Defending the Duchess (12 page)

“You can’t go back and change the past.”

A small smile crept to her lips. “You’ve said that before, in one way or another.”

“It’s true,” he said, then blew out a frustrated huff of air. “You’re not the only one blaming yourself for not stopping the events that happened in June. The whole royal
guard has some level of survivor’s guilt, Jason worst of all. He thinks he should have been able to stop the ambush and keep the royal family from ever being attacked in the first place.”

“But if he’d done that, Thaddeus never would have come out of hiding. Monica wouldn’t be queen, and I’d have never been to Lydia. I’d have never met you.”

Linus met her eyes again. He opened his mouth,
unspoken words on his lips. Then he cleared his throat. “That’s true. And I wouldn’t have these burnt papers to examine.”

Julia welcomed the change of subject. She hadn’t meant to bring up her feelings for the guard, knowing as she did that nothing could come of them. “What have you learned from the papers?”

Linus stood and leaned over the images. “The pages that were on the bottom of
the pile are copies of newspaper reports. Nearly all of them cover the failures of the engine Pendleton designed.”

“The one he tried to sell to Motormech?”

“Precisely. Most of the failures resulted in accidents that caused only injuries. But after a few of those reports came out, Seattle Electronics had two engineers test the SE323 to prove it was safe. Balfour and Chen.”

“The two
who died when the engine malfunctioned?”

“Exactly. It wasn’t safe.”

Julia studied the reports, some of which had been burned around the edges, though the bulk of the articles were still legible, and she could fill in the gaps based on what bits were still legible. If she’d thought it important, she could always look up the articles again. But she didn’t see how the articles related to
the attacks against her, or Pendleton’s death.

“Do you suppose someone was upset with Pendleton for designing a faulty engine? Did they kill him for revenge?”

“It’s possible,” Linus said as he blew out a frustrated breath, “but then why replace the design pages in your file drawer?”

“To cover up their motive?”

“You’re right about covering up a motive. They said something to
Scott about being a scapegoat. But that still doesn’t tell us who pulled the trigger. It doesn’t help us keep you safe in the future.”

Julia sighed, feeling at a loss. “What about the top pages that suffered the worst burns? It would seem to me Scott would have put the most important evidence at the forefront.”

“It’s hard to make out any words, but I’ve spotted
Motormech
a couple of
times.”

“The company that tried to buy Fletcher’s design? But that was two years ago—why would Motormech still be relevant?”

“I’ve been asking myself that same question. But what did Scott say to you on the phone last night about the break-in at your office? That’s when the
Seattle Electronics vs. Pendleton
file was disturbed.”

Julia nodded along slowly. “Scott’s fingerprints were
on that file, and his copy code was used that night.” Unable to sit still, Julia rose and paced the room, setting the scene and filling in the gaps as best she could. “Scott was at the office the night of the break-in. Two men came and asked to be let into my office. Scott used the key in Joan’s credenza cabinet to let them in. He thought he was helping.” She turned in her pacing and looked at
Linus to see if he agreed with what she’d worked out so far.

He crossed his arms over his chest and picked up the thread of the story. “They had the altered design pages—the ones that were different from Fletcher’s original design.” His eyes snapped up and met hers. “The design he emailed you. Your laptop.”

“We haven’t checked it yet! In all this excitement, I forgot about it. It wasn’t
in my room last night.”

“The guards were supposed to secure it. The guys who were on shift worked late last night with everything that was going on. I’m not sure who’s here—”

“It can wait another moment,” Julia assured him. “Let’s not lose track of Scott’s story. The two men wanted to replace the pages in the design file. Furthermore, I can guess why they wanted Scott to make the copies.”

“To get his fingerprints all over them, so he could be their scapegoat?” Linus used the same term Scott had given over the phone.

“That too.” Julia nodded. “And also so the paper type would match what was in my file folder. They didn’t want me to realize what they’d done.”

“So they asked Scott to make the copies for them. He thought he was being helpful.” Linus repeated the explanation
Scott had given.

“But at some point he must have become suspicious, because they threatened him.”

“His fingerprints were all over the papers.”

“He’s a lawyer, he knows how evidence works.”

