Page 43 of Palace of Betrayal

“Oh, because you’re such a team player?”

“I can be when I need to. I’ll handle Alain and get rid of the bodies if we agree to swap any important information.”

“Fine, I’ll let you handle him and swap info, but I can handle the bodies.”

Bebe had no intention of trusting this spook. She didn’t want to owe him too many favours and wanted to search the bodies herself. But he might prove helpful to her, so she agreed.

Brody walked to Alain and grabbed his upper arm. “Start moving.”

“Unhand me this minute.”

Brody turned to Alain and Bebe began picking up the weapons on the ground and figuring out a place to stash them.

Brody pointed her way and she glared daggers at both men and saw Alain take a step closer to Brody. “You prefer I leave you with her?”

She had to look away, so he didn’t see the grin twitch on her lips.

“This is preposterous.”

“Yeah, well, you play with the big boys, you get hurt sometimes.”

Stashing the guns under a large bush that was easily identifiable, she followed Brody at a distance until he made it to the road and headed left toward the flowers. So much beauty and in the midst of two people who wanted her dead. It would scare a normal person, should scare them, but she was far from normal. Her entire adult life had been spent with one target or another on her head. Maybe even her whole life in some ways if she considered her parents’ use for her.

Shaking it off, she moved to where the bodies had been and found only pools of blood. Looking up and around, she scanned the area for signs that they were alive or had gotten away and found only the tranquil silence of the island.

Her phone in her pocket dinged and she took it out, glad it hadn’t got damaged and looked at a text from her landlord, Mitch.

Mitch: Got your back girl. Will hit you up with identities when we have them.

Bebe grinned and looked around again for any sign of the Eidolon team, who were as much family to her now as Zenobi. They had a very different job, mainly to protect the British Royal family, and worked directly for the Queen as her personal team. For that reason, nobody knew exactly what they did, just that national security was a big part of it.

It stood to reason they’d be helping on this. But unlike the spooks, they were happy to trust her and let her take the lead because they had faith in her.

She didn’t text back but knowing she had them there was a blessing as things got messier by the second. She hoped her sisters had that too, especially Mercy, who’d been through enough already.

Lifting her arm to sweep her hair back, she winced as she opened the cut on it again. A damned rock with a sharp jagged point had cut her when her foot slipped on the climb. Her converse trainers were awesome but climbing shoes they were not.

Heading back to the car park, she pondered what to do next when a car pulled up in front of her. She frowned until the window went down and she saw a smiling Soroosh.

“I understand you need a lift.”

“Hey, Soroosh, that would be amazing. Thank you.” Bebe hopped in the front passenger’s side and clipped her belt. “Is there any way we can go somewhere I can clean up first? I don’t want to head back to the palace like this.”

Soroosh was nodding his head wildly. “Yes, ma’am. We can go to the bakery and clean you up. My wife has some clothes you can borrow, and I can feed you my newest creation, pistachio and white chocolate cannoli.”

Bebe’s tummy grumbled, and she realised she was starving. “Don’t toy with me, Soroosh. That sounds like heaven on a plate.”

“No toys, Miss Bebe, only heaven.”

“Your wife is one lucky woman,”

“I tell her this every day.”

Bebe smiled. She liked Soroosh. He was funny and sweet, but she didn’t miss the way he kept glancing around as if on high alert. It was easy to see why he and Leo got on so well. They were the same and yet very different which, to her, showed a true friendship. If you could be opposites and still be friends, it meant the friendship was based on something deeper than a shared interest.

Soroosh led her inside the bakery through the back and was met by his wife, her neat baby bump adorable under a flowy, lilac summer dress.

“Thank you so much for this.” Bebe had no desire to endanger this wonderful couple and wouldn’t overstay her welcome.