Darcy Devereux and the Security Service

Chapter 28

Now the sight I saw when I’d rested couldn’t be held in an adjective. The sun sunk below the horizon while twilight floated around. The right bedside lamp showered the bed in warm light. Papers quilted the covers in beautiful chaotic layers, and at my foot lay a tray of toast, sour cherry preserve, honeycomb, and hot tea with goat milk on the side. Ambrose sat legs crisscrossed in a rumpled untucked white dress shirt and trousers. His hair looked like Beethoven’s and his reading glasses perched on his the edge of nose while his brow furrowed and unfurrowed. He treated his suits very carefully, so it was surprising to see his suit jacket crumpled at the bathroom door, as if he chucked it across the room. The aroma of cedarwood aftershave lingered. His eyes surveyed the files as if they were old Da Vinci blueprints. Ambrose blindly reached for the cup of black tea and rose it to his lips with the speed and grace of a chameleon, not knowing he nearly spilled it all over the Germany’s dossier. Then he put it back the same way. He hummed pensively. His laptop played into his headphones, the screen being tilted away from me.

Yesterday, he seemed to run the country, and now he looked like an PhD candidate who’d been up 36 hours in the library finishing an groundbreaking research paper the night of the deadline. In essence, it was like waking up to eight years ago.

“You’re staring again,” Ambrose murmured, cocking his head at the file just as focused.

“Damn. How do you always know?”

“Sharpened biological perception known as ‘gaze detection’. In short scopaesthesia.” He picked up the papers by my elbow.

“Thank you, professor. But wait, hold the phone.” I grabbed my Blackberry.

“What?” He looked up with a blank yet alert expression.

“Cliff Notes called. They want their brevity back.”

He snorted and giggled. “Shut up, Fizzy.”

I grinned cheekily. It was around nine.

“Snack. Milk and tea.”

“Hm? Oh, thanks.”

“Drink and eat. I’d appreciate your opinion on what I’ve collected.”

I ripped a bite of toast and swallowed with a warm gulp of tea.

“How did you sleep?”

I’d crashed unusually early around three, so I felt oddly well-rested at such an late hour, and Ambrose looked like he should need sleep now even on who knows how many cups of tea.

“Fitz?”

“Mh? Oh, surprisingly well for a long nap. I feel recharged, and I think my mind’s straight now. Before it was a tangled yarn.”

“One of your more productive naps yet.” He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

I moved the tray aside, eating while I glanced over the files. I scooted in front of him to get a look at the intel he’d gotten.

“Ow!” He flinched.

“What?” I turned around.

“My foot.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You okay?”

He pecked my hair and scooted back. “Yes, I’m okay.” Ambrose yawned, his forehead resting on my shoulder.

“So.”

“I watched the footage, and obviously they knew this was going to happen. There was interference with the comms and people they’d planted to take control. They accounted for all of it. Even more strangely, they just stopped in the middle of the road to shoot as the police?”

“Part of the demonstration.”

“I supposed, and yet it had to have served another purpose. Look at this.” He pulled up a photo. “There was a whole in the bottom of the truck and splash marks from welding on the bottom. Why? We didn’t see any gold drop onto the road.”

The answer was so close yet just out of reach. “Maybe we should check where they stopped. Let’s check it again.”

We watched the pursuit together. In a short moment, somehow I glimpsed them kicked part of the floor. It hit the sidewalk. “There goes the floor at least.”

“Look at the driving,” Ambrose said. “Seemingly chaotic yet with intent. They were leading the chase somewhere.”

“Okay, stop.”

He paused the video.

“Zoom on.”

With a few clicks, we could see the pavement clearly.

“Call me crazy later, but zoom in more and slow it down as they move the truck.”

“All right.”

“Oh, my God!”

“What?”

“We are really stupid sometimes.”

“Because?”

“It was right in front of us the entire time. We were brainstorming ways they’d pull it off. One, blow a hole in the street. Two, run off with it during a gunfight.”

“Three, blowing a hole in the street to carry it through a robot in a utility tunnel.”

“But the problem was time and visibility.”

“What are you saying?”

“What if it’s all of it?”

“They blew a whole in the ground, while they distracted the police with gunfire, and used a robot to transport it.”

”Exactly. Almost.”

He wrinkled his brow. “And where’s hole in the ground?”

“You remember my first case?”

“The accountant?” He furrowed his brow.

“No,” I groaned. “The case you gave me.”

“Oh. Yes, the arms-dealers. They transported the cargo from the docks to the warehouses or office through the ... The sewage!” He jumped. His expression dropped. “The sewage really?”

“Makes sense. It was all a distraction. Limehouse near where they stopped the truck. The hole in the bottom of the truck was for dropping the gold into the sewer’s through the man hole. Kasim got the truck to get serviced and paid someone off or used his own people to cut the metal most of the way so that all his men had to do was kick in the spot in front of the guard’s seat and the metal would break.”

“And how would two men shooting at people drop 25 thousand pounds of gold down a manhole in a matter of minutes?”

“Well. It looked like two men, but it was at least five or eight well-built people. They opened the manhole from the moment the truck stopped while all the traffic made noise and the police blared their sirens. With training, the average person can dead-lift 500 pounds. That’s 18 bars in a duffel bag multiplied by 50 drops during the gunfight they staged. Soldiers carry more than a hundred pounds in gear a day, and I don’t doubt Kasim’s people aren’t equally trained. Most of Maurice recruits are rogue Russian agents or retired armed forces from all over the globe. Highly-trained, the best. Getting an expensive rover in the sewers to carry it could work, but then again, it’s more money spent and fragile technology getting flushed down the toilet, no pun intended.”

“How was that so easy to put together?”

“I’ve seen a lot of Maurice’s schemes. This is practically my version of a Sunday crossword.”

“It does makes a lot of sense.”

I huffed a laugh. “You know... the gold is probably still there. It takes a while to move.”

“You think we should venture out?”

“Might have some answers. We can take backup.”

“I’ve already told the police to check it out, but with due process, it’ll take a while, and my superiors might not allow us.”

“Of course,” I drawled.

“We’re not supposed to run around doing other people’s jobs.”

“Yes, but it’s fun.” I slipped away.

“Hey, hey, hey.” He pulled me back, brushing my stomach. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I snorted, barely holding back a laugh. “Ambrose, I’m just—”

“Where exactly do you think you’re going?” He tickled me more earnestly.

“Brother dearest, don’t concern yourself with things that are really not in your purview,” I said through suppressed giggles while I wriggled.

He laughed. “Well, my dear Fitz, you forget that you’re in my purview both professionally and personally, so technically the things you think aren’t my concern or in my purview really are in said purview and concern.”

“All right, all right, I surrender.” I buried my head in his shirt to catch my breath.

“Wahoo,” he monotoned.

“Ugh, you’re so annoying.”

“I love you too.”

I sat up after a while and fell back, looking at the ceiling. “Seriously, though...”

