Page 68 of Protecting his Secrets

His mum hugged him. “I know you will, but I want you to rest first.”

Nick shook his head. “I’ve rested enough lately. I need to do this. I can rest after.”

She looked at Malachi. “Please take care of him? Make sure he eats and sleeps. He tends not to when he’s distracted.”

“I will. I’ll stick right to him enough that he’ll do it to make me go away.” He grinned.

“I doubt that’ll happen, but thank you. It was nice to meet you.”

Nick threaded his fingers through Malachi’s, and they headed for the door. He needed to see the police report and to find any information they had on where the shot came from, if they even had any idea at that point.

Malachi led him to the car and drove them back to Windsor without a word.

“What is it with these guys that they like shooting?” he muttered to himself, rubbing his jaw.

“What?”

Nick glanced across at him. “Whoever this guy is, or whoever these people are behind it, they like using guns. Dominic was shot, and Randall was held at gunpoint, as was May. Granted, Owen and Evan nearly got blown up, but not before Owen had been shot. And now, it’s guns again. It’s almost like they don’t know any other way.”

“Like they’ve been brought up around them or they’ve been trained to use them?”

Nick stared at him. “Military?”

“Makes sense. How they could get into places undetected. How they know people who can alter camera footage. It’s all readily available to military personnel.”

“But what’s the point? What are they trying to do? What’s the point they’re trying to make?”

Malachi exhaled, pulling into Windsor Castle. “Chaos?”

Nick shook his head. “I could’ve gone with that if we had been all over the place and in chaos, but we’re not. We’re taking it as we normally would. We’re stressed, of course, but not chaotic.”

“To prove they can?”

Nick paused on that, but his gut was telling him no. He said as much. “With most people, we know what they’re after because they make it abundantly clear, almost right from the beginning. It’s almost like this is…” He froze, gaze locked on Malachi. “Cat and mouse.”

“What? He’s testing us? Seeing what the reaction times are?”

That didn’t feel right, either. “I’m not sure. I need to talk this over with Brett.”

They climbed from the car and, within minutes, were settled around a table with Brett. Nick explained his thoughts, trying to vocalise what his gut was telling him, but it wasn’t easy. Brett didn’t laugh him away, though. If anything, his expression grew grimmer by the second.

“The idea has merit. Military personnel would have that experience and ability. Or it could be someone who has friends with that experience. Either way, looking into that area would prove beneficial. I’ll get someone on it straight away.”

“We’re going to keep researching what we can, and I want to see the police report,” Nick said.

“It should already be in your inbox. They haven’t found the location of the shooter yet. They’re bringing in a professional who can figure out the trajectory.”

“Same one as last time?” Nick raised his eyebrows.

Brett tilted his head. “I’m not sure. Why?”

“Aren’t they trained?”

“You think it could be someone like that?”

Nick shrugged. “Why not? They’d be giving away where they’d made the shot from, but they could be convinced we’d find nothing. Getting cocky.”

Brett nodded slowly. “I’ll look into that, too.”

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