Royal Opposites (7 page)

“So let me get this straight. You decided to run from the authorities in a foreign country because of a strange woman you just met?”

“It does sound silly, doesn’t it? However, you’ve left out a very important detail.” He dabbed at his mouth with a cloth napkin she hadn’t noticed before. “It is my fault that you’re in this—”

“So you keep saying. But that wouldn’t have stopped other folk from leaving me high and dry. That’s the way the world works now.” “Not where I come from. I’m honor-‐-bound to protect you and see you through. That’s what I intend to do.”

Joan stared at him. Maybe if she stared at him long enough, she’d be able to see through to his real intentions toward her. For the life of her, all she could see was an earnest concern in the blue depths of his eyes. Figuring the best way to get past the shocker he’d just laid at her feet was to ignore it, she asked, “So what do you propose to do to ‘see me through’?”

The surprise on his face told her that was the last question he expected her to ask. She couldn’t begin to imagine the questions he got about being royalty from commoners like herself. Assuming he interacted with commoners. Joan almost laughed. She was a commoner. The title never felt more apropos than it did at this moment.

“First, we’re going to make a copy of the video. I’m not comfortable with there only being one copy. If it’s destroyed, things will become much more difficult.”

Joan nodded. Fair enough. She liked his plan so far. In fact, she couldn’t have agreed more. If he hadn’t suggested it, she’d decided she’d find a way to copy it on her own. “And then?”

He pushed his empty plate away in favor of an open phone book. “It turns out that your FBI has an office in this city. I believe they have more authority than local police departments, yes?”

Joan’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. She nodded. Their ways of life may be different on vast levels, but so far, they seemed to still be pretty well in sync.

“Good. We’ll contact them for help. We’ll give them a copy of the video to back up our story then let them handle the rest.

What do you say?”

Tom’s plan sounded quite sensible. Joan didn’t understand why she felt so abandoned all of a sudden. Yes, he promised to see her through, but contacting the FBI meant they would part company sooner rather than later. She remembered the obligations he’d mentioned in his country. He’d plan to go home today. She was sure he had to be anxious to get home. She had no doubt he would leave once she was under the protection of the FBI. She’d never see him again.

What was the matter with her? Five minutes ago, she’d been convinced he was a bank robber. Her life had been turned upside down the moment he stepped in it. Yet, here she was sad that their time together was coming to a close. If she had an ounce of sense, she’d be glad to see the back of him. Except that was part of the problem. She was glad to see him. Any part of him.

Joan shook off the thoughts and smiled. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. When do we start?” She injected an eager note into her voice and he gave her one of those heart stopping smiles.

“After you eat more than half a bagel.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “I know you’re not one of those women who pick over food, so eat.”

Joan held on to her smile and forced a laugh. The last thing she felt like doing at this moment was putting something in her churning stomach. Still, she obeyed. She went to the serving tray and selected a larger breakfast. Why not? She didn’t know if she’d ever have the chance to indulge herself on room service at a five-‐-

star hotel quite like this. Which brought her to…

“Please let me know how much I owe you for all this. I won’t be able to pay you back all at once, but if you’ll allow me a payment plan—”

“Joan, stop it. You don’t now nor will you ever owe me a dime. It’s I who is forever in your debt.” His face changed. It was strange, but she knew him well enough by now that his thoughts had turned inward. “I must be truthful with you, Joan. If not for your interruption yesterday, this whole incident could become very embarrassing for my country.”

Joan frowned. “How’s that?”

Tom relaxed back into the cushions of the couch. “The majority of Rafferstonia’s income is derived from loans we make to other nations. Our financial reputation is flawless. If that were to change, some of the, let’s say, nosier nations may insist on greater transparency in our process.”

Joan swallowed a bite of pancakes before asking, “And that’s bad because?”

“You’re familiar with the term ‘knowledge is power’, yes?”

He waited for Joan to nod. “Knowing to whom we lend money and how much could shift the balance of power in unfavorable ways for some countries who may then find themselves under attack by others. It’s best for all involved that we keep our books sealed.”

