Defending the Duchess (9 page)

Julia touched the pages
and smiled a wry smile. “As part of our commitment to environmental causes, our office uses only 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. It has a slight greenish tinge to it. If he wanted to make everything look the same, he’d need to copy his documents onto the office paper.”

“Ah, now I understand. I suppose I should have let you call Joan.”

“No, you were right to stop me. I can’t
be certain that she’s not involved in this somehow. Besides that, when I called Fletcher—” she swallowed “—well, he was murdered after I talked to him. Maybe I can figure out a way to text Joan and ask who made copies that night, without letting on to why I’m asking.”

Another confusing element irked him. “What’s the difference between these pages and the ones you printed off on your computer?”
He couldn’t make much sense of the complex engine design specifications.

“I don’t know. They all look the same to me.”

“So why go to all the trouble—”

“Wait.” Julia grabbed his wrist and leaned closer still. “The file.” She pointed to the stack of papers with her other hand. “I printed those pages off from the file Fletcher sent me.
The file
.”

Linus nodded solemnly, repeating
the words she’d heard on the beach. “I don’t want to have to hurt you. I just need the file.” His breath caught as he stared into her wide eyes. “Do you still have the email from Fletcher?”

“I should. I never delete anything.”

Linus looked down at her phone, which she’d turned off.

She looked at it as well. “I can check my email files over the phone. How long are we on the ground
in Atlanta?”

“A little over an hour. That should give you time to text Joan and check your messages.”

Julia still held his arm at the wrist, but now she slid her hand toward his until their fingers laced together. “Pray,” she requested in a small voice, “that we’ll have time and that we’ll find what we’re looking for and end this.”

Linus didn’t hesitate. As the plane took off into
the night sky, he held Julia’s hand secure in his and prayed that God would see them through everything, and keep the duchess safe.

* * *

By the time they reached Atlanta, Julia had decided precisely how to word her request to Joan. She sent a message asking the secretary to let her know who had used the copier the weekend of the break-in and how many copies each person had made.

With that much taken care of, Julia scrolled back through her old saved email files. “It’s not there,” she concluded unhappily after scrolling through several pages of messages from two years before.

“What do you mean? You can’t access your old emails from your phone?”

“No, I can. I did. I’ve found all sorts of other things from that time period, even a few other emails related to that
case, but nothing from Fletcher.”

“Nothing?” Linus sounded as suspicious as she felt. “Where did they go?”

“At some point, someone must have logged into my email account and deleted it.
I
certainly didn’t delete it. I save everything, remember? Besides, if I wanted to get rid of something, I’d have deleted a lot of these other frivolous messages long before I’d trash an important file.”

Linus wanted to be certain he understood how her email account worked. “How could someone else log into your email? They could have done that from any computer?”

“If they had my password.”

“How could they have gotten your password?”

Julia shook her head. “I check my email all the time. They could have watched me log in at a coffee shop, at the library—any time I logged in, if
they were standing close enough to see my fingers hit the keys—”

“Or if they recorded an image of your fingers striking the keys—”

“Anyone with a telephoto lens could have captured me logging in through the window to my office at home, then picked through the images until they had all the keystrokes in order.” She let out a frustrated huff of air, then clicked a few keys.

“What
now?”

“I’m changing my password so they can’t get in again.” She hesitated. “Alpha numeric,” she murmured, then looked up at him. “When’s your birthday?”

“October twenty-fifth.”

“What year?”

He told her.

She smiled a rather sweet smile. “You’re two years older than I am.” Then she punched the numbers into her computer. “And you’re my new password.”

“Are you sure you’ll
remember that?”

“Will you?”

“Yes, but it’s my birthday. And anyway, aren’t passwords supposed to be private?”

“I trust you.” She met his eyes.

Linus swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the motion. “I have a criminal record, you know.”

Julia’s breath caught. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You don’t even know what I did.”

“What did you do?”

Linus looked ashamed,
his stubbled chin bent sideways, half rugged, half adorable. “Stupid things.”

“Like what?

“After my parents died I fell in with a rough crowd for a while. I knew how to pick locks. Breaking into things was my way of gaining acceptance. Even though I never personally stole anything, I still got caught. I could still lose my position in the guard if it comes up during a review for any
future infringement.”