“He was scared.” Linus recalled what Scott had said, then made a conclusive jump forward. “But afterward, he decided to follow up on what these guys were up to. Maybe to cover his own trail
if they ever tried to pin anything on him. So he did some searching.”

“At some point, they must have realized he was on to them.”

“And that’s what led them to you,” Linus concluded. “They knew they needed to tie up all their loose ends before Scott blew the whistle on them.”

Julia felt a cold shiver run up her spine at his words. “But, who are
they?
Why do they care about the engine
design in my file cabinet?”

“I think it’s time we take a look at your laptop.”

“I agree.”

Julia followed him down the hall in search of the device, praying desperately that they’d be able to find it, that it would still contain the file...and most importantly, that they’d finally get some answers.

TWELVE

“P
lease, Lord, please,” Julia whispered as she scrolled through a list of old saved files she’d pulled up from the hard drive.

As Linus watched, praying silently along with her, she selected a file to open.

The file must have been large, because it took the computer a few long moments to retrieve it. Julia’s hands rose above the keys, balled with tension, and Linus
reached over her shoulders to cup her fingers in his.

The computer seemed to freeze up for a moment, and Linus feared they’d crashed it trying to open the bulky document. The computer had to be at least two years old, if Julia had owned it since the time Fletcher had sent her the file. For most things, two years wasn’t old. But for computers, two years could be a lifetime. He prayed the machine
wasn’t dead.

Finally the document opened.

“Yes!” Julia exclaimed gratefully.

Linus freed her fingers and her right hand flew to the mouse pad, dragging down through the document to the pages that had been replaced in her file.

“There it is—there it is!” She nearly squealed with relief as she jumped out of her chair.

Linus wasn’t quite ready for her sudden action. He started
to jump back, but she already had her arms around him.

“It’s Fletcher’s file.” She held him in a tight celebratory hug.

Linus held her to him, so relieved at the break in the case that he didn’t immediately peel himself away.

That, and he didn’t want to be anywhere else but close to her.

A moment later, Julia pulled back. Though she turned her attention immediately to the computer,
Linus could see the blush that colored her cheeks. “Sorry,” she whispered, glancing at the closed door behind them, “I know I’m not supposed to—”

“It’s okay.” He squeezed her hand and nodded toward the image that filled the screen. “It’s different from the one in your file, isn’t it? It’s subtle, but it’s different.” Linus was no automotive expert, but he’d stared at the pages from Julia’s
file long enough to spot a few changes.

“Yes, I think you’re right. Can we print this? I don’t want to lose it.”

Linus helped her connect her laptop to a printer. While several copies of the document churned out, they backed up the document and emailed a copy to themselves and Jason. Holding the printed pages, Linus felt the lingering hand of doubt suppress his relief that they’d retrieved
the evidence. “Julia?”

“Yes?” She held another copy and paged through it, still clearly marveling that she finally held the important pages in her hands.

He hated to burst her bubble, but the question needed to be asked. “What does it mean?”

Her expression fell slightly. “I don’t know, but someone went to an awful lot of trouble to make these pages disappear. It has to be something
important. It was worth killing over.”

* * *

Since Julia had originally come to Lydia for the express purpose of spending time with her sister, she knew she ought to do so when she had the chance that afternoon, even if she felt a burning desire to study the photographs of the burnt documents laid out on the conference room table at the royal guard headquarters. She was nearly certain
Linus would be there, though she was equally sure he was supposed to be off duty after all the overtime he’d put in on her behalf. But he’d intimated that he had no intention of letting the investigation go on without him, not as long as Julia’s attackers remained at large.

The thought warmed her, though she also felt a twinge of guilt. The warring emotions kept her distracted as Monica discussed
the plans for the titling ceremony.

“Would you prefer a cake, cupcake tower or cake pop display?”

“Hmm?”

“Yoo-hoo.” Monica waved her hand in front of Julia’s line of sight, and giggled. “I’m over here, planning your reception. Where are you?”

Julia got her mouth open, but couldn’t force any words out.

“You’ll have a full royal guard escort,” Monica continued. “Would you
prefer to see Linus in a bow tie or ascot?”

Julia stared at her sister and blinked.

