As Nancy had figured, it took some convincing from her, Anna, and the Kovnas, but Mrs. Alexandra reluctantly agreed to leave Lilac Inn. Mrs. Kovna thought it a good idea if she and her daughters went with her and Anna. Then came the big question, where could they go?

"Give me a day or two to search for an adequate place," replied Nancy, "I'm sure there are a few places to choose from."

"What about the Matthews farm?" asked Millie, giving Katherine a sly smirk. "Especially since Richard Matthews himself gave us such sound advice. And there are enough men there to handle these crooks."

Nancy chuckled slightly. "As ideal as that would be, I doubt they could. Richard has six siblings, I don't think they could fit any more."

Millie snapped her fingers and whispered, "Darn."

"What about the Tophams then?" Katherine asked. "Their house is certainly large enough."

Mrs. Alexandra shook her head firmly. "No, these girls are doing enough for us as is, I will not encroach upon them more than we have to."

Nancy pursed her lips. "As much as I disagree with you on that point, Mrs. Alexandra, there is another point to consider." The others glanced at her, questions in their eyes. "If these rebels know we are helping you, they would think of checking our houses first to see if you are there."

Mrs. Alexandra nodded. "Yes, that too. It would defeat the purpose, as you Americans say."

Nancy smiled. "Right." She glanced at everyone. "Which is why I ask that you give me at least a day to search for a suitable place. You might be able to keep a lower profile at the Topham house for now, but we need to get you out of here until I can find something suitable."

"I want to stay one last night here," stated Mrs. Alexandra as she cast a forlorn glance around the room. Nancy began to argue against it when Mrs. Alexandra gave her such a look of sorrow. "Give me a chance to say goodbye."

Nancy sighed. She couldn't argue with a face like that. "Very well, one last night. But you all must be out of here first thing in the morning."

Mrs. Alexandra managed a soft smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Nancy glanced at the jewel box. "And I think the first thing you pack should be that. We don't need them finding out its secrets before I do."

Anna walked over to it and picked it up. "No we do not. I will pack Madame's items immediately so we have less of an issue."

"Thanks, Anna." Nancy let out a breath. "Well, I shall see you tomorrow afternoon with a list of better places to stay."

"Oh, what shall we tell Michael?" Mrs. Alexandra exclaimed.

Nancy pursed her lips. "There is a danger of the rebels sabotaging the whole thing. I think it best you not tell him where you are staying, for his protection as well as yours."

"But when can we see each other again?"

"You can arrange meetings, you can come back here if you like for lunch, or meet at a restaurant, but no more can be said on the matter."

"And here we thought we picked the best place in River Heights because it seemed so private!" Anna muttered.

"Maybe it had been for many years, but not any more. I had better get going, those places are not going to find themselves."

Mrs. Alexandra let out a sound like a mix of a sigh and a chuckle. "No, no I suppose not."

"Good luck in your search, Nancy," said Mrs. Kovna as she and Katherine walked her to the door, "but I am sure you will find a great place for us."

Nancy smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. I am lucky in that my dad works for several of the realtors, that will help the search immensely."

"I'm sure it will, but we do trust you."

"Thanks Mrs. Kovna. Remember, get out first thing in the morning, and stay close. I'll join you for dinner."

"Good luck," said Katherine, giving her a quick hug.

"Thanks." They waved goodbye, and Nancy quickly dashed down the stairs. But this time seemed different than even when she was solving Emily's mystery. Her eyes darted around the foyer, taking in every detail. Jane came out from the kitchen and eyed her with concern. In whispers, Nancy relayed as much as she dared.

Jane gave her an understanding nod and a squeeze of her hand. "Good luck. Let us know if we can help."

"For now, just make sure no suspicious characters follow them when they leave. I'll let you know if we need anything else."

Jane gave a quick nod. "Will do."

"Thank you." Nancy quickly squeezed her hand before she left. As she closed the door behind her, a feeling of anxiety that she hadn't noticed before seemed to dissipate a bit. She was glad that she had several people helping her on this, even if she couldn't tell them everything.

She soon was heading towards her father's office building. She liked having a good idea of where to start looking and going from there. Besides, she could ask her father for advice on several places once he was updated about the situation.

Nancy pulled into the parking lot at the building and nearly tore down the door to get into the building. She saw the elevator dios closing and went to run up the stairs. She walked in without so much a knock. Mrs. Farnham glanced up from her desk, startled, but it gave way to a cheery smile upon seeing her.

"Why, hello Nancy! And pray tell what is the reason for this surprise visit?"

Nancy shot her a sheepish grin. "Hi Mrs. Farnham, I need my father's advice on my mystery, namely houses for rent."

Mrs. Farnham shot her a quizzical look but was pulling out drawers in her filing cabinet and rustling through papers. "Houses for rent, huh? There are only a few lots available, but I will have that list for you in a few minutes."

"Oh, you're the best, Mrs. Farnham!" Nancy squeezed the secretary's hands.

Mrs. Farnham smiled. "I do my best. Now, you had best get in there, your father has a client coming in about an hour."

"Right, thank you again!" Nancy dashed into her father's office. "Dad!" She paused, there was another man talking with her father. But this time, she recognized him instantly. "Uncle Denis!"

Denis laughed as he stood up and wrapped his niece into a hug. "How's this for a surprise? I was coming to surprise you, but instead, you surprised me!"

