“And the gunman wore similar clothing. The two were probably the same man.”
Jason had another question he needed to ask, but he didn’t want to pose it to Ava just yet, not when he feared it might provoke tears. “It’s late. You need your rest. Can I walk you to the apartment?”
Ava shook her head. “You need your rest, too. I’m sure one of your men can walk me over.” She turned toward the hallway.
Jason watched her in wonderment. Was this the same woman who’d refused a guard that morning? She’d told him then she didn’t think his guards liked her. He couldn’t argue with her claim. In fact, knowing that his guards viewed her with much the same resentment he’d felt until that evening, he didn’t want them walking her home. They would still think she was the argumentative wedding planner.
They wouldn’t know about the real Ava with the tender heart and who had such a pretty smile, reserved only for those who knew how to coax it out of hiding. He trotted to catch up with her and caught the duffel bag that sagged from her shoulders, falling into step beside her.
“Really, I’m fine, thank you,” she told him, reaching for the bag.
“It’s not far.”
“You have important things to do.”
Though he didn’t want to mention it, Jason confessed, “I have a question to ask you.”
She stopped by the rear exit door. “You can ask me now.”
“I’d rather not.”
She pushed through the door, holding it open so he could step after her. “You’re making me a little nervous. You know how I feel about your questions.”
“I’m afraid you won’t like this one any more than the last, but it has to be asked. I just didn’t want to ask it in the middle of headquarters.”
Walking briskly, they reached the rear door of the palace-wall apartments, and Jason pressed his thumb to the print pad, which registered green, allowing them entrance. He opened the door for her.
“How thoughtful of you,” she said, only realizing as she looked around the small apartment just how thoughtful he’d been. Someone had brought by her things from her apartment.
“I told the men to be careful with everything. And don’t worry, Theresa lent me some girls from housekeeping to pack and unpack your personal things. The men just did the heavy lifting and kept the ladies safe.”
“I appreciate that.” Ava had already begun to worry about getting her work done without her computer and printer, but she saw these, along with her desk, had been set up just as she’d had them. Appreciation swelled inside her, but she knew their discussion wasn’t over. “Ask your question.”
“Could the man in the footage have been your father?”
Ava closed her eyes. Her features pinched slowly as she struggled to answer. She gave him the tiniest nod, but when she opened her mouth, her voice caught.
“It’s okay.” Jason rushed to assure her. “You don’t have to say it out loud. I understand.”
But her face pinched up all the more, and she sagged forward, shaking her head adamantly. “I don’t want to believe he’s capable of something like this.”
“I don’t want to think so, either. And I truly hope he isn’t, but given the circumstances, it’s a possibility we can’t ignore.” Jason was tempted to put an arm around her again, to comfort her in her obvious distress, but his mother’s words echoed in his thoughts. Ava trusted him. He didn’t want to hurt her and wasn’t sure he ought to hold her when he didn’t know what the next day might bring.
Instead he asked the next logical question. Though it was almost midnight in Lydia, it would be midafternoon back in Seattle. If they called Ava’s father and caught him in his office in the U.S., Jason would know the man couldn’t possibly have been behind the attacks that day. “Can you call your father?”
Ava looked up at him, and he quickly explained his reasoning.
“It’s a good idea,” she admitted. “But I haven’t spoken to him since my mother’s death. I’m already too emotional. If he answers he’ll want to know what’s going on.” She shook her head. “I’m not up to it. Not now. Not after the day we’ve had.”
“It’s fine,” Jason assured her. “Do you mind if I call him?”
Ava looked sincerely relieved by his suggestion. “Please.” She wrote down two phone numbers for her father, labeling them Home and Office.
“Would you like me to place the call from my office and leave you alone?”
“I don’t think I could sleep not knowing.” She slipped the paper into his hand and clung to his fingers an extra-long moment.
Jason noticed. He tried not to call attention to that fact and debated whether he should hold her hand or pull away. He’d need to dial the phone. “I’ll call right now.”
Ava dropped his hand, and Jason punched in the first phone number. It rang several times, but there was no answer, not even a machine or voice mail. He dialed the second number.
The church secretary answered, and Jason asked if he could speak to Pastor Wright.
“I’m sorry, he’s out of the office right now. May I take a message?”
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“I can’t say.”
“Are you expecting him in tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is Saturday. The office will be closed.”
Right. “Can you tell me when would be a good time to reach him? Or do you have another number I could call?”
“If you could tell me your message or reason for calling, perhaps I could help you.”
Jason thought quickly. What could he tell the woman that would get him the answer he wanted, without giving away too much, especially if Ava’s father really was their culprit? But then again, even if the minister learned they’d called, what difference would it make? Perhaps they could just as well flush him out by identifying themselves.
With a silent prayer that he wasn’t making a big mistake, Jason explained, “I’m the captain of the royal guard of the kingdom of Lydia. Pastor Wright’s daughter is our royal wedding planner.”