Julia looked back down at her phone. “It’s not fair. Somebody broke into my email and deleted my file. They’ve gotten away with it, but you’re still bound by mistakes from years ago.”

“They’re not going to get away with it,” Linus said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. If the perp had already deleted the file, why would they come after you on the beach to ask for
it again? You had to download it to print it off, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but did I save it?” She pinched her forehead. “My desktop computer at work has been replaced since then. I backed up all my files onto my laptop before I transferred them. If I saved the file, it might still be on my laptop—
if
I saved it.”

“The laptop in your suite at the palace?” Linus confirmed.

“Yes.”

“Which has been in Lydia since before the break-in at your house?”

“Yes.”

Linus pulled out his phone. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to call the royal guard and tell them to secure your laptop at headquarters.”

“You don’t think it’s safe inside my suite at the palace?”

“At this point—” Linus’s Adam’s apple bobbed again as he swallowed “—I don’t want to take any chances. I don’t
understand that engine design, but somebody thinks this file is worth killing over. We need to figure out why.”

NINE

J
ulia awoke in daylight and blinked, disoriented. What day was it? They’d skipped a day during their flight, or flown right through it, the fifteen-odd hours they’d spent into the air combining with the time zones they’d passed through to make it midafternoon or so. Now she wasn’t sure where they were in the air, but her dry throat and cramped legs told her she’d been sleeping
on the plane for a long time. Surely they were nearly to their destination.

She took a deep breath and lifted her head, discovering to her horror that she’d slumped against Linus’s shoulder at some point during her slumber.

Had he noticed? She backed away just far enough so that she could see his face.

He slept, the bruise above his eye more visible than before with his lids closed,
its sickly green a sign of healing and a tiny testament to one fraction of all he’d done for her. She felt a surge of affection charge through her and a foreign tenderness at the sight of the sleeping guard. He’d brought her so much comfort since he’d been a part of her life.

There was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn’t have made it this far without Linus at her side. More than that,
she wished she could keep him at her side. Perhaps she could find a way to word her feelings so that Monica would request to have Linus assigned to guard her more often. Could she do that in such a way that Monica would attribute her preference to Linus’s competence and not any attraction she felt for the guard?

She’d be mortified if Monica got the impression she’d fallen for the man—more
embarrassed still if Linus guessed at her feelings. He’d never given her any indication that he felt anything toward her. If he knew she had feelings for him, he might feel uncomfortable guarding her.

The thought pricked her heart. What were her feelings, exactly? How was she supposed to interact with her bodyguard? Could she count him among her friends? He’d certainly been a friend to her
over these past several days, but then, it was his job to keep her out of danger. She doubted anything in his job description required him to remember her favorite flavor of bottled water.

Nor was he likely required to hold her while she sobbed over her ransacked house, or to recite the twenty-fifth Psalm to her while she was afraid.

Linus had done those things out of the goodness of
his heart. He had a very good heart.

If Monica asked, Julia could tell her she appreciated that Linus understood her—understood her preferences, whether it was her favorite beverage or letting her have the seat by the window on the plane. Monica would understand that much, surely.

In the meantime, she could see the Grecian islands outside her window. They’d be landing in Lydia soon.
She needed to stop thinking about Linus and starting thinking about her sister. How was she ever going to explain everything to Monica without worrying her more?

* * *

Linus hoisted their carry-on bags over his shoulder. His fellow guards knew what time to expect them. Given all the threats against Julia of late, he knew they’d be ready.

Was Julia ready? She looked rumpled, her
eyes haunted by the fears that dogged them. He wished he could pull her into his arms, but it wasn’t his place. And there wasn’t time.

Julia lingered in the seat row, staring intently at the screen on her phone.

Had she heard from Joan? Linus stepped closer.

“Joan sent me three different codes for the weekend of the break-in. Some of those could be legitimate copies, though.”

“There were six pages in your file with the smudge,” Linus noted. “How many copies are associated with each code?”

“One has over two hundred copies. The other two have eight and ten. Now who belongs to each code?” Julia scrolled down through the message on the tiny screen. “Scott Gordon made ten copies.”

“Who made the other eight?”

“Doug Palmer.”

“Doug’s familiar with your
files as well, isn’t he?”

“Both of them are. It could be either of them.”

