by Trish Morey
He got up to leave. He had to go out on his own and figure out what was in his head and in his heart.
“Thanks for the great dinner,” he told her. “Promise me you’ll stay with Caroline tonight.”
“I will. As soon as you’re gone, we’ll go over there.” She searched his eyes. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
He avoided meeting her gaze. “I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to think about. I may go off on my own for a while.” He shrugged. “And I have to decide what to do about Mercuria. I can’t let them attack this country.” He shook his head, looking bemused. “What a concept, huh? Like a comic opera. But they are just crazy enough, they might do it.”
Kayla went up to say goodbye, then went on tiptoes and kissed him on the lips, surprising him. “I love you,” she told him.
Everything in him cried out for him to take her in his arms and give her what she deserved, but he held back. He held her shoulders and felt her lovely rounded flesh, so warm, so inviting. But he held back. She didn’t mean that she was in love with him. She loved him. She had always loved him, just as he’d loved Eddie. They had all loved each other. But that didn’t mean they were in love. Was he in love with her? That was just one more question he had to deal with.
He had to figure this out.
“Goodbye. I’ll call you.”
She nodded and watched him go, then turned to her son.
“No crying,” she told herself sternly. “We have things we have to do.”
She packed Teddy’s bag and then went into the closet to get some things of her own to take along to Caroline’s. She’d finally brought the denim jacket back from the office and then she’d forgotten to give it to him again. Even worse, it had slipped off the hanger and lay on the floor. She picked it up and pressed it to her face, reveling in the scent that reminded her of Max. Then she put it back on the hanger, noting that it was an awfully heavy jacket. And she finished packing and grabbed her son and headed out to her sister’s apartment.
The next day was unusually busy and different from their normal routine. In the morning, there was a meeting Pellea had set up that she wanted all the princes—and Princess Kim—to attend.
“I’d like all of the new princes to meet with the prime minister,” she told Kayla that morning, “and begin to get an idea of what they need to study about our history and foreign policy matters. They need to begin developing what their duties will be. That, of course, will depend a lot on each one’s individual skills and talents and how they can be used to best serve this country.”
Pellea’s face was quite serious, as though she’d given this a lot of thought. “Some of them still don’t realize that they can’t keep up the sort of lifestyle they are used to if they want to be serious about this royalty business.”
“Yes, I agree with you,” Kayla said softly, wondering if she mainly had Max in mind.
Pellea went on, completely filled with her own sense of purpose. “When you take on this way of living, you are taking on a responsibility for the lives, happiness and well-being of your people. And that means everybody in this castle, everybody on the royal side of the island, and even those rebels still siding with the Granvillis. Because eventually we’ll win them over, too, and the kingdom will be united again.”
Kayla nodded. “Have you told them all where and when?” she asked, wondering if she ought to give Max a call to remind him.
“Yes. Ten o’clock in the blue meeting room. And then, of course, we have the picnic luncheon for the French foreign minister and his family, out on the south lawn. Practically everyone in the castle will be coming to that one. Free food does tend to gather a crowd.”
The phone began to ring and the queen was soon engrossed in one conversation after another. Meanwhile, Kayla tried to get hold of Max. She called, she sent messages, she even emailed him, but there was no response. As time went by, she began to be concerned, wondering what could have happened to him. She knew he’d planned to go off on his own for a while to think things over, but surely he was checking his messages.
Unless …
Unless he’d left the island. Unless he’d decided just to go. Her heart raced and she got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“All right, I’m off to the prime minister’s meeting with the princes. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle things while I’m gone. I’ll go straight to the picnic from there. And don’t you forget to come to that. Afterward, we’ll work on the response to Mercuria.”
Kayla nodded, wondering how long it would be before she got a panicked call from the meeting telling her to find Max. When the hour went by without that call, she began to relax. Surely Pellea would have called her if he hadn’t shown up. Maybe everything was okay. Maybe she was letting her imagination run away with her.
And maybe she would go to the picnic luncheon after all. Max might even be there. She put away her work and hurried over to the other side of the castle, glad she’d worn dark slacks and a crisp white shirt rather than her usual skirt and sweater. She was dressed for a picnic.
She came out on an upper level and looked down. From where she was standing, she could see the royal platform. And there were Pellea and King Monte and all the princes. All the princes except one. No Max.
Her heart fell. Where could he be? She bit her lip and tried to calm down. There was no point running around like a headless chicken. She had to be logical. The first place to look would be at his rooms.
Going back quickly through the halls, she made her way there in ten minutes. The usual guard was gone and when she knocked, no one answered.
Strike one. Where could she try next? Okay, he’d said he was going off on his own to think. He’d shown her his favorite place to do that, the flat rock by the stream. There was a balcony that looked right down over that area. That would provide the quickest access. She raced toward it.
There was an eerie feeling in this side of the castle today. The usually bustling halls were empty. Everyone was at the picnic. Kayla tried to calm herself down, but she was feeling a bit spooked.
