Her Undercover Prince

by Carol Moncado

  “I don’t believe you.” Dave started to stand, but the man behind him shoved him down with a hand on his shoulder.

  “Do you think it matters if you believe me?”

  “Then let us see them,” Dave goaded.

  “When I’m ready.” He started back for the door. “I wouldn’t anticipate seeing the rest of your families again anytime soon.”

  They weren’t left alone in the room. One man tied them to the chairs.

  He bent low behind her and, at first, she almost imagined his voice.

  “Not everything is as it seems, Your Royal Highness. Flex your hands for me.”

  She did as he asked and found the restraints relatively loose, though not so much that she’d easily escape.

  “Trust us.” He tapped a rhythm on her hand. Three fast, three slow. “That’s the code. If whoever has you uses it, you can trust them.”

  It took all her concentration not to let her shoulders fall in relief. Not everyone was a bad guy.

  As the man went to Dave, Jacqueline Grace looked at Thor who dipped his chin just enough for her to know he understood and agreed with the man’s assessment. Thor must know he had some men on the inside, otherwise trust wouldn’t be so easily given.

  Hours more passed. At least now she could see outside. Dusk came and went. Darkness had descended. Over twenty-four hours since the ordeal began.

  She noticed Dave nodding off. Anabelle did, too. Despite the two sandwiches earlier, Jacqueline Grace was hungry.

  Thor also slept, as well as anyone could while tied to a chair, with his chin touching his chest.

  Eventually, Jacqueline Grace couldn’t stay awake any longer either.

  She didn’t know how long passed, when she was grabbed by the arm and dragged out of her chair.

  “Let’s go.”

  Was that Isaiah? The lights had been turned off, and it was almost completely dark outside the windows. She couldn’t see anything.

  “Get the other two. Leave Thor.”

  Jacqueline Grace stumbled, though it wasn’t on purpose. Isaiah cursed at her, pulling her along.

  She still had no shoes on, but the ground wasn’t too uncomfortable. It was designed to be walked on shoeless if someone wanted to.

  They reached a set of wooden stairs. Were they the ones that led to the dock?

  The moon gave off enough light to see a little bit, but not enough to be truly useful.

  Isaiah shoved her toward one of his men as they reached the soft sand of the beach. It must have been a different set of stairs. The man gripped her upper arm.

  Isaiah and another man uncovered a black boat with a motor attached to the back.

  “Let’s go.” Isaiah climbed into the boat.

  Martin shoved Dave toward it. Dave, with his hands behind his back fought the man anyway. He twisted and turned, ramming Martin with his shoulder.

  “Get them.” Isaiah yelled to be heard over the breaking surf.

  The man holding Anabelle pulled his weapon and trained it at Isaiah. “I don’t think so. This isn’t what any of us signed up for. We’re not helping you kidnap the royal family.”

  Jacqueline Grace forced herself to bite her tongue. What did they think they’d signed up for?

  The man holding Jacqueline Grace pulled his own gun and stuck it into her side moving to grab her around the shoulders. “Nobody does anything heroic or the princess gets it.”

  He started to drag her toward the boat. She wanted to fight, but didn’t want the gun to go off, especially not when he jabbed it harder into her ribs.

  Something hit her from the side, knocking her and her captor to the ground.

  The next few seconds were a blur.

  All she knew was gunshots.

  And pain.

  26

  Sometimes the right thing to do, the hard thing to do, and the thing you really want to do are the same thing.

  Sometimes they’re not.

  But putting his shoulder into Martin and tackling him was what Dave wanted to do. If only his hands weren’t still tied behind his back.

  Someone else grabbed the rope holding his hands together, and he winced in preparation for being yanked to his feet by his arms.

  Instead, the rope loosened then fell away as Martin pushed him off.

  Arms free, Dave fought back, ignoring the tingling feeling, and being much less effective than he’d like.

  Fear and the survival instinct took over, and he managed to get Martin under control. Three other men were in the inflatable Zodiak heading out to sea. It would be hard to track them at best, impossible at worst. A glance around told him Jacqueline Grace and Anabelle hadn’t been forced onto the boat.

  Two of the men who’d brought them out of the room were now using ropes taken from the three of them to tie up Martin and a couple of others.

  Dave suspected not all of Isaiah’s men were as loyal as he believed them to be, but how did he know who he could trust?

  He caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Military commandos materialized out of the darkness, taking control of all of them. Dave, along with Jacqueline Grace and Anabelle, were also secured.

  “What about our families?” Jacqueline Grace asked as one of the men ushered them along the footpath back toward the main part of the resort.

  “They’re being taken care of, Miss.”

  “And our children?” She asked the question forefront in Dave’s mind, and likely Anabelle’s as well.

  “We’ll debrief all of you as soon as everyone is back together.”

  They didn’t run but walked as quickly as they could in their bare feet.

  A few minutes later, they were back in the banquet hall. The San Majorians immediately swarmed Jacqueline Grace and Anabelle.

  Landon came to Dave’s side. “Everyone’s all right?”

