A Player for A Princess: Dirty Players Duet #2

by Tia Louise

She lets out a long sigh. “Remember the part about his Tate fire? Rowan has a tendency to overreact when he feels threatened.”

  “He can’t throw you out of the kingdom, Mother.”

  “Either way, Reggie is in a precarious position. If we embrace him now, if Rowan pardons him and brings him back into the fold, we risk losing everything we’ve worked so hard to accomplish.” She levels serious eyes on mine. “Wade Paxton is a thug. If he finds out your uncle is a spy, he will kill him. Most likely in some sinister way.”

  Now I’m at a loss. I’m trying to figure out what to do next or how to move forward. Rowan needs to know about this. He needs to know everything, and we need to make a new plan.

  “Do you know about the ransom note? Their demands?”

  I watch as she takes a sip of champagne. “I heard something about it. They want Rowan to forego his right to succession in favor of uniting the countries.”

  “Among other things.”

  “They seem to think the succession referendum has already been drafted, that I’m already planning my retirement celebration.”

  “They’ve given us a pretty tight deadline.”

  She pushes out of her chair and starts for the door. “I think we should take a holiday at Occitan. I think we should go there and discuss my displeasure with Rowan’s choice in fiancée. We should have several very loud and clear debates on my decision to continue on as the titular leader until he comes to his senses. I’ll be sure to use simple language even a rat can understand.”

  I’m on my feet and following her to the exit. “You know about the security breach at Occitan?”

  Pausing at the door, her voice is thoughtful. “I think we should feed our rat some poisoned cheese and see where the carcass leads us.”

  It’s an idea that can definitely buy us time. “You’d better tell Rowan everything before you start attacking Ava, even fictitiously. He can handle it.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” she says, giving me a sly smile.

  “The three of you go ahead, and I’ll join you in a day or so.” I kiss her cheek, heading back for where I left Freddie. “Please let my uncle know I’ll be here waiting to speak to him.”

  15

  Mako

  Zelda

  I find a mirror in a drawer under the kitchen cabinet. Beside it are a tiny canister of talc and the smallest bottle of cologne I’ve ever seen. I open the bottle, and it smells like baby powder.

  “This must be Selena’s,” I say, deciding against borrowing her brush.

  Lifting the mirror, I’m startled when I see my face. The bruise on my lower cheek is purple, and my mouth is swollen. Dried blood is stuck in the corners of my lips. I smile, and the hole where my tooth used to be is exposed.

  “At least it was in the back,” I say pulling my lip down. I don’t look as terrible as I could, but my hair is insane. “I need to get cleaned up.”

  I glance over at my sleeping friend. She hasn’t moved since I tried to put the blanket over her, and I don’t want to bother her over something I can probably find myself. One last look in the mirror, this time I study my eyes. My pupils are not dilated, which gives me a bit of relief. I’m still not okay, but maybe it’s not a concussion.

  Shoving the mirror back in the drawer, I take off out of the house determined to learn about my surroundings. A different woman is watching me from the third cottage, and I try again doing a small wave, giving a little smile. She doesn’t run away, but she doesn’t return my greeting. I decide to wait for Selena before attempting to make contact. They can’t understand me anyway.

  Going to the back of the house, I find a little garden. It’s four rows wide, and I see tomato plants, okra, what looks like cabbage growing in it. Green sprouts over what must be carrots are beside the longer tops of onions. I’m impressed and a little discouraged. She’s growing her own food?

  Between the outhouse, the lack of electricity, no glass for windows or even wood for doors, I’m concerned we really are cut off from everything. My only hope is Selena goes to school somewhere, which means she has a teacher, and a teacher will have contact with the outside world.

  Walking through the brush, I look down at my hand, and I see Cal’s ring. My chest squeezes as I remember the twinkle in his eyes as I begged to keep it. He was right. A purplish-green line is on my finger just beneath the tin band. I hold it against my chest and wonder what he’s doing. Is he worried? Is he searching for me?

