Price of a Bounty - By S. L. Wallace Page 0,44
don’t want secrets, right?”
“Right.”
“I should have told you earlier, but I didn’t realize the connection until just now. It’s about my latest job for the Resistance.”
“Guy, what is it?”
“I’ve met April, and she’s not as naïve as you think. None of the female servants at the Beckett estate are.”
Keira held still and waited for me to continue.
I sighed. “I’ve been working there for the past three weeks.”
“You’re the new groundskeeper?”
I nodded. April must have told her.
“Ashton?”
“Yes. Now that Oren is dead, I needed a new alias.”
“April told me about you. Has anything happened between you two?”
“What? No!”
“She really likes you,” she explained. “Wait. What is going on at the Beckett estate? What do you mean about April not being naïve? Do you mean like what happened to the last nanny?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“No, not April.”
“I’ve seen what goes on there. I tried to convince her to leave, but…”
“We need to go back! We need to get her out!” Keira’s eyes were wild, and her voice panicked.
“Now? Why don’t we wait until morning?”
“There’s no time to lose!”
I was speechless. What would the difference of a few hours make?
“Guy, don’t you get it? When you steal for the Resistance, someone gets blamed. Always. I’m sure you usually let your alias take that burden so that no one else gets hurt, but who do you think Mr. Beckett is going to blame this time?”
I felt sick to my stomach. Keira was absolutely right. I’d never realized, never thought…whenever possible, I hadn’t been letting the blame fall on my aliases, quite the contrary. All along I’d been hurting people too, and this time it was Keira’s little sister who’d been hurt.
I stood and helped Keira to her feet.
-Keira-
Getting Her Out
During the drive back to Tkaron, Guy called someone and placed a rush order on a new identity for April. Then he tried to convince me to wait. I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to get April out immediately.
“Keira, listen to me. It’s possible that nobody has noticed the missing items yet, so we need to handle this delicately. If April leaves without a solid reason before that happens, Lance Beckett will suspect her for sure.”
“Then we have to get her out before the robbery is discovered.”
“It’s not that easy. Beckett has money and power on his side. It’s not just about getting April away from him. If he suspects her before we can get her out of Tkaron, he’ll use the authorities against her.”
“I could just take him out,” I said quietly.
“How about we try to bring him down another way?”
“What do you have in mind?” I looked at him.
“I don’t know yet. Just give me a minute to think.” He paused. “If we can get April out discreetly, I can improve her life a great deal, and I know we can find a way to bring down Beckett in court. Remember, I have money and power on my side too.”
“She said Ashton had a job opportunity for her, but…oh no! I think I convinced her not to trust you.”
“You did that? She didn’t jump at the opportunity like I expected. I tried to get her out the day before yesterday.”
“See? These kinds of secrets, they don’t help anyone. And now they’ve put April in danger.”
“Would anyone there be suspicious if you visited her tomorrow?”
“Of course not! She’s my sister. I visit her all the time.”
“That’s what you should do then. Stop by for a visit and convince her to trust me. I was going to call in my resignation tomorrow, but instead, I’ll return to work. I’ll stay on until we can get her out of the realm.”
“What type of job training, out of the realm, do you have in mind for her?” I asked suspiciously.
“It’s legitimate work. I know people overseas in the art world. I’ve been looking for someone with an artist’s eye who could be trained to come back here to work for the Resistance. There are plenty of galleries downtown where April could work a day job, and on the side, she could work for the Resistance, verifying the authenticity of certain pieces before I fence them.”
“April, an art dealer? Are you sure she has the right qualities?”
“She has an eye for art, and I believe she could handle the training. Do you think she’d be willing to live in Mediterra for a while?”
I settled back and tried to imagine April living a high-class life. I liked it! As I listened to the smooth hum of the