  Dave rubbed his right shoulder with his other hand. “Sore, but otherwise I’m fine. Isaiah got away in a Zodiac with a couple of his men.”

  “We know. We believe he has a boat off-shore, then they’ll scuttle the Zodiac.”

  “Some of the men guarding us also helped us get away.”

  Landon crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed the royals, including the teens, in the room. Dave noticed a bruise on Landon’s cheek and a black eye forming. “We had a few men who managed to get inside when the time came. A few were already working for Isaiah, but four men managed to convince some of his foot soldiers they were loyal. They used keywords and signals to let those of us being held know their true loyalty.”

  He’d fully expected Mary to come through the doors any second, but she and the others hadn’t yet. “Where are the girls? And the babies?”

  “They should be here any minute.”

  Relief seeped in. “They’re okay?”

  “They’re fine.”

  “And the teens? Where were they this whole time?”

  “They were warned by one of the infiltrators. They hid in an old caretaker’s cottage they’d found while exploring the generally off-limits portion of the island. Grounds crew still use it for storage and breaks, so there’s electricity, water, and some food. Nothing overly nutritious but enough to keep them from going hungry. But that’s not all.”

  Landon grinned, clearly proud of what the teens had done, but before he could tell Dave anything else, the door opened, and in came the girls.

  Mary ran for him, and Dave lifted her into his arms, holding as tight to her as she did to him. He was vaguely aware that similar reunions were happening around him with the others.

  “I missed you, Daddy. I waited for you to come.”

  Dave’s eyes closed as she buried her face in his neck. “I wanted to, sweetheart.”

  He decided he didn’t care about the legalities at home. He’d adopt Mary and worry about any other consequences later. Maybe they’d continue to live in San Majoria under his current identity. Then it wouldn’t matter.

  Finally, her hold loosened, slightly. “I’m hungry.”

>   “Me, too.” He looked around to see members of the staff bringing in platters of sandwiches and other easy-to-eat foods. Since his journey began over a year earlier, he’d gained a new respect for those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, but that went to even higher levels now.

  These men and women had likely been through a traumatic event of their own, held in a room or two and unable to leave, though none of them looked any worse for the wear. Their clothes had clearly been slept in, and the women’s hair was more disheveled than usual, but not overly so.

  Despite that, they were making sure their employers - their kings and queens and royal, ruling families - were taken care of.

  Looking around he noticed the newly-reunited families were clustered in different areas of the room. Darius and Esther each held an infant, while Darius pulled a chair into a corner and stood guard as Esther sat down.

  Anabelle and Kensington were much the same. In fact, if Dave had to guess, and he didn’t really want to, their baby was already nursing. Astrid and Jordan, along with Sofia, were huddled in a corner. Jordan had his arms wrapped around his wife and children, his eyes closed as he held them close. The way his lips moved, Dave imagined he was praying, thanking God everyone was safe.

  Shifting Mary to his hip, he took her to the table where the food was set out. One of the kitchen staff helped him put together two plates and carried them to a table for Dave.

  “Thank you,” he told her.

  The woman smiled. “My pleasure, sir.”

  They started to eat.

  “Where were you?” she asked as she held a sandwich in one hand and a carrot in the other.

  He didn’t know how much she knew about what happened and didn’t want to scare her unnecessarily.

  “We didn’t go back to the nursery,” she continued before he could decide what to tell her. “We wen’ to a differen’ house. The nannies say be very quiet ‘cause bad men were on the islan’. We couldn’t leave.”

  Close enough. “That’s what we were doing, too, but we couldn’t leave where we were to get to you. We knew the nannies would keep you safe.”

  She took a couple more bites before saying anything else. “Babies cried though. They wanted mamas.”

  Hopefully, the nannies had been able to pack formula and diapers.

  Mary’s head tilted to the side as she looked past Dave to the door he heard opening behind him. “Who that?”

  Dave twisted in his chair. He felt the color drain from his face as he looked at the man he hadn’t seen in nearly eighteen months.

  But Mary was waiting for an answer, and he had to give it to her. “That’s my father.”

  Kiara held onto Jacqueline Grace as though her life depended on it long after the others had already loosened their grip. Dave and Mary had already started eating by the time she let go even a little.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Kiara.” Jacqueline Grace found an empty spot of floor and sat down, pulling Kiara into her lap. “I’ve got you.”

  “I was scared,” she finally whispered.

  “I know. I was scared, too.”

  “I though’ I’d never see you, ‘gain.”

  Jacqueline Grace could feel Kiara’s hesitation and waited for her to go on.

  “Like my firs’ mama.”

  She closed her eyes and held the little girl a bit tighter. Kiara had been in therapy since coming to live at the palace, but maybe they needed to talk to the therapist about making it more frequent. She did know Kiara didn’t really remember her first mother, whoever she was.

  “I promise you that I will never leave you. I will never not come back.” Jacqueline Grace knew she shouldn’t promise that. Tomorrow wasn’t promised to anyone, but she knew Kiara needed to hear it.

  They sat nestled together as Jacqueline Grace watched a man walk in, leading a phalanx of security and military personnel. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him.

  She did notice Dave had gone white as a sheet.

