by A. C. Arthur
The look he was giving Roland was pointed and meant to convey the rest of the statement Kris did not want his father to hear. Instead of paying the exorbitant amount of money and giving in to the ridiculous demands of Roland’s associate Yiker, Kris had decided to go another route. Roland nodded his understanding but Kris was certain they’d have a more in-depth conversation about it later.
“What have you found? Who did this?” Rafe asked by way of dismissing whatever else Kris and Roland may have wanted to say.
“It was a small device, very amateurish and working on a remote detonator that was left on the balcony. That’s why the major impact was in the back of the ballroom,” Salvin began.
“What about injuries? Fatalities?” Kris asked.
Captain Briggins shook his head. “There were two fatalities, Your Highness. They were standing closest to the doors. Other guests were either on the dance floor or seated at their table—this put them at a farther distance from the impact. There are injuries and the last time I checked in, ambulances were circling back from the hospital to transport them all. If it had been a better-built bomb, using more reliable explosives, the fatalities and damages would no doubt be far worse.”
Grand Serenity had a population of just over one hundred thousand citizens. There were two hospitals, one on each side of the island, and approximately twelve ambulances. Kris had presumed there would be a large number of injuries, but he hadn’t wanted to accept fatalities. He frowned.
“I want to know what is going on here!” Rafe roared.
“If I may be permitted to speak,” Gary interjected.
Kris nodded. “Please. This is a closed conversation—what you say here will go no further than this room.”
Gary nodded. “First, everyone, please call me Gary. I’ve been on the island for just a few days, but from what I can tell this is a beautiful place.” He cleared his throat. “Except for the circumstances that brought me here.”
“Kris called you so I’m assuming there’s a need for an outside security expert,” Rafe said in response to Gary.
“Yes, I’ve been looking into each of the incidents that have happened. My investigation is nowhere near complete but as I told Kris before the explosion, I may have found something interesting.”
“What is it?” Roland asked.
Gary looked to Kris and then folded his arms over his chest as he began again. “One of the first things I noticed was that these incidents all began after a certain time. Prince Rafferty, you’ve been seeing Malayka Sampson since late February.”
Rafe straightened. “That is correct,” he said in a voice that told everyone in the room that he wasn’t going to take kindly to anything said against Malayka.
Gary kept talking. Whether or not he was moved to omit anything because of Rafe’s tone was something Kris would find out later.
“She first visited the palace in March,” Gary continued. “You traveled for three weeks in April and then you returned to the palace alone.”
“Yes,” Rafe said, coming to his feet now. “She went back to the States to pack her things. I moved her into the palace the first of May, after I proposed to her.”
Gary nodded.
“She moved in and then she returned to the States briefly.”
“To attend some function she was already committed to,” Rafe replied.
“Yes,” Gary said. “The Met Gala. Then the second week of May she returned, this time someone came with her.”
Kris tensed as he said tightly, “Landry.”
Another nod from Gary, this time in Kris’s direction.
“The car accident happened in late May, the break-in at the bank—”
“The one nobody thought was important enough to tell me about,” Rafe interrupted.
Kris picked up with the story then, the words raspy to his ears. “The break-in occurred in late June.”
Almost one month after he’d begun sleeping with Landry.
“I invited her to the ball,” Rafe whispered and then shook his head. “Wait a minute—you’re not seriously suggesting what I think you are? Landry Norris, the stylist? You really think she’s involved in this.”
“She’s a common denominator,” Gary offered.
“She has nothing to gain,” Roland added.
“How do we know this?” Rafe asked. “Who is she connected to? Wasn’t she thoroughly investigated like anyone else staying at the palace?”
“Yes,” Kris answered emphatically. “I did an extensive background check before she came to the island and then I interviewed her when she arrived.”
He remembered how pretty she’d looked in that fitted skirt and how nervous he’d thought she was even though she seemed calm. He also recalled the seconds that had ticked by as he’d contemplated kissing her before Sam had interrupted them.
“I don’t believe it,” Roland said instantly. “She wouldn’t do this. She cares about the people here. She went against Malayka in order to bring Detali’s talents to the forefront. She wouldn’t have done that if she had something against us, our country. There has to be another scenario.”
“Where was she when the explosion occurred?” Gary asked.
All eyes fell to Kris.
“We were dancing and then...” He didn’t get a chance to finish his statement before the door opened and in a blur of blue material, Landry came bustling in.
“Oh my God! I heard them planning this! I heard them the other day!” she said as she came to a stop in front of him. “I heard it all!”
* * *
Landry had been sitting in that room with her head throbbing, trying her best to remember what had happened.
One minute she was dancing with Roland, laughing and joking with him the same way she used to with her brothers back home. The next, she was with Kristian, hating that it felt so good to be in his arms again, when she knew that it wouldn’t last. Then, Malayka wanted to speak to her.