“What?”

“I do wonder where Sabrina is now.”

“Probably with the wind.”

“I mean. If she were working with Kasim, she might be either in the wind or at that outpost...”

“But?”

“If she weren’t—”

“Fitz—”

“I know we think she’s the reason it all fell apart, but what if, for the sake of discussion, she was on the right side of things?”

“Go on.” He sighed.

“She’s out for revenge. Our father is too. They partner up. They build trust. Loyalty. She’s in it for the revenge at first, but becomes dedicated to the cause, people who've been victimized like she was, like her husband was. She might be trying to find Father, make a plan, figure out what happened.”

“But then, who tipped off Kasim? He couldn’t have planted his own people that quickly. He might’ve paid a few off who were already seemingly trustworthy. Someone had to have communicated with him.”

“You’re positing the possibility of another mole? First FBI, now MI6?”

“There was already one who ratted out our father to Maurice. What if they didn’t retire?”

I furrowed my brow. “Then we would’ve been compromised from the moment you joined MI6 and I became an agent. And...”

“What?”

“Kasim said he wasn’t involved in the MI6 break-in. He already knew what was on my file and that no one was getting into the uplink. But how?”

“Had to have been someone high enough then, feeding him information.”

“Someone like...”

Ambrose’s eyes widened cautiously. “Harrow.”

“Did you tell them to prioritize looking at Dover?”

“I did, but he said it was too obvious. If Kasim ambushed us, he must’ve known we were privy to everything involving the operation.”

“He was adamant?”

“I didn’t think at the time, but... He seemed almost on edge. Afraid rather than professionally concerned.”

“Kasim tends to make everyone feel that way.”

“Oh, my God. Fitz, I can’t, I can’t even imagine.” He rubbed his face.

“We don’t have proof, which means we’ll need to find some. We need to investigate.”

“Fitz, they’re not going to go for it.”

“And what, you’re just going to accept that? Do nothing?”

“I’ve been trying to leverage them, but we might need to accept—”

“No.”

“Fitz—”

“No, we can’t stop here. He just came back, and everything we’ve saved could all be lost again. Harrow knows everything. How do we know he hasn’t been manipulating things from the start? What if his people didn’t move in and allowed Kasim to capture me, what if he let Sabrina watch me to get to father, what if all of this was planned!” My voice rose.

“That’s a lot of ‘what if’s’. But we can’t go off book—”

“Who gives a damn! Family is family. We need to go after Kasim before it’s too late. I know it take a lot for you to give up, and I can’t believe you’d let him die.”

“If we go against orders, there’ll be trouble.”

“From MI6 or Kasim?”

“Both.”

“I don’t care. I’m going after him. I’m going to investigate the crime scenes and get to the bottom of this.”

“You’re doing no such thing—”

“Oh, yeah? And you’re going to stop me?”

“Father would want us to stay back.”

“And tell me, when he ran the first time and meant to keep us out of it, did you stay put or join the game?”

He bit his tongue.

“Yeah. I thought so. Let’s face it, he hasn’t exactly been one to make wise decisions, so his opinion is meaningless. He said a mole in British Intelligence exposed him to Maurice. We suspect Harrow. Unless we go after him now, the rest of our work would be useless. Kasim obviously knows what happened between Maurice and our father. And he wants revenge and control. Not everyone wants the syndicate gone, so unless we make our own rules, we’re not going anywhere playing by theirs.”

“Fitz...”

“You know I’m right.”

“My hands are tied.”

“Last time you didn’t see that as a problem.”

“And I said you could only pull the ‘desperate times’ card so many times.”

“Ambrose, this entire decade has been desperate.”

“The consequences are—”

“I accept them.”

Ambrose cocked his head, wary. “I can’t let you.”

“What happened to letting me decide?”

“I promised I’d look after you.”

“Then help me.”

“You know I can’t.”

“Yeah.” I huffed. “So you don’t want to do anything.”

He looked aside, torn between two paths.

“Right. Are Luke and Lucy here?”

“Downstairs playing chess.”

“Since when?”

“They got here an hour or two ago. I said you were resting, so they decided to wait.”

“Might as well say ‘hello’, I guess. Since I’m not doing anything.” I hopped out of bed.

He sighed.

I knew the pressure he was under, but it didn’t get how he crossed some lines and stayed behind others. When lives were at stake, I thought he’d have understood. But apparently it was more complicated than that. He thought farther than I did, and it made him hesitate. It could all blow back on both of us, though it was me he was more concerned about.

Once downstairs, I did find my friends playing chess on the couch.

“Darcy!” Lucy jumped into my arms.

I hugged her, and Luke followed. “Hey.”

“What happened? Ambrose said you were resting and you don’t look too good.”

“I can’t explain. Let’s just say Chicago happened again, but Ambrose doesn’t want to fix it this time.”

“What?”

“That can’t be right.”

“It put him in a difficult position last time. He’s only protecting me, thinking of a way to do it while playing by their rules. I just can’t do the same.”

“Darce...” Luke rubbed his neck. “If there’s anything we can do, all you need to do is say the word.”

“I need to find a way to save things without getting anyone hurt or in trouble.”

“Still. You said once you know the rules, you can break them.”

“Pfft, not with this game. I was talking about music when I said that.”

“Then change the game.”

I huffed. He might’ve had a point. “I need to go for a walk in the park. Clear my head.”

“Okay—”

“Alone. Sorry.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll be back.” I shrugged my jacket on.

“All right.”

Lucy peered at me.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I blinked and narrowed my eyes. “Hm.”

“Have a good walk.”

“Thanks.”

Chapter 29

Ambrose headed down a little after his brother had left the room. But...

It was quiet. Except for some low voices in the kitchen. He wandered in. Luke and Lucy. He furrowed his brow. Not good.

“Where’s Fitz?”

“Oh, went for a walk.”

“Or so he said.”

Luke nudged.

“What?” She nudged back.

“What do you mean?”

“He said something happened, that you two argued. So he went to clear his head. Is it true?”

“Yes, unfortunately. Can’t talk about it.”

“Yeah, we know.” Luke huffed.

Ambrose shook his head, irritated. “Where did he go exactly?”

“Park.”

“I should go find him.”

“Might be a good idea.”

Ambrose took out his phone to check if his brother really was at the park. It was... fishy. His eyebrows rose.

“What?”

“He’s technically here.”

“No, we saw him leave.” Luke furrowed his brow.

Ambrose walked to the door where it said the signal was transmitting. “Oh.” He rubbed his face.

“What?” Luke glanced at him.

Ambrose crouched and picked up the watch. His little brother could be anywhere. Ambrose had followed too late. Damn.

“I don’t— why would he leave his watch?”

“Because—”

“Because Ambrose being Ambrose and Darcy being Darcy, he put a tracker in Darcy’s watch in case of emergency.” Lucy cocked her head. “He’s gone to do something Ambrose doesn’t approve of.”

