Chapter 12

Dominic

What the hell was going on and why was Malachi bearing the brunt of it all? Seeing the pain in Nick's expression brought back all that uneasiness Dominic had felt when he and Randall were being targeted. It wasn't pleasant. Not even the second-hand version of it he was dealing with then.

He clapped Nick on the back. "We'll get the search started. Felix is already checking the security cameras, and Brett has sent people to check the tunnels from the other entrances."

Nick stared after Malachi and glanced back at Dominic. "I'm going with him."

"Of course you are. Go." He pushed a little to get him moving. "I'll keep you posted."

Nick disappeared from the bathroom, and Dominic put his hands on his hips and studied the area. There was no other option than for whoever it was to have come through the tunnels. They could've been lying in wait for Malachi, but Nick said no one had exited the room. That left the tunnels as their only exit point.

He moved over to the tunnel again, peering into the darkness. They needed to close the tunnels immediately; they'd been used too much against them in recent years and he refused to let it happen any longer.

Brett entered the bathroom. "How is Malachi?"

"Unconscious. He has a gash to his head, but he was conscious for a few seconds and said something like ‘Tarum' to Nick, then blacked out again. Nick's gone with him." Dominic sighed. "We're closing these tunnels, Brett. I don't care what laws you have to break to get it done, but it needs doing."

Brett nodded. "It will be. It's something I planned to do anyway, but this has stepped it up the list faster. They'll be closed up as soon as I can arrange it."

Dominic left the tunnel access open and wandered around the room again, checking for anything out of the ordinary. He wasn't a detective by any means, and one would be there soon to check the room, but he couldn't see anything. It was too clean.

"What are you thinking?" Brett said from the doorway, having not ventured any further inside.

"It's too clean. Malachi was laid down instead of falling. Why?"

"What makes you say that?"

Dominic pointed at the blood on the tiled floor. "There's no splatter pattern from him impacting the floor that you would expect if someone had fallen. That only leaves him being carefully put in that position. Is there a reason behind that? Does the attacker know him and not truly want to hurt him? Or is that just to fuck with our heads?"

"You mean like it is doing?" Brett rubbed his forehead. "This entire thing is fucking with our heads. We need to find a connection between these events and if it's solely focused on Malachi or if they're using Malachi to get to the royal family." He sighed. "I fucking hate the unknown."

"Don't we all?"

Footsteps sounded, and Owen popped his head out of the tunnel. "All clear. Absolutely nothing apart from cobwebs and creepy crawlies. I did notice what looked like disturbed dust along the way, but I can't decide if that's just my imagination making it real."

"We'll get Brady's guy to check it over," Brett said. "He should be here any minute."

"We need to find this fucker; otherwise, Nick's going to lose his head," Dominic said with meaning. "If anything happens to Malachi…" He didn't need to finish the sentence.

"We'll find them," Brett promised, and though he couldn't make a promise like that, it made Dominic feel better.

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