Page 47 of Break Me: Smith and Belle

“Please,” I stopped her before she could tell me it was another dead end. I knew I was grasping at straws. “What choice do I have? I can’t give up on her. I promised her forever.”

“I’ll help you find her,” Georgia said. She squared her shoulders and I braced myself for what blow she was preparing to deliver. “There’s something you should see.”

She leaned over and pressed a few keys on my keyboard. My computer screen flickered on and began playing a video. It took me a moment to realize I was looking at the footage from the nursery.

“This was last night,” she told me in a quiet voice.

I watched as Belle walked into the nursery and loomed over Penny’s crib. My hands tightened on the arms of my chair, digging into its leather when Nora walked onto screen.

“No,” I said under my breath. I forced myself to watch as Nora spoke to Belle and then pulled her gently away. “No.” I turned desperate eyes to Georgia. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“We’ll start with finding the Thorne baby,” she decided for me, her voice coated with an uncharacteristic sympathy. “Then, we’ll figure out the rest.”

“That could take time.” I slumped into my seat, realizing that I’d placed all my hopes in a fantasy. The longer I ignored what happened, the more danger we were in. People would notice that Nora was gone. They would ask questions. Mrs. Winters had seen Belle fight with the nanny and then there was the email Nora had sent to the agency. When the questions started, we would be the ones they came to for answers. “We can’t waste time on a wild goose chase. It could take us months to find out what happened. We need to focus on finding Nora—” I stopped short of saying body.

“It won’t take months,” Georgia said, scrunching her face. “I doubt it will take hours.”

My eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

“We have powerful friends,” she reminded me. “I made a call.”

I rose to my feet, blood pumping to my heart so violently I thought my chest might explode. “You called him!”

“He owes you, and if any one has the resources to track down what happened to some wayside waif, it’s the King of England.”

But I was only half-listening to her. “Call him back. Tell him it was a misunderstanding.”

How could I cover this up once he was involved? The more people that knew what Belle had done, the harder that would be.

Georgia checked her watch. “Bit too late for that.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, but she didn’t need to answer. The windows of the old estate answered, rattling with the sound of an approaching helicopter.

As luck would have it—because she’s a bitch as often as she’s a lady—the helicopter landed on the front lawn just as Georgia’s Porsche turned onto the drive. At least if she wasn’t going to accompany my wife and her royal friend into the village, she’d sent them in an armored vehicle. The car slowed its approach, no doubt owing to the spectacle unfolding on the grass. Then it shot forward as though the driver was determined to beat the pilot of the renegade chopper to Thornham.

It was a moot point, because as the engines shut off and the blades slowed, Alexander and Brexton Miles each got out, tossing helmets on the seat, and started casually toward the house. I couldn’t help wondering how much Georgia had told them about what was going on, judging from their leisurely pace. I’d watched Alexander run towards domestic terrorists with more interest. They clearly weren’t overly concerned that my wife might have murdered someone.

The Porsche door flew open and Belle got out, staring at our approaching guests before turning reproachful eyes on me.

I held my hands up to let her know that I’d had nothing to do with it. Edward got out of the passenger seat more slowly. Belle’s gaze had been accusatory, his was murderous. I groaned as I realized that Edward hadn’t spoken to his brother since this summer when Alexander had admitted to killing David. What was Georgia thinking when she called him? We were completely stocked up on drama without adding more to the situation.

“I come with a present,” Alexander announced, waving a thumb drive.

Behind us, Mrs. Winters loudly cleared her throat. I turned to find her looking scandalized at the front door. Of course, she had heard a helicopter arriving. “I suppose they’re here for the party? You might have told me.”

She continued to grumble as she turned to head back to the kitchen. Alexander reached me, wearing a bemused smile. “Party? You shouldn’t have.”

“I didn’t,” I reassured him, reaching for the drive.

He released it. “Care to fill me in on why I was summoned to deliver information on some backdoor adoption fifty years ago?”

“That’s a long story,” I began, but before I could get far, Alexander’s eyes fell on Belle. Or rather, her companion.

The brothers stared at each other, neither speaking. Finally, Edward marched into the house carrying a parcel, without so much as a backward glance at us.

“Shit,” Alexander muttered.

“What did you expect?” I asked. “A parade?”