Simon hesitated. “I don’t know. He wasn’t armed, but I have a sense that he wanted you to see him. Let’s face it, ma’am, the man’s been in hiding for months now. Why would he come out here and now, when your security is drum-tight? I can’t be sure, but to me, he seems the type who wanted to taunt you. Wanted to put you off balance again, make you think that you weren’t safe.”
“But we are.” Nicky wrapped an arm around my waist. “And that’s what is important.” He kissed my cheek. “We should go back to Llwynywemod now. It’s been a long day.”
With a sigh, I agreed. It had been a long day, indeed, but at the end of it, we hadn’t let ourselves be bullied into running. We’d met the people we were meant to see, and we’d carried out our duties, mostly as planned.
Together, we were strong. That wasn’t going to change.
IT IS WITH GREAT PLEASUREthat Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Kendal announce that the Duchess of Kendal is expecting a baby in the Fall. Their Royal Highnesses appreciate all of the support and well-wishes from the public, particularly after His Royal Highness’s injury last year.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, along with the Duke and Duchess of Westhampton, Princess Alexandra and Mr Jake Newhall, and Princess Daisy have all been informed of the news, as have Mr and Mrs Sage Duncan and other members of the Duchess’s family. Everyone is delighted.
The Duchess is in good health and expects to carry out her planned engagements through mid-summer.
I smiled as I scanned my phone, reading the reports and stories in the wake of today’s announcement. Nicky and I had planned to release the news two weeks ago, in the days following our return from Wales, but with everything that had happened on that trip, especially the capture and arrest of Scott Gorman, we’d elected to wait. Scotland Yard had been excited to share with the country that they’d made at least one arrest in the investigation of the bombing and terror plot. We were all hopeful that it would lead to others.
But while all of us were relieved about the forward movement, it didn’t seem like the right time to let the world in on our secret. We’d decided to push everything back for two weeks—which meant that on the day of the announcement, here I was, sitting at my desk at Honey Bee, having a perfectly boring, typical workday. And since the news had gone out about midday, I hadn’t made any appearance yet in a world that knew I was going to be a mother.
Thanks to updates from Harold, I was aware that the swarm of reporters waiting outside for me had swelled to three times the normal number, and I was certain that walking from the front of the building to the car today would be madness. With that in mind, we’d determined that I would head for home slightly earlier than I usually did.
I reached for my briefcase and slid a pile of papers into it. I’d just zipped it up when there was a knock at my door.
My co-workers had been dropping by my office all day to offer congratulations and best wishes, so I didn’t hesitate to call out, “Come in!”
But I was more than slightly taken aback when I saw the young man hesitating in the open doorway. I hadn’t caught more than a glimpse or two of Rick Lester, the employee who’d made me uneasy, in the past months. And each time I did see him, he appeared to be in a hurry to get away from me. A nugget of guilt had settled in my chest; I wondered if he’d somehow heard through the grapevine that we’d been suspicious about him, despite his apparently exemplary work.
“Ma’am ... I’m sorry to disturb you, but I wondered if I could have just a moment?” Rick hovered uncertainly.
“Of course. Come in, please.” I indicated the chair in front of me. “Sit down. What can I do for you, Rick?”
His face flushed red. “I can’t believe you remember my name.”
Tilting my head, I smiled a little. “I try to learn everyone’s names. I can’t promise to be perfect, but I do my best.”
“Yes. I know.” Rick’s shoulders hunched over as he settled into the chair. “Ah, I heard your news today, ma’am. Congratulations are in order. I wish you and the prince all the best.”
“Thank you.” I paused. “Was that why you wanted to see me?”
“No. I mean, yes, but ...” He cleared his throat, his eyes fastened on the edge of my desk. “I needed to talk with you, ma’am. I think—I’m afraid I’ve done something that isn’t good.”
I frowned, apprehension filling me. As subtly as I could manage, I reached for my phone and held it in my lap, ready to push the button that would summon Harold and Simon to my office at a run.
“What do you mean, Rick?” With effort, I kept my voice even.
His expression exuded misery. “Ma’am, my uncle ... he’s a farmer in the north of England. I’ve done some work with him.”
I nodded. “That was on your resume, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, it was, but I didn’t include everything. When I was staying with my uncle, before I got this job, I met up with a group of people who are very, ah, unhappy about some of the ideas you and the prince have. The changes you want to make. Getting rid of chemicals and growing cleaner food—all of that. They’re not all bad folks, ma’am—they’re scared, actually. They’re afraid that all these changes will mean them losing their farms or at least losing a lot of money.”
Now true fear was clawing at my spine. “All right, Rick. So you met this ... group. Nothing wrong with that, really. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, and not everyone is going to agree with us. We know that. What else?” Because I knew there had to be more.
He twisted his hands together. “They got me all fired up, and in the course of things, I mentioned that I’d been thinking about putting in for a job here at Honey Bee, but that I wouldn’t do it now that I understood their cause. But a couple of the men, they got excited about that. They convinced me that I should try to work here ... because I could be their man on the inside. I could give the information, and maybe even—sabotage the business. Work against everything you’re trying to do. And I don’t know why I agreed to do it, but I did.”
I ran my tongue over my lips. My mouth was suddenly dry. “I see.”
“Last year, when I came up here to talk to you about that farm—that was one of my first jobs for the group. They wanted you to sign on farmers who only pretended to meet your standards, because they thought that embarrassing the company would hurt your cause.”
“Ah.” I sighed. “We weren’t sure whether you did that deliberately or if it was just a mistake. My gut told me—well, that doesn’t matter. Rick, why are you telling me all of this? Have you done other things that would hurt Honey Bee? “
