Queen by Heather Gray

Author:Heather Gray [Gray, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astraea Press, LLC
Published: 2014-12-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Isabel's eyes widened, while his father’s face took on a waxy patina.

"You went to the minister with your evidence." The weight lifted from Owen's chest. "You tried to get Isabel back." His father nodded. "He refused."

The senior Loring nodded again.

"And he threatened me. What did he say to make you back off?"

Owen's father aged before his eyes. "He was a minister working with the War Department. Maybe he was trying to subvert it from within. For all I knew, the whole department was in on it with him." Mr. Loring shook his head slowly, defeat reflected in his eyes. "The minister knew you had an interest in serving your country, and he told me… Nay, he promised me he would recruit you for government security work and that you would be dead within your first week."

His pacing came to a stop, and Owen rested his hand on Isabel's shoulder. "So you kept quiet, and he rejected me when I first approached him about working for the War Department."

"I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't let him hurt you. You're my son." Mr. Loring's voice broke on the last word. "I told him if he laid a hand on you, I'd kill him, and I meant every word, but I'm not sure I'd have known how to follow through. I am nothing but a small businessman ill-equipped for confrontation."

Isabel reached up and squeezed Owen's hand before addressing his father. "You did what you needed to do. I bear you no ill will for that."

Mr. Loring swiped at his face with the kerchief again. Then he rose from his seat behind the desk and came around to where Isabel sat. He held out his hands to her, and she placed hers in his. She stood and allowed him to pull her into an embrace. "I am so sorry for the loss of your parents and for the lost years since. I wish I had known how to do more."

Owen watched a moment as Isabel returned the embrace. Then he slipped out the study door and climbed the grand staircase two steps at a time. Without a sound, he collected the puzzle box from his former room and returned down the stairs. He paused outside the study door, which he'd left open.

"I can see he has feelings for you."

His father's voice gave him pause. Did he want to eavesdrop on Isabel's response?

Owen stepped through the door in time to catch Isabel's blush before it faded. Her face told him as much as her words would have if he'd stayed outside the door and allowed her to comment on his father's observation.

"Here, Father." Owen held out the box. "I never learned how to open it. Since you put the documents in the box, you must know how."

Mr. Loring picked up the wooden contraption carved to look like a small treasure chest, and with a handful of swift movements, he triggered the latch that opened a panel to a hidden compartment within the base.

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