“Is everything all right?” The secretary jumped in when Jason paused. “Is Ava okay?”
“She’s fine,” Jason assured the woman, hoping he wasn’t giving away too much. “We had some questions for her father, if you could leave a message for him to call us back.”
“Oh, yes, certainly.” The woman took down the number for the royal guard’s main switchboard, as well as Jason’s personal cell-phone number. Then she quickly added, “Tell Ava we miss her. I miss her smiling face and all the insightful things she used to say during Bible study. I do hope she’s fine. She’s such a sweet girl. I’ve been praying for her ever since—since her mother died.”
“She is fine,” Jason noted, and then, on impulse, since the secretary had brought it up, he added, “Keep praying for her. She has a lot going on right now.”
As he spoke, he saw Ava’s face go white. He closed the call and put the phone away.
“You didn’t need to say that.” Ava looked up at him angrily.
“She told me she’s been praying for you,” Jason explained.
“Now she’ll worry for no reason.” Ava threw her hands up in the air—a signal, Jason had learned long before, that she was ready to argue and wouldn’t back down until she’d won the fight.
“For no reason?” he repeated, not bothering to list the many reasons Ava and everyone who cared for her ought to worry about her safety.
“There’s nothing she can do about it from there.”
“She can pray for you. You need all the prayer you can get.” Jason didn’t want to argue, but Ava had made it clear she wasn’t going to let him get away without a fight.
“It doesn’t work,” Ava told him tartly, glaring up at him. “I prayed for my mother. And I believed, stupidly, that God was
with me, that God loved me even though my mother died.”
Jason listened, surprised. He would have sworn Ava had buried her faith the moment her mother had taken her last breath. But her words indicated she’d held on longer than that. He wanted to ask her to clarify, to explain the precise moment she’d lost her faith and why. But he realized it wasn’t any of his business, and he feared such a question would only push her further away. He didn’t dare risk that, not when he already saw her rebuilding the walls around her heart even higher than before.
“I’m tired.” Ava walked to the door and held it open for him. “Good night.”
He crossed the room obediently, but turned to face her in the doorway. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“Then leave before I cry.”
“Ava.” He reached for her, his heart breaking from the pain she carried.
But she swatted him away and closed the door after him. He heard the tumbler of the dead bolt slide solidly into place. He still had her duffel bag of papers slung over his shoulder and half expected her to reopen the door just to grab it from him. He waited.
How long he stared at the door, he couldn’t say, but he prayed she’d open it and let him in. When enough time passed that it didn’t seem likely she’d change her mind, he prayed instead she’d open the door of her heart to God. God could comfort her far more than Jason could, if only she’d let him.
Jason trudged back to his office and set the duffel bag on his desk, zipping it open, praying for answers. It was late and he was tired, but at the same time, he didn’t feel he could sleep, not yet. Riffling through the brochures, Jason spotted one with Ava’s smile, her hair still a natural, wavy brown as she stood between a beaming wedding couple and their cake.
It was the brochure for the wedding-planning company Ava had run back in the U.S. Jason realized he didn’t know what had become of the company. Curious, he dialed the number on the brochure. It was still business hours back in Ava’s hometown.
“Happily Ever After,” a woman answered in a cheerful voice. “How may I help you plan the wedding of your dreams?”
“I’m calling about Ava Wright.”
“I’m sorry, she’s no longer with our company.”
Jason scrambled to think what he could ask next that wouldn’t make the woman concerned, just as Ava had accused him of upsetting her father’s secretary. “Actually, that’s why I’m calling. I’m on the staff of the Lydian royal family. Everyone here is very impressed with her work.” He paused, recalling his conversation with his mother and the question he’d raised whether Ava might be planning to return to the U.S. Perhaps this woman could answer more than one question.
“We’re hoping to keep her on staff full-time,” Jason continued, trusting his words weren’t a lie. From everything he’d seen, the royals would love to have Ava work for them, planning events long into the future. “Could you fill me in on her relationship with your company? Is she planning to return?”
“Oh, I’m sure she’s not—though I wish she would. I miss her. But considering the circumstances that surrounded her leaving...” The woman’s voice trailed off.
“What were those circumstances? She’s never spoken of them to us.”
“No, I don’t suppose she would.” The woman gave a short laugh. “I can’t say I know everything—no one ever bothered to explain it all to me, but I’m just the secretary. She broke off her engagement so suddenly just before she left.”
Ava had been engaged? Suddenly Jason had a dozen new questions. “Why did she end her engagement? Was that before her first trip to Lydia?”
“It was after she returned—the one time she returned. I probably shouldn’t discuss it—I don’t even know what happened. Dan did something—”
“Her fiancé’s name was Dan?”
“Yes, Dan. Daniel Johnson. I don’t know what he did to upset her, but she handed over the company to her partner and walked away. Oh, and she changed her hairstyle. She stopped smiling. It was as though something snapped inside her. I wish I could tell you more, but that’s all I know.”
