Page 24 of The Rook

Everyone else was on camera, but I stayed off. They likely would understand why.

Although, Saint and Lock decided to give me shit for it.

"What's the matter, pretty boy? Afraid to show your face?"

Over their guffaws, Saff reprimanded Lock. "Gentlemen, can we focus please? Besides, Rook probably has an ice pack on his black eye."

"It's not a black eye, damn it. She got one lucky hit."

I was never going to live that down To prove that it wasn't that bad and merely some bruising around the outside of my eye, I turned the camera on. That elicited whistles from Saint and Lock. And, if I was being honest, from Saff and Kaya too.

I sighed. "Are you lot done?"

Kaya grinned. "I feel like the blokes are just getting started, but Saff and I just had to make a bit of fuss there."

"Well, if you’ve seen your fill, can we get this going so I can keep an eye on the princess?"

Saff rolled her eyes. "Princess she is not."

"I know, but her father treats her like one, so that's the nickname."

That was not the nickname. Her nickname had always been Beauty, mostly because of her obsession with those horse books in the library, especially Black Beauty. She loved that damn book. She used to watch all these horse shows, and on those afternoons that she would come to Mrs. Pembry's to look for a playmate and I was busy, she would end up watching them for hours. I'd started calling her Beauty out of habit. But none of them needed to know that.

"All right, I'll make this easy for you. I've some quick and dirty bugs placed and I’ve tapped into the security feed. I haven’t had access to the study, so that will have to be on the next round. As for the manor, as far as I can tell from my last trip into it, there has been some construction, but not to the interior tunnels. I haven't explored all of them yet though, so next time I’m at the house, I'll have another look-see and make sure everything is as it should be. But for now, the map you have is enough to study."

Saff sat forward. "What about the exterior? Are we still going to be able to use that tunnel by the brook?"

I nodded. "From my surveillance from the day I was captured, yes, you will still be able to use it. But there is a clearing nearby, so when you exit that tunnel, you will have to be very careful to remain unseen unless you want to go to the perimeter. It’s a long way around and more heavily guarded, but it's up to you."

Saint, all business tone, frowned at the maps. "I don't see a great place for egress. We're going to have to run back across the clearing?"

I shook my head and pointed at the cellar. "I need to confirm this, but that cellar should be open. That one was an escape route that Montgomery put in himself. As far as I can tell, maybe right before I moved in, so just a little over a decade ago. It should be intact, but I will confirm it for you."

Lock twirled his pen around his fingers and back again. "And you're sure he doesn't suspect you?"

"Oh, he suspects me of something. But right now, he's more concerned with me watching Nissa. He’s making sure that I will guard her with my life. But to think I'm not being watched is ridiculous. Someone is paying attention. They're not doing it with cameras though, because I've got control over those. He's got to have someone watching me externally, so I'll just be careful when I’m on-site. Like I said, this is all the information I have for now."

Gabe nodded. "This is good work, Rook. Do we need a secondary on Nissa?"

"For now, no. Montgomery has got a rotation schedule. On weekends when I'm off, I’ll do my best to come in. No more visits from the team, please. They're distracting."

Saff pouted. "I was just checking on you. You didn't seem like yourself."

"I have it handled. Are we done here?"

I heard movement in the living room, and I needed to see what that was about.

"Yeah,” Gabe said. “We will review the data and get back to you with more questions. And Rook?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

"Always."

Nissa

Yesterday hadn't exactly been the unmitigated success I had hoped it would be. I still had a bodyguard I very much did not want, my flat mate was moving out, and I still wasn't any closer to finding my sister.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com