Page 18 of The Society (Spy Girl 3)
When I get to Lorenzo's, I'm immediately greeted by Chauncey.
"Huntley!" he yells, jumping into my arms. "I started school and met a bunch of new kids, and it's really fun!"
"I'm so glad you like it."
He takes my hand and leads me to the kitchen. "We were just going to bake some cookies. Will you help us?"
"I need to change first--" I start to say, but he whips an apron off a chair and hands it to me, so I put it on. "What kind are you making?"
"Triple-quadruple chocolate chip," he says, grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, I'm sure glad I got here when I did because chocolate is my favorite."
"Mine, too," Lorenzo says, sneaking up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, and greeting me with a kiss on the side of my cheek. "How were the matches?"
"Fun to watch, but they did not have cookies."
Lorenzo's cook helps Chauncey add ingredients in a bowl. Then I laugh as I watch him trying to stir the dough.
"Would you like a little help, Sir Chauncey?" Lorenzo asks him.
Chauncey gets a determined look on his face, narrowing his eyes at the bowl and biting down on his lower lip. "No, I can do it myself," he says.
Lorenzo pulls me down into a chair with him. "Good. That means all Huntley and I have to do is lick the bowl when you are done."
A few minutes later, the dough is mixed, formed into cookies, and put onto a baking sheet. I take a full raw cookie and pop it into my mouth, causing Chauncey to giggle and do the same.
"Hey!" Lorenzo says. "No fair!" He rolls dough into a big ball and shoves it into his mouth.
"All right, you lot," the cook says, "out of my kitchen. I will bake the cookies and bring them to you in the garden when they are ready."
"That sounds like a fabulous idea," Lorenzo says. "Will you please send out a bottle of the '95 Krug Clos d'Ambonnay?"
"Of course, Your Highness," she replies as Chauncey races out to the garden in front of us.
"Are we celebrating something?" I ask.
"Possibly. Have you heard today's news?"
"No, I haven't," I tell him as we take a seat in the courtyard. "What happened?"
He pulls a printed article from his jacket pocket and hands it to me.
Former United States President Found Dead
WASHINGTON - Former president John Hillford Sr. was killed in what officials are calling a hunting accident. Hillford, who was a practiced hunter, was pronounced dead on the scene at his Texas ranch. No further details have been released.
"You know what this means," Lorenzo says.
"That our former president wasn't good with a gun?" I quip.
He looks at me with concern. "I have a lot to tell you. But this just came in, and I thought you would be excited. It could mean that Chauncey's father is still alive."
"Or it could have actually been an accident. If he were shot with a long-range rifle, like his son was, they wouldn't have deemed it as an accident."
"Well, I'm hoping for the best. Or did you change your mind? Do you wish the boy's father to be dead?"
"What? No! I would never wish that." I close my eyes. "Please don't tell him. I just don't want him getting his hopes up. I know what that's like."
"What do you mean?"
"My parents told me that, if something ever happened to them, my uncle Sam would take care of me. But he didn't. He stashed me at Blackwood. I kept thinking it was just to keep me safe for a little while, but he only came back once to see me. Chauncey is a lot younger than I was. I just worry about him."
"Chauncey is doing really great. He's being taken good care of."
"I know; I'm sorry. Actually, this isn't about Chauncey at all. I don't want to get my hopes up."
"How do you feel about the former president being dead?"
"Lorenzo, the man has a family. Children. Grandchildren. It's not about him. When someone dies, it's about the people they leave behind--regardless of the circumstances for their death. Do you think I haven't thought about that? When I saved you and Ari, I killed men. As bad as they might have been, they probably had families, too. As much as I appreciate the champagne gesture, I can't toast to the man's death."
He wraps his arm around me as a steward brings out the champagne. "Then we will toast to the fact that we are back together again."
I smile at his sweetness. "That, I will drink to."
We're just finishing up dinner and enjoying watching Chauncey play in the garden when Lorenzo's press secretary scurries outside.
"Your Highness, we have a situation."
"Come on, Chauncey," his nanny tells him. "It's your bedtime."
