Love Inspired Suspense April 2015 #2

by Dana Mentink

  “Yes,” he answered.

  Thea sensed there was a lot more he wasn’t saying. For a moment she thought of pushing further but decided against it. He’d tell her more when he was ready, or she’d find out by his actions. Besides, there was much more she wanted to learn about the man who already knew her life story.

  “Are you married?” As soon as the words were spoken, she wondered if she was being too nosey. “I’m sorry—it’s none of my business.”

  “Don’t be sorry. All’s fair. After all, I’m fully aware that you are single. I could list the names, ages and social security numbers of the men you have seen socially, though, if you’d like.” He chuckled and, although she knew he was teasing her, she rose to the challenge.

  “You and I both know I’ve barely been allowed to make friends, let alone date.” She paused for a moment. She wanted to make connections and have friends. But friendships were impossible when you were never allowed to stay in one place very long and were always being watched. “All right, then, I stand by my question.” She’d noticed he wore no rings, although that didn’t always mean a man was single. Not all men chose to wear rings.

  “I’m single. Never married. I have dated, but nothing serious, really.” He paused, flashing a grin. “Would you like names and ages?”

  “I don’t think that will be necessary, do you?” She grinned right back. Thea couldn’t help herself. It surprised her how difficult it was to stay angry with him. Not to mention how at ease she felt when only hours ago she’d thought him capable of trying to kill her.

  “How do you know my brother?” she asked, hoping to catch him off guard and finally get answers to the questions racing through her mind.

  She watched as his face went from playful to serious in a flash. His brows furrowed as he thought. She knew in that second that whatever he told her would be the truth. He was only taking the time to say it as gently as he could. She admired him for that, but part of her just wanted for once to hear the unabridged version and not the watered-down, what-he-thought-the-princess-could-handle edition.

  “I was his bodyguard.”

  And Leo had been shot. He didn’t say it, but she could tell he was thinking it. The guilt flashed across his face as he spoke the words. Maybe not so much for his own feelings, but perhaps because of what he imagined she’d think of him.

  “Do you think I’m going to blame you for his being shot?” Thea folded her hands in her lap to keep from reaching over and smoothing the worry from his face.

  “Don’t you?” His shoulders slumped slightly, so slightly anyone else might not have noticed. But she had spent the past fourteen years of her life studying people, determining who was telling her the truth and who was lying to protect her supposed tender feelings. In that moment she knew she couldn’t be angry with him.

  “Of course not.” She couldn’t blame him any more than those who had been trained to give up their lives for her and her family. Her heart broke for those who had already done so. Those men were so filled with duty and honor, they would never hesitate in doing what needed to be done. She was tired of the death, of the threats. She wanted it all to end.

  She loved her brother more than anything. Without thought, her fingers found the medallion in her pocket and slowly began rubbing what was left of the raised surface of her family crest. He was all she had left. If he’d died, she would have lost a large piece of herself. Her life would have had an emptiness that would have taken a lot of time and prayer to ease.

  “How did it happen?” Thea knew it would be uncomfortable for him to share and just as uncomfortable to hear. But she had to know. For now this man was her only connection to her brother. She reached across the space between their seats and lay her hand on his arm. She sensed the muscles in his forearm tense. “Please tell me.”

  Thea was relieved Ronin kept his eyes on the road. It was bad enough he could hear the emotion in her voice; she didn’t want him to see the feelings she was sure were not hidden at all on her face. She closed her eyes and waited, praying that he would give her at least a little of what she needed so badly.

  She didn’t have to wait long.

  “I don’t know for sure how much you know of your brother. But he has become a man with a huge heart. He tends to follow it into places he probably shouldn’t.”

  Thea smiled. She pulled her hand back and relaxed into the passenger seat. His words brought back images and memories of the teenage boy Leo had been before their lives had changed. The few occasions she had seen him since had hardly been enough time to judge the man he had become.

  “He has hidden himself away the last year or so working in a homeless shelter in Chicago,” Ronin continued. “He’s made quite a few friends there. He considers himself one of them.”

  “Because he understands what it’s like to be without a place to call home,” Thea remarked. It made perfect sense to her. Leo would experience a bond with those who didn’t feel as if they belonged.

  “Yes,” Ronin agreed. “That’s the way he explained it, as well.”

  “But how did he end up being shot?” Thea urged him to continue.

  “One of his friends at the shelter went missing. Leo started investigating.”

  “On his own?” she asked.

  “That surprises you?”

  “No, not really.” She sighed. “I probably would have done the same thing.”

  “I had just made contact with your brother. Leo had already been at it a few weeks. He was close to a breakthrough, I imagine.”

  “And that’s what got him shot?”

  “We think so.”

  “So it wasn’t the same people who are after me?” It seemed bizarre that so much danger had come into their lives at the same time but for different reasons.

