CHAPTER 13 - THE GREEN LIGHT
LOUISA

“Where the fuck have you been?”

Louisa blinked at the Queen.

“You swear?” She demanded, then caught herself. “Sorry ma’am, had a run in with the police.”

“What?!” She stared at Louisa for several long moments.

Louisa sighed.

“You don’t like cats, do you?” Louisa rubbed her forehead.

“Why on earth...”

“Because I went to Lucas, you know Lucas, Alexi’s missing bodyguard, I went to his flat.”

“Why?”

“To make sure he wasn’t dead.”

“And?”

“There was a dead body in his bedroom. But it wasn’t Lucas. I also found his cat. You want?”

The Queen gave Louisa a long look with her dark blue eyes.

“Louisa, when did you last sleep?” At Louisa’s shrug, she sighed. “I thought I’d made myself clear...”

And Louisa did something that she’d never done in all the time she’d been in the Queen’s service, she lost her temper.

“Ma’am, with all due fucking respect, I have honoured your fucktarded request to back off on hunting down Alexi. I went to Lucas’ flat because I was worried about him and it was on my way home. I didn’t get home to go to sleep because I found a dead body. I then came straight back to work to look after you, because that’s what I do. Now, either stop jumping down my throat, or tell me to piss off, because unless you do either I’m going to be stood here waiting for your orders. Because that’s what I do. Sleep deprivation, or emotional termiol or serious injury is not going to stop me doing my job, so deal with it!”

There was a clatter from nearby and the King entered the room, staring between the 2 women.

“Is there something I should know?” he asked mildly.

“Yeah, are you with her on the stupid cease and desist?” Louisa demanded.

“I’m sorry?” He demanded, voice icily polite.

Louisa turned to him, taking a deep breath and making a bow.

“Your Highness, do you know that your wife has asked us all to stop looking for Alexi?” She asked him quietly.

He nodded, and Louisa burst out laughing.

“Then you’re both fucktarded,” She snapped. “Lucas Seal, you know, Alexi’s tertiary bodyguard? Is missing. It looks like he’s been kidnapped if I read the signs right. There was a dead body on his bed. It was violent and he didn’t go willingly. He got thrown out of the window. Who would want Lucas gone? The kidnappers.”

“But Chen was there...”

Louisa threw her hands up.

“And you trust Chen implicitly?” She demanded.

“She’s never given me a reason to doubt her,” The King said mildly.

“She jumped at the idea of being Alexi’s tertiary bodyguard, she hates Alexi.”

“Overstatement, surely.”

“No. Really not an overstatement,” Louisa snapped. “Sire, she’s always been Nage’s bodyguard. Why would she want to be Alexi’s?”

“Through a sense of duty?”

“Duty? From a woman that’s never worked a day’s paid or unpaid overtime?” Louisa laughed bitterly. “If I pulled all my accrued paid and unpaid, I could have a month’s holiday in Spain.”

“Then I advise you take it.”

Louisa stared at the King, stumped.

“I’m sorry?” She asked quietly.

“You’re clearly overwrought Louisa. This has clearly hit you hard,” he said softly. “Take the time.”

She gaped at him for one moment. The King was a tall man, and their eyes were on a dead level, she could see the sincerity there.

“With all due respect Sire, it’s hit every-one hard,” She said quietly. “And I’m not abandoning you.”

“No, you’re not. I’m telling you to go.”

Louisa’s eyes narrowed and she automatically settled into a defensive stance. The Queen put a hand on her shoulder.

“Louisa, why don’t you go home, take a day, think about it, catch some sleep, then we’ll talk more about it tomorrow?” She asked reasonably.

“Because tomorrow might be too late,” Louisa said quietly. “You don’t understand, do you? Whatever this is, it’s bigger than a kidnapping. And I’m frightened. I’m frightened for the pair of you, terrified for Alexi...” She looked up at the King. “And I’m scared for your throne.”

There was a long silence... then there was a gentle knock at the door. It opened, and a pale looking Nage appeared in the doorway.

“You need to see this,” He said.

Frowning, they followed him downstairs, to where the bodyguards and other staff members had gathered around the TV.