  I try to imagine what he thought when I never returned to meet him. Wade took my picture holding that newspaper as some sort of “proof of life” image, but what kind of demands is he making?

  No one knows about our engagement—I’m not even sure it’s official. Even if it were, Cal isn’t Rowan. I remember Reggie said if something happened to the crown prince, Cal would take his place. Does that make me valuable? I don’t know enough about the politics of their countries to answer this question. Although, if I’m not valuable…

  The thought churns my stomach. It’s only a matter of time before they get rid of me. Looking around, I know I’ve got to find a way off this island.

  The dirt path continues to the edge of the forest. A strange succulent that looks like a giant aloe vera plant is at the tree line. It’s as tall as I am, and makes me think of something out of the dinosaur era.

  I’m away from the little camp, but I’m not any closer to signs of a town or civilization. The trees are thinner. I keep going a few more steps, and they part. I’ve found a deserted beach, but it isn’t sandy. It’s covered in stones the size of my palms.

  Picking one of them up, I study the smooth surface. It’s large and gray, but others are red. Some are blue. Some are yellow and green. It’s actually a vivid assortment of colors. Massive rocks are up ahead, and I climb over one to find several smooth, gray boulders surround a clear pool of turquoise water. It’s like a hidden bath. This place is so beautiful—pristine and undisturbed. How is it possible no one’s found it?

  It’s completely deserted as far as I can see in all directions, so I carefully untie the halter-top of my dress and slide the zipper down my side. I ditched my panties after the first night, so I’m totally nude when I lower my aching body into the cool water. One enormous boulder is in the center, and a little ring of soft white sand surrounds it. I sit on its flat surface and reach down for the sand to rub over my skin.

  I don’t have soap, but the salt water is cleansing, and the sand scrubs away the feeling of dirt. Lifting handfuls of water, I clean the blood off my mouth and cheeks, and I lean back to clean my hair. For several long moments, I float on my back with my eyes closed. I feel like a castaway lost on a deserted island, and except for the small band of women back at the camp, it’s possible I am.

  When I finally decide it’s time to head back, I sit on the rock a while, letting the sea breeze dry my skin. I feel refreshed and encouraged, and I wonder if Selena will be home when I get back. I’m finally dry, and I climb over the rocks and put on my dress.

  It takes me a few minutes to find the path I followed to get here, but I’m headed back, noticing familiar landmarks as I make my way. The dinosaur plant is at the edge of the path. As I walk, I notice another large palm with brilliant pink flowers up ahead. I didn’t notice it before, and I consider picking some of the blooms for my friend back at the house.

  I’m about to step into the forest to do it when the man from last night charges out of the brush screaming.

  “ABO! ABO!” He grabs my forearm in a vise grip, and the bruises and blood on my friend’s face send me into a panic. I’m not sure I can take another beating just yet.

  “ABO NO TA SALI ESAKI KAS!” He yells, black eyes flashing with rage.

  Still holding my arm, he drags me behind him a few paces in the direction of the houses. He’s not very tall, but he’s strong, and he’s talking so fast… Well, I wouldn’t be able to understand him anyway. Still, the way he’s shouting in a foreign language makes my heart race.

  “I don’t
understand!” I scream, and he gives my arm a violent, forward jerk that sends me scrambling to the path in front of him.

  “ABO NO TA SALI ESAKI KAS!” He yells, storming toward me, black eyes blazing.

  “Saying it louder doesn’t help me understand!” I scream back.

  I’m on the ground, and my relaxing bath is ruined. I’m panicked and dirty, and I don’t know what he’s saying. Reaching down, he catches me under the arms and hauls me to my feet. Then he pushes me forward in the direction of the houses.

  I stumble catching my balance, relieved when I see the small garden I explored on my way out. Once I know where I am, I pick up the pace and start to run to where I hope Selena is waiting.

  Rounding the corner of the house, I charge through the curtain that serves as a door, and relief hits me so hard. My little friend is sitting at the table with a book in front of her. When she sees me, her green eyes go round.

