Bulletproof Princess

by It Girls

  "Never." A rush of joy, warm and bittersweet, swept through her and she kissed him again.

  *

  "Well, it's no wonder you're staying unconscious, Emma." Chloe squinted against the glaring light shining down on the bed. "You need my fricking crystal-studded glasses in here, don't you?"

  Chloe saw a string, pulled it, and the bright light dimmed. "That's better. Now, you have no excuse. You've been lazy long enough. Wake up. I could use some help on this vile case."

  Emma didn't stir. Just lay still and helpless under the white sheet and blanket.

  Chloe pulled the bedside chair closer, looked through the glass to be sure no one was within earshot. "I've got a real mess on my hands, Emma. Everything keeps leading back to our favorite suspects, and Erik's one of them. Ryan Greene and Brit Carouthers are the others. Marcus was right in there with them, and I think Tatiana was, too. Alan is following the paper trail on that, but I'm ninety-nine percent sure. For a while, Franklin was on the short list, but Jack and I agree that the Duke is too vicious to be him. Still, he's pissed at Renee and that hooks into this…somehow. I haven't quite put that together yet."

  Emma didn't move.

  "Tatiana's looking really guilty of outing the Roses. She's either been on site or doing the books for the major players on every single assignment. She knew we'd be at Hollow Hill and she did tip off Rubi. Rubi knows too much, and that had to come from Tatiana." Look at all she'd told Jack! "Hell, she could even be the Duke. We assumed he was a man, but we don't know it any more than we know the Governess is a woman. Tatiana is certainly smart enough to be the Duke, and we both know it."

  The drip into the IV tubing going into Emma's arm was steady and sure. "Emma, your California injury wasn't an accident. This attack wasn't an accident, either. You were targeted. And I think part of the reason is because you and Tatiana were down in Florida with Vanessa. Our favorite suspects were there, and I'm thinking whichever one of them is the Duke thought you were down there looking for him."

  Emma didn't move, didn't so much as flutter as she had on previous visits. Chloe again checked to make sure they were alone, and that Mac, who stood his post outside the door, couldn't overhear her. Just in case, she dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned closer to Emma. "Something scared Renee into ordering us to back off. What could have scared her that much? Maybe losing G.R.C., or her place in society? But what could do that? A scandal. But about what?" Chloe sighed, thought about it. Renee loved to party as much as the next person, but she had little time for it, or for more than her obligatory functions. She was a woman passionate about her work, and she was totally dedicated to it.

  That, or she's afraid of losing it.

  "Emma, things are spiraling out of control. Do you hear me? The Governess ordered me to stay engaged and expanded my assignment, and now she's missing, too."

  Chloe shuddered, smoothed the hair back from Emma's face. One dreaded thing was clear. A knot formed in Chloe's chest and throat. She'd refused to believe it, to even seriously consider it. But now she had no choice. "Emma, only one other person was involved on all the missions. Only one."

  Someone who should be thrilled because her husband was out of prison and at home, but was nervous and upset. Someone who had always stood strong on principle alone but had caved in a finger-snap on this assignment. Someone who'd sworn every day of her husband's five-year jail sentence that he was innocent and resented the injustice in his incarceration vehemently.

  Renee.

  And the more Chloe considered the possibility that Renee wanted to get back at the government who had wrongly convicted Preston, the more Chloe believed it possible. But to use women as drug mules, as escorts and white slaves?

  That, Chloe could not believe. Still, Renee knew more than she was telling. And that "more" might not be everything, but it was definitely something…

  When Chloe entered the waiting room, Jack was talking with Porsche. "These types of injuries can turn on a dime," he said. "They can seem dire one second, then the person wakes up and the whole picture changes."

  "Thanks, Jack." Porsche hugged him.

  He patted her back, giving her a big brother kind of hug that lacked the caressing Chloe associated with being in his arms. Sweet and compassionate for others, hungry and passionate for her. Worked for her. She smiled.

  Jack dropped a kiss to her cheek. "How is she?"

  "The same." She looked at Porsche. "Keep the faith," she said, then looped arms with Jack and started walking toward the exit. "It's definitely time to talk with Renee."

  "Let's do it."

  On the ride to G.R.C., Chloe sifted through all she knew and suspected and many of the puzzle pieces came into focus. Everything, it seemed, tied to everything else.