  Her father and Benjamin both left the knots of family to talk to the man. The man shook both of their hands but didn’t show any of the usual deference that came with greeting a king.

  After conferring for a few minutes, the man left her father and Benjamin with the military leader and walked toward Dave.

  That’s when it clicked. At least partly. She still didn’t know who the man was, but she did know he was related to Dave - his father, if the man-hug was any indication.

  Queen Carlotta rushed through the door, zoning in on Esme and heading straight for her.

  Kiara shifted, bumping against the sensitive skin on Jacqueline Grace’s wrists. She probably needed to have a medic look at them, just to make sure they didn’t need further attention.

  Her father, Benjamin, Dave’s relative, the military man, and Carlotta left the room a few minutes later. Kiara finally decided she was ready to eat so Jacqueline Grace helped her with a plate then followed her to the table where Mary still sat. Dave stood a few feet away.

  Jacqueline Grace took a seat next to Kiara and polished off her food while the girls chattered.

  About the time Kiara finished, the monarchs, the military man, and Dave’s father walked back in.

  The nannies rounded up the girls again, taking them into the room next door, but leaving the doors open so they could still see their parents. The babies stayed.

  “Everyone have a seat please,” her father called. “We have some things we need to discuss.”

  It was three or four minutes of quiet conversation and scraping chairs before he spoke again.

  “First, we’d like to thank WLRs Teams Nine and Eleven for their assistance earlier this evening. Official commendations will be placed in the files of all of those involved, though the details will be classified.”

  He took a deep breath. “There are a lot of us here. They say if you want to keep a secret, don’t tell anyone. Tell one other person if you must, but that’s it. We all know at least some of what happened here the last couple of days, but it needs to stay within the family. Most of the staff don’t know the details and will be told the official story.”

  “What is the official story?” Astrid asked.

  “The WLRs teams were conducting a drill. We volunteered to be a part of it, helping to up the realistic factor. We do not want word getting out that Isaiah was able to essentially hold two full royal families and parts of three others hostage.”

  Three others?

  “So the official story is that we were here for our holiday, gave the press conference, had a drill, though very few people knew the details of the drill to add to the realism.”

  It made sense. Everyone in the room knew the truth. Everyone in the room also knew how to keep secrets when it came to their private lives.

  “WLRs Team Eleven is still in pursuit of Isaiah and those who left with him. They have reason to believe he was shot in the skirmish before boarding the Zodiac.”

  Were those the shots she’d heard while on the ground?

  While she didn’t wish anyone dead, she wouldn’t cry over Isaiah’s death if it were to happen.

  “What was his endgame?” Jordan called from the far side of the room. “To take the girls?”

  “So far, that’s the best we’ve come up with,” her father answered. “We’re hoping for more information from some of his men who were captured or for another cache of documents to come to light.”

  Genevieve actually raised her hand. “You said parts of three royal families.” So Jacqueline Grace wasn’t the only one who’d caught it. “The Quad Countries have two full families plus Esme and Gabriel. What other country is represented?”

  Dave’s relative stepped forward, but Jacqueline Grace’s father spoke. “Most of you are too young to really remember the last official visit from King Geoffrey of New Sargasso, but he had special reason to help make sure things turned out well here.”

  Geoffrey? From New Sargasso?

  Pieces of the puzzle began to click into pl
ace.

  New Sargasso was near Australia.

  Gideon was from New Sargasso.

  He sounded a lot like Dave.

  That meant Dave was from New Sargasso.

  Dave and Geoffrey were related.

  Dave was Geoffrey’s son.

  Geoffrey was King of New Sargasso.

  That meant...

  Jacqueline Grace gasped aloud and turned toward Dave as the last piece clicked into place. “You’re not a valet. You’re a prince.”

  27

  It took everything in Dave to keep his expression impassive as Jacqueline Grace realized the truth.

  He wasn’t a valet.

  He was Prince David Jonathan Michael George of New Sargasso, Duke of Novus Spero, and Earl of Repens Praestolatio, currently third in line for the throne, though it was highly unlikely to ever be his.

  Everyone stared at him, but all he did was give a single nod.

  How long before she realized that meant the reasons she had for them not being together were invalid?

  And would she forgive him for lying to her?

  “Why...?”

  No longer Dave, David turned to Anabelle who sputtered a second longer then finally just asked again, “Why?”

  He sucked in a deep breath and clasped his hands behind his back, lapsing into a military stance almost without realizing it. “I was investigating Isaiah. That’s how I met Mary’s mother, why I asked her out, why I agreed to take care of Mary the night she left, and why I didn’t turn her over to the authorities too quickly when she didn’t return.”

  “But why were you investigating Isaiah?” Genevieve pressed.

  He shook his head. “Right now, it’s not important. Edward knows and has promised to help make certain justice is done.” He looked at his father. “How did you know I was here?”

  “Gideon said something that made me think he’d seen you in Ravenzario. Adrian also let something slip. When I confronted him, he told me what he knew. I called Edward, who was supposed to call me back. When he didn’t, we looked into why and realized there was no communication with the resort.”