SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Rowan’s POV
The man didn’t even flinch when I entered the surveillance room.
He just kept clicking away on the keyboard, eyes half-shut from too many screens and too little sleep.
Dante stood behind him, arms crossed. His face was like stone.
“You’re up late,” I said, stepping into the doorway.
The man turned. His name was Victor. A technician hired last year. Young. Quiet. Always wore headphones. Never spoke unless spoken to.
“I’m running backups,” he said smoothly.
“From which wing?”
He hesitated.
Dante stepped forward. “Answer her.”
Victor gave a small smile. “East wing. But it’s already wiped. Corrupted footage. You said to run diagnostics.”
“I did,” Dante said. “But you didn’t run them.”
Victor blinked.
I tossed a small flash drive onto the desk.
“Guess what we found?” I said. “A duplicate of the hallway footage. One someone tried to delete but didn’t shred properly. Your ID was logged into the system the same day Evelyn’s hallway cameras failed.”
He opened his mouth, but I wasn’t done.
“I’ve watched the file,” I added. “Frame by frame. You scrubbed the data, but not the metadata. I know you tampered with it. I know you paused the feed for twenty-three minutes. Right when the necklace was planted.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
I didn’t blink.
“You’re not just sloppy,” I said. “You’re stupid.”
He stood up fast, like he might run.
Dante was faster.
He grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
Victor gasped, trying to twist free.
“Who paid you?” I asked calmly.
He said nothing.
I sighed.
“You’ve got two options,” I said. “Speak now, or speak to the investigator force after they chain you up for tech interference on royal property.”
That got him.
He laughed once. Bitter.
“Some girl,” he said. “Paid me in cash. Said she needed a glitch. Just few minutes. Said it was about something personal. I didn’t ask.”
“Name.”
“I don’t know it. She never gave it.”
“Face?”
He hesitated. “Pretty. Dark red lips. Darker eyes. Kind of… venom-sweet, you know?”
Layla.
I looked at Dante.
He nodded once and pulled out his phone.
“Call it in,” I told him. “He’s done.”
Ten minutes later, the investigators arrived. Silent men in dark clothes. No badges. No noise.
They took Victor without a word.
By morning, no one would even know he’d been here.
And the footage?
I’d already sent a copy to Sebastian.
He’d have what he needed for council.
But it still wasn’t over.
Because Layla was still moving.
And I needed to be quicker.
Later that afternoon, I walked through the west side garage.
It was quiet here. Too quiet.
No servants. No guards. Just storage. Tinted windows. Metal lockers.
This was where they usually kept estate vehicles.
But someone had slipped through.
I’d followed the trail from the back garden. Saw the boot marks in the mud. Someone had been trying to avoid the cameras.
But they didn’t know I’d already had new ones installed.
Silent ones.
I turned a corner—and stopped.
There she was.
Layla.
Black jacket. Hood up. Hands in her pocket.
And another woman.
Late twenties. Blonde hair, anxious eyes. I didn’t know her name, but I recognized her face. She worked supply intake. Not high rank. Not bold.
Layla handed her something.
Small. Shiny.
I didn’t need to guess.
It was the second pin—the one that matched the queen’s necklace.
Proof.
Gold. Royal-marked. Impossible to replace.
I moved quietly behind the garage column.
Just close enough to listen.
“I told you,” Layla was saying, “you give it to the buyer directly. Do not mention where it came from. Not to anyone.”
The blonde woman nodded nervously. “Are they still meeting at the café?”
Layla nodded. “Outskirts. You’ll take the train. Leave in an hour.”
The woman looked down at the pin. Her fingers shook slightly.
“Don’t mess this up,” Layla said sharply. “I don’t care if you’re scared. If they trace it back, we’re both dead.”
I stepped out from behind the wall.
Both women froze.
Layla’s eyes widened for a split second—then narrowed.
“Going somewhere?” I asked.
The blonde girl dropped the pin.
It clattered on the floor.
Layla didn’t run.
She turned, calm. Cool.
Like she hadn’t been caught arranging a royal theft.
“Rowan,” she said lightly. “Out for a walk?”
I didn’t answer.
Sebastian arrived behind me a second later.
He stepped forward fast and picked up the pin.
His face darkened.
The blonde girl trembled.
“Where did you get this?” he asked.
She pointed at Layla without hesitation.
“I—I didn’t know it was hers—I just—she said to sell it—”
Sebastian and I turned to Layla.
But she was already gone.
The back door was open.
By the time we reached it, she had vanished into the trees behind the property.
Dante’s team began searching.
But I already knew—
She was fast.
And careful.
And now, she was scared.
Layla’s POV
I didn’t run far.
Just far enough to clear the fences.
I slipped through the lower gate, ducked past the mechanic’s shop, and took the side road out of the estate.
My breath came fast. My boots hit the pavement hard.
I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t afford to.
Not now.
They had seen too much.
That dumb girl dropped the pin.
Of all the things to drop.
Now Sebastian had it.
He’d link it. He’d put the story together.
I had to clean it up.
Fast.
No more help. No more pawns.
Lina was already shaky. She’d break if they squeezed.
And Victor?
He was a fool.
I should’ve picked someone smarter.
Someone with no morals.
I turned the corner and stepped into a café. Not the one we planned to meet at. I wasn’t that stupid. This one was small. Tucked between an old bookstore and a tailor’s shop. No cameras. No staff with good memory.
I walked straight to the back, sat in the far booth, and pulled out my phone.
I had four numbers saved for this kind of thing.
One for bribing.
One for erasing.
One for transportation.
And one for burning bridges.
I tapped the second.
He answered on the second ring.
“Problem?” he asked.
“Clean everything,” I said.
“Everything?”
“Yes. Now. All files. All logs. All texts. Wipe them.”
“Done,” he said. “You’ll owe me.”
“I always do.”
I hung up.
Then I looked out the window.
The street was quiet.
But not for long.
They were going to start asking questions.
They’d trace me to Lina.
They’d trace me to the surveillance room.
They’d trace me to the pin.
But I still had one advantage—
They didn’t have me.
Not yet.
And I wasn’t about to give them the chance.
I stood up and pulled my hood tighter.
One more person to visit.
One more loose thread.
If she opened her mouth, I was done.
If she stayed quiet, I had one more day.
I just had to make sure she stayed quiet.
No matter what it cost.
Back at the estate — Rowan’s POV
The blonde girl cried the whole time.
Sebastian didn’t speak to her. He just gave her to the investigators.
The second pin was locked in the vault.
The reports were already written.
Everything pointed back to Layla.
And Evelyn’s name was finally, finally clear.
Almost.
We just needed Layla.
And she had vanished.
Dante stood beside me, both of us watching the camera feed from the parking lot.
“She used the side road,” he said. “West path. No cameras.”
“She knew where to go.”
“She knew more than she should’ve.”
“She had help.”
He nodded once.
“Should we alert the council?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I want her caught red-handed.”
I looked at the screen again.
And something cold moved down my spine.
Layla wasn’t just hiding.
She was hunting too.
And her next move?
Wouldn’t be small.