Chapter 9 - THE MAN EVELYN HIRED
“Yes,” Evelyn said.
“I hired Stephen Langford.”
Claire stared at her mother.
Adrian looked equally stunned.
“When?”
“Eleven years ago.”
“Why?” Claire demanded.
“To protect you.”
Claire laughed in disbelief.
“My principal was a bodyguard?”
“Not exactly.”
“That is not helping.”
Evelyn sat down.
“His real name is Stefan Lang.”
Tomas swore.
Claire looked between them.
“Who is Stefan Lang?”
Adrian answered.
“A Valedrian intelligence officer.”
“Former officer,” Evelyn said.
“Declared dead,” Tomas corrected.
Claire put both hands on her head.
“You people seriously need a better filing system for dead men.”
No one laughed.
Stefan Lang had been assigned to Adrian’s security detail shortly before the Madrid attack.
Afterward, he vanished.
Evelyn thought he had died.
Six years later, he contacted her in Chicago.
He claimed King Nicholas had ordered him to remain close to Claire under a false identity.
“What about Stefan Vale?” Claire asked.
Evelyn shook her head.
“Different man.”
Claire groaned.
“Two Stefans?”
“Unfortunately.”
“This monarchy needs naming reform.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Evelyn continued.
Stefan Lang had reinvented himself as Stephen Langford.
He moved into education.
When Claire earned admission to Blackwood, Evelyn helped him secure an administrative position there.
“You put him in my school.”
“Yes.”
“Without telling Dad?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stared.
“You trusted one of my father’s former intelligence officers more than me?”
“At the time?”
Evelyn met his gaze.
“Yes.”
That hurt him.
Claire could see it.
But he accepted it.
“What changed?” Claire asked.
“I lost contact with him yesterday.”
“After Richard was arrested?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he’s dangerous?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Claire’s phone buzzed.
A text from Principal Langford.
Come to Blackwood alone at 8 p.m. if you want the truth.
Adrian took the phone.
“No.”
Claire sighed.
“I wasn’t going alone.”
“You are not going at all.”
“Dad.”
“No.”
“You flew to America because I said I needed you. Congratulations. You are now experiencing parenting.”
“This is not parenting. This is preventing a teenager from meeting a potentially compromised intelligence operative in an empty school.”
“Still counts.”
Tomas intervened.
“We can go.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Excuse me?”
“With a tactical team.”
Claire smiled.
“I like Tomas.”
“I am reconsidering his employment.”
At 7:55 p.m., eight security officers surrounded Blackwood Academy.
Claire entered through the main doors with Adrian, Evelyn, Tomas, and Eleanor.
The school felt eerie without students.
The same ballroom where Vanessa had dragged the empty chair stood dark.
One light glowed onstage.
Principal Langford waited beside the podium.
He looked exhausted.
He raised his hands when security officers approached.
“I’m unarmed.”
Tomas searched him anyway.
Claire walked closer.
“Why did you shut down the school systems?”
“To prove someone else could.”
“What?”
Langford pointed toward the ceiling.
“Whoever is targeting you has administrative access.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“You endangered students.”
“No one was here.”
“You sent Claire a message.”
“Because Evelyn stopped answering mine.”
Claire turned toward her mother.
Evelyn frowned.
“I received nothing.”
Langford held up his phone.
Messages appeared.
Dozens.
Never delivered.
Someone had intercepted them.
“Who?” Tomas asked.
Langford looked toward the ballroom doors.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because I know why Richard Whitmore brought Claire to Blackwood.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Tell me.”
Langford walked toward the empty chair still stored near the wall.
Apparently no one had removed it since Friday.
He pulled it forward.
Claire stared at the place card.
CLAIRE BENNETT’S DAD — WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN.
Langford looked ashamed.
“I should have stopped that.”
Claire crossed her arms.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Tell me about Richard.”
“He recognized Evelyn eleven years ago at enrollment.”
Evelyn stared.
“That early?”
“Yes.”
Claire felt sick.
“He knew the entire time.”
“He suspected.”
Langford continued.