Perhaps she wasn’t quite so stupid after all. She understood what he was telling her. Not that she wasn’t having difficulty believing she was sitting here eating pancakes and discussing world events with a person who had a hand in them.

“If people are determined enough, they’ll find a way to get what they want regardless.”

Tom nodded. “Yes, however, they will not use Rafferstonia as a weapon in that arsenal.”

“So you’ll continue to fly below the radar so no one understands that the weapon even exists.”

“Precisely.” He gestured to her empty plate. “Are you ready to get a jump on today? I believe we have quite a lot to accomplish.”

Chapter Seven

Tom wasn’t sure if he should be happy with his admiration at her astute insights into the politics of royalty or dismayed. It was just one more thing they had in common that they shouldn’t because it would be much more difficult for them to part once this ordeal was over. Or perhaps he should offer her a position of advisor on his staff. She seemed to get where he was coming from with very little explanation from him. That could be a quite useful skill. Except for the fact he was having trouble holding on to his train of thought while Joan dabbed at her mouth with a napkin then gave him a smile. “I suppose we should get going.”

It took him a moment to understand what she was talking about. He had to be honest with himself. He couldn’t take her back to Rafferstonia with him. She’d be too much temptation for him to disrespect his marriage bed and he was determined he wasn’t about to become his father.

“Right.” He stood and offered her a hand up. She took it and he tried to ignore the little tingle that traveled up his arm. This wasn’t good. He needed to focus. “We’ll use the business center downstairs to make the copy then head to the FBI offices.”

She stared at him for a long time. It was almost like she expected him to disappear at any moment, which was absurd.

“Yes, let’s go.” She gathered up her bulky canvas bag then headed to the door. He paused to appreciate the view of her delectable bottom under the dress she’d worn yesterday. He frowned.

“Joan?” She faced him, a questioning look in her eyes.

“Didn’t you order a new outfit from downstairs?”

She frowned down at her dress. “No. Was I supposed to?”

“We can stop somewhere and pick you up something else to wear.”

The frown remained on her face. This time, it was directed at him. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”

“You wore it yesterday.”

“Yes. And I washed it last night. What’s the big deal?”

Tom shrugged. If she wasn’t concerned, then he was determined not to be. Though he couldn’t for the life of imagine wearing the same clothes for two days in a row. So much for them being on the same page. “No big deal. I want you to be comfortable.” He smiled and vowed to take her shopping the moment they finished with the FBI.

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t smile back. Just stood and gave him the eye until he felt lower than dirt for suggesting she was anything but perfect in yesterday’s clothing. At last, she opened the door and strode into the hallway without waiting for him. He had to jog to catch up. What was she mad at him for? It was obvious she was.

She stabbed at the button for the elevator when he caught up to her. The ride to the lobby felt interminable since he kept trying to engage her in conversation but she’d only give him a tight smile or a few syllables in answer. If he was lucky anyway. When the doors opened on the ground floor, he gave up. He figured she’d get over whatever it was. He looked around the lobby trying to guess the best direction to head in to find the business center.

Joan watched him for a few moments then shook her head.

She snagged a passing bellman.

“Excuse me. We’re looking for the business center.”

The man gave her a courteous smile. “It’s on the Mezzanine.

Get off the elevator and turn right. You’ll run into it.”

Joan leveled a pointed look in his direction while she said,

“Thank you,” to the bellman. He nodded and went on his way while Joan pressed the button to recall the elevator.

“They’re most often on the ground floor,” Tom couldn’t help but mutter in his own defense. He had no idea if that were true or not. He just wanted to wipe the smug look off her face. Except, it seemed to have the opposite effect. She appeared amused. At least she wasn’t mad at him anymore.

They followed the man’s direction and found the business center with no problem. What was a problem was that there didn’t appear to be any available computers in sight. The place was packed with business men and women all wearing identical name badges and frantically trying to handle whatever needed handling in their lives. There was a line to even get to the signup sheet.

