Chapter 196: Guardians, Part 1

James

Charlotte clicks through faces. Will she recognise any of them?

…. At the seventh face, she stops, pointing at the screen. “That’s one of them. One of the men I saw today.”

Fuck!

Then I realise I have said it aloud.

My eyes meet with Richard’s and he looks back in sympathy. The implication is obvious.

His hand on her shoulder, “Charlotte, I’m sorry. It looks as though they took Elizabeth by mistake. They were after you. They abducted the wrong woman.”

Behind me, Michael hisses through his teeth. Richard turns to him. “Get her out of here, out of the City….” But Michael is already moving to take Charlotte’s hand. “Take her back to your mountain place. No-one’s going to fall across that by accident. She should be safe there.”

Charlotte backs off, snatching her hand away from Michael. “Hang on.” Her voice is shrill. “I don’t want to hide away. I should be helping here. And Beth’s my friend too.”