Finally, out of breath, she reached the balcony, and with it, a sense of instant calm. She leaned out over the balcony railing, breathing in the fresh air and reveling in the feeling of freedom. White clouds scudded across a china blue sky. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful setting. Looking down, she didn’t see Max, but she did see a glorious view of the countryside, and she knew Max was down there somewhere. Surely he would begin to feel better about everything after a few hours walking about the grounds. She knew she would. She leaned out a bit farther and searched the hills and valleys for a sign of him.
All in all, she was glad she had brought her baby here to the castle. She had a good job and a nice place to live. No complaints. The only element lacking was a daddy for her baby. Other than that, things were coming up roses.
Finally, a movement caught her eye, but it came from right below where she was standing. Two men were struggling with a large push cart. From her vantage point, she could see a large white van parked in a stretch of trees toward the main road. It looked like they were headed that way. But why not bring the van down to the castle and load their cargo in a convenient place? Only one reason she could think of. They were doing something illegal.
And that was certainly the feeling you got from watching them. Their movements were a little too quick, and a lot too furtive. Funny. What could they be transporting that they knew they shouldn’t be? Equipment they’d stolen? Machinery they’d found in a storeroom? The entire contents of someone’s living room?
That reminded her of the way her place had been manhandled and Max’s ransacked. She looked at the men more carefully. Was there anything about them that could be said to seem Mercurian? Not really. They looked like normal workmen. But still …
A siren sounded, making her jump. Sirens were not unusual. There seemed to be a fire drill every week, mostly because of the legacy of the castle burning during the Granvilli rebellion. But this was no drill
, not in the middle of a state picnic luncheon. She frowned and looked down at the workmen. The siren seemed to have panicked them. They were running now, pushing at each other and shouting. The pushcart hit a rock and nearly overturned. The canvas cover came off and their cargo was revealed. There was a man lying inside, scrunched into a curled-up position. The man was either dead or unconscious, and he looked very much like Max.
She gasped. The cover was quickly restored, but she knew what she’d seen. Could this be the Mercurians? They looked so guilty. Had they grabbed Max? She wasn’t at all sure that was who she’d seen, but still, just the possibility threw her for a loop.
Her heart was pounding like a drum in her own ears. Her hands were shaking so hard, she could barely use her mobile to call security. It rang and rang.
“Come on!” she muttered, nearly crazy.
And finally someone answered.
“Quick,” she cried. “This is Kayla Mandrake. I’ve just seen two men kidnapping someone. I think it might be Prince Max.”
“No, can’t be,” he said. “The princes are all at the picnic. I just saw them there.”
“Did you see Max?”
He hesitated. “He’s the new one, right? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him, so …”
“Please, please, come quickly. They’re going to get away!”
“Lady, listen, do you hear that siren? We’re shorthanded right now. We’ve got that darn picnic and now everyone else is out responding to the fire in the library area. There’s no one here but me and I can’t leave the phone. Listen, call back in about ten minutes. I’ll see what I can do then.”
“What?”
She couldn’t believe it, but she didn’t have time to argue. She tried Pellea’s number, and then Caroline. Something was wrong; she couldn’t get anyone. There was no one to help her. She looked down. They still hadn’t reached the van. Maybe she could catch them herself.
Oh, sure. Catch them and do what? Yell at them a lot? Besides, she would never catch them before they got to the van. And then, who knew where they would go?
But wait. She did know where they would go. What had Max said? She remembered his words—”Mercuria is an hour away,” or something like that. An hour away from where? The docks.
The docks! And that wasn’t very far. In fact, she knew a shortcut. Caroline and her husband had twin motor scooters that they had used on weekend getaways before their boy was born. She still had a key to Caroline’s scooter on her key ring. She could take that scooter and make it across the dunes to the docks before the van got past the traffic signals. There would be officials at the docks. Someone would be there to help her.
She raced down the hall to the stairway. She didn’t have time for the elevators. The whole time she ran, she kept looking for someone who might help her, but the halls were empty. She would have to do this herself.
She made her way to the parking garage and found Caroline’s scooter. Miraculously, the engine popped on with no trouble, and she was off, dashing for the dunes.
There was a small part of her brain that kept poking her, saying, What if it is just a body? What if … what if …
And she pushed it back, saying, No! They may have said dead or alive, but everything they’ve done proves they want him alive. So don’t even think that!
She veered off the main road onto a dirt track that cut out about a mile of driving to the docks. The little scooter was racing along and she was feeling very scared, but strangely exhilarated at the same time. She saw the craggy outcropping of the rocky point ahead. That meant the docks were only a few minutes away.
As she came around a curve, the main road was spread out below and she saw the white van. It was turning around. She jammed on her brakes and pulled to a stop.
A man was running from it and another lay on the side of the road. A shot rang out, and then another. Her heart in her throat, she started down the incline, racing to get to the place where the trees stood near the road and she could get a view of the van as it passed without being seen herself.