  Two blocks from G.R.C., her cell phone rang. Hoping it was Ashley, she answered. "Hello."

  "Chloe, it's Porsche. You need to get back to the hospital right away."

  Fear stormed through Chloe and all her muscles locked down. "Is Emma— " Chloe couldn't say it. She couldn't even think it. Emma had to be alive.

  "She's conscious, Chloe."

  "Oh, thank God." Relief washed through her, and she told Jack. "Turn around. Emma woke up."

  Jack whipped a quick left to go around the block. Chloe continued listening to Porsche's report.

  "She's fuzzy. Dr. Scoffield's going to evaluate her and let us know her true condition."

  "Can she talk?"

  "Supposedly," Porsche said. "But she won't speak to anyone until after she talks to you."

  "I'm on my way. Does Renee know?"

  "Yes— she's here. She walked in about five minutes after you left."

  Chloe said goodbye and turned to Jack. "Does this car go any faster?"

  "For you, Your Highness, certainly." He stepped harder on the gas.

  She laughed, and slapped him on the arm. "Drive, peasant."

  He kissed the back of her hand. "Whatever you say. I live to serve, Princess."

  Just before turning into the hospital parking lot, Jack turned serious. "What are you thinking?" Chloe asked.

  "I'm thinking Ryan Greene is a real Rose lover."

  "Well, yeah." Chloe laughed. "Name a deb or heiress he hasn't dated or slept with."

  "You." Jack smiled. "You didn't know the first-date story about Julio."

  "Okay," she said. "There are a few of us. I'll give you that one. But you know what I mean. He targets Roses."

  "He sure does." Jack chewed on his lower lip. "And maybe he does, not because they're debs or heiresses, but so that he stays abreast of Rose activities."

  "Tatiana takes care of that for him, I'm sure— especially if she's in his cartel. Hell, with her doing his books, he couldn't hide his activities from her either way. If Ryan's the Duke, Tatiana knows it."

  "So say she knows. Why would she keep quiet about it?"

  Chloe stiffened. "She's into solidifying her social standing and she's a press darling, Jack. He's the city's most desirable bachelor. It's a PR match made in heaven."

  "That wouldn't be enough," Jack countered.

  "She has severe princess envy. Ryan elevating her status in society would be more than enough."

  "It all fits. She's got to be in on all the Duke is doing. No way around that."

  "I agree, but I'm not a fair judge." Chloe fiddled with her purse strap, needing a distraction to keep her emotions tapped. "I don't like her, and never have. I can't be objective."

  Jack searched the rows for a parking slot. "Why don't you like her?"

  "Envy doesn't look good on any woman. Not even on a South American knockout dressed in Versace."

  Jack nodded. "We've definitely got to talk to Renee before she talks to Emma." Jack pulled into an empty spot and turned off the ignition.

  "She's taken care of that for us." Amazing foresight, Emma. Even coming out of a coma, you've got it together. "We just have to get in there." Chloe stepped out of the car.

  Jack shut his door, glanced up and y
elled. "Get down!"

  Chloe dropped to the pavement and rolled under the car.

  A bullet shattered the headlight.

  Glass splattered the ground. Chloe snatched in a sharp breath and pulled her gun from her purse, spilling half its contents. A second bullet hit the asphalt near the bumper. She covered her face with her arm, dodging the spray, scooted backward on her stomach and came out of the car's underbelly at its trunk, then lifted to a crouch.

  Jack had moved two cars over, taking cover by a black van.

  The gunman bobbed up and aimed.

  Chloe fired.

  He jerked and tumbled forward, falling over the side of the building and landing on the ground near a concrete bench.

  "Stay put," Jack told her. "They usually travel in pairs."

  Chloe turned to look and saw the second man one row back, drawing down on Jack.

  She fired again. Winged him.

  Jack spun around and rapid-fired four bullets.

  The man was dead before he hit the ground.

  Jack checked the body, then Chloe. "You okay?"

  "Freaking fabulous." Standing up, she dusted the dirt and grime from the gray Chanel suit she worn in Emma's honor. She walked over to stare at the man Jack had killed.

  Jack phoned in the incident, and then asked Chloe, "Do you know him?"

  "He was at the church when Marcus kidnapped me."

  They walked over to the building, to where the first man she'd shot lay. "Do you recognize him?" Chloe asked Jack.

