You Rejected Me. Remember?

Elliot pov

Bugged? What the hell!!! I looked up from the writing and into his face. I saw how his face was now contorted in despair. Beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead were now trickling down from his temple.

He then frantically pointed to his shoulder. When I didn’t respond, he lowered his shirt and pointed to a scar that seemed to have recently healed. My gaze lingered on the scar for some time. Still frowning, I slowly looked up into his face. His eyes kept telling me that he had been hiding a lot. That there were things that he couldn’t say out loud, fearing that whoever is at the bottom of this would listen to him.

I took the pen from him and wrote,

FOR HOW LONG?

He wrote back,

SINCE THE TRIP TO THE SKI RESORT.

I gritted my teeth. Whatever the reason was, this was completely unacceptable. However, to get to the bottom of this, I would have to tolerate it.

PLAY ALONG.

I wrote back and sighed.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“You’ve got nothing to say, right? I am sorry to say this, but you are under arrest, for attempting to murder the Queen.” I stated, wanting to let it seem to whoever was listening on the other end that we had put the whole blame on the driver. I wanted him or her to relax and think that he was out of danger.

The driver offered a nervous smile and replied a meek ‘yes’ right before I got up from my seat.

I went into the observation room where my father was watching everything.

“What did he write down on the paper?” He asked.

“That he was bugged,” I told him, making him glance in my direction in utter shock.

“Bugged?” He asked, aghast with the new information.

I nodded. ” And it looks like it has been embedded in his shoulder,” I informed him.

“Wow.” He was shocked beyond words.

“He had said that he had been bugged since the trip to the ski resort,” I told my father what I knew.

“So is it possible that he was blackmailed by someone?” He muttered as the wrinkles on his forehead deepened.

“I..don’t know.” I paused to think for some time. “But he could have told us…he could have written it down instead of simply letting all the damage happen,” I stated and my father nodded in agreement.

“You’re right, but I think it is best to deal with what they had embedded in his shoulder. We must inform the others and quickly do the needful.” He said, and I quickly informed Cass via text message.

“We must remove that bug now. Whoever is listening must think that he is being taken to the dungeon. After removing it, we will question him some more.” I said and walked out of the observation room.

The driver was instructed to remain silent until we said so, to which he obediently obliged. We asked the healers to use anaesthetics to numb his shoulder so that the implantation could be safely removed.

After making sure that he was now unbugged, I met him with the others. They managed to remove a tiny device that was embedded in his skin.

“You have a lot to tell us, now spill,” Cassy ordered.

“I was returning to the Kingdom for two days, thinking that I could spend some time with my own family since both of you would be in the ski resort. However, on my way, I was ambushed. The sun had already set by then, and it was already pretty dark. So when I saw an injured wolf on the side of the forest, I couldn’t help but get out of the car to help him. I just didn’t know that it was a trick to lure me in. I remember bending down to offer my help but that was it. I don’t remember what happened. Maybe someone hit me on the head with something. When I woke up, I was bound to a chair with duct tape. I thought they were going to kill me but a masked person came. He didn’t talk much. He simply told me that I was going to be used as their puppet….. that they were going to use me against you all. I resisted. I told him that even if he kills me, I wouldn’t be part of it. But then, he took a picture of my family. My wife and pups. He swore that he was going to kill them all if I didn’t help him.”

By this time he was crying real tears. His right arm was still numb due to anaesthesia, so he used his left arm to wipe his tears and sweat away.

“I am so sorry your highness, I have failed you all. But I was forced to…..” he cried.

“Then he took a tiny device and told me that they were going to implant it in me so that they could hear everything I do and then they could send me orders through text messages. Each time he would swear that he would hurt my family if I didn’t carry out his orders…..” he was now, wheezing as he spoke.

“You could have warned us. I understand you couldn’t say it out loud, but you could have written it down instead of hurting us. Do you know what you’ve done has almost cost us our lives?” I said I was not happy about what had happened. I could understand that he was forced to, however, he should have known better than hurting anyone.

