Private Princess

Chapter 20

Jack Morgan pulled the Range Rover to a stop outside the coffee shop. To avoid being a static target on the street, Cook had waited inside, her eyes on the door, an emergency exit route planned through the back, behind the counter. At a gesture from Morgan, she moved to join them.

“Tell me something good,” the American asked of her, pulling out into the light traffic.

“Sophie’s a ghost here,” she told him, confirming Morgan’s own experience at the parents’ house.

Morgan nodded. “If she ran away from London, she didn’t come here. We’ll head back to...”

“Llwynywermod,” Lewis finished, pronouncing the name of the royal residence for the American.

“We’ll have the helicopter meet us there, and take us back to London.”

“London?” Cook asked.

“She’s not here. Next step is to see if she’s hiding, or being hidden, under everyone’s noses.”

“I’m going through her social media to see if there are any clues on there,” Cook informed him.

“HQ have already done that. There was nothing. No movements. No recent updates.”

“I know,” she replied, “but there could be something else. A pattern, maybe. Something.”

“OK,” Morgan allowed. “Follow your nose—”

He was about to add more when he saw Lewis looking anxiously behind them. “What is it?”

“Black BMW. I’ve seen it three times today.”

“Can you make out the plates?”

“No. Too far back.”

“I’ll pull over. See if you can get the plates as they go past.”

Lewis nodded. Morgan noticed that her hand was on her pistol.

He pulled the car onto the side of the road.

“Shit,” Lewis growled. “They went up a side street.”

“That’s a hell of a coincidence.”

The police officer nodded. “He was following us.”

Morgan pulled back onto the road. “At least we shook him.”

He called in to Private London’s headquarters. “What’s the ETA on our security team?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Morgan,” the operative in the personnel department replied, “but all our agents are in the field.”

“What about freelance contractors?” Morgan asked, confused. There were dozens of personal security companies that could be hired in these situations.

“I’m afraid none of them are bidding on the contract,” the operative explained. “It’s really quite unusual, Mr. Morgan. I’ve never come across this before. I have no idea why no one is taking the job.”

But Morgan had.

The reason’s name was Michael Gibbon.