  "No, do you?"

  Shaking, she clicked her tongue. "You will." She reached down and pulled off a really bad brown wig, and then a decent fake mustache. "Recognize him now?"

  Jack stared gape-jawed at the corpse of Marcus Abbot Sterling, III. "I don't believe it."

  "I know." Chloe had gone to his funeral, still pretending to be his fiancée. She'd mourned him and been determined to find his killer. "But he did go to Ryan for help," she reminded Jack. "Apparently, he got it."

  Jack frowned at her. "So…Ryan had his people fake being cops, arrest Marcus, then take him a couple blocks away and cut him loose. Who was handcuffed to the rear door of the police car when it exploded?"

  "There was no body left after the explosion, Jack. Only an eyewitness's report that a man had been cuffed to the back door."

  Jack looked over to her. "The witness was a plant, too."

  "I'd say so," Chloe said. "And I'm sure he was well paid to verify Marcus's faked death."

  "Why would Marcus do this?" Jack glanced back at her.

  "After he kidnapped me and tried to kill you, life as he'd known it was over. He knew he'd be going to prison for a long time. Only by dying could he live a fabulous life again— and I'll bet Tatiana fixed his finances so that he could do just that. Which of course, made letting her live even more dangerous to Marcus and Ryan."

  "Bring Erik into the cartel, and they up the odds you won't dig too deep and bring down your baby brother, whom your parents adore." Jack stared at Marcus's lifeless body. "They underestimated you, Chloe."

  "Most people do." Two police cars turned into the hospital parking lot and turned off their sirens, but their lights still flashed. Harrison arrived with them, and Chloe was glad. He'd help slash through the red tape.

  He walked over and dropped a kiss to Chloe's cheek just to annoy Jack. "Glad you're bulletproof, Princess."

  "Me, too," she said and meant it. "Thanks for the assist on this," she whispered, "and with Jack."

  Harrison winked. "Anytime."

  He worked with the local authorities. By the time Chloe and Jack filled him in on what they'd deduced, the coroner arrived and then more officers. Soon the place was buzzing.

  Jack got tied up on a phone briefing, and it all kind of hit Chloe. This assignment, with all its tentacles, was a lot for a woman faking it to handle— especially a cowardly woman who was not strong or brave or smart. Certain she'd still be shaking when she died of old age, she waited for Jack, and then they went in to see Emma.

  *

  "Well, finally she decides to wake up."

  Emma smiled through the bruises on her face. "Back off, bitch," she said, her voice stilted. "Hurts."

  "I'm sure it does," Chloe said. "You're pretty banged up."

  "No mirrors." She lifted a hand. "Tells me…needed beauty sleep."

  "Yeah, but you'll heal." Chloe looked for somewhere to touch Emma that wasn't bruised.

  "Promise?" Vulnerability shone in her eyes.

  "I swear it." Chloe gently squeezed her uninjured hand.

  "Sorry I'll miss your Halloween Ball."

  "You won't. Frank will video it for you," Chloe said. "Who pulled this number on you?"

  "Not sure," Emma said through swollen lips. "Mask."

  Chloe shoved back her disappointment that Emma couldn't identify her attacker. "Male or female?"

  "Male." She paused and sucked in a sharp breath. "Hurts." She swallowed hard. "Grabbed me…from a cab."

  That sounded damn familiar. "Tatiana, too?"

  "No. She wasn't there."

  "Jack saw her. She was lying beside you, beaten."

  "No. Not her," Emma said. "Sister of Russian. Tatiana ran. Duke tried to kill her."

  "Do you know who the Duke is?"

  "No." Emma struggled to stay awake.

  "So much has happened." Chloe closed the door, then walked back to the hospital bed.

  "I know. Been awake," she said with effort. "Faking it."

  "Faking a coma?" Chloe couldn't believe it.

  "Safer." She paused to catch her breath. "Dr. Scoffield helped. Two attempts here to kill me, but the guard— who is he?"

  "Mac Dayton. FBI. Harrison brought him in." Chloe looked at the man's back. "Frank and Lucas like him."

  "Harrison?"

  "Mr. Brooks Brothers."

  "Mac is…very good." Again she paused.

  Chloe frowned. "He hasn't reported any attempts, Emma."