Luke snorted. “Seriously? Tracker in his watch?”

“Right?” Lucy raised an eyebrow.

“She’s right. Good guess. It was in case someone took him, although it does serve multiple purposes.”

“Obvious conclusion.”

“He said you were sharp.” Ambrose pondered looking at the watch.

“So where is he?”

“Crime scene,” Lucy and Ambrose said together.

“Okay.” Luke narrowed his eyes.

“How do you know?”

“He said everything came crashing down, and you wouldn’t let him fix it. He obviously went somewhere you didn’t want him going. That’s why he left the watch.”

“And since he always goes back to the beginning of the problem,” Luke continued.

“Crime scene. Or at least, wherever the chaos crumbled.”

“I need to go find him. He could do something more reckless than investigate.” Ambrose pulled his coat on.

“Like what?”

“Classified,” Lucy said.

Ambrose’s expression deadpanned. “That’s my word.”

“You’d like to think so, wouldn’t you?”

“You’ve been spending too much time with my brother.”

“Or enough to know you two talk to each but fail to agree half the time.” She crossed her arms.

“Basically,” Luke agreed.

“That is none of your concern, dear Lucy.”

“But it is yours.”

He remained without reply.

Luke coughed to hide a laugh.

“Regardless, I’m going to find him.” Ambrose opened the door. But he stopped before he at the threshold. “Oh, no, he didn’t.” An empty space stared him down.

“Didn’t what?” Luke looked around.

Ambrose forced a deep breath. “He took my car.”

Lucy patted his shoulder. “Brothers, am I right?”

Luke blinked. “But without the keys? Did you give him a copy?”

“I assume, Luke, he stole them from my coat pocket.”

“Oh... But the Mustang? He wouldn’t—”

“Don’t. In these circumstances, he could do anything. The only reason I’m not involved is because I refused, and he went and did it anyway.”

“Plausible deniability.”

“It’s worse than classified.”

“So... Ahem, you still going after him?”

“Is your father here?”

“He went to get coffee.”

Lanyard had just crossed the corner and saw the three of them looking out onto an empty parking spot. “Hey, guys, what you looking at?”

“A crime scene, I guess,” Luke quipped.

Lanyard looked up and down the road. “Where’s your car, Ambrose?”

“That would be evidence of the crime in question.”

“And Darcy?” Lanyard leaned over to peek at the doorway.

“The perpetrator.”

“Oh.” He cracked a laugh. “Oh, my God.”

Ambrose sighed. “What?”

Luke and Lucy looked between each other.

“Something happened, didn’t it?”

Ambrose rolled his eyes.

“And he ran off because you wouldn’t let him do anything.”

“Lanyard—”

“What, let me guess, you told him to ‘sit tight and wait for the cops to figure this out’.”

“Not in so many words.”

“So he took your car to get things done himself.”

“How would you know?”

“I have kids, Ambrose. If you tell them not to do something they’re serious about doing, they’ll find a way to do it anyway. It’ll just be more chaotic than if you’d let them do it while you were there. I mean, I never thought he’d steal your car, but damn, I was wrong.” He chortled. “It’s kind of funny because you’d never see it coming because he was so committed to doing things your way. Although... I think we can both agree he’s in his ‘rebel-against-society’ era, except, instead of spray-painting murals, he’s overthrowing the government.”

“Mood,” the siblings said and high-fived.

Luke harrumphed.

“Ambrose, I know I don’t know what’s going on, but obviously he’s had enough and doing things other people’s way isn’t doing it for him. He’s got a good reason.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

“Ehh, you can lecture him later. But you gotta admit he’s human, and so are you.”

“So, what? I should wait for him to come back?”

“Hell, no! You go after him because trouble is trouble. I don’t care how well everybody thinks he can handle himself. He’s a kid. You be there because.”

“Thank you!” Ambrose tossed his hands in the air.

“He probably went to get some answers and then involve you later.”

“Or he’ll risk getting himself killed.”

“He’s smarter than that.”

“Or stupid enough.”

“Yeah.”

The sound of an engine starting caught their attention.

“Where are you two going!”

“Sorry, gotta go.” Luke must’ve pick-pocketed the key because he and Lucy were in the Jaguar they’d fixed up with their father and drove off.

“Luke! Lucy! Damnit.”

Ambrose smirked. “Shoe on the other foot, is it?”

“It always on the other foot.”

“Mh-hm.”

“Do you... Want to get taxi?”

“I have another car.”

“Wow.”

“Well, technically it’s my second cousin twice removed’s.”

“Do you know where they went?”

“One of two places. A third less likely. Long story short, our father’s revealed himself and been helping us discover one of Orbis’ operations, but he got caught, and they might be holding him.”

Lanyard checked his phone. He’d linked Jaguar’s GPS to an app. “Well, when they drove off, GPS had them going somewhere near the docks.”

“Let’s go then.”

Ambrose and Lanyard went to the garage and took the elevator in the wall to the lair below and no later took to the roads in the Bentley. Lanyard drove while Ambrose placed a call.

The phone rang. Once. Twice.

He encrypted it.

Stevie picked up. “Ambrose, how are you two holding up?”

“I need help, Stevie. I know who betrayed out father’s work with MI6, but it’s going to be difficult to go after them.”

“Who is it?”

“Fitz and I think it’s Harrow.”

“Ambrose—”

“I know. It’s bad. He leaked father’s involvement with British Intelligence and exposed him again today along with the heist. All this time he had access. From the start.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Authorize an off-the-books authorization for my brother and I.”

“Just you two? No one else?”

“My brother’s friends and Lanyard will be on stand-by. They’re the only one’s I trust implicitly. We need to keep this a tight circle.”

“In short, you want me to sanction an off-the-books operation that includes you, your brother, a retired black-ops SEAL, and his children.”

“And odd mix. I know.”

“Do they know the risks?”

“Yes, we do,” Lanyard said.

“Lanyard, you don’t need to be involved unless you want to be. I could never ask you to put everything at risk,” Ambrose said.

“Kasim and Maurice both threatened my family. It’s already at risk. Now I can do something about it before they get to act on their threats. You’re damn right I’m getting involved.”

“Hear that, Stevie?”

“Are you sure it’s the only way?”

“We’re on our own.”

“If it doesn’t work, we’ll all be in trouble.”

“We’ll make it work.”

“All right, clearance granted. Anything else I can do, let me know. If you need to use the lair, I’m diverting feed so no one knows what’s going on.”

“Thank you, Stevie.”

“Be careful.”

“We will.”

Chapter 30

I knew Ambrose would come downstairs to check on me, so I wasted no time in getting into the Mustang. He’d kill me later, but I’d bring his car back. Driving carefully to avoid the police was paramount, though, because I didn’t have my license yet.

