Page 57 of Protect Your Queen

“We need to verify,” I said. “Since our source is quite dubious.”

“Dudes like Dryden used to be our biggest clients,” Leo said, sitting back in the small office, which was littered with our gear, and several pelican cases with the CaledoniaSecurity Logo stamped on top. Twin lions, back-to-back, in front of the four directions of a compass.

“Yup, but Dryden wouldn’t hire us to kill a girl like her,” Lea commented casually, flipping her butterfly knife in the air. “She’d be cheap to kill.”

“Watch it,” I growled, annoyed at how callous they were about the little Songbird. Cheap wasn’t a word that belonged anywhere near her.

Lea lifted a brow and looked at me with a smirk. In a voice that dripped with sarcasm, she asked, “Are we getting attached?”

“Weare not.” Technically the truth. The twins weren’t getting attached to her at all. Only I was. “But she’s a person, not a target. She’s our client.”

“We need to find a motive,” Leo said. “Does Dryden seem to hate her? If so, why? Have you seen anything?”

I took a seat around the table and I looked between the two of them.

“I’ve never actually met the man, but…” I scratched my head. “It was something Brian said, before he left. He was adamant that she never be left alone with Dryden.”

Lea chewed her bottom lip, then pursed her lips, giving her brother a sideways glance. Then she crossed her arms in front of her, tipping her chair back on two legs.

“We don’t kill people until we know for sure.” Lea’s cold tone sent a shiver down my spine. “We don’t operate on single source intelligence. Let’s do some investigating.”

She wasn’t like Jareth or Jazz. There wasn’t a dark menace in her eyes, like the combatants in Afghanistan. She looked completely normal and could have been talking about the latest TV show she was streaming. A casual killer. In a way, that was more scary, as she’d approach planning a murder the same way she’d plan a brunch.

“Could you just ask the client about her relationship with Dryden?” Leo asked kicking his feet onto the table and tilting back the same way his sister had. “Do you have that kind of rapport?

My right hand flexed, as I thought about seeing her beside the Baldwin baby grand - the way she sang, and the way she let me lift her song with my melody.

There's a special thing that happens with an accompanist and singer. There’s a level of trust and feeling that happens when you share a rhythm, when you uplift one another’s craft. When it’s good, it’s great, and we were fuckinggreattogether.

“Maybe,” I said, still unsure. Just because she trusts me with her voice doesn’t mean that she’d trust me with her secrets. “Would he try to kill her just because her album isn’t out?”

“No,” Leo said. “It’ll probably be something else. We just have to know what kind of thing it is. Maybe she was his lover.”

“She wasn’t,” I barked.

“Oh, dear,” Lea rolled her eyes. “Calm your tits, before you accidentally sleep with a client, Ambrose. I’d hate to have to fire you for it.”

“Can we fire them for that?” Leo asked, tilting his head. “What about Geordie and Pippa?”

“What?” I felt like they were talking circles around me.

“George Campbell was screwing around with Philippa Fox when she was a client. I don’t think we really have a leg to stand on…”

“Shut up,Kuya!” Lea kicked her brother in the foot.

I must have popped up like a lemur, hearing that familiar Filipino word. “What does that word mean?”

“Shut up? It means… Shut. Your. Mouth.” Lea quipped, smirking. “Cease your verbal diarrhea!”

“I know, but the other word. What did you just call him?” How was Callum MacLachlan married to this woman? She was scary and annoying in equal measure. She looked me up and down, and I had a hunch that she was vacillating between giving me a hard time, or telling me the truth. Thankfully, her better angels took over and she gave me a straight answer.

“I called himKuya.It means big brother. Birth order is a big deal in our culture.”

“Oh.” Well, that wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be. Maybe I should start learning Filipino, or something. It would certainly give me insight into Jestiny. I mean, the client.

“I used to be able to ground her,” Leo flicked his thumb at his sister.

“Aren’t you… twins?” I said, a little confused.

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