  "Parents hired guard, too. Outside unit. Mac warned other guard…coming. Both times. Felt it. Bones." Emma twisted on the sheets. "He reported."

  "Harrison and I should have gotten the word."

  "Renee said don't sidetrack you. The Duke."

  Renee had some damn explaining to do. Chloe forced the tightness out of her jaw. "What happened?"

  "Julio Greene in Renee's photo."

  The one Alexa mentioned. "I know," Chloe said. "Why is it significant?"

  "Colombia," Emma said with a great deal of effort. "Drunk driver witnessed shooting. Parents yanked her out of country."

  "Oh, damn." The truth slammed Chloe right between the eyes. "Renee was the driver." Her parents had yanked her and Olivia out of Colombia and they'd both left the Peace Corps. "That's why Franklin cursed Renee when she took off like a shot, driving without her seat belt." Chloe spun out the scenario. "Marcella came to Franklin with Julio. Then she and Julio's brother disappeared in Europe."

  "Julio can't find them," Emma said. "Always searching."

  "So all of the Roses' assignments have stemmed from that incident. The Duke wants the nerve-damage repair technology for Julio. And he wants Renee and everyone around her to suffer because of Julio's injury and the loss of his family." Damn it, it all seemed so clear now.

  "That's right, Chloe," Renee said from behind her.

  Chloe spun around. "Renee."

  "You're right. I was the driver. I was drunk. I witnessed Julio's father's murder. And I was terrified the drug lords would kill me, too, so I ran."

  "Why didn't you report this to the Governess?" Chloe asked.

  Renee didn't answer.

  "She already knew it," Chloe guessed. "Could that be why the Duke abducted her?"

  Tears slid down Renee's cheeks. "I believe so."

  "Do you have any idea where she is?"

  "No." Renee fisted her hand. "I wish I did, but I don't."

  "Who is the Duke, Renee?" Chloe asked. "And don't tell me you don't know. Not telling us all you k
new got Emma worked over and almost killed. It cost her the piano. And I've been shot at so much I should be a fricking sieve."

  Renee looked at Emma and tears poured down her cheeks. "I am so sorry, darling. I wanted to protect you both by short circuiting the assignment before it started. But things went out of control."

  Emma lifted her good arm. Renee stepped closer, and Emma hugged her. She met Chloe's eyes above Renee's bent head. "It'll be okay, Renee. You'll see. Chloe will fix it." And the look in Emma's eyes told Chloe she damn well better.

  Chloe held Emma's eyes. She should be outraged— she'd lost being a pianist— but if she was, it wasn't directed at Renee. In Emma's eyes, Chloe saw the great healer Lucas mentioned at Perrini's: forgiveness.

  It was humbling.

  Renee straightened up, snagged a tissue from the box on the bedside table and dabbed at her eyes.

  "Renee, it's long past time for the truth. If you know it, tell me." Chloe searched Renee's face. "Who is the Duke?"

  She lifted a shoulder. "I thought Franklin, but he's not."

  "Is it Erik?" Chloe asked. Her insides quivered. Please, no. Please.

  "No. No, I'm sure Erik isn't the Duke." Renee sniffed. "Erik didn't come into the cartel until after Marcus died."

  Obviously Jack hadn't told Renee in the waiting room that Marcus had only died minutes ago. Ryan had to be the Duke. He helped Marcus fake his death. He brought Erik into the cartel. Tatiana was close to him, not to Julio or to Franklin.

  Still, while Franklin had been discounted, Julio had not.

  "It's one of the Greenes," Chloe said. "They hired the guy to wire my cars, and they've tried to kill Emma three times."

  Renee's eyes widened in shock. "Three times?"

  "Four," Emma said. "But who's counting?"

  "Sweet heaven." Renee frowned. "I believe the Duke is one of the Greenes, but not Franklin."

  "Don't parse words with me," Chloe warned her. "If not Franklin, then who? Ryan or Julio?"

  "I swear I don't know." Looking puzzled, Renee sniffed. "Why am I smelling peppermint?"

  "Jacques sent me a jar of peppermint butter from LaBella." Emma flipped a fingertip toward her toes. "For my feet."

  Peppermint. Chloe stilled. The night Emma had been injured, Erik and Ryan had come to the hospital— Erik with roses. But Chloe had smelled peppermint. Emma and Tatiana had had peppermint foot treatments that day…