“We were just about to launch our report on the investigation into the eco-terrorist cell.” Commander Pratt pressed a button on his open laptop, and suddenly the wall behind him was painted with horrible, frightening images. I realized after a moment that what we were seeing was the carnage in the aftermath of the bombing in November. There were the bodies of the injured, screaming in pain and begging for help. Then there were the bodies that were simply too still.
I reached blindly to find Nicky’s hand and held it tight. Over those terrible days when he’d been comatose in the hospital, my imagination had run wild, picturing what he might have gone through. But nothing I had conjured up had approached the reality I was seeing now.
“Is there a reason we have to see this slide?” Nicky’s question was harsh, almost growled. “You have to have known that it would be upsetting to my wife.”
“Apologies, sir.” The man sounded anything but sorry. “We were hoping that perhaps this might be a way to jog your memory about that evening.”
“I’ve been debriefed more than once. I’ve told you everything I know. For God’s sake, I’ve been over and over that weekend with dozens of agents. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t talk to anyone unusual. I don’t recall hearing anything out of the ordinary. What more do you want me to do?”
“Nothing, sir. That’s fine, then.” Commander Pratt clicked something on his laptop and the awful photo vanished. In its place was a completely different scene, but one that was more familiar to me. Because the lighting was low, it was difficult to make out all the details, but I knew that we were looking at the terrace at Viscount Weymouth’s home on the night of his impromptu dance.
“This is really the more pressing matter of discussion.” Pratt glanced at me, his expression curiously blank. “We need to talk about what happened at this party, and as precisely as you can manage, ma’am, the conversation you had with this ...” He looked down at his notes. “Scott Gorman.”
I nodded. “All right. I’ll tell you everything I can, but to be honest, considering everything that happened right after that, it’s a little bit of a blur.” I laced my fingers with Nicky’s. “I don’t have a brain injury I can blame for my forgetfulness, but with all the worry about my husband, thinking about that man and what he said kind of fell down lower on my priority list.”
“Understandable, ma’am.” The commander nodded. “And fortunately, you did relate the conversation to Officer West immediately after it happened, and he reported it at that time. But we’d like to ask some questions to clarify some facts.”
“Of course.” With my free hand, I gripped the arm of my chair. “Any way I can help, I’m happy to do it.”
“This Gorman, he approached you?” Pratt’s question was off-handed, but his voice had an underlying thread of intensity.
I nodded. “Yes. I was standing on the edge of the dance floor, watching my sister-in-law—uh, Princess Daisy. She was dancing. I heard someone speaking to me, the voice very close to my ear, and I was startled.”
Nicky hadn’t heard all of the details of that evening. Understandably, once he was awake and well enough for us to talk, we’d focused on other, more important topics. Now, he frowned, his brows drawing together, as the commander continued.
“This was Gorman, then? And what exactly did he say?”
I tried to remember it clearly. “He ... oh, I think he said something about Daisy being the life of the party. Something along those lines. And when I realized he was not someone to whom I’d been introduced that weekend, I tried to back away a little. I tried to end the conversation and move on, but he persisted.”
One thing I clearly recalled was the discomfort and uneasiness I’d felt around that man. I knew I had attempted to rebuff him, but either he hadn’t picked up on those cues or he’d deliberately ignored them.
Which reminded me of what had happened next.
“The more I tried to extricate myself from the situation, the more he clung. And then he began saying some things that felt particularly wrong. He was making insinuations about me—and he used that line of talk to segue into my work on farming changes and food sourcing.”
Commander Pratt’s eyes narrowed. “If we could back up a bit, ma’am—did Gorman say how he’d gotten into the house? Viscount Weymouth has been interviewed, and he assured us that this man wasn’t on his guest list. He gave us the names of everyone from the local village who’d been invited.”
“He said he’d come with a friend,” I answered. “A mate—that was how he put it. He said his friend had been invited, and when he—Scott Gorman, that is—had realized that Princess Daisy and I were going to be present, he realized that he had to come, too. At least, that was what he told me.”
“And once there, he sought you out and engaged in conversation that led to him being cheeky.” The policeman made a note. “At what point did you begin to feel threatened by this man, ma’am?”
“Almost right away,” I responded with a shudder. “He gave me the creeps.”
Nicky slid his arm around me and tucked me closer to his strong body, reminding me that I was safe and loved, no matter how unpleasant the memories were.
“However...” I took a deep breath. “When I felt panicked was when he began to get upset about my work. When he began accusing me of trying to change things without regard to how it might affect others. At that point, it was clear that he had an agenda, and meeting me wasn’t at all accidental. That was also when he grabbed my arm, and of course, Simon stepped in to make sure I was safe.”
“Quite so.” Commander Pratt nodded. “All right, then. From this point, you were with Officer West, and everything is accounted for.”
“Has this Gorman been found and arrested?” Nicky demanded. “He can’t have been that difficult to find, living in a village in Warminster. And we have his name.”
“Unfortunately, sir, it seems that was not his real name, and he doesn’t live in Warminster.” The commander’s eyes were grim. “The party thrown by Viscount Weymouth was hardly an exclusive, secret affair, and so it wouldn’t have been too hard for someone who’d wanted access to Her Royal Highness to gain entry. We’ve interviewed all of the locals who were invited, and none of them have admitted to knowing a man named Scott Gorman. None of them will admit to bringing along an invited friend. We haven’t found any suspicious connections to pursue, either.”
A uniformed policeman sitting at the table spoke up. “At this point, we feel that this Gorman learned that you would be at the party and worked out a way to arrive with a group. The Viscount admitted that no one was checking invitations at the door. They’ve never had a problem with uninvited guests. This fellow could’ve easily slipped in unnoticed.”
“Do we know why, though?” Worry bloomed within my chest as I glanced from one sober face to the next. “What was his goal? Just to harass me?”
Silence fell heavy around the room. Commander Pratt cleared his throat. “Information we’ve managed to collect from various sources indicates that the goal that evening was to kidnap the Duchess. The eco-terrorist group expected there to be chaos in the wake of the news of the bombing at the meeting Prince Nicholas was attending, and they planned to slip off with Her Royal Highness during the confusion. Happily, Officer West was able to intervene so that he was with the Duchess when he was informed of the bombing.”
