Do we know exactly what’s
happening? How did they connect Tatiana with The Chateau? I know we think they
might have kidnapped her, but why would she work with them?”
“I’m not sure. I only know what Mal told me.” Oliver stopped
at the back stairs as a uniformed maid came through. “I’m going to let your
uncle fill you in. We need to move. I don’t want to leave Mal alone for too
long.”
That got her moving.
“Are Lucy and Sosa okay?” she asked as they started up the
first set of stairs.
“I don’t know much.” Oliver led the way. “I think we lost
touch. We’re pulling the op, but we can’t completely leave because we were
hired for security. I’ll make some excuse about you feeling ill but not wanting
me to miss out.”
“Something happened to Tatiana when that music played,” she
said as they moved. “It was like a trigger. I think we’ve missed something
critical.”
“Yes, I think we can safely say that,” Oliver agreed. “I
think something happened when they met that tall man. I saw Mal and Kenzie
react. Come on. One more flight. I’ll watch you walk down to the comms room,
and I’ll get back to Mal. I don’t know why the comms are down, but I’m sure
they got some footage for you to go through. I’m sure you and Ariel will be
watching for days because you’re right about Tati. I’ve never seen her like
that before, but I have seen some studies on mind control.”