I removed the brake and inserted the key. A deep breath coursed through me. I pressed on the clutch and break, turning in the key. The engine rumbled softly. “Damn, it’s a good car.” I switched gears from neutral to first. Ambrose and I had already practiced parking a great deal, so getting out onto the road was all a memory. I glanced at the front door before cruising off. With Harrow’s people watching me, I had to try some evasive maneuvers. Afterward, I called Abner. Sewers were full of noxious gasses, i.e. ammonia, carbon monoxide, and vicious bacteria, so I needed to borrow a hazmat suit and said it was for an experiment.

Of course, not a few minutes after I drove off, I texted Luke and Lucy where I was headed and to be discrete. They didn’t need to come, but their presence was desired if they wanted to follow. I’d kept everything classified up until now, and it hadn’t gotten use much anywhere. Luke and Lucy were two of the few people I trusted. If Ambrose saw it wiser to stand on the sidelines, I’d look into matters myself.

Lanyard’s Ford pulled up behind me, and I looked back with a smirk.

“Thank you for coming.”

“Are you kidding? We’ve been waiting for something for months.”

“Especially Luke.”

“It’s hard not pickpocketing entitled people for a little bit of fun.”

I chuckled. “I can imagine.”

“What made you go without your brother though?”

“Plausible deniability and difference in methods. He has protocols and superiors to adhere to, which is useful in case it all goes south. Needless to say, I’m valuable because the information I have, so I have a little bargaining room, and there’s mole in MI6, so going above board won’t help. If someone disreputable manipulates the law, sometimes you need to manipulate it right back to get the line where it should be. Lawyers do it all the time. Ask Harry.” I took the hazmat out of the trunk.

“But Ambrose being a good big brother doesn’t want you getting your hands dirty.”

“Hardly dirty. I’m just breaking a few minor laws and climbing into a sewer.”

“Climbing into a sewer?”

“No, you’re right. That is getting dirty.” I passed Lucy and him a suit as well along with gas masks and rubber boots.

“Why are we climbing into a sewer?”

I briefly explained from the party that night to the gold heist.

“Woahh.” Lucy rose her brow. “That’s ingenious.”

“Yeah— But climbing into the sewers?”

“How else am I suppose to see how they smuggled the gold and where they went? Obviously the guns had to have been sold somehow. Kasim needs the money trust me.”

“Okay, but first, didn’t he get it from the heist? The deal could’ve been what he wanted you to think. And second, why not let the police check? I mean, you already figured it out.”

I zipped up the suit. “He’s got my father.”

Their mouths dropped open.

“I thought he was dead.”

“Lucy...”

“So did I. But really he got in too deep working with my uncle by force and disappeared to protect us, and he resurfaced now because he thought he could help. Instead he got discovered and caught during the gold heist. There’s a double agent, Ambrose’s boss John Harrow, who we assume works with Kasim. I need find out what happened today, get a sense of what Kasim’s plans are, where he is, and then wrangle out my father’s location from Harrow.”

“That’s why Ambrose wanted to sit tight.”

“He said he can’t protect me anymore even though he’ll try, but I don’t need protection. I need answers.”

“Well. We might get arrested and out of Ambrose’s good graces, again, but we’re with you. Let’s get knee deep in shit.”

We crouched and lifted the manhole cover on three. No one was watching the crime scene this late. I hoped no one was watching us. Though, I did feel a shadow creeping around. Scared of it shying away at discovery, I didn’t pay much attention. And so we descended into the stench of humanity.

Darkness filled the place. I turned on a flashlight, climbing down the last rungs of the slimy walls. We coughed at the putrid vapors. “There’s methane and ammonia gases floating about here. Hence the gasmasks.”

“No shit.”

Lucy coughed. “On the contrary.”

“At least we don’t need to worry about dying from cocktails of bacteria or gases that could explode at a the slightest flame.”

“We still don’t have matches.”

“Why would I need a match?” I showed my flashlight around the tunnel.

“Beats me. You’re unpredictable.”

“So what are we looking for?”

“I don’t know...” I cocked my head. Heavy duty duffel bags lay smack dab on the concrete.

“How about that?”

I squatted and opened one of the duffles. The gold bars glinted in the light. “Jackpot.”

“That was easy.”

“They’re not done carrying them yet. It’s a long walk.”

“I mean, how heavy is it? Must be a lot.”

“Yes, Luke. Gold generally is very heavy,” Lucy harrumphed.

“Okay, you don’t have to be a smartass about it.”

“28 pounds per bar to be exact.” I shrugged.

“Woah.”

“And there were around 25,000 pounds’ worth in that truck. Germany’s stored their gold in various Allied banks during Cold War. They just squirreled it away, 300 tons, give or take, in Paris and New York, respectively, and 940 tons London.”

“You know your Cold War trivia.”

“Eh, history is the only way to profit from other people’s pasts.”

“So how you would get it out?”

“Hm?”

“From the truck and to the docks.”

I told then what I told Ambrose, the whole ingenious pan.

“So, they’re carrying it out obviously, but how long would it take?”

“Counting the fact they also need to take the guns they stole, hours. Let’s say eight operatives carrying hundreds of pounds through the slurry for twenty minutes and then needing a break at least every other hour. Four trips, maybe five.”

“Damn. Connive much?”

“I saw Maurice plan jobs one too many. Can’t help it.”

“Not surprising since you come from a lineage of art thieves.”

“They’d be making their last trip...” I though about the time. “Right about now.”

“Then they’re late.”

“You know what? I have an idea.” I turned off my flashlight. “We wait for them to come for the gold, follow them, and—”

“Wait, what! Are you insane—”

“Pazzo is your little sobriquet for me.”

“Fair. But how are we going to do all of that without getting caught or shot?”

“We hide out of view.”

Backing up some distance, we waited for voices. A noise. Something. Neither of us said another word for fear of it being echoed. Our breaths were bated, and not just because of the tension.

The silhouettes of bulky men and women, no doubt armed, appeared in the distance.

“Hey! Ándale, Barnaby! Bossman is on a schedule.” A woman shouted.

“So’s my stomach, Carmen. I’d have eaten early if I didn’t smell like a bloody toilet,” her colleague said.

“Yeah, yeah, at least we’re getting a juicy cut of the steak,” another woman’s voice echoed.

“I would kill for a steak.”

“Irena, stop teasing him! I’m getting sick of his complaining.”

Irena sighed. “Why is Draco even here?”

“Unfortunately, Kasim needed the six strongest, not the six smartest.”

“Hey!”

Two other men and another women were hanging about, disinterested. They too wanted to get the job done and take their pay as soon as possible. Once they arrived at the last duffles, they each lifted one barely above the sewage and shuffled along. And we followed them. We matched their steps with the slush of the sewage, managing to stay out of the lights on their masks.

It got tedious. Stressful. But tedious nevertheless. After around half an hour, through the twists and turns of the underground, they slung the duffels over their backs and climbed out of another manhole. We heard multiple thuds before they closed the cover.

“So...”

“Should we go up or go back?”

“How ‘bout neither?” a foreign voice echoed. American. A click sounded.