“I… I am sorry, your majesty. Please forgive me. I feared for the safety of my family.” He pleaded.

“I want to see your phone. Do you still have those messages saved?” My father stated.

The driver nodded. “Yes. It is still saved.”

“Good.” My father smirked. “His plans are faulty after all. Doesn’t he know that we can easily trace his number?” He muttered, making me scoff.

“Well, it seems to me he was so confident that we wouldn’t find out.” Cassy’s father chuckled as he spoke. “Let me see your phone.” He added, and the driver was quick to take it out of his pocket and hand it to him.

All of us were shocked to see the number of messages and threats he had received. Some of them were pictures of mutilated wolves, who I suppose were their victims. They had promised that their next victim would be his precious daughter. Those pictures must have traumatized him.

“Wow. Even I would have felt helpless.” Cassy’s mom muttered as she looked at the threatening messages.

“Help us catch him, whoever he is. We cannot let him escape. Tell us everything you know.” Cassy said, frowning deeply.

“Yes. Yes. Your highness. Anything.” The driver pleaded frantically.

“There is one missing piece of the puzzle. When we took the fingerprints around the throne and the whole area, we found your fingerprints, along with another. As you know, we have the fingerprints of all our staff recorded on our database. And this particular print was not recorded. Explain that.” My father said, raising his eyebrows.

“I…I ….” The driver gulped. “Actually, yes. I let one of their men in the throne room so that he could install a hidden camera and the bomb correctly. He didn’t trust me that I would do it right.” He explained.

“What? A hidden camera? In the throne room?!” Cassy almost screamed.

“Y..yes… so that they could blast the bomb off at the correct time. The remote control is in his hands…the master’s hands.” The driver said.

“This raises so many questions. How did you manage to get past the guards? And how many hidden cameras are there in the palace? How safe are we in our own home?” Cassy’s mother asked questions one after the other.

The driver sighed. “Only in the throne room, your highness. They wanted to create chaos among the royals. He wants to get revenge on you for something you have done. That is what he says. And I simply told the guards that he is a hired professional to do some minor work around the throne area.” He mumbled, with his eyes downcast.

“Good lord!” The former king g*****d. “The level of deception is unbelievable.”

“We better find that hidden camera.” My father muttered.

“True.” I agreed.

“I wonder who this person is,” Cassy stated, frowning.

“Let’s trace the number.” Cassy’s father said and looked at the driver. “Meanwhile, I’m afraid you truly have to be arrested and locked up in the dungeon. The things you have done are unforgivable. However, I understand that you have been forced into a situation where you feared for the safety of your family, so you will not be exiled. But still, you have to do your time behind bars.” He stated and then looked at Cassy.

“Dear, you are Queen now. You will decide his fate.” He said. I just stated what I would have done.

I saw Cassy look at the grief-stricken driver, who had his eyes focused on his foot.

“You are right, dad. He shall stay behind bars for five years. He can meet his family once a week and I will see that he has food and is not tortured while in captivity.” She declared.

He sighed and nodded. “Yes, your majesty.” He bowed his head a little as he said so.

We ordered the guards to take him away, as soon as his wound healed, which most probably would be within the next few hours. Then, we went back to the palace, since we had a lot of work to do.

“Elliot, trace this number. I will take some of the men with me to the throne room to find that hidden camera.” My father said. I nodded and got to work.

Cassy and her parents stayed with me as I tried to trace the number in the office. We got the signal from the unclaimed land in the woods.

“He must be rogue,” Cassy murmured. “I think the rogue attacks were linked to this.”

“Zan Tao? Who is that?” I frowned when I saw to whom that number belonged.

There was a long pause among us. None of us most probably knew.

“No….Zan Tao? No… but how?” Cassy’s father gasped.

“Do you know him, dad?” Cassy asked as I glanced curiously at him.

He looked at his mate and the former Queen with widened eyes.

“Zan! Zander! It’s him!” He exclaimed.