“What do you say we try elsewhere?” Joan nodded and looped the camera strap around her wrist after freeing it from the bag on her shoulder.

This time when they got off the elevator, Tom strode with purpose toward the exit. He heard a snicker behind him and spun in time to catch Joan trying to suppress a grin. It was contagious.

He smiled, too, and offered her his arm. She switched the camera strap to her free hand when she took his arm. He realized, belatedly, that every time he’d seen the camera, it had been attached to her in some way. He was glad she was being so cautious with the security of the footage.

The elevator ride and stroll across the lobby was made in companionable silence. He was glad she seemed to be over whatever she’d gotten upset about. While they approached the car, Tom pulled his keys from his pocket.

“Any idea where we can find a computer to use?”

Joan tilted her head in thought. “An office supply chain.”

“I guess it does make sense to buy a laptop. Then we can—”

“No. We can do what we need to do from a demo computer.

They’re usually wired. We can upload a copy for us then give the FBI the card.”

“I have a better idea.” Tom frowned at the deep voice that spoke from behind them. He and Joan froze in their tracks. “Hand over the camera.”

At the demand, both Joan and Tom turned in slow motion to face the heavy guard who was standing less than five feet from them. He was wearing plain clothes, but there was still no mistaking his identity. He held out a hand like he expected them to obey, no questions asked. Tom exchanged a look with Joan. At her tiny nod, they whirled away from the guard to run. They didn’t get more than a few steps before the skinny guard appeared in front of them. With cars on both sides and the guards in front and behind them, they were boxed in.

Tom shielded Joan the best he could with his body. “Look, gentlemen, I’m fairly certain that what you are doing is against the law. Move aside and let us pass. We’ll forgive and forget the rest.”

“Well ain’t you just too kind?” The heavy guard sneered.

“Yeah. Too kind,” his partner echoed.

“Give me that camera and we won’t have to hurt you.”

“If we both run at the skinny dude, I think we can get by him,” Joan whispered in Tom’s ear. He focused on her proposed target and nodded.

“Go!”

At his command, he and Joan sprinted toward the man. The look on his face would’ve been comical if they hadn’t been so desperate to get by him. He went slack jawed and his eyes got big as saucers. Together, Joan and Tom hit the poor man and knocked him flat on his back. They didn’t pause to see if he got up or not.

Just kept running toward the Acura.

A couple rows away, Tom risked a peek over his shoulder to check the guards’ progress. The heavy one had joined the chase, but the skinny one was still trying to climb to his feet. Keys clenched in his fist, Tom sped up since he noticed Joan was pulling ahead of him.

She beckoned to him when she skidded to a stop at the passenger door of his car. “C’mon, c’mon!”

Tom sprinted to the driver side. It took him a couple tries to fit the key in the lock, but he got the door opened at last. He slid behind the wheel and leaned across to unlock Joan’s door. She tossed her bag inside then jumped in when the guard was barely a car width away. She slammed the lock down when the man lunged for the door handle.

Tom fired up the engine and backed out of the space with a squeal of his tires. The heavyset guard stumbled out of the way.

Joan braced herself against the dashboard while Tom whirled the steering wheel hard to the right causing them to bounce out onto the street. An SUV honked at them, but he didn’t give them a second thought.

“They’re following us.” Joan twisted in the seat to watch for their pursuers out the back window. How had they managed to find them? They’d left the state, for goodness sake. He sped through an intersection then dug his smartphone out of his pocket.

Handed it to Joan.

“The map application should still be open with directions to the FBI. I have the first part memorized, but I’m a little fuzzy on the rest. Can you guide me?”

Joan threw one last look over her shoulder and called up the screen. “What about the copy?”

“We’ll have to take our chances.” Tom craned his neck to check out the street signs. “That was Twentieth. Do you see us on the map?”

Joan scrolled the application. “Yes. We’ll go under a highway then turn left on Sixteenth.”

Tom jammed his foot down on the accelerator. He wove in and out of traffic. Joan checked the progress of their pursuers.