"I want Huntley to tuck me in and tell me a story," he says, pushing his bottom lip out in an effective and adorable pout.
I pick him up, give him a kiss on the head, and say, "You go get ready for bed, and I'll be in shortly."
He smiles at me and then takes the nanny's hand.
I follow Lorenzo to his press secretary's office in the back of the home. "Ophelia and Clarice's mother is holding a press conference."
"About what?" I ask.
"About His Highness," she answers. "We tried to stop it, but the press loves sensationalism."
"I'm not about to give in to that," Lorenzo says. "You can give me the condensed version in the morning. Unless there is a serious threat to our nation, I am not to be disturbed for the rest of the evening. Thank you."
He takes my hand and leads me out of the room.
"Let's tell Chauncey good night, and then I'd like to show you my secret lair."
"Oh, Lorenzo, you do know how to sweet-talk a girl," I tease.
After a way-too-long story and too many sleep-stalling hugs, Chauncey finally drifts off. Lorenzo takes me to his bedroom and then through a secret door that leads into a private study. From there, we take a concealed elevator down. The doors part, dropping us into a small foyer. Lorenzo enters a code and puts his hand on a scanner.
"Do you have gold and supplies down here, too?" I ask him.
He leans his head in the opposite direction. "How do you know about that?"
"I was in a very similar vault today with Peter."
"Peter probably doesn't have this," he says as a set of steel doors part, allowing me a view of the war room spread out in front of us.
Inside the room are two men, one of whom I recognize.
Admiral Philipe Lamonte, the joint chief of the Montrovian armed forces, stands up to greet me. "Miss Von Allister," he says. "I have to say that I encouraged Lorenzo not to get you involved in all this, but he trusts you implicitly."
I look Lorenzo in the eye, worried that he told them all about me. He imperceptibly shakes his head.
"And I am Gabriel Lavin," a lethal-looking man says, holding his hand out to shake mine.
"It's nice to meet you," I reply, not sure exactly what to say. "Um, Lorenzo, might I have a word with you in private?"
"Of course," he says, leading me back outside the room. "What is it?"
"You didn't tell them about me?"
"I did not. I would never break your trust."
"And these men, why do you trust them?"
"Philipe is my father's most trusted confidant. They were friends for many, many years."
"And the other guy?"
"Mossad. He saved my father's life a few years ago."
I nod. "Then let's go back inside."
The two men are pouring over stacks of printouts, and there are numerous data points on various screens across the wall. I'm not sure what all they are researching, but I'm assuming it has to do with the Olympics, a possible coup, or a terrorist attack.
"Look," I say, taking a seat across the table from them, "I'm going to level with you. The reason Lorenzo trusts me is because the British agent didn't save his life; I did. At the time, I didn't know if I could trust Gallagher, so I knocked him out and took care of things myself. It wasn't until the threats were cleared that he came to and entered the warehouse."
/> Both men look up at me, astonished.
"Actually, she's saved my life more than once," Lorenzo interjects. "From the armed men in the castle, to noticing my drink had been poisoned, to when I was nearly shot at the docks."
"Are you suggesting that you took out seven highly trained and armed men?"
"They weren't well trained. More like hired muscle with guns. I had been at the Queen's Ball, so I didn't have any weapons on me. I was lucky enough to find a pair of gloves on the ground, fashioned a garrote from a piece of wire, and used it to kill one of the two men guarding the perimeter. I relieved him of his holster and gun but didn't want to alarm those inside by gunfire, so I used a brick to smash the second guard's head and then broke his neck.
"Now that I was armed with two guns, I made my way inside. I watched three men and a woman go into what appeared to be an office. Two other men stayed with Lorenzo and my brother, Ari. The first one died by a single shot to the forehead. As well as the second.
"Of course, at that point, the men in the office heard noises and sent a man out to see about it. He fired at me, missed, and then took cover behind the captives."
"That's when she took off running, straight at us," Lorenzo says. "She ran up onto Ari's shoulder and then catapulted herself onto the guard, knocking him over."
"He got a round to the head," I add.
