Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1

by Carol Moncado

  Kensington was twisted around and run through corridors he didn’t recognize, his shouts for an explanation going unheeded.

  He knew it wasn’t the little girl or her mother or any of the people around that caused him to be rushed off and hoped someone would take the time to make sure they knew that.

  His car waited in one of the underground tunnels. His team practically threw him in it before barreling out of the parking area. The horn blared constantly as they traversed through the back areas of the complex. In just moments, they stopped outside the building he’d been using to house his headquarters for the duration of the Games.

  Security here was tight, but also remained tight-lipped. This time, he wasn’t being drug away by his upper arms, but he was hurried through hallways just the same.

  The path opened into his small, cluttered office area. A man stood there, holding a dark-haired little girl.

  He turned.

  Bertrand.

  “Sir...”

  The little girl lifted her head off Bertrand’s shoulder.

  “Kenny!”

  Kensington blinked as she struggled to get down and crossed the few feet. He swung her up into his arms and clung tightly to her before it really registered.

  “Gracie,” he whispered.

  “My miss you, Kenny,” she whispered back, her arms so tight around his neck that he worried about breathing, then decided it didn’t matter.

  His little girl was in his arms, and he wouldn’t ever let her go.

  27

  “Ma’am, I need you to come with me.” The burly security guard had never worked with Anabelle before, but the grip on her arm told her he was quite serious.

  “Excuse me,” she told the customer she was talking with, as she waved an associate over. “This young man here will help you with any other questions.”

  The guard hurried her through the back door of the shop and into a waiting car. It sped through a back route to one of the buildings near the track and field venue. She asked repeatedly what this was all about - was Kensington all right? Astrid?

  No answers were forthcoming.

  She recognized the door to the small office suite Kensington was using. Inside, there were so many people she could barely squeeze through to get into his office. Most of them looked puzzled but one or two seemed to be hiding a smile.

  Once in the office, with the door closed behind her, she saw Kensington standing with his back to her, holding a little girl with dark hair.

  Sofia?

  He turned and she could see the tear tracks still filled with moisture on his cheeks and a trembling smile. “Hey,” he said softly to the little girl hidden by a curtain of brown hair. “There’s someone else here to see you.”

  The little girl lifted her head, and Anabelle felt her knees give way.

  Bertrand, who she hadn’t even realized was there, grabbed her elbow. Otherwise she would have landed on the floor.

  “Gracie?” she whispered.

  “Annie!”

  Stable again, Anabelle reached for her sister and clung tight. Kensington wrapped his arms around them both.

  Anabelle couldn’t stop the sobs, could feel tears dripping from Kensington’s cheeks onto her forehead, and absorbed the warmth of Gracie in her arms.

  “Annie, too tight.” The whine in the beloved voice made Anabelle laugh through the tears.

  “I’m so sorry, sweet girl.” She leaned back to look closer. “Are you all right, love? Are you hurt?”

  Gracie shook her head. “I fine. My miss you.”

  Anabelle tightened her hold. “Oh, Gracie. I missed you, too. More than you’ll ever know.”

  The door opened behind her. “It’s time to go,” a voice told them. “We have a secure route to a vehicle to take you back to the palace.”

  A crowd of security personnel, both from the palace team as well as the venue surrounded them. The halls were empty, but no one would have been able to tell who was inside the small huddle anyway.

  In the back of the limousine, Anabelle refused to let go of Gracie. There was no car seat, so she would hold tightly to her little girl.

  Seat belts were buckled regardless, and Kensington’s arm around her shoulder reassured her this was real.

  “I don’t know anything yet,” he told her. “I walked into the office to see her with Bertrand a few minutes before you arrived. That’s all I know.”

  Anabelle nodded as Gracie settled her head on Anabelle’s chest.

  The police escort made the ride blessedly short.

  The car came to a stop under the portico. Inside the palace, they were met by the king and queen and ushered to security headquarters.

  “No.” Anabelle stopped before going through the double doors. “I don’t want Gracie in there. We’re going to our quarters. They can talk to us there.”

  The king gave a slight nod and the whole group shifted course. In a few minutes, they were seated in the sitting room of Kensington’s apartment.

  “Miss Gracie, I have a few questions for you, okay?” The same woman had talked with Jenny. “I just need you to tell me the truth. You will not get in trouble for anything you tell me, okay?”

  Gracie nodded, but turned to Anabelle first. “Amma say to tell you to find her.”

  Anabelle’s eyes grew wide as she glanced at Kensington. “Amma?”

  “Uh huh. Amma took care of me. Not the whole time.”

  She looked over at the king who met her gaze with an impassive look of his own.

  He’d known? If Amma was with Gracie...

  “We’re already looking,” he said softly. “We have been for weeks. We’ll update you later.”

  Amma, Mrs. T, was missing, and no one had thought to tell her.

  “We need your help to find Amma,” the woman told Gracie.

  Anabelle lost track of time as Gracie answered questions.

  Before Amma another woman took care of Gracie. She wasn’t nice, but wasn’t mean.

  She was in a house.

  There were four bedrooms.

