Chapter 127

At breakfast the next day, Christian was still pissed. The only consolation he got was that Annie didn’t

believe he did any of those things alleged by the so-called ‘victims’. Yarrington and Weaver assured the

Duke that they were looking into the complaints made against him first, and asked for an alibi for the

dates and times mentioned in the ten complaints.

He and Annie went through their photographs in their iCloud Drive, and managed to negate the validity of

two complaints. Then, they got out their photo albums, where Annie had a habit of writing the dates on

the back of every photograph. Christian began regretting not making time to upload every photograph

they took together on the Drive.

They scoured through the thousands of pictures they took over the years, praying that there would be a

date and time which would match up with the ones in the allegations. After four hours, they managed to

negate another three complaints.

Xandar and Lucianne cross-checked the dates and times with government meetings recorded on

Xandar’s laptop, and managed to negate the credibility of another three complaints. That left two more

complaints standing against the Duke.

What made the Duke’s temperament worse was that the anonymous informant’s number that the

journalists and reporters gave him tumed out to be unreachable. Chief Dalloway and his people tracked

the phone to a dumpster, and retrieved it before sending it to the lab for a fingerprint scan. Alas, the scan

tumed out to be fruitless because no registered citizen’s fingerprints matched the ones found on the

burner phone.

“I honestly can’t see how my wife is so calm about this. I can kill, and I mean literally kill right now, cuz,

you know what I mean?” Christian said after swallowing his food.

Xandar gave his cousin an encouraging pat on his shoulder before he said, “They’re looking into it.

Yarrington and Weaver have always been efficient. They’ll crack this case soon, Christian.”

Christian’s orbs were onyx when he declared, “The only thing I’m going to crack is the complainants’

heads over these fake complaints. All ten of them. I don’t care if you put me in jail, cuz.”

“I could break you out if you do it.” Lucianne offered. 1

That seemed to calm Christian a little. He managed a small smile as he bowed slightly in her way when

he said, “Thank you, my Queen.”

Xandar looked at his mate in mock disapproval, “My Queen, that is no way to treat a murderer. And do

you even know how to break someone out of prison, sweetheart?”

Lucianne shook her adorable head as she said, “No. But there’s a first time for everything.”

The cousins chuckled lightly in response. Lucianne felt bad for Christian when he had to go through the

frustration of being blamed for something he would not even think of doing, so she was glad that she

could lighten his mood, even if it was just momentarily.

She spoke to Annie before breakfast, and the Duchess was more worried about her mate losing his

temper in public than about the harassment allegations made against him.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse, Chief Dalloway and two policemen stood at the entrance of the

dining hall. Lucianne was the first to notice their presence. The Chief then spoke discreetly to the event

manageress who came to greet them. She looked uneasy as she nodded his way before walking

towards the table of the royal members.

Lucianne was up on her feet, and when her mate and the Duke saw the Queen standing, they too stood

without knowing who they were expecting. After exchanging bows with the event manageress, she said,

“ Your Highnesses, your Grace, Chief Dalloway from the police force is requesting for a private audience.

He said it’s urgent.”

The three of them glanced at the Chief, who looked exhausted and fearful. Lucianne then said, “Let’s not

keep him waiting, then.”

The three of them left their unfinished food on the table and left the hall, turning a deaf ear to all the

whispers, and turning a blind eye to the stares that they were garnering. The manageress got her staff to

clear a small meeting room down the hallway.

As they sat around the resin wood table, Chief Dalloway cleared his throat uneasily before he said, “Your

Highnesses, your Grace. There is no easy way of saying this. I am sorry to report that Sasha Cummings

was taken two nights ago.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Lucianne asked in disbelief.

“What do you mean ‘taken’?” Xandar asked, more ferociously than his mate.

u me

The Chief chose to avert Xandar’s glare and locked eyes with Lucianne instead as he explained, “Two

nights ago, close to midnight, one of our own people unlocked her cell and let her out, handing her over

to someone we are still trying to track down. The…mole among us then made his way to solitary

confinement, where we held the rogue, and he requested to meet the prisoner.”

“And you let him?” Christian hissed.

“No, your Grace, my men didn’t, which was why the mole shot one of the three guards outside the

rogue’s room.” Chief Dalloway paused for a moment before he continued, “The other two guards

restrained him, forcing him onto the ground. What we didn’t predict was that his comrade would enter

from the ceiling and shoot the other two guards who were pressing the mole’s body to the ground.”

“The mole, his comrade and the rogue then sought to escape through the ceiling. By then, we were all

alerted by those watching the cameras. I ordered a complete lockdown of the prison but they took one of

our helicopters to escape. Only six hours ago, our trackers found the helicopter on a deserted island

fifteen miles from here. We managed to find a tunnel undereath the island sand but it has been blocked b

y a large boulder. I’ve just returned from that island in the last hour. Further investigations are still

underway for now. I am deeply sorry for this debacle, your Highness.”

“Don’t be. You did everything you could.” Lucianne muttered as soon as he finished speaking. Both the

cousins were about to throw a fit but seeing as how Lucianne didn’t criticize the incompetence of the

police force, they chose to silence themselves.

Lucianne stared at the table and pondered for a moment before she asked, “The ones who were shot,

did they survive?”