CHAPTER ELEVEN

"What the fuck? She said there were a few boxes. There must be four or five dozen boxes. Do we take them all?" asked Carter.

"Take them all, brother," laughed Travis. "Good thing we rented a truck with a cover."

Taking two boxes at a time, they were able to load the truck quickly. Before they left, they followed directions to Elena's small apartment to see if she'd left anything behind that could be useful. As they walked up the steps, her door was slightly ajar, the lights on inside.

Travis held up a fist, reaching for his weapon beneath his stealth vest. Carter nodded, moving low along the wall until he was right at the door. Two men were speaking rapidly, but they couldn't understand anything they were saying.

Carter held up three fingers, slowly lowering them one by one. Travis kicked the door in the rest of the way as two men jumped, turning toward them with knives.

"Gun beats knife," said Travis. "Put them down."

He waved his free hand toward the floor of the apartment, waiting for the men to comply. The apartment had been completely ransacked, with nothing left to save. Sheets, towels, pillows, everything had been shredded or destroyed.

"Who are you?" asked Carter.

The two men just stared at him, then he spoke again in Egyptian. Their eyes went wide, and they shook their heads.

"Who sent you?" asked Travis.

The men were seated on the windowsill, eyeing the door, praying for an opportunity to escape. If they decided to jump, they would both be dead from the four-story fall.

Carter heard glass shatter but didn't see anything in the tiny one-room apartment. Then both men fell forward, arrows straight through the backs of their necks, coming all the way through to their throats.

"Fuck," muttered Carter. "Get to the truck!"

While Travis called General Bakkar, a friend of the team, to let him know of what happened, he assured the men he would take care of it all. Safely back to the Osprey, they loaded the boxes and headed back to England to pick up Chris.

When Chris pulled the tiny sports car through the massive iron gates of Bishop Manor, he nearly choked on his own saliva. This wasn't a country house or average mansion. This was an estate, an ancestral castle, country house, and mansion all rolled into one.

"Holy shit," he muttered. "Why in the fuck aren't you living here?" She laughed, shaking her head.

"I love my parents, Chris, but they can be overwhelming. You can imagine, after losing one daughter and nearly losing me to the man they chose for me, they're quite protective even at my age."

"That's not a bad thing, Daphne. They love you and want what's best for you. Even parents sometimes make mistakes. I'm sure they're very proud of you," said Chris in a fatherly tone.

"They are," she said as they traversed the long drive toward the house. "I work for an auction house in London, and I've been able to secure some wonderful pieces. I know they love me, and I'm grateful that they care so much."

Chris stopped the car and stepped out, grabbing the two bags from the back of the miniature car.

"I'll take you back to the train station. Would you like to come in and meet my parents?"

"Let's not give them the wrong impression," he smiled.

The doors opened, and Chris shook his head, smiling at the older couple. Daphne looked at him, shrugging her shoulders as her reddish-brown hair came loose from the clip holding it on top of her head.

"You're adopted," he said matter-of-factly.

"By the best people in the world," she smiled.

Two hours later, Chris hailed a taxi after disembarking the train and headed to the others. They'd just finished loading everything when he arrived.

"Everything okay?" asked Travis.

"Interesting, but yes. Okay. She's a great girl, and I sure hope Brix doesn't sit around on his ass and lose her."

"You playing matchmaker?" grinned Carter.

"Let's just say whatever Brix's concerns are, they're unwarranted. They're lovely, lovely people. I am a bit worried about her, though."

"Ladies? Can we get a move on? We've got to get back to Belle Fleur," smirked Savannah.

"Wow! Were you always this mean, or did your husband make you like this?" grinned Carter.

"My husband made me a lot of things, but mean is not one of them. I think you're all too young to hear about all the other things," she smirked. "I'm a bit surprised you didn't make the woman come back with us."

"I thought about it," said Chris. "She's been through a lot in her young life, and I think she really likes Brix, but I'm not going to interfere in that. He needs to figure it out and figure it out quickly, or she'll be gone."

"What do you mean?" asked Carter.

"She's a society girl. Folks are loaded, and I do mean loaded. She's the only child living. Sooner or later, they're going to be screaming for babies."

"This sounds vaguely like Mattie and her family," said Travis.

"Kind of, although Mattie wasn't interested in returning to England at all. I think Daphne has a good relationship with her parents. They just need her to start popping out heirs."

"Well, Brix has to make that decision himself," said Carter. "Are we supposed to dig through those boxes?"

"No," said Chris. "We wait until May and Elena can look at them."

"You got this, Savannah?" called Travis.

"I'm good, honey. You all get some sleep." Travis nodded, giving her a wave in the cockpit.

"You heard the lady. Let's get some sleep."