Private Royals

Chapter 5

Morgan and Knight stepped out onto the balcony that overlooked the rows of moored boats beneath them, millions of pounds’ worth of pleasure craft sitting gently on the water.

‘He’s right about the police,’ Morgan sighed, leaning against the railing. ‘We bring them in, Abbie’s chances of making it out alive go down big time.’

‘Maybe,’ Knight mused. ‘But this isn’t Mexico, Jack. Nobody’s going to tip off the kidnappers.’

‘It’s not our call to make, Pete.’

‘This doesn’t hit me as a normal kidnapping though.’ Knight shook his head. ‘A royal gets taken the night before Trooping the Colour? Seems like more than a coincidence. But why not take a royal who’s more prominent? Abbie’s pretty distant to the throne.’

‘Did you see some of those photos inside?’ Morgan asked. Abbie’s apartment was full of frames of her on the arms of A-list celebrities. ‘She’s had the media attention to make her as known to the public as the inner circle of the royal family, but she only has a fraction of the security. Her dad says she has one bodyguard, and he’s not even with her twenty-four — seven.’

‘Kidnapping a royal the easy way,’ Knight summed up.

The pair lapsed into silence, minds churning over the reasons why Abbie Winchester would be the target of a kidnap, and the solutions to retrieve her safely.

‘The Duke was explicit that he didn’t want the police involved,’ Knight thought aloud, ‘but Trooping the Colour is the army’s baby. We can keep them in the loop, in case this is all connected, without breaking our contract to him.’

‘A liaison.’ Morgan nodded, liking the idea, and then smiling as the candidate for the position became clear. ‘You know who I’m thinking of, don’t you?’

Knight did. He flicked through the contacts in his phone and handed it over to Jack. ‘She can be the army’s eyes and ears, but if she wants to come work for us, then we don’t need to worry about her stepping on our toes.’

Morgan nodded in agreement as he dialled the number and spoke into the phone. ‘This is Jack Morgan. Are you ready for your assessment?’