  “As far as we can tell.” Ronin paused for a few moments and gripped the steering wheel tightly as an eighteen-wheeler attempted to pass them on the slick road. “He has people with him looking into it to be sure.”

  “Could you have done anything to stop it?” she questioned.

  “I did all that I could.”

  “Then you have your answer. It’s not my place to judge what you could or couldn’t have done.”

  “How can you be so forgiving?”

  Thea didn’t have to think long. The answer was easy. She’d learned holding on to bitterness and blame brought only pain. The only way to truly live a happy life was to forgive.

  “How can I not?”

  *

  Forgiveness was not something he was accustomed to.

  Especially not so quickly and easily. He had done all that he could to protect Leo, but he’d been just that much too slow. He had been busy watching for an attack from those in power in their country; he hadn’t expected it from some random source. But still, he’d failed and he did blame himself for that.

  He would not fail a second time.

  He glanced over at the woman next to him. Thea truly was special. At first glance she might seem rather ordinary if you didn’t know of her heritage. A tiny jagged scar high on her forehead was the only feature keeping her face from being perfect. If you took the time to look deeper than surface impressions, you could see true beauty.

  Wavy locks of deep chestnut hair framed a lightly freckled face. He knew from his research that she hated the freckles. But they gave her character. She was beautiful, but it was her inner beauty that shone through more than anything.

  She had her father’s faith, as well. When she’d asked him if he believed in God, he hadn’t been sure what to say. He believed. He knew there was a God, but his faith had wavered so much since the day they’d come for his father. His friends and his country had turned their backs not only on him, but on his brothers also. He couldn’t help but think perhaps God had turned His back, too.

  He glanced over at Thea and she smiled at him. She might still have her doubts and questions, but he could sense her trust. She was her father’s daughter in every aspect. The king had been a wise m
an. King Donovan had ruled his people not with an iron fist, but with love. His kindness and faith had made the small country the prosperous land it was. When it was believed that the king and his son and daughters had been killed, his people had mourned the loss greatly.

  It was perhaps that state of mourning that had allowed the king’s second cousin, Marcus Wendell, to step in and take over the throne. During these past fourteen years, their country had been under King Marcus’s rule, and the nation had very slowly been on a downward spiral. That spiral was attributed mostly to the fact that the king was weak-minded. For the past few years he’d taken to finding a bride. That endeavor had led him to his engagement with a woman of questionable character, Lucia Delmont.

  At first Lucia had fooled them all. Mostly because during the first months of the engagement, she’d wisely kept in the background. But recently, he’d given her more and more power despite the fact they were not even wed yet. It was then that her true colors had begun to show to those who were wise enough to see her for what she was. It was almost to the point now that the bitter woman was ruling the country through the king. When word had leaked to the people that the prince and princess might be alive, an outcry to discover the truth had begun.

  Unfortunately, the rumor also gave the real killer of their father motive to find them first and see that they never made it back to their country. The people might think the king’s murderer was in prison. But it was not the truth—Ronin knew it in his heart. He also knew the real killer would see the need to finish the job that had been started all those years ago. Leo would be a target as part of the royal bloodline. But Thea held the truths that could see the assassin brought to justice. She had seen the killer, and whether she remembered who it was or not, she would be hunted with a vengeance. That hunt had already begun. For now there were only rumors that the prince and princess were alive. Someone out there would go to any means to squelch those rumors and see that the heirs remained dead to their people.

  Only this time their deaths would be of a much more permanent nature.

  “How much do you know of what is happening in our country?” he asked. He’d thought she’d be kept up-to-date on most of the current affairs, but he wasn’t sure.

  “Not much. I was barely ten when I was taken away. Those I had contact with seemed to think it was best I only knew that my father, sister and brother had perished.” She paused as if needing an extra boost of fortitude to continue. “It was only when I overheard them planning on moving my brother that I learned he was still alive.”

  “That must have been difficult for you.” His mother had died when he’d been young, as well. His father and brothers meant the world to him. He would do anything for them. The realization gave him a new respect for her and what she had overcome.

  “It was.” She sighed. “But I had my faith. I’ve always believed that good can come from the most difficult times. I had God with me through it all, and as Leo and I grew older, we also grew smarter. We found ways to work around the plans to keep us apart.”

  “By having your annual meeting?”

  “Yes.” Her voice broke. Ronin resisted the urge to reach out and lay his hand over hers. “It wasn’t much, but it was better than never seeing my brother again.”

  “You will see him again.” He hoped his words would give her the added courage to continue telling him what she knew. There was so much buried in her mind somewhere. She had been there when the king had been shot. No one knew for sure how much she’d witnessed, but anything at all would be better than the nothing he had now. He needed to know if she held any memory of his father from the night her family had died, if she remembered who had attacked her and left her for dead.

  “I know.” She sounded sure, more sure than he was at this moment. Where the courage came from he didn’t know, but he respected her all the more for not giving up.