“Oh, great,” I whispered. If there was anything I recognized better than anything, it was the sound of a gun’s safety being switched off.

It was a man I noticed from the party. He’d been checking people in. Kasim had known the entire time that I was there. He’d waited to throw me off today. It had worked a little. He must’ve been a lookout for some reason along the tunnel.

“Darce.” Luke raised his hands.

“You can’t shoot.” I smirked.

“Of course, I can.”

“Nope.”

“Darcy,” Lucy said through her teeth.

“There’s methane and ammonia gases floating about here. Alone they’re harmless, but mixed with oxygen, tsk. One spark from the bullet could ignite the air. Catch everyone one fire, including you.”

“And why would I believe you?”

“Ah, well, aside from the fact I was top of my class in chemistry with a very good Russian professor who was always big on safety and outlandish hypothetical situations... I’d prefer being shot to being burned alive, and I’m sure there’s enough gas here to last a few hours at least. However.” I stepped forward.

He shifted. “Hey.”

“If you’d like to take a chance and start a barbecue, be my guest.”

The man considered and then turned the safety off, holstering it.

I tried to make a move, but I was exhausted and off-guard. He got me instantly, arm around my shoulder, gun to my back.

“Darcy!”

“Stay back! I can’t kill him, but I can hurt him. Understand?”

Luke and Lucy stood back.

“Spark or no spark, if you shift, I shoot. You got that?”

“Very quippy wording,” I hoarsed.

“Move! You two get up first.”

My friends climbed up, lifting the cover for the hole, and going into what seemed like a dry and musty warehouse. I went next, carefully. Then we removed our suits.

“Ian, looks like you caught something after all, Ian.” Carmen smirked.

“They’re just kids.” Irena looked at us like we were baby rats.

Barnaby chuckled. “Ho, ho, Kasim’s going to love this. These three caused trouble last year.”

“Good for us we caught them then.” Ian shoved us forward.

“Where is he, by the way?” I said.

“On business. But don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll make time for you.”

Bang! Smoke invaded the room along with a sharp ringing sound. I hit the floor along grabbing my friends and got them down behind a container, eyes squeezed shut.

“What’s going on!”

“Ahh!”

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop, pop, pop!

Bullets flew everywhere, and shouts, screams, and expletives rained almost as much as the gunfire. My head clouded and throbbed. The smoke bomb made it impossible to escape yet, so we waited.

Then it went quiet.

And I heard a whir. The smoke cleared. It sounded like a fan was sucking the air in.

“We got everybody?” Lanyard’s voice came through.

“I think so. Fitz?”

“All right, Darcy. You can come out with your friends now.”



I widened my eyes. “Sabrina?”

“Who’s Sabrina?” Luke whispered.

Lucy furrowed her brow. “Yeah.”

I slowly rose, gesturing for my friends to keep behind me.

In scuffed cargo pants and a thin jacket stood, yes, Sabrina. Hair mussed, face dusty. Wherever she’d been it wasn’t in Kasim’s good graces. Not only that, my brother and Lanyard were beside her.

“Okay, what’s going?”

“Er, we saved your life. No thank you?” She raised an eyebrow.

Ambrose gave me a look. “What’s going on is you’re alive from sheer dumb luck, and we’re going after the British government.”

“What?”

“I’m in.” Lucy raised her finger.

“Sounds fun,” Luke said.

Lanyard snapped his fingers. “Hey, keys, princess.”

Luke sighed and tossed them over.

“Come on. Let’s go before the police get here,” Ambrose said.

“No, hey, wait, what is she doing here?” I followed.

“Sabrina, I’ll let you explain while we walk.”

“It was an ambush, Darcy. You saw it clearly. They got Claude, and I tried to go after them, but they caught me sneaking around. So I came back to get you and Ambrose. When I saw you leave with your brother’s car, I figured you were breaking protocol and going to chase some leads. If Ambrose didn’t come with you, he wouldn’t come with me. So I followed you, thought we could work together. And good thing too. Without me, you’d be with your father.”

“Ahem, without ‘us’,” Lanyard quipped.

“Yeah. Anyways, I met them outside. We were both tracking you to the warehouse and crossed paths. Of course, we heard them come in with the stash of gold and presumed you’d follow. We were right.”

“You killed all of them?” Luke looked back at the bodies.

“Nope, we just incapacitated them. Although, if I did kill them, they’d have deserved it. They were money-grabbing crooks who valued their lives over anyone else’s.”

“Right... Thank you.” I nodded.

“You’re welcome.”

“Damn.” Lucy whistled. “Impressive.”

“I know.” She smirked.

“And you are?”

“Ambrose’s frenemy,” I said.

“Oh.”

“Frenemy? Really?” Sabrina rolled her eyes.

“It sounds better than former-friend-who-killed-Ambrose’s-partner-and-is-now-a-current-ally.”

“Hmm.”

“I like backstabber better,” Ambrose said.

“Er, hello, I’m helping here.”

“Doesn’t change the past.”

“Makes for a pretty good future though.”

“We meet back home. Fitz, you come with me. Sabrina, I’m sure you have transportation. Lanyard—”

“I’ll grab the Jag.”

It was a considerably less exhausting walk on the surface than in sewage, and before I knew it we were all on the way back. Ambrose and I were in the Mustang. His silence was pensive.

“Ambrose, I know you’re angry with me, but—”

“You went against my wishes. You lied to me. You stole my car. You broke a few laws. And worse, you put yourself and your friends in danger. You could’ve died. I have a right to be at least peeved, Fitz.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is that all you can say?”

“You know why I did it, and besides, we decide on the same thing.”

“It doesn’t excuse you.”

“Ambrose—”

“I know you’re sorry, but you’d do it again.”

I pressed my lips.

“There’s nothing noble in doing something questionable and only regretting the consequences.” He shook his head. “Why do you keep chasing after danger? You’re not untouchable. Kasim plays by different rules than Maurice. We lost father already. I am not prepared to lose you too.”

“I’m not chasing after danger. I’m doing something about this mess.”

“By wading into it alone?”

“I had—”

“Two untrained civilians!”

“Luke and Lucy didn’t need to come, but I’m done keeping them out of the loop. They’re the only people we can trust besides Stevie and Lanyard.”

“I know.”

“I left because I wanted answers, and I found them.”

We stopped at a light. “Fitz— This can’t be the only answer in every crisis. Running alone after men who could use you, kill you without a thought, messing with crimes not easily solved, racing life to fix things you didn’t break in the first place. You’re life is not meant to be used and sacrificed with abandon, not like this. It’s suicidal, rather than honorable. I cannot see merit in it. I’m not sure it’s the life you want, even, but it will be if you keep reacting like this.”

“Okay, now, that’s not fair. Last time Maurice got Luke. It was the only way to get him to one place when he was untraceable. Looking at all his hideouts would’ve wasted time we didn’t have, time I didn’t have. I even called you for backup!”

“Without informing me you planned to give yourself up, causing your little impromptu backup to backfire a tad.”