  “You’re alive!” she whispers, and my stomach drops.

  The door behind me opens in a swirl, and the small dictator is in the house again, causing my friend and her daughter to fly screaming to the back corner, crouching on the floor between their cots.

  “ABO NO TA SALI ESAKI KAS!” He says, looking at them but pointing at me. “Bisa su! BISA!”

  Their panic causes me to panic, and now I’m standing with the small table between him and me. I look from him to my friends and back again quickly.

  “INGLES!” he says, and finally Selena speaks.

  “He says you’re not to leave the house.” Her voice is so small, I want to run and stand in front of her and her poor battered mother.

  Instead, I nod quickly. “Si, SI!” I shout at him.

  The man’s eyes flash and he storms toward me. I circle the table, keeping the small furniture between us.

  “Abo hasi problema pa mi,” he hisses, “Ami hasi problema pa abo!”

  My eyes are straining as I look to Selena. Her voice is barely audible. “He says if you make trouble for him, he’ll make trouble for you.”

  Holding my hands up, palms facing him, I nod as quickly as my aching head will allow. “SI, SI!”

  He stands in the house several moments longer surveying me with that evil light flashing in his black eyes. Finally, he seems satisfied and starts for the door. I move around the table, still keeping it between us in case he changes his mind before he leaves. He doesn’t, and when he’s finally gone, the room feels very quiet and empty.

  The soft noise of Selena’s mom crying is the only sound apart from my panicked breathing. I look over to see Selena hugging her mother and stroking her hair. The woman clings to her daughter, and I feel my heart breaking.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, going to them.

  The woman continues crying, and I sit on the cot reaching out to touch her back gently.

  “I’m so sorry, Selena,” I repeat, trying to keep from crying myself. “I wanted to bathe. I was dirty.”

  “We have a shower in the trees behind the toilet,” she says, her voice still trembling. “I can show it to you.”

  “Who is that man? What did he do to your mother?”

  She blinks down as if ashamed. “His name is Mako. He owns us.”

  “Owns you?” My head involuntarily jerks back. “What does that mean? Is he your father?”

  “NO!” she shouts, causing her mother to jump and whimper.

  Selena speaks to her in their language, and I stand off the cot. “Let’s help her lie down.”

  The girl speaks to her again, and they rise slowly off the floor. Her mother moves onto the bed and resumes her position facing the wall.

  “What… happened to her?” I’m almost afraid to ask.

  Selena’s voice turns cold. “A boat came.”

  My heart leaps at those words. “A boat? That means—”

  “The men come, and they take my mother. They take the other women.” Today there is no fear. Today she is quiet rage. “One day they will come for me.”

  Now I’m the one gripping her arms. “No!”

  I’m in no position to promise anything, but it’s like having Ava again. I won’t let Selena be hurt.

  The little girl walks to the kitchen, and I watch as she reaches into the cabinets, taking out a bag of cornmeal. A bowl holding carrots and onions is beside that, and today she goes to the box I guessed correctly was a small refrigerator. In it is what looks like a very small piece of meat.

  Looking back at the woman on the bed, my voice is quiet. “What is her name?”

  My young friend looks up. “Ximena.”

  I take a step forward and touch her shoulder lightly. “I’m going to get us out of here, Ximena. I don’t know how, but I won’t leave you behind.”

  16

  Unexpected Ally

  Cal

  Reginald Winchester stands in the green drawing room of the palace facing me. My instinct is still to be furious with him, but after what my mother told me, I’m trying to curb it.

  “What do you want from me, MacCallum?” he says in the reproving tone he always uses with me.

  “I want you to help me find Wade Paxton.”

  Exhaling dramatically, he steps to the small wet bar and lifts a decanter of scotch. “I have distanced myself from Paxton. He’s a thug, and he can’t be reasoned with anymore.”

  “It’s not a request, uncle. You will help me find Wade Paxton, and you will do it now.”