“I found it,” Nage said, looking even more pale, a sickly green. “It was...”

He gestured to the TV... and some-one pressed play. Alexi was lying on a cold concrete floor, a searing strip light casting harsh light and shade... and picking out every bruise and cut in devastating detail. He was a total mess, stripped to the waist, wearing only his very tattered black school trousers, the left side of his chest was bright blue, some of the skin ripped and oozing blood, his left arm was marbled purples and yellows, bands of red raw skin around his wrists, and his right hand was the worst, the skin on his palm shredded, the makeshift bloodstained bandage on his fingertip...

And as the video slowly zoomed in on his face, there was a sharp intake of breath around the room. His black hair was matted with blood, slick and greasy, his forehead gashed open, his eye blacked, lip split... along with that smooth slit across his cheek, where the man had come at him with a flick knife. Alexi was so deathly pale, so pale that if he hadn’t been breathing, it could have been a video of a corpse.

“Very accident prone, your son,” A snide voice radiated through the speakers. “This is your second proof-of-life, and you will get your third, and your son returned to you, when you pay the ransom. A Prince’s ransom. You have until the end of today to gather this ransom, then more instructions will be sent tomorrow. The figure will need to be in US dollars, non-sequential, unmarked, we will know.” The figure flashed up on screen. “Tatty-bye.”

The video zoomed in on Alexi... then cut to black.

There was a total, stunned silence.

“Can we pay that?” The Queen asked quietly.

The King nodded grimly.

“Just about,” He sat down heavily and the Queen moved to him.

Louisa hadn’t realised that the Queen had been crying, but her face was patterned with liquid diamond, her nose a delicate red... more tears spilling as she took his hand, gripping it bracingly.

The King sat there for a long moment.

“Charles,” he said quietly. “Make the transfer, will you?”

The King’s PA nodded gravely and stepped out of the room to make a call.

“Amy,” he glanced up at the Queen’s Assistant. “Liaise with the police, inform them of this new information.”

“Sire,” Amy followed Charles out of the room, then the King finally looked up at Louisa.

She met his gaze steadily.

“Thoughts?”

“It’s not enough,” She said simply. “They’ve got the Crown Prince of a country. Admittedly he’s not the only heir, but they could ask for double that. The payoff is not worth the risk Sir. You know that, I know that. It’s too professional for them not to know that. At the same time, they know how much to ask for. You could gather twice that sum in the time allotted if pressed. It feels like they’re about to cut and run at the same time as all the indications are of a long game. They knew where he would be, they knew his bodyguards, they took one out. They had a sniper for Dimitri before they even got into the room with Alexi. He’s been at that school for 6 months. So what were they waiting on?”

“And what’s their real game?” He asked quietly.

He glanced at his wife, then at Louisa.

“You have the green light Louisa. Use it.”

Louisa had to resist the urge to air-punch, but instead bowed to him.

“Yes sir,” she curtseyed to the Queen. “Ma’am.”

“Get him back Louisa,” she commanded quietly.

“If it kills me, I will,” she promised, then strode out of the room.

Heart pounding and head kicking up a gear she walked through the back garden... She put a hand to her head, thinking hard, shoving aside the tiredness, kicking her brain up a gear, thinking through it, making it methodical. Then she nodded to herself.

“Oi, craphat!”

Louisa turned. John, one of the other bodyguards was stood on the lawn nearby, stood almost to attention. She grinned, eyes flickering to the maroon beret on his head.

“What?”

He shrugged.

“You’re doing it for all of us. If you need any help...”

“I’ve got you on speeddial,” She finished with a smile. “Thanks.” She hesitated. “John.”

“Ask it,” John said firmly.

“Keep an eye on Chen. And look after the Queen until I get back.”

He tilted his head.

“You don’t ask for much, do you?” He demanded.

She smiled.

“Look at us John. Both of us from the British army, and here we are, running around for a Prince who isn’t even ours.”

He gave her a rare half-smile.

“Sure he is,” he said simply. “He’s just one we chose for ourselves.” He straightened up and ripped off a textbook salute. “You’ve got it Guard Girl. Now go find our Prince.”