  “What about you? Do you have family?”

  “Yes. I have two brothers.”

  “Are they in Portase?”

  Her question caught him off guard. He had hoped to get answers from her, not the other way around. Not that he minded sharing with her. He held a close bond with his brothers. They had come to the United States even before he had, when the country they had called home for all of their lives had shunned them.

  “They are all here in the States, actually. My older brother, Jarrod, started up his own security company in Colorado. My other brother, Declan, and I have both been working for him.”

  Ronin debated telling her more. His father had gotten them both out alive and a plan had been set in motion before he was imprisoned. It was Jarrod’s company that had provided the security for the prince and princess for the past several years. Before that, a few close friends of their father’s had helped move Thea and Leo from place to place. It had become his family’s mission to keep the royal heirs safe and hidden from those who were currently in power and were likely responsible for the king’s death.

  “Are you not from Portase, then?” Her voice sounded tired. She turned toward him and he noticed her stifled yawn. She was doing her best to stay awake, but she looked drained. After all that she’d been through today, she was probably exhausted both mentally and physically.

  “Originally, yes.” Any other truths he needed to share or questions he needed to ask could wait. “But that is a long story and you need to rest.” It would be selfish to keep her awake when she so obviously needed sleep. “I’m going to drive as long as I can through the night. If you’d like to relax, there’s a pillow and a blanket in the backseat.”

  “I might take you up on that,” she said as she twisted in the seat, reaching behind her and feeling around for the items. Finding them, she turned and arranged the pillow against the window and her shoulder. She spread the heavy military blanket over her lap and snuggled into the seat as best she could. “Normally, I can’t sleep in a moving car, but this snow is hypnotizing. Besides, I feel pretty safe with you at the wheel.”

  She would be safe. He’d see to that. Earlier he had not been paying as close attention to their surroundings as he should have been, and he’d nearly failed his self-imposed assignment before it even began. He honestly hadn’t expected an attack so soon. He should have known better. But in those few minutes when she’d turned to face him, her eyes filled with trust, and he’d taken his mind off protecting her and thought about the many reasons she’d have for not trusting him when all of the truth came out.

  Thea relaxed her head against the pillow and fidgeted some more, trying to find a comfortable position in near impossible circumstances. She would be asleep within minutes.

  Ronin glanced in the rearview mirror to see if any vehicles were following. The men would need a new car, and they could have been injured and possibly arrested. The roads were nearly vacant with the ice storm picking up force in the area. Travel would be slow, but he and Thea had a good head start, and if they stuck to back roads, the odds were in their favor they would not be found.

  “Is anyone back there?” she whispered.

  “I thought you were asleep.” He smiled and shook his head. He would have to be careful with her. She paid a lot more attention to things than he’d thought. “Nothing but ice and snow.” He glanced back again, just to be sure. “Go to sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

  “Where’s there?” she mumbled.

  “We’re headed to a safe house in Denver. Then, after your identity has been verified, it’s on to the royal estate outside Denver.”

  “I’ve always wanted to see the mountains.” She breathed the words on a sigh. Ronin wasn’t sure if she was even awake.

  When she didn’t say anything else after a few minutes, Ronin realized she must have truly fallen asleep this time. It was going to be a long night. At these speeds and with these road conditions, they probably wouldn’t arrive until late tomorrow. If his brothers were on task, they would be preparing a safe haven for the princess. But he couldn’t be certain what they’d find whe
n they arrived. There had been one leak already; there could be more. She’d need her rest for the possible receptions they could receive.

  As he drove, Ronin thought of checking in with his older brother. Jarrod had worked hard behind the scenes to make sure everything was prepared for their arrival. He was just as dedicated to finding the truth as Ronin. It would be nice to know what preparations were being made, but he dismissed the idea. Cell service was limited and he wasn’t supposed to make any sort of contact.

  They were on their own.

  He’d known that before he’d come for her. There would be no formal move against the current king until the prince and princess could be brought forth and validated as the true heirs of the throne. There were many out there who would go to any extremes to keep that from happening. The king was still the king, and if he had a hand in the murder of her father, he would have the support of their country. At least until the truth was revealed.

  Ronin drove for several hours, running different scenarios through his mind as they moved out of Missouri and into Kansas. It all passed by in a blur of white. None of the ways Thea’s homecoming might play out were within acceptable limits. Until their country actually saw them and accepted them, she and Leo were still as good as dead. He had no doubt attempts could be made on their lives even once they’d reached the estate where they were to meet. Until the real killer was found and imprisoned, they would never be safe.

  He’d just made the decision to switch to a different county road that would be less traveled when he noticed the headlights coming up behind him. The only vehicles he’d seen in the past few hours were two truckers moving even slower than himself and a car that was being pulled out of a ditch by a tow truck.

  The headlights came up fast behind him. Too fast.

  Within moments the interior of the car was flooded with bright light.