  Drink poured, he replaces the crystal stopper with a soft clink. “I don’t take orders from you, nephew. I’m in your mother, the queen’s command.”

  Anger tightens my jaw. “Then I will have my mother command you to help me find Paxton.”

  “Don’t you mean Zelda?” He watches me with those steel blue eyes as he takes a sip. “She’s who you’re really interested in finding, correct?”

  “Yes.” I return his gaze with matching intensity. “Do you know where she is?”

  The idea that he might know her location almost provokes me to cross the room and grab him by the lapels, but I won’t let him see my level of desperation. The last thing I need is for him to think I’m not in control.

  “No.” His answer is clipped, and my shoulders drop.

  “Fuck,” I hiss, dropping to the sofa.

  “However, I know what they were planning. It’s possible we can compare notes and see if it leads us to the prize.”

  My head snaps up. “Tell me what they were planning!” I’m off the sofa and closing the distance between us.

  He takes another deep breath. “When you lit out of here on her trail with two of Rowan’s best guards, Wade abandoned his plan to kidnap Ava in favor of her sister.”

  “He was going to kidnap Ava?”

  “She’s engaged to your brother. She was his first-choice bargaining chip.”

  I nod as I listen, thinking of her words. “It makes sense to take Ava.”

  “However, at the palace, with the assassination attempt and everyone on red alert, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get within fifty feet of her.”

  “Or more,” I mutter.

  “Zelda, on the other hand, took off running with the very man he’d hired to be his ears inside the palace.”

  Nodding, I look at my palm. “We knew he used Seth to get to Zee and Ava, but we didn’t know why.”

  “Wade Paxton is a thug, but he’s smart. He never trusted me. He doesn’t trust anyone as far as I know.”

  Touching my uncle’s arm, I motion to the door. “Come with me to the war room. Freddie is there with Logan. They have all the information we’ve gathered so far.”

  As we pass through the corridor heading for the grand staircase, I think about what Logan uncovered. “How did you leave it with Paxton?”

  “We parted ways in Turkey, when he set out for Tortola. I intended to stay undercover in Antalya until the time we rendezvous in Totrington.”

  We’re at the large office, and I tap on the heavy wooden door as I push it open. “He’s here,” I say, and
my two guards do a brief nod. “Your grace.”

  Reggie steps around to what I assume is his usual chair and pulls it out to sit. I take the seat opposite him.

  “We don’t have time to waste. Paxton has connections all over the Mediterranean, the Caribbean… He mentioned several small islands off the coast of Venezuela that are uncharted.”

  My eyes widen, and I confess, my heart beats faster. “Do you remember any of the names?”

  “He never said names. It’s possible they don’t have names.” My uncle reaches for the file in front of Logan. “Is this the roster of ship captains?”

  “We isolated a Russian and a Turk.”

  “It’s the Turk,” Reggie says, flipping the pages quickly. “Antilles or Agnan?”

  “Adem?” Freddie says.

  “Yes—Adem Tanipar captains cargo ships from Brazil to Turkey.” He drops the file and slides it back to Logan. “He’ll know where they are.”

  I’m out of my chair, pacing the room. “How fast can we find this Tanipar?”

  “We’re searching for him now…” Logan’s tone is solemn. It makes my stomach twist.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “We’ve been unable to locate him since his ship left Paulista.” He’s standing, and his large arms cross over his broad chest. “We have everyone looking, but nothing.”

  “Did he take a different ship? A different route?” I’m out of my element when it comes to cargo ship lines.

  “He took his usual ship. He simply disappeared once he entered international waters. A local captain said he seemed to be changing course.”

  “Heading for Tortola,” I say, clenching my fists. “We have to find that ship.”

  “Have the crown prince request a satellite search,” Reggie says. “He has contacts in the tech industry.”

  “Will that work?” I look from Logan to Freddie.

  “It’s worth a try,” Freddie says.

  The last thing I hear as I’m pushing through the door headed for Occitan is Logan addressing my uncle. “Can you help us locate Seth Hines?”