The Little Dove #2 ✔️

66. The Price On The Battlefield

CHAPTER 66: The Price On The Battlefield

The stone-cold leather seat tingled against my clothes, I could feel the wind against the windshield the faster I controlled the wheels underneath me. When our jet landed back in London, with Edmund, Marvin and Lorraine in Paris to search for Thea, I had Mom and Dad with Grandpa Stevens behind me. I swallow when an incoming phone enters on my phone, before seeing Edmund's name on the screen.

I answer the call, "Edmund." I murmur, my voice echoes against the windshield of the car.

"Lemon, where are you?" He asks me, a concerned mount in his voice, a manner I knew all too well. He was probably pacing, either outside or in a room, by the echo of his voice, I'd say a room with hollow walls.

I moisten my dry, chapped lips, "We just landed at London airports, five minutes on the road back to home before I wait for Charlize's next move. She knows I'm here, that part I could tell." I murmur, gently.

"How?" He asks in confusion.

I stare a hundred metres ahead on the road, "Two men at the front entrance, stationed guards that weren't a part of Mom's security team, they weren't part of yours either, even though I told you I didn't need that extra protection." I tell him, knowingly.

He clears his throat, "I'm not taking that precaution. Were they dressed as civilians?" He asks me, the baritone in his voice changed to one of calculation...stern calculation, he turned straight into protection mode the second Mom suggested he and Marvin, with Lorraine, drop by in Paris in search of Thea.

He didn't take it so well.

I nod, before remembering it's not a video chat, "They were, both holding navy blue carry-ons, using maintenance suits and hats. If your agents are still there, I merely need a tracking sequence on them, do you think you can get that?" I ask him, thinking more strategically now.

"Of course. Don't make any rash decisions right now, Lemon. You're not to go near Charlize unless I'm with you, baby, you understand that? I'm very serious about this." He says, sternly. On the other side, I sense the fear in his voice, he's afraid that I would do it.

And, I would.

I increase speed, "Have you found Thea yet?" I ask him, side-tracking as I turning on the tracking sequence in the car, before taking a left turn while Mom and Dad take the right turn. The speakers turn on in the car.

"Melanie, little dove, where are you going?" Mom doesn't sound worried as of yet, I slow my breathing as Edmund listens closely.

"Mom, when Dad followed you to Moscow, taking the entire group with him. When he found out you were the chief executive of a very large and global enterprise, Aaron Dark-Wood was following behind him. You risked everything to protect your friends and your family. I know more about Charlize than anyone, I've dealt with her for so long, almost a year. I promise to meet you back at the house, but I need to ensure complete protection of my family. I love you all so much." I whisper into the speaker.

Edmund growls lowly, "You. Listen. To. Me. Right. Now. Lemon. Turn that car back around or I swear, when I get back to London, I'm tying you to our bed post and show you just how domineering-to the full extent-I can be. Turn that wheel." He says, so huskily low, the masculinity going straight to my head and my heart.

I accelerate more, "Find Thea. The sooner we can take her down, the easier it'll be to have just Charlize standing. I love you, Edmund." I say to him, ending calls to each line. Edmund's, and my parents, even with Dad's roar of fury.

I made it to the destination in forty minutes.

The abandoned academy with yellow strips of police reports and 'no enter zones' surrounding the torn up building. It stood a whole cliff below me as I roll up towards the very edge, where I knew I'd told a certain operative to meet me. He's leaning against the one tree against the edge, the wind picks up with the smell of the freshwater Sylvan lake below, I fix the scarf around my neck as I slam my car door closed, "You called?" I ask him.