Monica laughed. “I thought that would get your attention.”

“I, uh...” Julia cleared her throat and tried in vain not to blush. “Linus?”

“Yes.” Monica’s eyes danced with amusement. “That guard you keep hoping to see every time you hear footsteps enter the room.”

Footsteps sounded on the
parquet wood floors behind them, and Julia turned to look, half-certain it
would
be Linus this time, and fearing he’d overheard Monica’s teasing.

But it was only King Thaddeus with Prince Peter on his shoulders. “We’re off to the dedication of the new playground,” Thaddeus announced, blowing his wife a kiss.

“Have fun, darlings.” Monica blew a kiss back, and the king stepped out again,
with Peter blowing kisses behind them.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with them?” Julia asked hesitantly. She enjoyed spending time with her sister, but she’d have welcomed an excuse to end the queen’s line of questions.

“No. I want to spend time with you.”

Julia realized with a pang why they couldn’t
both
go along to the playground dedication. They’d already determined that
the safest place for her was within the palace walls. They didn’t want to risk another attack—and a playground dedication was no place for an encounter with the desperate men who’d killed Fletcher and shot Scott.

“Julia?” Monica’s expression sobered at her sister’s extended silence. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Maybe I shouldn’t have teased, but I need to know if you want Linus to
serve as your escort for the event. Given the circumstances, it makes sense to have a member of the royal guard beside you at all times, and what better place for him than on your arm? But if you don’t want Linus—”

“Of course I want Linus.” Julia clamped her mouth shut after she’d said it, unsure if she should have spoken, but unwilling to make her sister babble on and on. She wished Monica
would go back to her teasing—the serious tone was worse. Julia would have preferred that her sister not pick up on her feelings for Linus, especially when she herself had yet to sort out what those feelings were.

But Monica’s brow only furrowed deeper. “It’s more than just a silly crush, then, is it? He hasn’t hurt your feelings—”

“Of course not!” Julia protested, perhaps a little too
adamantly. She tried to sound casual. “Linus has only ever been a gentleman. He’s been perfectly...perfect.” Julia wished she could think of a way to assure her sister that Linus was an excellent guard, in spite of whatever they might later learn of his juvenile criminal record. But how could she do that without bringing up the very record she wished to keep hidden?

Monica continued to probe
for details. “You
do
like him?”

“Is it that obvious?”

Monica nodded.

Julia wondered if Jason or the other guards had caught on to anything. She couldn’t let Linus risk a review, not with everything else going on. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I shouldn’t even be thinking about such things until this whole matter with my attacker is resolved.”

Monica nodded solemnly and let the
subject drop. “What do you think of cake pops? Too trendy?”

Her abrupt willingness to end the discussion aroused Julia’s suspicions. “You’re not going to say anything to Linus, are you?”

“Julia...” Monica placed a hand over her heart as though she’d been insulted. “Of course I’m not going to speak to
Linus
. I just needed to find out if you want him as your escort on Sunday.”

“I
don’t know if I do.”

“Of course you do. Now let’s just talk about the cake.”

* * *

Linus used a magnifying glass to inspect the photographic images of the burned pages, making notes of any words or parts of words he could pick out. His notes looked like a mess of random letters.
Squigg. Envirotek. EEGS
. They weren’t even real words.

He couldn’t make heads or tails of any of
it. But neither could he give up.

Jason cleared his throat from the doorway. It was an ominous throat clearing, the kind that usually preceded a lecture. Linus had known his supervisor long enough to interpret the sound before he’d even laid eyes on him.

One look at Jason’s face confirmed it.

“What did I do?” Linus lowered the magnifying glass.

“For one, you don’t seem to understand
the words
off duty
. It’s seven in the evening and you haven’t had dinner yet. You weren’t even scheduled to work today.”

“
You’re
still here.”

That edged a smile to Jason’s lips, but he cleared his throat again, and Linus knew that hadn’t been the subject the head of the guard had come to lecture him about.

“I spoke with their majesties the king and queen. They’re worried about Julia.”

“I’m doing everything I can—”

“That’s why they’re worried. More specifically, I believe Queen Monica is concerned about the nature of your attention to her little sister.”

