Page 16 of The Prodigal Prince

One of the members of security walked with her toward a side entrance to the room.

Mac ran a hand through his hair then looked at his phone to see a video call from his sister. When she appeared, the tears in her eyes tugged at Mac’s heartstrings.

“I’ve missed you, Maxey.” She hadn’t used his childhood nickname in a very long time.

“I’ve missed you, too, Esme.” It felt right, calling her by her nickname, even though he’d been gone far too long.

“Why didn’t you tell me where you’d gone? I still don’t know the details, though Edward says there’s a good reason for it.” She sniffled.

“There was. There still is, but finding Gray is more important.”

“Will you tell me?”

“Someday. Maybe when this is all over.”

A throat cleared behind them, and Mac ended the call with his older sister.

A member of the staff let them know they were needed in the medical suite. Gabriel’s expression hadn’t changed when he looked at Mac, but when Gabe looked at his wife his face changed.

Clearly the playboy prince had grown to love Esme in a way the last queen of Islas del Sargasso had never loved or been loved by her husband.

In the medical suite, Tinsley rested in a hospital bed. Fiona sat next to her, holding her hand. The nanny didn’t look too bad, but had definitely seen better days.

“I think it was the guy I was talking to the other day,” Tinsley told Fiona. “I didn’t tell them I was a nanny. I certainly didn’t tell them I worked for you. I hadn’t seen them while I was with Gray, but I guess it’s possible they’d seen me with him. They could have put two and two together.”

“What else did they say?”

Tinsley glanced at the rest of those gathered in the room, clearly weighing what she wanted to say.

“You can say anything in front of them,” Fiona reassured her. “They’re all friends.”

Tinsley nodded, but didn’t continue for what seemed like an eternity. “They weren’t mean or cruel, except for the part where they took us against our will. I don’t know how they got to Gray. I never actually saw him, but could hear the men talking about having him in their custody as well. They weren’t rough, but did make sure we did what they wanted. We were put into a van with dark windows and driven off the property almost immediately. The first stop wasn’t very far away, but I’m not sure I could get you back there. They made me lay down in the back and turned a lot. Probably doubled back and went far out of the way before coming to a stop inside a building of some kind.”

“You didn’t see where you were?” Fiona asked.

Tinsley shook her head. “No. It was a warehouse of some sort, the kind you see near a wharf or something. Like the ones we saw on the drive to the resort, but nothing to determine which one it might have been.” She stared at her hand. “I could hear them arguing but couldn’t make it all out. I don’t think they had a real plan, but one of their brothers worked at the warehouse or something.”

Mac knew where she meant. There were dozens if not hundreds of warehouses in that area.

“We were moved to another vehicle, another van. At least I think it was both of us. I still didn’t hear Gray. I think the van was owned by whoever ran the warehouse. It was used to haul stuff, but also had a couple of seats in the back. I couldn’t tell what kinds of things they hauled in it. This one didn’t have any windows. As far as I know, they treated Gray well. Once I was seated with my seatbelt on, I had my hands tied, and they put a blindfold on me.” She held up her wrists for them to see. “The rope wasn’t overly tight, but I tried so hard to get loose that it left marks. It wasn’t long before they pushed me out of the van. I landed hard but not too hard, you know? I managed to get the blindfold off. I was on the back side of a park of some kind. I headed toward children’s laughter. A kind woman found me and called the authorities. Now here I am, but I don’t think I can help much.”

“You’ve done great.” Fiona squeezed Tinsley’s hand. “Get some rest.”

An aide stayed in Tinsley’s room with her, but the rest of them went to yet another sitting area.

Fire shot from Fiona’s eyes as she turned to the security personnel. “What’s being done to find my son?”

* * *

There hadto be more going on than they were being told.

Mac knew - or thought he knew - that the family rarely knew everything the authorities were doing.

Even a royal family.

King Edward might know more than he let on, but the rest of the group wouldn’t.

Fiona hadn’t received the answers she wanted, but had been told they were doing all in their power to find Gray.

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