04b1ef9c60873c444a27c4afd3197be1

“That you two knuckleheads are even dumber than I thought. And that humans love their cats, too.”

“Thank you for coming to find us, Odelia,” I said.

“Oh, Maxie,” she said, and tickled my belly until ? fell off her lap laughing.

Even the corgis joined in at some point, proving that even snooty dogs can get unsnootied when pushed.

Chapter 28

They were all gathered in the war room—actually Dante and Tessa’s office. Present were Dante, Tessa and Angela, Odelia, Chase and Gran, and Tessa’s cousin Nesbit. The Queen had left with her entourage and her corgis, happy to return to the safety of Buckingham Palace. The events of the past few hours had shaken the monarch to thecore, and it was obvious Dante and Tessa felt guilty about the whole thing. After all, the kidnapper had targeted Fluffy, and not the corgis.

“My grandmother is still convinced the kidnappers were targeting her corgis, and not Fluffy,” said the Duke now. “There have been plots to kidnap them before, but this is the first time an attempt actually succeeded. Almost.”

“Have they caught the guy who gave the kidnap order?” asked Odelia.

Tessa’s cousin shook his head. “Not yet. They’ll catch him sooner or later, though.”

“No security cameras, right?” said Chase.

“None. They picked a great spot to skedaddle.”

“Too bad the whole episode spooked the Queen,” said Gran. “We were really bonding there. Do you think the chances of her dropping by for another visit are high, medium or rare?”

“Non-existent,” said Dante dryly. “She’s never coming back here—at least not in the foreseeable future. Gran loves those corgis almost as much, or maybe even more, than her own offspring, so to return to the place where they were snatched is not going to hold a lot of appeal to her.”

“Nuts,” grumbled Gran, whose hopes of learning at the knee of the master had received a powerful blow.

“So let’s discuss theories,” said Tessa, getting back to the nub of the thing. She directed her next question to her cousin. “Who do you think is responsible for these attacks, Nesbit? What do your colleagues think?”

“My colleagues think most likely this is the work of a disgruntled employee.” He took out a notebook. “I’ve compiled a list of all the people who’ve worked for you, past and present. One of them must be behind this whole thing. I’ve cross-referenced with the people present at the SummerShow, the homeless shelter, and of course here at the house. When the tea incident happened, Suzy was there, and so were your cook Carolyn and personal assistant Sherri. At the Summer Show, Sherri was present, but she wasn’t at the homeless shelter and neither was Carolyn. Only Suzy was there.”

“There are others,” said Tessa, and brought out her phone. “I’ve compiled my own list of people who seem to resent me to the extent they might want to harm me.” She cleared her throat and gave her husband a weary look. “You’re not going to like this, Dante.”

“I think I can take it,” said the Duke.

“Your brother and his wife, your friend Damien and his cronies. And of course your ex-girlfriends Chrissie, Missy and Sissy. None of them like me very much, and all of them have expressed, veiled or unveiled, the notion that I stole you away from them, which makes me their mortal enemy.”

“That’s ludicrous,” said Dante. “I broke up with them a long time ago. When we met I’d been single for months.”

“Still. They hate my guts, and so do your brother and his wife.”

“Nonsense. Jennie and Jeremy adore you.”

“Yeah, right. That’s why they referred to me as ‘that horrible woman’ at your aunt Caroline’s reception last month. I happened to overhear them.”

“Well, you must have heard wrong.”

“Don’t forget your grandmother, Dante,” said Angela. “I know Tessa is too kind to mention her but she’s definitely on my list of suspects.”

“My grandmother? Really, Angela?”

“The Queen is notoriously averse to scandal. A divorce is the last thing she wants, so if she were to get rid of Tessa the only option would be to make it look like an accident. She could have put someone on staff here to do the dirty work,” she added when Dante made protesting noises.

“Nonsense. My gran has been nothing but supportive of Tessa from the first. In fact she’s told me on more than one occasion how happy she is that I finally found a life partner. She was worried before, and is over the moon now. Especially after the birth of Silvy. She absolutely adores her great-grandchild.”

“So what about this Damien character?” asked Chase.

Dante hesitated.“Damien is… disappointed that I’m not the friend I used to be. And of course he blames Tessa to some extent, but in equal measure he blames me. Deep down, though, I think he knows that change is inevitable, and that he can’t expect the father of a newborn to hit the clubs hard every night. He also knows he has to settle down himself eventually, and he’s rebelling. He would never harm Tessa. I vouch for the bloke. He’s a good egg.”

“So that leaves us with…” Odelia consulted her own list. “You haven’t mentioned the nanny yet.”