If her guess were right, that should be Max driving. It looked to her as though he’d overpowered his kidnappers and taken off with their van, but she couldn’t be sure. Ditching the scooter behind a small hill, she ran for the edge of the road and made it close enough to see, gasping for breath, just as the van came around the corner.
It was! She could see Max driving. It looked like he had a bloody head wound, but he was driving and as far as she could see, he was alone.
He’d done it! What a guy! Jumping for joy, she yelled and waved her arms, but she was still too far into the trees and he didn’t see her.
She had a small, empty feeling when he drove on past and left her there, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before she caught up with him again. She turned to run back to her scooter, and that was when she felt the dart go into her neck. She reached to pull it out, but her hands never made it there. In seconds, she was out like a light.
Max had been back at the castle for over an hour and had told everyone his story of being kidnapped by Mercurians. Even King Monte had come by to hear it personally. The whole thing seemed crazy, but everyone wanted to hear it.
Max had spent most of the morning out on his flat rock by the little river, thinking his life over and trying to make some important decisions. He knew Pellea wanted him at the prime minister’s meeting, and he had come back to the castle for that, but just as he was coming in through the big double doors, someone had shot a tranquilizer dart into his neck and he had collapsed. He’d woken an hour or so later to find himself locked in a storeroom. This time they put him out with a rag soaked in chloroform, and he woke up in the back of the white van on his way to the docks. His hands were tied, but not very well, and he had no trouble working them free. Then he’d bided his time, not letting the two men know he was awake and that his hands were free. Finally he got his chance and he overpowered one of them. The driver pulled over to help his friend and Max threw the first man out and dealt with the second. Then it was a simple matter of grabbing the keys and taking the same transportation back again, minus the kidnappers this time.
“Though one of them did shoot at the van as I drove off,” he told his attentive audience. “Luckily, he wasn’t much of a shot.”
Security at the docks had been alerted but they hadn’t found the men.
“I’m calling out the army on this,” Monte said with a scowl. “I want someone charged and put behind bars. We have to nip this sort of thing off right away. We can’t have criminals running around kidnapping people.”
By now, Max had asked where Kayla was a number of times and no one seemed to know. And then a call came in from the dockyard police saying they had found Caroline’s abandoned scooter near the road to the docks, and Pellea and Max began to piece together different bits of evidence and get a vague idea of where she might be. Their conclusions were grim.
Once Pellea questioned the security guard who had been on duty that afternoon and found out someone had called in saying Max had been kidnapped, the picture became clearer.
“Kayla obviously saw the kidnappers taking you off and when she couldn’t get security to help, she grabbed Caroline’s scooter and went after you herself.”
Max stared at Pellea, stunned.
“They have her,” he said in a low, gravelly voice. “The bastards have her.” He turned to look for his keys. “I’ve got to go.”
CHAPTER TEN
“HOLD IT.”
Monte held a hand up and stopped Max cold.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Max’s face darkened rebelliously. Right now he wasn’t in the mood to take orders from royals, no matter who they were. But before he had a chance to say anything, Monte continued and explained his position.
“I’m not trying to pull rank on you, Max. But we have to stop and think things through before we act. We need to be sure we are doing the smart thing to get the results that we want and not just more bloodshed. You s
wimming the channel in a burst of adrenaline, showing up on shore with a knife between your teeth, is just going to get you killed. We can’t succeed without a plan.”
“What sort of plan?”
“I say we go in at midnight.”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
“All of us royals. The warriors of the DeAngelis regime. We’ve got a very fast, very slinky boat that can enter areas without making a sound. I’m thinking four of us will take it.”
“Four?” Mykal asked the question.
Monte nodded. “Sorry, old man, but I don’t think we ought to risk you on this mission. You’re not healed yet. We’ll use you as a coordinator back home.”
Mykal nodded reluctantly.
“Okay, so we’ve got Joe with his special forces training. And you, Max—you’ve been in combat. David is the best strategic thinker I know of. And I’m a pretty good leader.” He shrugged. “What else do we need?”
“A plan,” Max answered, still restless and not sure this was going to work. He liked to work alone. That was what he was used to. And every minute they delayed was a minute more Kayla had to endure whatever they were putting her through.
“A plan would be good,” Monte admitted. “That’s why we’re going to take a few hours to think about it. We’ll meet at eleven and go over our thoughts and put something together.
Max stared at him, trying not to let his resentment show. He knew what Monte was saying was smart, but he wanted to go now. He clenched his jaw and kept his opinion to himself. Monte knew what he was doing and he was exhibiting good leadership. He had to let this play out. Still, he ached to go right into their castle and save Kayla. If someone was hurting her, they were going to pay.
“I’m preparing a message for King Juomo and his ministers,” Pellea said. “I’m telling the king that this nonsense has to end and that he’ll personally pay for anything that happens to Kayla.” She took a deep breath and looked around at them all. “You know it is possible that this is just a fringy, rogue element who has masterminded this,” she said.