Richard contacted someone in Europe.
“I intercepted the email.”
“Who?”
“A private company called Aurelius Holdings.”
Adrian’s face changed.
“What?”
Claire looked at him.
“You know it?”
“Aurelius manages several trusts belonging to the royal family.”
Eleanor frowned.
“Who controls it?”
“Technically the Royal Foundation.”
“Practically?”
Adrian hesitated.
“My aunt.”
Claire sighed.
“Another relative.”
Adrian’s father had one surviving sister.
Princess Helena Laurent.
Seventy-three.
Highly respected.
Chairwoman of numerous charities.
Widow of a diplomat.
She had spent decades publicly defending Adrian.
Claire had watched interviews with her that morning.
Helena had even issued a statement welcoming Claire.
Claire stared.
“She benefits if I die?”
Adrian shook his head.
“She is not in succession.”
“But?”
Eleanor understood first.
“She controls the foundation.”
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
The Royal Foundation managed billions in investments.
Under the monarchy’s charter, the sitting monarch appointed its chair.
But if a minor or inexperienced heir ascended during a crisis, emergency authority could fall temporarily to a regency council.
Who chaired the regency council?
Princess Helena.
Claire whispered, “If Dad died and I became queen at seventeen…”
Adrian said, “Helena could become regent.”
“And control the crown?”
“For a limited period.”
“How limited?”
“Until twenty-one.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Four years controlling billions doesn’t sound limited.”
Langford stepped closer.
“Richard’s message eleven years ago went to Aurelius Holdings.”
“What did he tell them?”
“That he had located the child.”
Claire’s stomach turned.
“What happened next?”
“The Royal Foundation anonymously funded Blackwood’s expansion.”
Richard’s science building.
Athletic complex.
Auditorium.
Claire stared around the ballroom.
“Royal money built this school?”
“Some of it.”
“Why?”
“To make Richard dependent.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched.
Helena had financed the man monitoring Claire.
Maybe without Adrian knowing.
Then Langford pulled a small drive from his pocket.
“This contains Richard’s correspondence.”
Tomas took it.
“Why didn’t you give us this years ago?”
“King Nicholas ordered me to wait.”
“He’s dead.”
“Yes.”
“For twelve years.”
Langford looked at Claire.
“Because his final instruction was specific.”
“What?”
“Do not expose the network until Claire is old enough to survive the consequences.”
Claire’s anger flared.
“Everyone keeps making decisions based on when I’m old enough.”
Langford nodded.
“You have every right to hate us for it.”
That answer disarmed her.
“What about Stefan Vale?”
“He worked for Nicholas.”
“Is he protecting me?”
“I believe so.”
“Then why all the games?”
“Because he thinks the palace is compromised.”
Adrian’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed almost immediately.
“What happened?”
Everyone waited.
Adrian ended the call.
“Helena’s plane just departed Valedria.”
Claire’s heart sank.
“Destination?”
“Chicago.”
Silence.
Claire whispered, “She’s coming to the gala.”
“Yes.”
Then the ballroom lights suddenly went out.
Security officers moved.
A sharp sound cracked through the darkness.
Glass shattered.
Adrian pulled Claire down.
A second crack.
Gunfire.
Someone screamed.
Royal agents rushed toward the windows.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Claire saw Evelyn on the floor.
“Mom!”
She crawled toward her.
Evelyn was conscious.
No blood.
Then Claire saw Langford.
He stood beside the stage.
His white shirt was turning red.
A bullet had struck his shoulder.
Tomas pressed him down and shouted for medics.
Another agent found a hole in the ballroom window.
The shooter had fired from the athletic building.
Claire stared at Langford.
He grabbed her wrist.
“Listen.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Listen!”
Claire froze.
His voice was weak.
“The gala.”
“What?”
“They need everyone together.”
“Who?”
Langford struggled to breathe.
“Not to kill you.”
Claire leaned closer.
“Then why?”
“To force Adrian to abdicate.”
Adrian stared.
May you like
Langford whispered three final words before losing consciousness.
“Read the charter.”
