Sound of Madness A Dark Royal Romance - Maria Luis Page 0,130

humor. He waits until Samuel’s clambered off the floor before leaning forward to prop his elbows on his thighs. “I can almost guarantee that the only reason the hospital hasn’t released Rowena’s name is because they don’t want the PM breathing down their necks. But they will, soon. We need to strike first, while we still can, and I can’t use Holyrood. If the commissioner spots any of us, it’ll be over before it’s even begun.”

I cut a sharp glance in his direction. “And you honestly think that he’ll believe that one of them”—I tip my chin toward Gregory and Samuel—“kidnapped his father from Broadmoor?”

“No.”

I blink. “Then why—”

“Because I’ve already laid the groundwork.” Reaching into his pocket, Damien fishes out his mobile and tosses it to me. “First photo,” he says.

With no passcode to plug into the burner, I find the gallery easily and feel my heartrate spike when the photo loads. “You’ve . . .” Unable to finish the thought, I stare at the grainy picture of Silas Hanover down in the undercroft. Damien’s cropped the image so that there are no identifiable features that might lead Marcus Guthram back to Holly Village, but there’s no mistaking the fact that the former Holyrood spy has been captured. He’s bloodied, handcuffed, and eerily still. “You mean to make him think that we’ve killed his father?”

“I mean to make him think that Alfie Barker has almost killed his father and if he wants to see the old man live, he’ll show up when and where I tell him.”

Startled, my gaze jerks up to his. “You’re bringing Alfie Barker into this?”

“He wants freedom,” Damien returns, plucking the mobile from my grasp, “and if he succeeds, then freedom he’ll have.”

“And if he dies?”

Blue eyes shift toward the sofa opposite ours. “If Gregory and Samuel do their job, Barker won’t have to worry about that.”

“Another prisoner on the loose,” Samuel says with a dramatic sigh. “Soon we’ll be down to none.”

A dark chuckle escapes Damien as he pockets the mobile. “A dead Robert Guthram means no Holyrood pension for Marcus when he’s been silently collecting it for years.” He catches my eye. “I’ve already set the bait. Trust me, he’ll show.”

“And you?” Gregory demands. “We do all the ’ard work and you just—”

“We need Marcus feeling like he can appear alone, and Barker wouldn’t even make a toddler nervous.” Damien plants a downturned fist on his thigh, leaning his weight into it. “I’ll play catch and release at Tower Bridge. You lure the commissioner to me, and I’ll handle the rest.”

Samuel leans back to rest his arm across the back of the sofa. “When? Today?”

“Two nights from now.”

Unable to contain my nerves, I tap a restless beat on my thigh. “You’re planning this for the same time that Guy will be at Broadmoor?”

Damien gives me a slow nod. “We need the hospital staffers distracted if Marcus rings them. We take away his options and leave him squirming—it’s the only way.” Despite our audience, he lowers his head to put his eyes level with mine. “It’ll work, Rowena. Believe in me.”

Fear chases me up the stairs an hour later.

I follow Damien down the hall, tracing my trembling fingers over the wallpaper, and still I can’t shake the disquieting feeling that this plan—his plan—is foiled with holes that we haven’t had the chance to uncover. Once we do, it’ll be too damned late to crawl ourselves free.

The bedroom door hasn’t even closed before I blurt, “This isn’t a good idea.”

Striding toward his duffel bag, Damien fists the back of his shirt without a word. His abdominal muscles ripple as he bares the script of Odin’s ravens, Huginn and Muninn, and the hollow of his sternum expands as he reveals the skull and raven inked across his chest. Only once he’s clutching the fabric in one hand does he lower his chin and speak. “You have to trust me.”

My response is immediate: “It has nothing to do with trust.”

“Then tell me what the problem is.”

“Every unknown!” His blue eyes widen at my outburst but I’m already on the move, pacing the length of my room because I can’t . . . I can’t stand still when everything around me is spinning. “Damien, you’re operating on one unknown after another. If the commissioner takes the bait. If he’s foolish enough to follow a man that he doesn’t know down to the Bascule Chambers beneath Tower Bridge. If Gregory and Samuel are able to keep out of sight long