From that point on, her memory was foggy, until he was there again, and she was in his arms...again.
Damn, she loved how he smelled. It was unlike any cologne she’d ever known. He’d looked dashing and desirable, in his dark jacket lined with more medals than Roland’s, but the same light blue sash crossing his chest. His pants were black too, which gave him an even more debonair appearance. His jaw was strong and tense, as usual, his dark eyes shooting fiery pinpricks in her direction.
Then there was pain and he was carrying her and she was wearing his jacket. He’d left her alone but his scent had remained.
“Saturday,” Landry said when she realized Kristian was looking at her as if she’d lost her mind.
Her hair was probably a mess. She’d had an ice pack smashed against the side of it for who knew how long.
“When I walked into the room...um, Malayka’s new fitting room. He was in the room next door, or the balcony, I mean,” she continued.
“Who was?” Roland asked.
Landry turned and the room also picked that moment to do this spinning thing and she instantly felt nauseous. Kristian was quick. His strong arm wrapping around her waist as he held her up.
“She needs to see a doctor,” Kristian shouted. “She’s hurt.”
“Call for the paramedics to come up here.”
She heard another voice say, but Landry couldn’t figure out who it belonged to. She was on another couch, Kristian right beside her now. Her head felt as if someone were pounding it with their fists and she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to resist the nausea.
“Who did you hear speaking?”
The question came from Prince Rafe; she knew his voice. Turning much slower this time, Landry looked at him.
“I don’t know who he is, but he was on the phone telling someone to follow his orders. He kept saying nine
o’clock,” Landry told them.
“The explosion was at nine-oh-one.”
This statement came from another man who was dressed in an official law officer uniform. Two other men that she did not know were also present. The one dressed in a simple gray suit was looking from her to Kristian as if he wanted to say something.
“He was in the house,” Roland said. “Someone that works for us planned this.”
“I want a list of all the staff on my desk within the hour. Check the palace once more and then lock her down tight. Nobody goes in or out without me knowing,” Prince Rafe directed.
The other official-looking guy nodded and hurried out of the room.
“Who else overheard this conversation?”
This question came from the guy in the gray suit. Landry did not know who he was but if he were in this room with Kristian and the rest of the royal family, he must have been important and privy to this discussion.
“Nobody,” she answered. “Malayka was late for the meeting. I was there on time and when I entered the room, there was no one else in there. The balcony doors were open and I could hear the voices. I stepped outside for just a second and that’s when I saw him on the phone. He was also talking to someone in the room, but I couldn’t see that person.”
“So you heard this conversation and you never thought to say anything to anyone about it?” Gray-Suit-Guy asked her.
Landry wasn’t sure but his question sounded a bit accusatory. But maybe she had a concussion and was confusing things.
“I didn’t think to tell anyone. I don’t normally eavesdrop and then tell what I’ve heard,” she replied.
“You didn’t think that you should share that someone was going to plant a bomb at the ball?” the remaining official-looking guy asked. “And then you were mysteriously not in the ballroom when the bomb went off.”
“What?” she asked and pressed her hand to her stomach in an effort to cease the rolling sensation. “Malayka needed something...she wanted to...her dress.” Landry took a slow breath and released it. “Wait, you think I...that I knew?”
“We would like to question you further,” the official guy said.
“Me?” Landry asked.
She looked around the room to see that all eyes were on her. Then she turned to him. Kristian was staring at her as well. He wasn’t saying a word. He wasn’t defending her.
The battle was lost.
She jumped up off the couch and ran to the first door she saw and went inside. Luckily it was a bathroom and fortunately she’d made it in time.
Chapter 15
The room was dark and cool. After lying still for a few moments Landry realized that a steady breeze was coming through the windows. No, she thought when she chanced moving slowly to lie on her side, it was coming from the balcony.
She’d opened her eyes and blinked a few times to clear her vision. She still felt drowsy as she once again tried to recall where she was and how she’d come to be there. After noticing that she must’ve kicked the blankets off while she slept and that she was just a little chilly, she also realized that this wasn’t her room.
Landry took her time sitting up. It was slow going because her body felt ten times heavier than usual to move. However, fortunately, she was not experiencing any pain. There had been pain before, she recalled. Intense pain...she lifted a hand to gingerly touch the bandage on her head. It was wrapped all the way around, her hair matted to the sides. Dropping her hands down with a sigh she looked around at her surroundings. A dresser, a picture, anything that would tell her where she was. But she picked up on nothing but the scent.
She was in Kristian’s room.
Her location immediately alarmed her because the memory of their last conversation came flooding back.
The DeSaunters family thought she’d planted a bomb in their house. She’d never messed up this big before. Even though she hadn’t planted a bomb, so technically this wasn’t her mess-up. The sooner she made that point clear, the better she would feel about the rest, which she definitely did not feel like thinking about right now.