“And they’re both around six-two, one-eighty?”

Julia’s face had paled, but she nodded.

“Have either of them ever mentioned any martial arts experience, military training, an interest in hand-to-hand combat, anything like that?”

Julia blew out a slow breath as she shook her head.

“We’ve got to
narrow this down. What about the file? How much has it been handled, aside from the two of us touching it on the flight?”

“I read through everything in the file drawer, looking for any clues,” Julia confessed.

“That’s all?”

“All that I know of.”

“That’s not too much contamination. We could still find some decent prints,” Linus resolved.

“Wouldn’t the perpetrator have worn
gloves?”

“He may have tried to. But if he had to open the file, pull out the pages that were originally there, and replace them with the copies he’d made, he may have had a very difficult time doing so using gloves. If he removed them, even in a brief moment of frustration, we could get a print, or enough of a partial print to narrow down our target between Scott and Doug.” Then Linus almost
laughed. “Of course, we’d need prints from Scott and Doug to do that.”

“Joan can send them to us.”

“Joan has their fingerprints on file?”

“The law office has everyone’s prints on an electronic database. We work with too many criminal cases—you’d be surprised how often our fingerprints are needed for things. I’ll text Joan and ask her to send the prints for everyone at the office.”

“Great idea. I’ll give you the email address for an investigators, and Joan can send the prints directly to them You can text her in the car on the way to the palace.” Linus looked down the aisle and realized nearly everyone else had left the plane. “Let’s get going. The other guards will be waiting for us.”

As Linus had hoped, his fellow guards had arrived in force to escort the duchess
safely back to the palace. Jason headed the envoy that had arrived to whisk them away. While Galen loaded their bags into the waiting car, Linus stepped closer to Jason and spoke in low tones, filling in his supervisor on what they’d learned, as well as the need to lift fingerprints from the
Seattle Electronics vs. Pendleton
file. He handed over the papers gently, praying that they hadn’t obscured
what few clues they might be able to find.

* * *

“You really don’t have to carry that,” Julia assured Linus as he hauled her bag all the way inside her suite for her. “It’s not that heavy.”

“Then it isn’t too much of a burden for me to carry it for you.” He grinned back at her.

She couldn’t argue against his point—not without insulting his strength or his courtesy, neither
of which she wanted to question. So she smiled resignedly and thanked him.

Returning to the palace had been emotionally draining. She’d embraced her sister and nephew and made plans to eat dinner with them in a couple of hours. Pleased as she was to see them again, she couldn’t help thinking that Monica looked as though she’d lost weight. And she’d never been anything but slender to begin
with.

Linus broke through her worried thoughts. “Sam’s going to be your guard for the rest of this shift. You’ll be sure to page him if you need anything?” He placed her bag on a bench near the door and turned to face her.

Julia smiled up at him, more than aware that she’d failed to page him the night she’d gone jogging. If she had, perhaps she wouldn’t have been attacked. But then whoever
was after her would have had to find a different time to strike, possibly even when her sister or nephew were nearby. The thought made her shiver.

“Are you going to be okay if I leave you now?” Linus had clearly noticed the tremble that ran through her. He lifted one hand toward her shoulder, then paused with his fingers outstretched just a few inches from her.

She looked at his hand,
then at his face.

“I shouldn’t touch you,” he whispered.

“Why not?” she whispered back. The door to the hallway was still open, though they stood to the side, out of range of the security camera that hung in plain sight in the hall.

“It’s not my place. I’m your guard. I’ve already gotten closer to you than I should.”

Julia felt her cheeks grow warm. She wanted to let him know
how she felt, but she was terrified that he might not feel the same way. Still, he had to know how much he’d helped her over the past few days. “I appreciate that you’ve been there for me. I wouldn’t have made it otherwise.”

He’d moved closer to her, almost against his own will. “In the future—” He began, but a sudden buzzing cut him off.

“My phone.” Julia patted her purse, disoriented,
regretting that their conversation had been interrupted. She fumbled through the bag, her fingers shaking slightly. “I wonder if it’s Joan getting back to me.”

“I thought she was going to email Simon and Oliver, not call you.”