“All right, fine, but now, it’s Father. That’s not my fault, Ambrose. I can’t stop the people I love from being hurt by some psychomaniac. I know that. I have my strengths, and this is not one of them. But I’ll be damned if I let them go, knowing I have a chance. You said if you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to live for. I fought for reasons to live and people to love, and I’m starting to lose them. I’m fighting for them every chance I get so that if I fail, I can say I did everything in my power and not kill myself with ‘what if’ scenarios. I know if I were taken, you wouldn’t hesitate to do the same.”

He rubbed his face. “You’re best doesn’t mean until the flame burns out. You should know that.”

I looked away.

The lights changed, and we cruised on.

And then— Ambrose smiled a little.

“Why are you smiling?”

“You said it’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, well, it isn’t.”

“You’ve never said that before, much less with confidence.”

I shrugged a shoulder.

“It’s good. It is. You’re learning to judge yourself less harshly than you used to instead of automatically apologizing for everything that goes wrong.”

The corners of my mouth tugged.

“I meant it when I said things need to change. You must take of yourself better. Hard as it is to value yourself so highly, I need you to love and protect yourself as if your life were mine. Fight for yourself as you would for the people you love.”

I fidgeted. “I’m glad you came.”

“I know.” He ruffled my hair. “And, I suppose our deal needs adjustment.”

“What do you mean?”

We parked in front of the house. Everybody went in before us.

“Whatever happens,” Ambrose said, “we will always talk things over, and if the only option is an illicit, dangerous solution I don’t agree with, a path I can’t follow, you tell me before you take it so I can act accordingly, and most importantly you never, ever, leave this watch behind again.” He held out the watch he gave me.

I swallowed.

Ambrose’s expression softened. “I don’t like watching you taking risks you can’t come back from, but I hate not being able to help you when you take them. This time I knew where you’d be. Next time, I might not.”

I looked aside.

“Don’t want to be found? Fine. Turn the tracking off. I will show you how. But keep the watch. I gave this to you so that you’d always remember two very important things.”

My breath tickled my throat.

“That you’re never alone and that I’ll always love you.”

I got out of the car and hugged him.

He held me tight.

After a while, we drew away. I put the watch back on my wrist. After ages, it felt odd not to have it on.

I bit my cheek. “So? You’re not angry.”

“I was. Not I’m just a little annoyed.”

“Ah.”

“You still stole my car.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It was necessary.” I chuckled.

“You don’t even have a license yet. What if the police stopped you?”

“That’s not how you taught me to drive.”

“You’re damn right it isn’t.”

We smiled.

“You know, I think there’s more of the ‘old Fitz’ in you than I’d previously thought.”

“That a good thing or a bad thing?” I raised an eyebrow.

He laughed. “It’s you. That’s what matters. I think labeling it as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is too simple. You’re more complicated than that. You’ll never be the same, but... You’re not all that different.”

“Well, I guess, you never really lose yourself. It just gets drowned in the noise.”

“Hmm.”

“What changed your mind, by the way?”

“Well, you walking away for one, and seeing you’d throw aside anything to win the day back, no matter how hopeless. I decided that I wanted to be there, and to hell with the consequences.”

I huffed. “Really?”

“Well, I still called Stevie.”

“There we go.”

“She is one our side. However, we must find a middle ground in the extremes you indulge in. Your plan is very...” He wrinkled his brow.

“What?"

“Fitzy.”

I snickered. “What does that even mean?”

“You should know. You’re the origin of the adjective.”

“Mmh. As long as we’re doing something.”

“Oh, it’s game on.”

Chapter 31

“All right, so how do we take down the government?” Lucy asked.

We’d all assembled at the kitchen table with coffee and furrowed brows.

“We’re not taking down the whole government, per se. Just the one devil who kicked the hornet’s nest.” Ambrose leaned against the cabinets.

I grinned. “I love it when you go rogue.”

“We are not going rogue. We’re— simply bending the rules to get others who have crossed the line.”

“Oh, of course. Ethics yoga, an old favorite.”

“And we’re going forward with the plan? Go after Harrow, use him to go after Father?”

“Not exactly. It has it points of weakness.”

“Which is why I make the James Bond plans, and you make the backups. You’re much better at those than I am.”

“And if it doesn’t work out?” Luke said.

“We run.” Sabrina clicked her tongue.

If we had nothing to lose, I’d have said ‘we have each other’. But we did have something more to lose more than ourselves now. Lucy. Luke. Lanyard. Constance. Alice and George. Stevie. It was something to live for. “Well, maybe not run, but we keep fighting, find a way to make it right.”

“Stevie sanctioned our operation, but we need to make it succeed. She can’t have our backs if we don’t give her something to work with.”

Lanyard harrumphed. “And you think you two and a former assassin can handle this? All by yourselves?”

“Well, if you’re in, I’m not arguing. My only question is what about them?” Ambrose looked at Luke and Lucy.

“Backup.”

They groaned. “Hey, last time—”

“Last time you got kidnapped, and Lucy stole a federal agent’s motorcycle while breaking a couple hundred traffic laws, so yeah. You’re back-up this time.”

“Wait, I thought you said I made you proud.” Lucy wrinkled her forehead.

“Yeah, you did.” He high-fived her. “Just don’t tell your mother I said that, and also don’t do it again. You two are too smart to have an arrest record.”

She smirked.

“At least, I helped Darcy get one up on Maurice,” Luke said.

“Before he knocked you off the roof.”

“Yeah.” He grimaced.

“But it was clever.”

Ambrose harrumphed. “All right. So. About Fitz’s Plan A. We need to clarify some things. Sabrina you said you went after Father.”

“Yes. It got a little messy, though.”

“But he’s still in the country?”

“In Dover. I think Kasim found outs your father was the one causing chaos for Maurice long before you did. He wants answers and a slow painful death once he gets them. We don’t have much time before he leaves town though.”

“And I think I know what he might be after, aside from all the names of the people in Shadow. Kasim knows Maurice has places with money and identities all over the world for emergencies. In fact, there’s one in England no one else knows about.”

Ambrose nodded. “So our plan is—”

“Take control of the game. I go up to one of MI6’s goons to get a meeting with Harrow, tell him I know who’s been infiltrating Orbis, and use the stash of money to lure out Kasim and help get our father back.” I plugged the location’s coordinates into Ambrose’s laptop.

“Right. Well, very good. I do have some minor adjustments. Lanyard and I will drive up to Dover, case out the base and the surroundings. Fitz you set up a meeting with Harrow. Don’t tell him we know. Imply it. Let him fill in the blanks.”

“Got it.”

“Sabrina, ask one of Shadow’s people to watch the location with the money in case Harrow has someone check it out. Then meet us at Dover.”

“Delighted to.”

“You’ll take care of the backup plans?” I rose my brow.

“As needed.”

“Right.”

