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I didn't know how much time I had. No doubt, Nissa was doing the whole my bodyguard is mean to me deal. Which was fine. I didn't care because I had a job to do.
I knew my way around the house. I'd grown up on the property, after all. Right off the foyer was a butler's pantry, and next to that was a little panel.
I was in a camera blind spot, and I gently pushed around the top of the panel and hit both top corners at once, which activated the panel and it slid sideways, allowing me to step through. Once inside, I used my phone light to find the button to depress and close it back before moving as quickly as I dared.
The tunnels were smaller than I remembered.
No, you're just bigger.
If Nissa was with her father in the study, that meant his office was empty. Or at least it should be.
Up ahead to the right was the curvature of the tunnel and the stairs. I knew the third one up had a creak that could be heard in the hallway, so I skipped it. Taking the stairs two at a time, I went to the second floor and turned left, depressing the next panel that led me straight into Julian’s bedroom.
I paused, listening for anyone in the bedroom, and then breathed a sigh of relief when I opened the panel to find the room empty.
To the right was a massive walk-in closet, then the main chamber, and to the left of that, the office. Montgomery didn’t do much work in here, but what was important was the safe.
I’d programmed a little decryption device. It was crude, but in the field it worked. Quick and simple. In less than a minute, I had the safe open and searched. Nothing that looked like a ledger. I took quick photos of everything else.
I was careful to put everything back exactly where I found it and closed the safe.
In less than ten minutes I was back downstairs and roaming the halls. At one point, I passed by the kitchen and heard familiar humming.
Memories hit me square in the chest. “Mrs. Pembry?”
The elderly woman whirled around. “As I live and breathe, Westin, is that you?”
I gave her a small nod. With a sob she stepped forward, her hands white with flour and dough, and embraced me tightly. “You've looked after me all this time, but I never thought I would see you again.”
After I left, I'd sent money back, depositing it straight into her rainy-day account. She’d thought I didn't know, but she had a separate bank account under her maiden name, and I’d found the bank records when I was a kid. Every few months I would send her something. Nothing that would alarm the tax man, just a little so she'd have something for herself.
“I don't know what you're talking about Mrs. Pembry. That wasn't me.”
She wiped her hands on the towel stuffed in her apron and waved a dismissive hand at me. “You and I both know it was. But if you need to pretend, that’s fine. Honestly, I'm disappointed to see you back here.”
“It was unavoidable, Mrs. Pembry.” In retrospect, I knew he’d done me a favor when he settled me in her cottage. And least I’d had love in those years. Mrs. Pembry brooked no nonsense, but she was full of love and it was exactly what I had needed. So despite himself, my godfather actually did me a favor.
She went back to her pie and kneading her dough. “So why are you here?”
I told her as much of the truth as I dared. “I'm back for Nissa. Julian needed me to watch out for her again.”
She pressed her lips firmly together. “If you ask me, he's the one she needs protection from. She's been terribly unhappy since you left. That bright beautiful girl. Something broke in her the night you went away.”
It was the last thing I wanted to hear.
Maybe it's the one thing you need to hear.
I knew she wouldn't forgive me. It didn't matter how well I explained. There were so many things that I couldn't even begin to apologize for.
I heard Julian’s voice in the hallway, and Mrs. Pembry stood taller and slid her mask of indifference back into place. When Julian walked in with his daughter behind him, he nodded at me. “Nissa is ready to go.”
Judging by the look on Nissa’s face, she did not get her wish. For the time being, I was still assigned to her.
As we left the manor, I asked her, “So what happened? I thought you were going to get him to fire me.”
“Turns out, you're not worth the effort. Besides, I can make you leave all on my own.”
“I dare you to try.”