“I thought so, too. Knowing Joan, she’s taken care of it already.” Julia pulled out the phone just as it stopped ringing. “Two missed calls. I must not have heard
it ringing earlier.” Her voice caught as she read the number she’d entered into her phone the year before when it had been her job to help plan the company picnic along with a few of her fellow lawyers.

“Linus.” She reached for his arm with trembling fingers as she held out the phone so he could see the name.

Scott Gordon
.

She couldn’t speak, but fortunately, she didn’t have to.
Linus took a step closer and slipped his arm around her waist. Whatever he’d said a moment before about not touching her, the incoming call had changed that. She sagged against him, comforted that he’d known she could use someone strong to lean on as she struggled to absorb this latest blow.

“What,” she tried to speak, swallowed hard, and then attempted the question again. “What do you think
he wants?”

Linus met her eyes with steady understanding. Of course he couldn’t know any more than she did what Scott Gordon was after, but at least he understood the fear she felt. She could see it echoed in his eyes, along with the ready strength with which he’d met every challenge they’d encountered so far.

“I don’t know.” His bass voice sounded dry. “But I think we should alert the
other guards before you try to return this call.”

To Julia’s relief, Linus didn’t budge from her side as he called his fellow guards and let them know about the calls from Scott. Sam, who was assigned to guard her next anyway, was at her door by the time she and Linus stepped through it. They headed for the royal guard headquarters. Julia felt a little unsteady on her feet and a little lightheaded
after this latest surprise, but she didn’t want the other guards to see her leaning on Linus so she walked on her own a couple of feet away from him—close enough that he could still catch her if her injured leg gave her trouble, but far enough from him not to raise any eyebrows.

Jason, the head of the royal guard, met them before they reached the doors of the royal guard headquarters. “I
think you should take a look at this.”

Julia’s mouth went dry at the foreboding tone of Jason’s words. What now?

Jason led them into a small, well-lit room. Julia immediately recognized the papers spread out on the table, though the pages from her file were now dusted with a dark powder. Monitors above held fingerprint images.

“Your secretary was very prompt about forwarding those
prints. We’ve got a preliminary match,” Jason explained. “I wasn’t going to say anything until we confirmed it, but if this guy’s been trying to call you...” he said as he pointed to the distinct prints on the page.

Julia looked up from the dusted prints to those on the screen, labeled
Scott Gordon
.

“Scott made ten copies the weekend Julia’s office was broken into,” Linus recounted.
“Then he replaced these pages in this file. But why?”

Julia met his eyes. “The file—” she shook her head “—but the break-in was
weeks
ago. Why attack me on the beach—”

“He must believe you still have copies of the original file.”

“They were deleted from my email records.”

Linus turned to Jason. “Did the guards secure Julia’s laptop?”

“Yes. It’s in the next room.” Jason
raised a hand to stop them as they moved toward the door. “You got a phone call from Scott—” he pointed at Julia “—where is he now?”

“Where is Scott?” Julia’s voice faltered as she realized the importance of the head guard’s question. “I don’t know.”

“We need to know.”

Julia blew out a steadying breath and pulled out her phone, then hesitated. “Scott left a voice mail.”

Jason
and Linus exchanged looks.

“Do you have a picture of him?” Linus asked. “We can have the border authorities be on the lookout for him.”

“The company website has headshots of all the lawyers along with a bio.” Julia pulled a business card from her purse and pointed out the web address to Jason as she handed him the card.

“We’ll get that image circulated.” Jason assured them as he
stepped through the door, card in hand.

Julia looked at the fingerprints once more before turning to meet Linus’s eyes. “What do you think? Should I wait for them to listen to the message from Scott?”

“Can you save it after you listen to it?”

“Of course.”

“Then we can always listen to it with them again. Right now I think we need to know what he had to say.” Linus closed the
door, closing out the noise from beyond. “Can you put it on speakerphone?”

“Sure thing.” Julia pulled out her phone, but before she touched any buttons, it began to ring. She stared at the screen, waiting for the caller ID to identify the source.

Scott Gordon.

Julia whimpered.

“Don’t answer it yet. We’ll wait for the rest of the guards.”

“Okay.” Julia was more than happy
for an excuse not to have any contact with the man who suddenly wanted so much to talk with her. She waited until the phone stopped ringing, then looked at Linus. “What do you think?”

Linus shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. He’s my prime suspect right now.”