Page 36 of A Fierce Princess

They look at each other like I’ve gone crazy. I don’t wait to hear their excuse, I run inside and straight into Chris.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Logan…he’s without security,” I say in between breaths.

“Shit,” Chris curses, peering beyond me to see Patrick and Lucas walking in from the car. Chris puts a hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll go,” he says.

“Fuck no, you won’t, heir to the throne. That’s the last thing I need. I’m not using my spare status,” Auggie’s voice echoes behind us. We both turn to see him in his swim trunks.

“Augs,” Chris starts.

“Get out of my way, brother,” he snarls. He places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “It’ll be fine, Suzy Q. I’ll go get your man.”

I glare at him. “He’s not my man,” I mumble.

“Right, whatever you want to think. I’m on it though,” he says as he walks past us toward his room. A minute later he’s back in shorts and a t-shirt. “Patrick, please drive me to where Logan said he’d be.”

I watch Patrick and Lucas get back in the car and drive off with Auggie.

“Well, that’ll be interesting,” Chris chimes in from next to me. I look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You do know it’s obvious to everyone else that you two have something going on, right?” he says.

I groan. “We don’t,” I say, which is mostly true.

“Well, if that’s the truth, then it’s only a matter of time before you do,” he quips as he walks away.

I head to my closet and log in to my computer. I search for any trace of M, knowing that it’s useless but doing it anyhow. After confirming that I won’t find anything, by indeed not finding anything, I pull up a link that had the original post about the bounty. It’s no longer there, the link is now completely dead, not just empty like before. Whoever is behind this is smart, very smart. I pull up my tracker I have on Auggie’s phone. Little does my family know that, in addition to the trackers our security has on our phones, I have my own special trackers. I watch the car move toward the downtown area on Nassau. It stops in front of a bank. I bite my lip as I wait for it to move. I could hack the bank’s security cameras, but most likely they’ll be gone before I get them up on my computer. So, I sit and wait, staring at the screen, willing the little blue dot that is Auggie to move.

It’s the first time that I’ve felt helpless in a very, very long time, and I don’t like it. This part of my life has been one hundred percent in my control and with a flick of a switch I changed all of that. My heart pounds with all the what-ifs and my palms are sweaty. I repeatedly wipe them on my shorts.

Then a thought pops into my mind. “The security audio,” I whisper. I’ve already tapped our security team’s audio. I did that a long time ago. I pull up my feed and listen.

“The tiger is still sitting with Logan,” Patrick says into the mic. “The tiger” is security’s nickname for Auggie. My dad is “lion,” Chris is “cub,” and I am “falcon.”

“What’s taking them so long?” Lucas asks.

“Apparently, the bank didn’t have our currency and had to get it from another bank. They are bringing it over here,” Patrick explains.

“I don’t like that,” Lucas says. Good man, I think.

“Fine, I’ll get tiger and Logan out of here,” Patrick says. I hear him talking to Auggie and Logan. There’s apparently an arrangement to have the money transferred to an account instead. And then, I hear Patrick announce they are approaching the car.

They get inside, and I see the blue dot move. I breathe. I’m about to sign off when I hear Lucas say, “I think we’re being followed.”

I freeze and listen to them talk, as Lucas drives a crazy route back here. I want to be there, helping, knowing. But all I can do is helplessly listen as Lucas and Patrick discuss where to turn and speed and calling in for backup.

I hear Pete leave with Nico, and I stay glued to my computer.

“We’re on our way,” Pete says. I listen as they ask for the whereabouts of the first car. I’m barely aware that I’m biting my nails.

“In sight,” Pete says as they approach the other car. I hear a screech of tires, and then I hear Lucas say, “I’m pulling in here.”

“I just reported the license plate to the local police,” Nico says.

“The car is continuing on at a high speed,” Lucas says.

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