“Luke and Lucy, you’re base of operations, in the lair, monitoring communications and locations amongst everybody. Anything happens, you call Stevie. She’s the director of MI5. If we need medical, call Dr. Abner. Both phone numbers will be on speed dial in the burner I hid in the glove compartment of the Bentley down there. It may sound like a boring pointless job, but it’s important. You’re the control center. If chaos goes down on either side, you’re the first and last line of defense. Can you handle that?”

“We’ll do our best,” Lucy said.

Luke sat up. “I’m ready.”

“Sufficient?” Ambrose said.

“As long as they’re not anywhere near gunfire, I’m fine with that,” Lanyard said.

“Good. Any questions?”

“What’s plan B?” Sabrina cocked her head with a sly eyebrow raised.

“Well...” Knowing my brother, Ambrose already formed plans from A to Zed with variations for each letter. General idea? We’re were as prepared as we could be. He told us what we needed to know, and he’d keep to himself the rest. Although he’d never admit it, my brother did enjoy this side of things, the planning and the tricks. Luke and Lucy called me the mastermind last year, but really Ambrose deserved that title. I was more the... Facilitator of action, drama, and snappy comebacks. I was the fuel that kick-started the plans. “Let’s just get to work,” Ambrose finished.

“See you in a few hours.” Sabrina stood and went to call her people before disappearing into the labyrinth of streets that is London.

We all went up to shower and changed into clothes that didn’t smell like noxious gasses and were appropriate for the roles each of us were to take. Then we met up in the lair. Lanyard and Ambrose drove the Jag into the garage which brought it down to the lair. They’d use the tunnels to get onto the road somewhere out of London so they could lose Harrow’s agents. Ambrose spent a while showing Luke and Lucy the systems. They’d contact Pax for whatever reason needed. I texted from a burner phone to the number Sabrina gave me to update her. Then Lanyard and Ambrose took watch gadgets from the wall they might’ve found useful. I took some myself.

And then it was time.

“Stay alert. All of you. And good luck.” Ambrose looked across the room.

Lanyard hugged his children, and I catapulted a hug onto Ambrose myself.

“Be careful, Fizzy,” he whispered.

“You too.”

He climbed into the Jag and fired it up before driving off.

“Well. I’m next.”

“Try not to be too reckless,” Luke quipped.

“I’ll do my best.” I quirked my lips.

Hugging my friends for what might’ve been the last time, I found my eyes tearing. “Okay. I need to go. You keep track of everything. Patch in when needed. We’re all counting on each other.”

“We’ll be listening.” Lucy’s lips curled up for a moment.

“Right.” I straightened my jacket and skipped up the stairs. Show time. I strode through the house and out into the dead of night. “The weather’s looking stormy.”

“We hear you.” Luke clicked his tongue.

“Cameras?”

“Tapped in,” Lucy confirmed.

I took a cab to Vauxhall Cross and walked into the building. MI6. HQ. Before the receptionist could say a word, I said, “I’m here to see the Director. John Harrow. He knows who I am. If you need verification, my handler is Ambrose Milton-Deveruex.”

“And why—”

“I know what went down today, and I have some information he’s after.”

“One moment.” She picked up the phone and relayed the message. After a moment, she set it down. “Right this way, Devereux.”

I followed her, trying to keep myself alert. Then two men grabbed me, and I felt a pinch in my neck. “What are you... doing?” The sounds grew fuzzy. My vision blurred before going black.

Not exactly the way I’d imagined it going, but exposing the base to my memory was undesirable to them I supposed. My mind was numbed for the while. Flashes, feelings of old memories, good and bad coursed down the rivers of thought.

Then I awoke. Still cold. Still stiff. Except now I had a migraine. Nice. I stirred and sat up with a groan. Grey walls met me along with 40watt bulbs. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my head on them, arms hugging my legs.

“Why is it always 40 watts? Must be the economy,” I mumbled.

“Darce, hey, you’re back. How do you feel?”

“Yep. Mh-hm. What are the vitals on my watch?” I spoke below a whisper into my watch in case I was being spied on.

“Functional? High blood pressure, though.”

“So normal. I have a migraine too.”

“Ooh.” He winced.

“How can you hear me?”

“We called Pax,” Lucy said. “After we told him Ambrose was pulling a mission, he patched us into the radio frequency in the building.”

“He wasn’t hesitant?”

“They used to be partners at GCHQ apparently, and Pax has been trying to find this mole since before Ambrose got here. It was a surprise to us too.”

“Wow. We’re not as alone as we thought.”

“Oh. Update. You’ve been out two hours. Ambrose and Dad got to Dover.”

“How’s it look?”

“The base has booby traps around. They’re scanning the underground for layouts. Sabrina has her agent in place watching Maurice’s bolt hole.”

“Also, I didn’t expect it to be pretty, but seriously? It’s a fountain covered in bird poop. I wouldn’t go near it with a ten-foot pole.”

“I think you’ve hit on the point, Luke.”

A computer chirp sounded. Air hissed. Clank.

“Darcy?” A deep voice greeted me. Let’s call him Frank.

“The very one.”

“Come with me.”

“Fine. But I have a migraine, so I’ll be a little slow—”

Frank grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me along.

“Rude.” I scrunched up my face. My ears rang. Nausea. I’d forgotten my medicine again. Great. My stomach burned.

Down halls and up elevators, Frank lead me along brusquely until I came through an office door and was thrown into a chair. I held my face, tears streaming unwilling from the pain. I drew in a long breath. Maintaining composure was usually an advantage. But right now my high pain tolerance served me no good. The door shut.

“What intel do you have for me, then?”

I shifted, looking up.

Harrow stood at his desk, head cocked at me.

I grunted. “That’s a terrible tie.”

He rolled his eyes and glanced down.

Luke’s voice crackled in. “Darce, we’re going radio silent for a bit. They’re investigating our disappearing act. We’re going to let Pax keep the computer systems encrypted and hide until they leave.”

I bit my cheek. This was... A bit not good.

Harrow crossed his arms. “I tried calling your brother, but his phone is off. In fact Ambrose is nowhere to be found, even though, technically, he hasn’t left the house. No one knows where he is.”

“But you know that’s not true.”

“No. I suppose you’ve caught on.”

“You thought making Ambrose keep secrets from me would stop me from figuring you out.” I snorted, breathing a laugh. It turned into a chuckle. “But in the end, I managed to do it anyway.”

“You came to tell me something. So tell. What do you know?”

“Are they listening?”

“Naturally not.”

“I know you work for Kasim. I know you were part of the operation in charge of spying on my father and Maurice, that you sabotaged my father’s escape plan, forced him to run and abandon his family. I also know you’re under pressure to keep everything under wraps. Kasim has the guns, ready to leave tonight, holding captive the man you know as Claude Milton-Deveruex. But Kasim’s not leaving yet, not without Maurice’s stash. He’s trying to beat it out of my father, failing to. Maurice kept some secrets and assets to himself, and Kasim wants to know. He’s leading Orbis after all. No one will respect him unless he knows everything there is to know, quashes his enemies.”