Linus felt his ears flame red. “I haven’t—I haven’t done anything or said anything.” He’d specifically kept his emotions in check, even when it had been quite difficult to do so. What could the queen possibly have
seen?

Jason rubbed his hands across his face. He was only a few years older than Linus, but the burden of running the royal guard in such trying times had already begun to show its toll. “This isn’t a good time for this. The fact is, Linus, Queen Monica would like to request you to be Julia’s personal escort for the titling ceremony.”

“I’d be honored.”

“But she needs to know that
her sister...” He rubbed his face again and made a grunt of frustration. “If I may speak plainly—”

“I wish you would.” Linus met Jason’s eyes and might have laughed if his old friend hadn’t been acting so frighteningly serious.

“I know you’re an honorable member of the royal guard, but we have standards to uphold. You know your record. I wish I could erase history, but if you come up
for review, it will also have to come out. I can’t set a double standard for my friends.”

“Are you worried that there might be something between me and Julia?”

“Worried?” Jason shook his head somberly. “You’ve been my friend far too long to try to hide. I’ve seen the two of you together. I know there’s something going on. The queen suspects it, as well. Just promise me one thing, if
you can.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t cross the line with the duchess. If you get caught, you’ll be subject to immediate review. Understood?”

“Completely.”

“Excellent.” Jason smiled. “Then you can come with me now. The duchess has received a large envelope via international mail. I’ve asked Sam to bring her to the conference room to open it.”

Linus straightened. “Any ID on the sender?”

“The return address indicates one Fletcher Pendleton.”

“You know he was murdered, right?” Linus had filled his boss in on all those details, but it wouldn’t have surprised him if, with everything else that had been going on, the name had slipped his mind.

“Before his death, Fletcher told Julia to expect a package, correct?” Jason entered the conference room and stepped to the side
as Linus followed him in.

“That’s right.” Linus spotted the package on the table, with Oliver hovering warily nearby, almost as though they feared the envelope might be stolen if it was left unguarded. “So this is the package he sent her?”

“Oh, my!”

Linus turned in time to see Julia enter the room, her fingers covering her mouth. She looked warily at the envelope as though it might
hurt her.

She glanced up at him, then back at the parcel. “He really
did
send me a package.”

“He did,” Linus confirmed, wishing he could wrap her in his arms and comfort her, but he’d just promised Jason he’d do nothing of the sort.

“I suppose I should open it.”

“When you’re ready.”

* * *

Though the package on the table frightened her, Julia took comfort knowing that
Linus was there, even if he wasn’t technically on duty. She approached the package cautiously and tried not to think about the fate of its sender.

Linus helped her peel back the seal, peeking inside when they had it halfway open. “It just looks like a bunch of papers.” His tone bore a mixture of relief and disappointment.

“Hopefully the papers will give us some answers.” The adhesive
loosened its grip under her steady hand, and a moment later the envelope gaped open.

“Careful now.” Linus spread out his hands to catch the contents as Julia tipped the envelope toward him. A sheaf of papers slid out neatly, and he caught them.

The top page was a cover letter on Fletcher Pendleton’s personal stationery, dated August 14, the same day Julia had arrived in Lydia the first
time. The same day—or within twenty-four hours—of the break-in at her house.

She took a tiny gulp and turned the paper to read, standing back from the table so the guards could see everything she saw. She read quickly, unable to absorb every word in her haste to sort out the meaning. Certain lines stood out far more starkly than others.

It is imperative that someone know the
truth... No one from Seattle Electronics will talk to me... As you know, Seattle Electronics was awarded all my work on the engine I designed for them. At the time, I felt guilty for my involvement. I gave them every scrap of paper, every file, every sketch of the design I had created.

I saw the headlines about the malfunctions with the SE323... I realized something was wrong. I convinced
one of my key associates from Seattle Electronics to pass along to me the current design. Though mostly unchanged from my memories of the original engine, it contained a few minor but horrifying alterations.

The engine I designed was safe. It would not have malfunctioned...

I no longer have the documents detailing my original design, but I have recreated them from memory and highlighted
the differences for you.

Scour your files for some evidence of my original design... These changes may have caused the accidents, including the one that killed Balfour and Chen.