The Queen They Let Go (Alice and Eric) novel Chapter 448

Alice knew she was traveling with a rather large entourage.

If she didn't explain, this was going to be awkward.

So, she lowered her voice and gave Eric the short version of what had happened when she went to see Julius.

Eric nodded, taking it in.

"Xavier already suspects Rowan is the one sabotaging the Sarratts' operations, so right now, he's glued to whatever's happening at the harbor."

He didn't press for details about Julius; he just nodded, then filled her in on Xavier's situation.

His men were watching nonstop, and if Rowan couldn't keep things under control, Eric would have his men create a disturbance elsewhere to keep Xavier occupied and unable to leave the country.

"Still, I'm worried he's got other moves we don't know about."

Alice figured any man bold enough to come to Drakoria alone had to be sitting on something big.

Otherwise, the Sarratts would never take that kind of risk.

Eric handed her a glass of lemon drop, his tone almost gentle.

"Relax, you've got me."

It sounded almost rehearsed.

But Alice didn't pick up on it at all and simply took it as a statement of fact.

The people sitting behind them continued to stay silent.

Fine, let's just go sit in another cabin.

There's only so much third-wheeling a person can take.

Alice closed her eyes to rest for a bit, and when she woke up, she realized her mentor and the others had already moved to a different cabin.

She assumed her mentor just wasn't used to this side of the plane and didn't think much of it.

The plane touched down on a private airstrip in Heswil, where Stanley was waiting in person.

They'd kept this trip low-profile; aside from Stanley, only a handful of people in Heswil's intelligence unit knew they were here.

But because of Eric's special status, all the relevant agencies had been notified beforehand, so everything went smoothly.

Stanley took them to a villa that looked like a full-blown castle.

The interior was lavish and ornate, totally not Eric's style.

"I bought it on a whim years ago and never bothered to live in it."

Eric's voice was calm, like he was talking about someone else's property.

Nobody said a thing.

Buying a castle "on a whim"?

Could you be any more pretentious?

Since everyone had their own room, no one commented; they just went off to rest.

Alice wasn't feeling tired. She planned to head out for a walk and use the time to dig up some intel on the Sarratts for a surprise attack.

She had barely stepped outside when Eric fell into step right behind her.

"Mr. Eric, you heading out too?"

Eric thought for a second, fixing his gaze on her.

"Yeah. My dad left me a mine out here; I should at least go take a look. You've got a stake in it too—want to come?"

Sure, sure, you're both above it all.

Just casually display your lovey-dovey antics in front of your assistant.

They were terrified the newcomers would be nothing like the previous boss and start squeezing them dry.

But their worrying was useless; they could only pray.

...

At the base of the mountain, a row of low buildings served as the on-site lab, just like the local manager, Quentin Graham, had described.

Their job was to test soil and other samples from the mine and analyze what elements might be buried there.

That was exactly the sort of thing Alice was curious about, so the lab was the first stop on her inspection tour.

She changed into clean gear and went through the equipment and the staff qualifications one by one.

The people here were respectful enough, and nothing in their behavior seemed off.

Before long, she walked back out.

"They're mainly checking for rare minerals and rare metals.

"But so far, the data's come up empty."

As she spoke, Alice looked toward the northern slope of the mine.

The mountain rose roughly 1,300 feet, with teams of workers still climbing around up there taking samples.

Down below sat a cluster of heavy quarrying rigs, each one under guard and sheltered beneath its own makeshift awning.

Quentin had a long talk with the men watching over the equipment before coming back, still complaining.

"If we don't start excavating soon, the workers are going to starve.

"Just a short distance away from us, they've opened up an emerald mountain. A few nights ago, they were setting off fireworks nonstop. The owner was literally dancing for joy on the spot."