  Three bathrooms.

  One with a big tub Gracie could swim in.

  She couldn’t go outside, but she peeked sometimes. There was no playground in the backyard, but there was a tree. In the front she could see a playground but it had a fence around it, and sometimes there were lots of kids on it. She wanted to play with them.

  He always said no.

  “Who said no?”

  Gracie shrugged. “The man.”

  “Was it the same man who took you at the turtle park?”

  “No.”

  The woman asked a series of questions until they had a general description of the man - dark hair, but like Kensington’s so thinning on top. Tall. Something of a stomach.

  And a scar on his hand.

  The blood drained from Anabelle’s face when Gracie pointed to where the scar was.

  Anabelle looked at the king who simply nodded and made a pointing motion with his hand. A man scurried out of the room.

  “Okay, Miss Gracie, I know you said you’re not hurt, but I want my friend to look at you. He’s a doctor.” She leaned in. “He was Kenny’s doctor when he was little. Is that okay with you?”

  “Annie stay?”

  Grandmother appeared. “Could I stay with you, Miss Gracie? I missed you a whole lot, and Annie needs to answer some questions, too, okay?”

  Gracie nodded. “My miss you, too, Gigi. Where ‘Fia?”

  Anabelle smiled. “Sofia is with Uncle Jordan on San Minoria today, but they’ll be back tonight. I know she misses you and can’t wait to play.”

  Gracie went easily to Gigi. Anabelle held tight to Kensington’s hand as the doctor started to look Gracie over. They joined a knot of people across the room.

  She felt fire flash from her eyes as she looked at her husband, her father-in-law, and the senior members of the security staff. “How long have you known Amma was missing?”

  Kensington hadn’t known, though he’d wondered
if something else was going on for a couple of weeks. He kept his arm around his wife.

  His father looked directly at Anabelle. “When your amma and afi left for Eyjania after you had dinner, they made it as far as the airport. Amma decided to stay here and was on her way back to the palace. That’s all we know. Somewhere between the airport and here, she was waylaid. Mr. Sørensen received a note the next day saying she was taking care of her granddaughter and would not be harmed. That lends credence to the theory your grandfather is behind it. Your grandfather, obviously, has known for decades who your mother’s family is and would have been keeping an eye on them. For whatever reason, the person taking care of Gracie needed help.”

  “And no one told me?”

  Kensington could feel the tension increasing in Anabelle’s shoulders.

  “There was nothing you could do. Mr. Sørensen specifically requested it be kept from you unless there was a reason to think you could help us find her. There hasn’t been until now. With the information Gracie gave us about the playground and the school, we’re mobilizing now to find her.”

  “And the people who had Gracie won’t do something horrible to her now that Gracie’s gone?”

  “Word hasn’t been released. The two men who had her have been arrested. We’re hopeful there are no others.”

  “Are either one of them the man with the scar on his hand?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  The doctor walked up to the group. “From a very cursory preliminary exam, the Lady seems to be no worse for wear. She may have nightmares and need to see a psychologist, but there’s not much more I can do. I’ll have some bloodwork done in a bit, just to make sure there’s no drugs in her system, but there doesn’t appear to be. She did give me some more details about the playground at the school.” He described some different colored slides and other equipment.

  One of the security team members passed the information along.

  “They already had it narrowed down to a few primary schools,” the head of security told them. “Many of them don’t have houses near the playgrounds so that helps. She also mentioned hearing bells every day about lunch time so there must be a church nearby. That helps, too.”

  “Who found her?” Anabelle leaned into him. “How?”

  Kensington answered. “Bertrand. That’s all we know so far.”

  “He’s being questioned down in security,” his father told them. “He’s more than redeemed himself for the accidental breach last fall.”

  Kensington nodded, but the conversation ground to a halt as his mother walked up holding the little girl. “Someone wants her Annie.”

  Anabelle took Gracie and walked away, toward the room that had been redecorated with Gracie in mind.

  “We need a psychologist.” The doctor’s words had brought that home. “Someone needs to talk to all three of us, to tell me and Anabelle what to expect and how to react.”

  “There is one on the way. She is the one Astrid spoke with several times after Andrei’s death left her a widow. She has also worked extensively with children.”

  Kensington’s phone buzzed. “As much as I hate to leave, I have a matter that must be attended to. Please keep me posted on the search for Amma.”

  His father nodded. Kensington kissed Gracie’s forehead and Anabelle’s temple then headed back to his temporary office.

  Word wouldn’t be released until later in the day, though enough people had seen him and Anabelle both pulled from their respective locations that the news had to be getting out. In fact, there were probably pictures of him being dragged off all over the social media sites.

  Back at the track and field stadium, members of his staff gave him sideways, questioning looks, but he didn’t say anything about his sudden, dramatic disappearance. They wouldn’t get answers any sooner than anyone else and most of them had been removed from the office before he arrived so only key staff and security were there when the three of them left.

  For hours on end, he dealt with issue after issue and finally headed back to the palace about ten at night after the last event for the day had ended.

