The Invisible Amateur by Amelia Price Page A

gave
her a pointed look. “I'm going to sort this out and ensure,
whatever secret these terrorists have, that it remains a secret and
out of their hands.”
    “It's my life on
the line here. I won't let you deny me the right to try and keep
myself alive.”
    Myron looked like
he might have her thrown out, but Sebastian shrugged and went to
his usual case board to start building up what they knew. If
Sebastian was going to include her, she knew it gave the elder
brother little choice but to allow it. Now she only had to impress
them both. No pressure at all. And no reason why her hands should
be shaking as she started typing her first search term.
     
     

Chapter 7
    Despite the late
hour, Mycroft didn't feel tired. His mind was abuzz with
information and his body was appreciating the constant supply of
tea Mrs Wintern kept supplying the three workers with. He needed to
keep his mind and body alert.
    Sherlock and
Amelia were doing their best to find the information and who had
leaked it while he sat and listened. It would be a tough task to
ensure they found enough to let him know what he needed to acquire
back off the Russians but not enough that they worked out what the
exact nature of the secret was. It was unhelpful enough that his
younger brother had worked out it was the royal family, although
the leap wasn't a difficult jump for sound logic. They were the
only people he answered to in any shape or form.
    Mycroft watched
Amelia type away on her small laptop at the desk. Given how
recently she'd discovered the intent of the Russians towards her,
she was coping well. He'd feared tears or an emotion even worse,
but she was using the threat as a channel to achieve, something not
many people found easy.
    He hadn't
appreciated her outburst when he'd arrived, but he knew his own
prickle of jealousy had caused it. He took a certain satisfaction
in the statement she'd made a couple of months earlier, when
assuring him that she preferred him to his younger brother. If
nothing else, it showed she had taste enough to look past
appearances and even social awkwardness. His brother was the more
attractive of the two of them by normal standards. Although both
were tall and dark-haired, and he was always the more immaculately
attired of the two of them. Sherlock had the better face and the
better social skills.
    Finding her
flirting with Sherlock and then having his younger brother delight
in the attention had tugged at a nerve. She'd come to him for
tuition and learning, and now Sherlock was the one she appeared to
favour. Just when he'd started to feel like training her might be a
task worthy of his time.
    He also hadn't
missed the comment of his younger brother's about her pleasing him
with her progress. At some point, Sherlock had been told or worked
out he had agreed to teach her. That sentence made sense in no
other circumstance and he didn't think she would have missed that
little detail either. Even she wasn't that stupid. His younger
brother knew, and Amelia was aware of that, yet she hadn't told
him.
    “I think I've
found something,” Amelia said, disturbing both Holmes brothers from
their thoughts. Sherlock beat Mycroft to her side, and she allowed
him to take the laptop from her with whatever she'd learned.
    “That might be
it,” Sherlock replied, not taking his eyes from the screen.
    “It's a forum I
sometimes go to when I want to check facts to do with the royal
family.”
    “Let me see,”
Mycroft said and held out his hands. When Sherlock didn't respond,
Amelia got up from the desk, took the device from him and brought
it over to Mycroft. She perched on the arm of the chair and pointed
at the forum post she'd noticed.
     
    The royal
family must have secrets, right? My sister worked for them a while
back and she said they are a close family but not perfect at all.
I'm sure some people would pay for the secrets they keep. There
would be such a scandal if some of them were exposed.
     
    “It's in a thread
about the