When it was finally the turn of Clara's guards to be discussed, it was then that Clara finally said something that attracted the attention of everyone else in the room. Even Violet felt a sudden sense of unease following her words.
"When I think about it, Grace has been acting…a bit strange lately."
"What do you mean? Strange? How?" asked Violet suspicious of the escort under discussion. As far as she knew, Grace was quite the devoted escort who always followed after Clara and was especially passionate about her protection even though she didn't need it. Even if she had to suspect someone defecting, she would have never considered Grace to be the mole.
Unfortunately, the closest knives were the most hidden and the most sinister.
"Previously he was always there whenever I needed him. Even though I never needed his protection, he always stuck to me like glue and forced me to take him with me wherever I went. But lately he is always absent whenever something happens to me. It is like his priorities have changed all of a sudden. I can't think of anyone else who has changed so drastically during this period. The more I think about it…the more I feel that he is the one…the spy."
Clara's expression became more resolute and confident as she spoke about Grace to Violet.
Grace was someone even Zach knew to be quite stubborn about Clara's protection. He remembered how much he had tried to resist his help when they first met in the wilderness.
Both Zach and Violet's faces darkened at the thought of such a man being a traitor. Such a betrayal meant that no one could be trusted and everyone was fully capable of betraying them in the face of benefits.
"I think that Clara's guess should be the right one. This isn't like Grace at all. He was never this careless about her safety like this before. But I don't want to risk it if it can be helped. I don't want to lose the trust of such a devoted person if all of this turns out to be our speculation alone."
Violet explained her concerns to everyone. Although she had her doubts, she didn't want to interrogate Grace before she could make sure that he was indeed the culprit who sold them out to the enemies in such a heartless manner.
Clara nodded unconsciously as she agreed with Violet's concerns in her heart even though she was the first one to harbor suspicion against Grace.
A man like Grace would never be able to accept such an accusation. They would never let something mar their dignity and honor earned through a lifetime of loyalty and dedication. As such, questioning him would probably have long lasting effects on his relationship with the Windsor family. It wasn't that Grace was irreplaceable but that he had been with the Windsor family for so long that it just wasn't right to trample all over his loyal sentiments for the family based on pure speculation and circumstantial evidence.
"You are from a prominent family as well, right? How do you people deal with spies?" Clara asked Christina thinking that the latter might be able to solve their dilemma for them.
Christina wasn't as helpful as Clara had assumed. She just shook her head and said, "We aren't a martial family to begin with. Our family relies on business activities and the foundation of our ancestors to thrive. Amongst businessmen, spies are considered to be the vilest of pests. They are eliminated as soon as the guilt is proven. Leaking business secrets is considered to be worse than stealing and murdering. Therefore, we either trade their life for benefits from the perpetrator or we kill the spies without giving them an opportunity to defend themselves in case they know too much."
Violet and Clara hadn't expected Christina to be from such a ruthless family. Luke on the other hand nodded to himself as he heard the only method he approved of from Christina's mouth. This was the way military handled spies and he felt that this should be the only consequence of betrayal. Still, he had the sense to not say anything in front of the girls when they hadn't asked him for his opinion on such a subject.
Christina's suggestion was never taken into account for the reason that it was too ruthless.
Just when all present were wondering what to do about Grace, Zach attracted the attention of everyone with a clap. Even he didn't understand why he did what he did but it must have been some suppressed impulse of his that had finally found its way out.
Zach was slightly embarrassed at his sudden action but other than the slight redness underneath his ears he didn't let it show on his face for fear of being teased by them.
"I can help you with this. You don't need to confront him. If you can ensure that I can have a smooth conversation with him, I can tell you whether he has betrayed you or not."
As soon as Zach offered the solution, Luke snickered as if he didn't believe him at all.
"What do you intend to do, ask him nicely and hope that he tells you the truth?" asked Luke incredulously not believing in a word that came out of Zach's mouth.
"Something like that. In fact, he doesn't even need to tell me the truth. I just need him to talk to me with this thing connected to his body and I would be able to tell whether he is the spy or not." Zach pulled out the lie detector from his arsenal and stunned the other participants with his otherworldly prowess to pull things out of nowhere.
"So, you are telling me that you can get this done without alarming Grace or hurting his self-esteem?" asked Violet as if confirming whether Zach could truly pull this off. Although she had seen his methods on countless occasions, she had never expected that his prowess had reached such a godly realm. He could deduce someone's actions just based on their words.
"Clara, you decide. After all he is your escort." declared Violet.
Clara was flustered at first but when she took a look at Zach's confident visage, she decided to put her faith in him since he had yet to disappoint her since the moment, she met him for the first time.
"You can do whatever you want. I believe in you."
Zach nodded in response and controlled some drones that were already high up in the sky keeping an eye out for any new intruders in the vicinity of the Windsor family mansion. He needed to up the security of the mansion in these turbulent times at the very least. With the presence of a spy in the mansion, Zach felt that it was best if he took over the security detail of the mansion with his drones so as to be ready in every situation.
The drones spread out like a formation of planes breaking off in different directions in a showy manner.
The dragonflies were sent to all the possible locations that Grace could have been at and finally located him after a comprehensive search for thirty minutes.
Grace was currently in a sugar production plant helping manage the operations in the absence of the core of the family. Violet's absence and Marico's arrest had probably made it harder for the sugar production plant which led to Grace taking over the factory for the time being. OR maybe he had some hidden motive; Zach couldn't be sure about that until after the interrogation.
"Grace is currently in the production plant by the south east city gate. Did you send him there to help out?" Zach asked Clara in an attempt to unravel Grace's intentions about the Windsor family if he had any to begin with.
"I don't think I did but he does sometimes go out of his way to help others with their chores. This isn't exactly a new behavior if you are asking about that. He isn't doing this to look good now that he should be under suspicion. This is just how he has been since the time he became my escort." clarified Clara since she didn't want Zach to be overtly biased against Grace before even meeting him.
""I understand."
This content is taken from freewebnove(l).com