Page 9 of Mitch

“Safe trip back, Gentlemen.” With a nod, James left.

Silence and tension swirled around Jack like a volcano about to blow. They climbed back in the car and drove towards the exit at the front of the Palace. The Range Rover had tinted windows so their coming and going wouldn’t be caught on camera. And even inside the Palace, they weren’t actually known to anyone other than James and the Royal family, as either Eidolon or by their real names. Secrecy was crucial to their work, so the people who were currently hating on them thought they were just a bunch of hired muscle.

“You wanna share what’s on your mind?” Mitch asked as Jack took a corner dangerously fast as they exited the motorway two hours later.

Jack glanced at Blake, and Mitch watched Jack’s jaw tick with anger. “Commissioner Wells has cancer. Deputy Commissioner Osbourne is running the show, and Fitz says he’s changed up the PPO rotation so that he has certain men on individual Royals.”

Blake frowned, his whole face going dark. “That makes no sense. The reason I left the service was that he changed it from that.”

Jack nodded. “Fitz says the PPOs they have are good, but the family is unhappy with it. I got the impression that the men Osbourne is using are hand-picked by him.”

Mitch sat forward. “It stinks of nepotism.”

Blake turned to him. “Osbourne has always been a self-serving twat.”

“You still got friends at the Yard, right?” Jack locked eyes with Mitch as he continued to drive.

“Yeah a few. Want me to make some enquiries about the guys he has on duty at the Palace?”

“Yes. I’ll have Will get you the names.”

“Sure. Brant wants a favour from me, so this might be a perfect time.”

“Perfect. We need to see if this plays into the threat to Eidolon. I’ll call a meeting tomorrow, and we can talk through what we know before I meet with Gunner later this week.”

“What happened to the last meeting? Why did he cancel?”

Jack shook his head. “Don’t know but you can bet I’ll be finding out.”

An hourlater they pulled into Eidolon, and Jack stalked towards his office, closing his door.

“What the fuck happened?” Alex asked, stepping from his own office, brushing a hand through his hair as his eyebrows rose.

“Osbourne happened,” Blake said and walked towards the gym.

“The Deputy Commissioner?” Alex furrowed his brow as he crossed his arms and looked at Mitch.

“Yeah, seems he’s putting his own men in position at the Palace.”

“Prick. I always hated him. Jack think it’s anything to do with us?”

Mitch shrugged as he put his hands in the pockets of his suit trousers. “It’s certainly possible. I think he wants a meeting tomorrow, but maybe you should speak to him about it.”

Alex pushed up off the doorjamb. “Will do.”

Mitch liked the dynamic between Alex and Jack. As second, Alex was the perfect balance to Jack, especially in situations like this, and since reuniting with Evelyn, he was even calmer than before.

Knowing that whatever was about to go down in the coming weeks wasn’t going to be good news, Mitch went to grab a coffee from the kitchen before he put in a call to Brant. The man was looking to slow down, and he’d asked Mitch to put in a word with Aubrey about the detective’s position that had opened up.

Mitch had been surprised at first, the guy was only thirty-nine, but then the quiet life suited some better than others. He certainly liked the pace of life here, but he still had the adrenalin rush with his job.

Entering the large kitchen, he could smell the pot of curry on the stove that Alex had made. Having a chef on the team sure made long days a hell of a lot easier. He was surprised to see Madison, having forgotten she worked there now.

“Hey, Madison, how you settling in?”

The woman looked up; her pretty face angled to him as she smiled. She looked so much like her sister, warm umber brown skin, dark chestnut coloured eyes but where Aubrey was more athletic, Madison had all the curves. In personality, the sisters were like chalk and cheese. Madison was the tornado that struck quickly, making everything fun and leaving devastation in her wake, while Aubrey was the calm aftermath.

Mitch knew she was ten years younger than Autumn, but it was more than that, the two women were poles apart. Autumn held a sadness about her, older than her years as if life had made her grow up far faster than it should have. It made Mitch want to protect her, make her smile, and ease the pain he saw in her eyes when she forgot to hide from him.