"You surprised me too! I thought you wouldn't be here for another day or two!"

He let out a huff as his face became solemn. "Well, turns out this whole Centrovia thing is far more important than I realized and I got out here as quickly as possible."

Nancy blinked. "You heard something! What is it?"

Denis let out a soft chuckle. "More like I got assigned to it. Undercover, mind you, but their safety is now our concern."

Nancy's mouth and eyes widened. "Oh, oh, so, um, I'm off the job?"

"Oh no, no no no, I said it's our job. Those crooks need a face, unfortunately that means you, to not notice me. So you are going to keep at this, but I will be informed of everything."

Nancy sighed with relief. "Oh, of course! Speaking of, I am glad you are here. I have to speak to both of you about it."

Denis leaned forward. "Something's happened, hasn't it?"

Nancy nodded solemnly, but before she could reply, Mrs. Farnham came in with a stack of papers. "Here's a list of available rentals." She placed the papers on Carson's desk and shot each of them a smile. "Good luck!" She left and closed the door behind her. Both Denis and Carson glanced at Nancy questioningly. She shot them a sheepish grin and the whole story came out. They waited patiently until she had told everything before speaking.

"Well, that explains this," quipped Carson as he picked up the stack of papers.

Denis glanced at him. "You have the best secretary in the world."

"I know, you can't have her."

Denis laughed. "I doubt she would even want to change managers."

Carson grinned. "Which makes her the best."

Nancy chuckled. "Yes, um, and now that we have the papers, and Uncle Denis, here, which houses do you think would be best?"

Carson leaned forward in his chair as he ruffled through the stack. "This will take a few minutes to go through."

Denis held out his hand. "Since I am assigned to this, I should look through these and make the final decision. I will head to each place and make sure they're set up." Carson nodded and handed him the papers. He turned to Nancy. "Tell them to be ready to move out at a moment's notice. I can't guarantee that these will be ready tomorrow, but I will work to make sure they are ready as soon as possible."

"Well, I told them to leave tomorrow morning and stay at the Tophams until I had found a couple places …"

Denis shook his head. "No, head back and tell them to stay at the Inn until I say so, just be sure to be ready to leave."

Nancy let out a huff. "Well, Mrs. Alexandra will like that, she has grown quite fond of Lilac Inn."

"As to be expected, she has been going there for many years. Maybe you can tell me why she picked that Inn, of all places?"

Nancy smiled softly. "It reminds her of home, especially the royal summer home. It was surrounded by lilacs, apparently."

"Ah," said Dennis, "so that's why." He glanced at the list of houses. "Good thing to keep in mind." He nodded at Nancy. "You better get back and let them know."

"But if those rebels are listening again, what should I tell them?"

Denis merely shrugged. "That your uncle is better at house shopping than your old man."

Carson let out a surprised laugh. "Why Denis, it was Catie who decided on the house!"

"Yeah sure, it has your name written all over it," mumbled Denis.

Carson shook his head and sighed before chuckling. "Whatever you say."

"Oh, how will you contact them, to let them know you picked houses?"

Denis tilted his head and thought for a moment. "I'll call the Inn and ask to speak to them. Tell them I will ask them if they want a white, pink, or a purple lilac bush in their front yard. Their answer will tell me which house they have chosen. I will have the keys and directions for you that night so you can hand them over to them the following morning."

Nancy nodded. "Will do. Thanks a lot Uncle Denis!" She gave him a hug.

He kissed the top of her head. "Well, it is my job now, but I am glad of it."

Nancy smiled. "Me too." She went to her father and kissed his cheek. "Bye Dad."

"Bye Nancy. Be careful now."

"I will. See you at dinner!" She waved and walked out. She bade Mrs. Farnham farewell and thanked her before heading out of the building. She dashed to her car, but then slowed down. There was a piece of paper wedged between her windshield and the wipers. She pulled it out and quickly read the misshapen note.

"The queen and the prince must not leave this country, or they will die!"

(Author's Note: Hello my rosy readers! Welcome back to another chapter! Things are still, well, doing alright. Going to another funeral and wanted these chapters posted before we left. My dad's brother who was in hospice passed away. We were blessed to get to see him one last time. Unfortunately, my aunts were wanting to plan a big family reunion before he passed, but now it's too late. My dad does want to still have a kind of family reunion, but it is now just the three aunts who we have seen far more than our uncles. But, yes, loads of prayers for the whole family this weekend would be appreciated. Include my grandma's brothers, it's just a matter of time for them as well, but have managed to hold on for a pretty good long time. Despite that, the ideas keep coming, and these stories are not going to write themselves. No, I will not have a program help me. It's more satisfactory when a chapter, heck, even a book, is finished and I can move on to the next one. Speaking of, I obviously have not updated the Hardy boys in a while, but the momentum is still going for this story and the Tom Corbett one, so I'm keeping on with these two until they are finished. Still going to be working on the Lord of the Rings fanfic and my original stories at the same time. Then focus on the Hardys and get back to the Sprite Society. Gotta refind the momentum for those two, but I'm sure they're hiding around here somewhere. Also, guess what, one of my cousins is getting ready to publish her trilogy! And one of my aunts is working on getting one of her stories published too! It's running in the family! Will post full titles for you all to look up as soon as they are available to purchase. Thanks for reading and hope you have a wonderful day! God bless!)