Private Princess

Chapter 29

Knight ran from Private’s building to Eliza Lightwood’s home. The London traffic was heavy, and he wanted answers without delay. The gray clouds had finally delivered on their threat and rain was falling. Knight drew stares as he weaved between umbrella-carrying pedestrians.

He was soaked by the time he arrived at Eliza’s apartment complex. There was no way in without a code, but Knight’s disheveled state drew a compassionate look from the security guard who sat behind the building’s glass frontage. The man got up and shuffled to the door.

“I’ve seen you enough times,” he told Knight, opening the door. “So much for summer, right?”

“I know,” Knight agreed, rewarding the kind gesture with a smile. “I appreciate this. Thank you.”

The security guard smiled back, glad that he could do a little to help someone’s day. Knight gave the man a parting wave and made his way to the elevators. After shaking his hair like a soaked dog, he knocked gently on Eliza’s door.

There was no answer.

He knocked again and again. No answer.

Knight pulled out his phone. Eliza’s number was a fixture in his recent calls list. He hit it. It went straight to voicemail.

He frowned. He tried again. Straight to voicemail.

Knight looked at the apartment door’s lock. It was the Trilogy model that was popular in the homes of the wealthy. There was a slot for a key card, and then a pad for a code. He could only hope it wasn’t set up to require both.

With nothing but intuition from his gut to guide him, Knight entered the birth date of Sir Tony Lightwood.

An LED flashed green, and the lock clicked open.