Page 32 of Royal Salvation

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Watchdog got hacked.”

Justice sat up straighter, his awareness pricked. “No way.”

“Yes, way and he’s pissed as hell.”

Reaper could imagine he was, he prided himself on being un-hackable. “He know who did it?”

“No, but he’s closing in on them.”

“Was anything taken or compromised?”

“Not that we can see but be extra vigilant until we know for sure.”

He walked to the patio door which led from his room to the side deck and the pool area at the back of the house. Lucía was sitting with Caleb and John, her face animated as she spoke, and the two were men enraptured just as much as he was by the remarkable woman. “You think this is connected?”

“I don’t know but my gut says yes.”

“Any location on Playboy or Chess yet?”

“No, nothing. All we know is they left the military two years ago and went dark. There was suspicion of a misconduct allegation but nothing on record, just rumours. Do you know his father is now the Minister for Defence in Australia?”

“Yes, I’d heard that, and I’m not surprised about Playboy or Chess. They’re both nasty bastards. More so Playboy, but perhaps Chess just hides it better.”

“I know and I know this is personal for you with them, but we need to find out why they’re targeting the Princess. It can’t be because of you, as you came to this after the first threat.”

“No, that’s not right. The first threat was the video.”

Bás was silent for a beat. “We thought that was the case but apparently there was a threat sent to the Palace before that, which is the real reason the King came to us.”

His blood was pumping faster through his veins now. He’d convinced himself the threat was coming from Playboy. He was certain it was him in the video and that the threat had been because of him. But if there’d been threats before then, it meant the Princess was in real danger and knew something she hadn’t told him about or was unaware of.

“Does she know?”

“No, the King didn’t want her to worry.”

Reaper paced, anger burning through him at the danger she’d been put in because of secrets others were keeping. Had he known the threat had been sent there first, he never would’ve gone to Spain. “And Santini, is he the leak?”

“We think so but have nothing concrete to take to the King and he’s being stubborn.”

“What about Felix?”

“Watchdog was going through his phone but the hack happened and he needs to secure that first.”

“Is it possible that’s what they were looking for? There might be something on the phone they don’t want us to see, and the hack is a smokescreen.”

“It’s possible. I might ask Will Granger to help us out or maybe Lopez.”

Both men were on the same level as Watchdog with their hacking skills, but Watchdog outranked almost everyone on the planet in terms of how clever he was and it was to their benefit, but Lopez or Will would certainly be able to help. Both had the security clearance, Lopez worked for Eidolon the mother branch of Shadow, and Will was a part-owner.

“That’s a good idea.”

“Okay. Well stay frosty and I’ll be in touch.”

Bás hung up and Reaper smiled. Bás was another person who didn’t bother with goodbyes and Reaper understood it. Since the day his grandfather had died when he was nineteen, he’d never said goodbye to another person he cared about, hating the finality of the words.

A knock sounded on his door, and he pulled it open to see Lucía looking hesitant but happy standing on the threshold. “Your mum said to find you and tell you lunch was ready.”