Cruel Shame (Knights of Templar Academy #3) - Sofia Daniel Page 0,51
wrong. When she steals them and sends them to the lab for processing with her return address, we’ll intercept the reply.”
“But we’ll get Elizabeth’s DNA,” I said, still not understanding the point of running the girl around in circles.
His brow rose. “I’m just saying that Camden Liddell seemed awfully protective of Elizabeth. Compare that to the archbishop, who went to play golf with Orlando’s grandad.”
I reared back and stared into Maxwell’s eyes. That didn’t sound one bit outlandish. How many uncles loved their nieces enough to risk their careers in that phony drug bust and then threatened school girls in their hospital rooms? He was probably working behind the scenes to fix things so that Myra got full punishment for the gun and coke, too.
An idea had me tilting my head to the side. “But won’t Camden be in the line of succession if he quits his job with the police?”
“That’s not the point.” Maxwell grinned. “The Liddells wouldn’t want a scandal like that to go public. If we uncover any worthwhile dirt on the Liddells, they’d put Elizabeth back on television to retract her lies about Mr. Burgh.”
“What if she doesn’t?” I asked.
He reached into his blazer pocket and produced his smartphone. After tapping a few commands, he pulled up a video of a formal dining room.
My breath caught in the back of my throat. “Is that—”
“Chez Deloraine?” he drawled. “Yes, it is.”
I threw my arms around him and pressed kisses on his lips. “You recorded Elizabeth throwing her mum under the bus?”
“Not only do I have footage of Elizabeth admitting that her mother made her spew those lies on TV, but I also got her to talk about her relationship with Myra, the cocaine she put in the curry and diet pills.”
I squealed into Maxwell’s ear. Maybe the footage wasn’t admissible in a court of law but in the court of social media, incriminating videos and recordings were priceless.
We spent the rest of the day undressing each other and making love. By the time Maxwell finished with me, we had to return to Mr. Burgh’s house so I could change into another uniform. The cleaners had removed all traces of broken glass from the room, and except for the empty picture frames, the room looked relatively untouched.
Elizabeth’s betting slip lay among a pile of papers on my desk, making me suck a breath through my teeth. The staff here must be super honest. Anywhere else, they would have skipped town and cashed in that slip. I shook my head. Three-hundred-thousand pounds could buy someone a very nice house in Richley.
I plucked it from the desk and handed it to Maxwell.
He whistled. “Keep that safe. Now that Elizabeth’s cocaine empire has crumbled, she’ll need every bit of money she can scrounge.”
“Right.” I glanced around for a hiding-place and slipped it into the inside pocket of my blazer. “The police raided all the drugs she’d left in Myra’s room.”
“And Lady Liddell stopped her allowance and cancelled her credit cards. It was one of Father’s conditions considering the engagement.”
I shook my head. “As long as her family continues going to such extreme lengths to protect her reputation, she’s going to get worse.”
“True.” His gaze swept down my body. “But situations like these have a tendency to self-destruct.”
“And bring down innocent people.” I said with a huff. “Come on, let’s go to dinner.”
Nearly everyone was in attendance in the dining room, even Mrs. Campbell, who made a point of leaving an empty gap at Mr. Burgh's seat on the head table. When our eyes met, she offered me a gentle nod, proving that she wasn’t the one behind that bullshit text message about indefinite leave.
The scent of roast beef and red wine sauce filled the air, as did the gentle hum of subdued chatter. Most of the girls sat around their tables, looking subdued, with the two boys who had distributed the cocaine curry noticeably absent. I continued to the larger table I now shared with the knights and marveled at how one person could wreak so much misery just for financial gain.
Kendrick was the first at our table to rise, followed by Gideon. Orlando cast them a cautious glance, then turned to see us approach, and stood. My steps faltered at the curious display. The knights never rose from their feet when Elizabeth sauntered into the room.
“What’s with those two?” Maxwell muttered.
“I think Kendrick sees Gideon as a rival,” I murmured back.
Maxwell snorted and placed an arm around my waist. “Nobody