Landry took her time climbing out of the bed, stepping down from the bed’s platform with careful movements. She was wearing a nightgown that did not belong to her, yet it fit her perfectly. On bare feet she relied on her memory of the space to guide her to the balcony where she figured he had to be because of the persistent breeze from the doors being open. She paused when she stepped outside to find him standing at the railing.
His balcony was much bigger than the one attached to her room, wrapping around to meet the living-room side of his private space. There were chairs and two tables in the area she could see. The air was tinged with the tropical surroundings, a scent she’d come to love in the almost two months that she’d been there. And the man, well, his broad back and opposing silhouette fit perfectly against the backdrop of endless sky and dark, ominous sea.
“You should be asleep,” he said without turning around.
Landry didn’t want to be comfortable. She wanted to say what she needed to say and then attempt to go back to her room. She wasn’t certain what time it was, but she knew she did not want to wake up in Kristian’s room come sunrise. But she needed to make sure he knew she was innocent before going back to her rooms, and possibly back home.
“I get the feeling I’ve slept for long enough,” she replied. “How long has it been?”
“About five hours,” he responded, still keeping his back to her.
That didn’t bother Landry, or she convinced herself that it didn’t. She wasn’t sure how she would feel if he looked her in the eye and admitted he thought she could do something like this to his family. Not to mention all the innocent people that had been in that ballroom.
“I told you the truth,” she began. “As soon as I realized what I’d heard meant something, I came to tell you. The guard hadn’t wanted me to move because the paramedics hadn’t come to see me yet. He was even more nervous about helping me find your father’s private rooms, but I sort of threatened to scream throughout the entire palace if he didn’t assist.”
Kristian shook his head. “We need better-trained guards.”
Landry took in a shaky breath and released it slowly.
“I didn’t think about what I’d heard until last night as I was trying to figure out what happened. If for one moment I’d thought that it meant something before, I would have certainly told you,” she continued.
“Even though you’ve made yourself scarce this past week?” he asked.
She sighed and folded her arms over her chest.
“It’s been a busy week trying to ensure Malayka was ready for the ball.”
“You had dinner in your room or you went out visiting several restaurants in town,” he said.
“You know where I went?”
“Each time you left the palace, I knew. The press did as well. After seeing us together at the museum, they’ve taken an interest in you.” His hands gripped the railing and he leaned over it slightly.
He was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. His appearance shocked her momentarily because she’d only ever seen Kristian in dress clothes.
“I can’t believe you were keeping tabs on me,” she said, baffled. “You never trusted me, did you?”
He was quiet a few seconds. “It’s my job to know everything that goes on here.”
“Was it your job to sleep with me too? If so, you did a good job of it. For four weeks, it was a phenomenal experience,” Landry stated, her throat a little dry with the words.
No response came from him.
“Well, I only wanted to tell you that I did not... I would have never planned to set off a bomb in your home. I don’t know who that man was or who he was speaking to on the phone or in the other room. I’m not even sure how I received this gas
h on my head. What I do know is that I’m a professional. I’m good at my job and that’s why I was asked to come here. Everything else, what happened between us, I mean, well, that wasn’t planned.”
She could hear the sound of the sea below and a chill ran through her body. She rubbed her arms.
“So that’s all. I’ll go back to my room now and I’ll speak with Malayka in the morning about finding her another stylist.”
Kris remained silent and Landry turned to walk back into the room. She presumed he would let her go, just as he had that night in the garden. He would not talk about this, or anything, for that matter, beyond the few words he’d decided were enough. She’d come to expect nothing more from him. The Crown Prince Kristian DeSaunters was a man of few words, very minimal explanations and no regrets. He was stern in his beliefs, loyal to a fault and the only man to ever have Landry doubt herself. For that, she hated him.
“I made her a promise,” he said, his voice so low she almost didn’t hear him.
Landry stopped, but this time, she was the one with her back facing him.
“Promise me you’ll be good, Kris. That’s what she’d said. I stood at the side of her bed in that hospital room and she reached her hand out to me. I didn’t want to touch it because there was a needle taped down on the back of it. The room smelled funny, sterile and medicinal. Promise me you’ll make your father and me proud, she’d continued. I took her hand, twining my fingers with hers the way we used to do when I was younger and we went for walks along the beach. I told her I would be good and that I would rule this island the way she and my father expected me to. I promised her.”
Landry shivered once more, but this time it wasn’t because she was cold. His words were seeping inside of her, creeping into that door she’d vowed to keep closed off to him after the night in the garden.
“After that she told me she loved me. No matter what title I held or how beautiful this palace was, she loved me because I was her son,” he said and Landry heard his voice crack on his last word.
There was a quick pause and he continued, “I was her son and I killed her.”