Jason jotted down the man’s name. “Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.”
“If you see her, could you tell her Myra says hello? And I wish her every happiness.”
“Happiness?” Jason repeated the word.
“Yes. She’s brought so much happiness to everyone else, I just wish she could find some herself. She wasn’t happy when she left, but if anyone deserves to live happily ever after, she does.”
Stunned by the woman’s sudden outpouring, Jason didn’t know what to say. “I’ll pass along your greetings,” he promised.
“Thank you.” Myra sounded somewhat emotional, so Jason thanked her again for her help and ended the call.
He put away his phone, pondering this new element to the mystery. Who was Dan Johnson, and what had he done that had caused Ava to abandon a successful company, change her hairstyle and move halfway around the world? And why hadn’t Ava mentioned the man before? Given the circumstances, Jason considered Dan a person of interest. Clearly, the man had hurt Ava before. Who was to say he wasn’t trying to do so again?
With little more to go on than the man’s name—and a common name, at that—Jason decided to place a query with the Lydian travel authorities. Given the late hour, he sent out an email to the airports, the border crossings and the marina. It wasn’t much of a net. There were plenty of ways a man who wanted to hide might slip through.
But at the same time, it was the only thing Jason could think to do without waking Ava and grilling her about why she’d neglected to mention anything about the man. Dissatisfied but unable to do any more, he headed home to catch a few hours’ sleep. He’d be back at his office early the next morning. He prayed by then he’d have some answers.
TEN
Ava did not want to get up the next morning. Her dreams hadn’t been anything too nice, but they were far preferable than the nightmare her life had become. But since she had a meeting with the palace kitchen staff and the bakery that was providing the cake, she had no choice but to get up. She might endanger the royal family with her presence, but there wasn’t any helping that. She could, however, make good on her promise to give Prince Alexander’s bride, Lillian, the wedding of her dreams.
They’d arranged to hold the food meeting in the grand ballroom, which was there inside the palace, so she had no excuse not to attend. She pulled herself out of bed the moment the alarm went off and tried to wash away every hint of the previous day’s trials in the shower. Red rimmed her eyes, but she’d had plenty of practice putting in eyedrops to whiten them—not only on members of her wedding parties, but also for herself. And she styled her hair extra high to detract attention from her face and eyes. It was a simple ruse, but it worked remarkably well.
The early-morning meeting went smoothly. Fortunately she’d worked with the same bakery for Princess Isabelle’s wedding and Duchess Julia’s titling ceremony, so everyone knew what to expect. There were no surprises. Ava took a deep, calming breath as she thanked everyone for meeting with her and turned to leave the ballroom. A sense of tentative peace settled over her. Perhaps today would be a better day.
Then she spotted Captain Selini standing in the doorway, his uniform crisp, his shoes polished, his weary eyes fixed on her, almost as though he expected her to bolt away at the sight of him.
She certainly considered it, but she knew he’d catch up to her, and she didn’t want to make a scene. Instead she pulled back her shoulders and chose the tactic that disarmed many a flustered vendor—meeting him head-on.
“Can I help you?” she asked as she approached.
“We need to talk.”
“Follow me.” She didn’t slow her steps, but walked coolly past him, almost wishing he wouldn’t follow her, though she knew him too well to think he’d let
her escape now.
“We can talk in my office.”
“I’m supposed to meet with the florists at the cathedral in an hour. I need to call them and arrange to meet here, unless you think—”
“You’re not leaving the palace grounds today.”
“Then I need to call them.”
“You can place the call from my office.”
Ava did so, drawing out the conversation to avoid talking to Jason, glad he’d closed the door after them so the men in the rooms nearby wouldn’t overhear. To her relief, the captain’s phone rang just as Ava ran out of advance questions for the florist. She ended the call and couldn’t help hearing Jason’s conversation.
“Do you have a picture of him—a security-camera image, anything? Yes, I understand. But tell me, do you know by chance if he was wearing a baseball cap?”
Jason smiled grimly as he ended the call, but when he turned to face Ava, his smile faded, and his grim look turned almost apologetic. “An American, Daniel Johnson, flew into Sardis late Thursday afternoon.”
Ava felt her mouth drop open, but she could find no words to speak.
“Given the time of his arrival and the hour when a man arrived at the pedestrian gate, they could well have been the same man. He’d obviously have arrived in time to plant the bomb in your car and drive to your apartment—”
“No!” Ava couldn’t listen any longer. “No, he wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t—how? How did you even learn his name? I didn’t tell you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“It’s not relevant.”
“You broke off your engagement suddenly and abandoned your company—”
A horrific sense of betrayal filled Ava. The memory of what Dan had done made Jason’s blunt statement even worse. “You went behind my back. Who did you call? Who have you talked to? You should have spoken with me first.” Ava planted her hands on Jason’s desktop, needing something to lean on as she absorbed this latest blow.
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