Chapter 13 - The Ghost of Kensington
Maya returned fire from behind the overturned desk, two precise shots taking down the lead operative before he could clear the smoke.
Sterling remained completely still in his chair, his blind eyes open, whispering ancient prayers into the choking haze.
“The rear exit through the printing press!” Maya barked, grabbing Emily’s arm and dragging her toward an iron spiral staircase.
A laser sight swept across Emily’s chest, but she dropped low, grabbing a heavy brass bookstand and hurling it into the face of a second mercenary.
The operative staggered, and Maya finished him with a clean sweep to the neck, kicking his rifle across the shattered floorboards.
They spilled out into the rainy alleyway just as an unmarked black van screeched to a halt at the cobblestone corner.
Agent Reynolds was behind the wheel, kicking the side door open while leaning out with his service weapon drawn.
“Get in! The entire block is swarming with Evelyn Vance’s private security!” Reynolds shouted over the roar of the V8 engine.
Emily and Maya scrambled into the vehicle, the tires smoking against the wet cobblestones as they rocketed out into the morning fog.
In her lap, Emily gripped the heavy iron cylinder, its cold surface bearing the carved crest of a rampant lion clutching an anchor.
“They weren’t just trying to kill us in that library,” Emily realized aloud, examining the scratches on the iron seal.
“They were tracking the signal inside this cylinder.”
Maya quickly unscrewed the base of the artifact, exposing a tiny, blinking red transponder embedded in the ancient metal.
“Sterling didn’t know,” Maya muttered, instantly ripping the transponder out and throwing it through the cab’s sunroof into the river below.
“Or Evelyn Vance has eyes inside every antique room in this damn city.”
“Where is Victoria?” Emily asked, her voice calm despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Reynolds checked a encrypted tablet mounted on the dashboard.
“British intelligence just flagged an unauthorized medical convoy pulling into the Vance ancestral manor in Kensington.”
“Evelyn Vance has converted the entire estate into a fortified private embassy under diplomatic immunity.”
“He’s holding Victoria in the upper conservatory under medical sedation until the London exchange opens in forty-five minutes.”
“Why sedation?” Emily pressed.
“Because Victoria knows Harold is dead, and without Harold, she has no leverage left,” Maya answered coldly.
“She’s terrified, Emily.”
“She realizes now that the moment she signs over Arthur’s assets to Evelyn, the Council will dispose of her just like they disposed of you.”
“Then we don’t go to St. Paul’s,” Emily declared, looking straight into Maya’s eyes.
“We go to Kensington.”
“That estate is a fortress surrounded by eight-foot stone walls and three dozen ex-SAS guards,” Reynolds warned.
“They’re expecting an army, Reynolds,” Emily said, a dark smile touching her lips.
“They are not expecting a dead girl in a wheelchair to walk through their front gate with the signet they need to survive.”
Maya looked at Emily, recognizing the dangerous, brilliant spark of Arthur Carter burning brightly in his daughter’s eyes.
“How do you want to play it?” Maya asked, cocking her weapon and chambering a round.
May you like
“We let Victoria see me,” Emily replied coldly.
“Her guilt and her cowardice are the only weapons sharp enough to tear Evelyn Vance’s empire apart from the inside.”