  He found his two favorite females sound asleep in his bed. Gracie had crawled in with him and Anabelle a few times, but usually early in the morning when she was ready to be up for the day, and they weren’t. She’d never actually slept with them before.

  As quietly as he could, Kensington walked through the room and did what he needed to do before going to bed. He slid under the covers and earnestly sent his thanks heavenward, along with continued prayers for Amma and her safety. The details still hadn’t been shared with him, but for the moment it didn’t matter.

  By eight the next morning, his parents’ assistants had been rallied, along with Jacqueline Grace’s, to help run the Games for a couple of hours. Anabelle’s assistant, Brittany, was working closely with Holly and the Lachapelles to make sure the souvenir stores and stands were running smoothly.

  Kensington, along with Anabelle, both of his parents, Bertrand, and several members of the security teams were seated in his father’s conference room.

  “First things first. Anabelle, your amma has been found safe. She’s asleep but wants to see you and Gracie as soon as possible. Your afi is on his way from Eyjania, along with Rachel, Clari, and Joel.”

  Anabelle’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Oh, thank you, Jesus.”

  “Second, Bertrand is going to tell us all what he told security yesterday about how he came to have the Lady with him. For the record, before he starts, everything he said has been verified via video surveillance of the areas in question. Everyone we are aware of is in custody with the sole exception of the man with the scar.” Kensington’s father turned to the side. “Bertrand?”

  Bertrand took a deep breath and stared at his clasped hands. “When I took over as Prince Kensington’s assistant, I told him my wife and I already had tickets to a gymnastics event. It’s been her favorite since she was a child, and I wanted to be able to go with her. He promised to make sure we could go together. As we were walking across the square outside the Athlete’s Village, I saw two men carrying a little girl with dark hair who looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite figure it out.”

  He looked between Anabelle and Kensington. “You know how there’s that little voice inside that tells you to go a different direction than usual or not to truly trust a person?”

  Anabelle nodded. “That’s how I’ve always felt about my grandfather.”

  “That voice told me to stay close. When she said something, I knew it was her. I just needed to figure out how to get her back, make sure the two men were arrested, and keep her from getting hurt in the process, while making sure my wife stayed safe.”

  28

  Anabelle did her best to relax as Bertrand shared his story. He’d spent some time in the military as a young man and had continued to train for many years, just in case.

  He just never knew what for.

  Until a day earlier.

  Bertrand told how he’d sent his wife to get them a souvenir at a nearby stand. With her out of harm’s way, he followed the two men until they neared a narrow alcove.

  “I barely remember it, but I grabbed the guy who wasn’t holding Gracie. I caught him off-guard and was able to apply a hold to both of his carotid arteries. He was out in a few seconds. I knew it wouldn’t take long for him to wake up, though he’d likely be disoriented.”

  Bertrand closed his eyes. “I saw the other guy looking around for his friend. I knew I needed to get Lady Gracie away from him, but I also knew if anyone saw it happen, they’d think I was the kidnapper so I needed him closer to a secure area where I could get behind-the-scenes as it were. I told him his buddy had gone around a corner while attaching my swipe card to my lanyard.”

  Anabelle’s heart resided in her throat while he spoke. It hurt to hear.

  His shoulders hunched over. “I didn’t want to hurt him too badly, just get the Lady. Once he went around the corner, I kidney pu
nched him in the back. Gracie slipped out of his hold, but she didn’t land hard. I grabbed his hair and hit his head against the wall. Gracie started to cry, but I picked her up and ran to the gate, swiping my card to get behind the locked entry as quick as I could. Once on the other side, I called security, then started for Prince Kensington’s office. She knew who I was from Easter, so she wasn’t scared, but just said she wanted to go home. We’d only been in there a couple of minutes when you arrived.”

  “Thank you.” Anabelle reached across the table to grip his hands. “Thank you for getting Gracie back.”

  Bertrand bowed his head. “It was my privilege, ma’am.”

  “Do we know why they ventured out with her?” Kensington asked security.

  “From the little they’ve said, we believe it to be arrogance, pure and simple. With the news about Astrid and the baby plus the other little girl and dyeing Gracie’s hair, they figured it was safe enough.”

  Anabelle chuckled. “I bet she threw an absolute fit until they agreed to take her. We’ve been talking about this for two years. She would have wanted to be there.”

  “Whatever the reason, she’s home now.” The king looked past all of them. “And I believe your amma is awake and looking for both of you.”

  Without waiting to be officially dismissed, Anabelle hurried out the door. “Where is she?” she called over her shoulder.

  “Esther’s quarters,” came the answer combined with a chuckle.

  Of course. The family would want to make certain Amma was well taken care of, and Esther wasn’t home. Her quarters would be available, or at least one of the other bedrooms would be.

  Anabelle nearly sprinted up several sets of stairs and down even more corridors, slowing only when she reached the heavy wooden door. Pushing it open slowly, she stepped out of the hall and into the dimly lit sitting room.

  “Amma?” she called softly.

  “I’m in here, darling!” The strong voice reassured Anabelle as she crossed to the bedroom, smiling at the sight of the quilt covering her amma. “Is Gracie with you?”