“And you’re here to help?” He smirked. “Is that it?”

“I’m here. To negotiate.” I stood, holding onto the arm of the chair.

“Negotiate?” He chortled. “How terribly noble and wonderfully stupid.”

“Information about Maurice’s bolt hole for my father.”

“How do you know we’ll give him up?”

“Because the bolt hole needs a code I’ll only give up once my father’s safe, and also right now I’m transmitting to Interpol this exact conversation, so if you don’t hand him over, you’ll be outed as one of the biggest moles in history and charged with treason. Kasim will lose his biggest asset and never get his hands on what he so desperately wants.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re bluffing.”

“How do you know?”

“You can’t get signal out through here. The entire building is a Faraday cage. It blocks out microwaves and radio waves.”

“All very true. I can use your systems, though. I imagine it wasn’t easy to gain access to. Good luck checking the millions of servers running. I mean, you can’t exactly shut down the building’s entire network. The explanation will take too long and lure too much attention, and either way, you’re already under enough scrutiny.”

“You bastard.”

“Hmm. I’ve been called worse.”

“Down to business then?”

“Don’t you need to call it in?”

“I’m sure you assumed no one in this building would be listening. But Kasim is apprised.”

“Does he accept?”

“For now. The location?”

“After I get proof of life.”

Harrow sighed. “Fine. He’s out at the moment, so it will take a while to rouse him.”

“So what, we wait?”

“Surely you can stand two minutes? Or is a little bit of head pain enough to defeat you?”

“You know what, Harrow? I have your career under a guillotine, and I could throw up on your shoes at any moment via projectile vomiting, so up yours and sit on a cactus.”

He huffed. “Learned from your brother, I see.”

“Best in the trade. And by the way, since we’re waiting, I’m curious. Why did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Betray my father. Was it for money? Power? Did Kasim get you here?”

“I got here with my own two hands!” He made fists. “Years of a decorated military career, pulling myself out of ditches, kissing up to politicians and intelligence officials, sacrificing time with my family, abandoning my integrity.”

“So yes.”

“Your father got himself into this. Poking his head around Maurice’s business when it was better served doing what he was told. I was offered a chance to stop being overlooked, and I took it. He should’ve known not to trust anyone.”

“You ruined his life!”

“I don’t care!”

“You destroyed a family!”

“I have my own to think of.” He rose his voice.

“And I’m sure soon enough Kasim will make sure you won’t. Everyone is dispensable to him. My family. My friends. His own boss. Even your family.”

He rushed forward and tackled me. “Don’t you dare talk about them,” he roared.

I lost breath as I hit the ground. All tactical instinct lost with the pain. My fingers tremored. Flashes of Maurice went through my mind.

“Do you hear me?” He hissed.

I nodded. And then something changed. I noticed his eyes were glassy. Hands shaky. Lip slightly trembling. Neck sweaty. He was under duress. What? Why would he be under duress— He snapped when I mentioned his family. Kasim is listening in. Monitoring him. I remembered the conversation Ambrose and I had had after Kasim kidnapped me. “And of course, blackmail is his favorite method for infiltrating governments.”

“He has your family,” I said under my breath.

His eyes widened. “How do you know?” His tone matched mine.

“I know.”

I sensed that could he have sighed in relief he would’ve, but instead he pulled me up by my jacket. He ran his hands through his hair, and he mouthed ‘bug’ while angling his head down.

“Darcy, the guys left. What’s going on? Is Harrow being blackmailed?” Lucy came through comms.

The laptop beeped.

“Looks like you’ll get to talk with your father. One minute.”

“Darcy, Pax is going to intercept the feed of the office. If we do, see if he can tell you where his family is. We’ll update Ambrose and see what he can do.”

I rubbed my face. This was getting too complicated.

The screen went live.

My breath caught.

“D-Darcy?” My father was tied up to a chair, bloody and faint.

“Shit.” My voice broke. I leaned on the desk, gripping my hair.

“Are you... Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. You— Mmmh.” I really wanted to throw up now. “You don’t look so good.”

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” He coughed. “It’s my fault. I slipped up.”

“No. No, I should’ve been there. We should’ve been there.”

“Well, you know us Devereux boys, stubborn as heck lone wolves.”

“That seriously needs to change. It’s not doing us any good.”

“Darcy... Darcy, we don’t have much time. I don’t know how this ends, but you need to know. I love you, and I’m sorry. Tell Ambrose...” He winced. “Make sure he knows how proud I am of him. Of you both. You always were... My best—” The feed cut.

I swallowed thickly.

“The coordinates,” Harrow said. He gave me a pen and paper.

“Darcy, we’re freezing the feed and the bug’s frequency in five seconds. Write the coordinates halfway and then drop the pen under the desk. Ask Harrow about his family. You’ll have ten seconds.”

Not much time. I scribbled down half the coordinates, and letting my hand tremor, then pen fell and rolled under the desk. “Damn. Sorry.” I got down.

“Aaaand. Now.” Lucy counted.

“Okay, we have ten seconds. My friends manipulated the feed. They’re listening right now. Ambrose is in Dover to get my father. Tell me where you family is so we can save them.”

“Er, erm, my house in the Surrey. They’re watching them. Please.”

“It’s back,” Lucy said.

I got the pen and groaned as my back pinched getting back up. Once I finished up the coordinates, Harrow sent them to Kasim.

“They’ll send someone to check it out.”

“Right.”

“In other business.” Harrow pulled a gun and aimed it at me.

“Woah! Woah, hey, what’s going on?”

“Kasim doesn’t believe you. Who could you possibly be trusting with access into both Interpol and MI6’s systems? You can’t trust anyone. Ergo, you have no leverage. Nothing. So. You either tell me the code now or watch your father die.”

“Wait—”

“Now!”

I took a deep breath and tried to remember what Ambrose would say. I focused on the environment around me. Distraction. Luke and Lucy pulled me back to reality.

“Darcy, it’s okay. Sabrina’s agent is watching the location. Even if they come for the spot, Shadow will be waiting.”

“Porlock67.”

He typed it and hit send while keeping an eye on me. “I believe your use has run out. At least for now. There’s a glass on the table. Walk over slowly and drink it.”

“Okay.” I held my hands up, toeing the carpet. The glass trembled in my hands.

“Drink.”

“Here’s to Her Majesty.” I downed the glass of water. The bitterness betrayed the drugs. They had my medical files, so they knew what I was allergic to, how to measure just enough to knock me out without killing me. All the worse. I coughed, falling against the chair.

“Darce, just hang in there. All right? We’ll get help.”

“Don’t,” I slurred. “Don’t tell Ambrose.” My head dropped.

Aaaand once again, I was out of action for the second time in as many hours. Not my best day. I could only hope Ambrose was doing better on his end. My being a hostage didn’t fit into the plan. None of this fit the plan.