“If people are determined enough, they’ll find a way to get what they want regardless.”
Tom nodded. “Yes, however, they will not use Rafferstonia as a weapon in that arsenal.”
“So you’ll continue to fly below the radar so no one understands that the weapon even exists.”
“Precisely.” He gestured to her empty plate. “Are you ready to get a jump on today? I believe we have quite a lot to accomplish.”
Chapter Seven
Tom wasn’t sure if he should be happy with his admiration at her astute insights into the politics of royalty or dismayed. It was just one more thing they had in common that they shouldn’t because it would be much more difficult for them to part once this ordeal was over. Or perhaps he should offer her a position of advisor on his staff. She seemed to get where he was coming from with very little explanation from him. That could be a quite useful skill. Except for the fact he was having trouble holding on to his train of thought while Joan dabbed at her mouth with a napkin then gave him a smile. “I suppose we should get going.”
It took him a moment to understand what she was talking about. He had to be honest with himself. He couldn’t take her back to Rafferstonia with him. She’d be too much temptation for him to disrespect his marriage bed and he was determined he wasn’t about to become his father.
“Right.” He stood and offered her a hand up. She took it and he tried to ignore the little tingle that traveled up his arm. This wasn’t good. He needed to focus. “We’ll use the business center downstairs to make the copy then head to the FBI offices.”
She stared at him for a long time. It was almost like she expected him to disappear at any moment, which was absurd.
“Yes, let’s go.” She gathered up her bulky canvas bag then headed to the door. He paused to appreciate the view of her delectable bottom under the dress she’d worn yesterday. He frowned.
“Joan?” She faced him, a questioning look in her eyes.
“Didn’t you order a new outfit from downstairs?”
She frowned down at her dress. “No. Was I supposed to?”
“We can stop somewhere and pick you up something else to wear.”
The frown remained on her face. This time, it was directed at him. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”
“You wore it yesterday.”
“Yes. And I washed it last night. What’s the big deal?”
Tom shrugged. If she wasn’t concerned, then he was determined not to be. Though he couldn’t for the life of imagine wearing the same clothes for two days in a row. So much for them being on the same page. “No big deal. I want you to be comfortable.” He smiled and vowed to take her shopping the moment they finished with the FBI.
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t smile back. Just stood and gave him the eye until he felt lower than dirt for suggesting she was anything but perfect in yesterday’s clothing. At last, she opened the door and strode into the hallway without waiting for him. He had to jog to catch up. What was she mad at him for? It was obvious she was.
She stabbed at the button for the elevator when he caught up to her. The ride to the lobby felt interminable since he kept trying to engage her in conversation but she’d only give him a tight smile or a few syllables in answer. If he was lucky anyway. When the doors opened on the ground floor, he gave up. He figured she’d get over whatever it was. He looked around the lobby trying to guess the best direction to head in to find the business center.
Joan watched him for a few moments then shook her head.
She snagged a passing bellman.
“Excuse me. We’re looking for the business center.”
The man gave her a courteous smile. “It’s on the Mezzanine.
Get off the elevator and turn right. You’ll run into it.”
Joan leveled a pointed look in his direction while she said,
“Thank you,” to the bellman. He nodded and went on his way while Joan pressed the button to recall the elevator.
“They’re most often on the ground floor,” Tom couldn’t help but mutter in his own defense. He had no idea if that were true or not. He just wanted to wipe the smug look off her face. Except, it seemed to have the opposite effect. She appeared amused. At least she wasn’t mad at him anymore.
They followed the man’s direction and found the business center with no problem. What was a problem was that there didn’t appear to be any available computers in sight. The place was packed with business men and women all wearing identical name badges and frantically trying to handle whatever needed handling in their lives. There was a line to even get to the signup sheet.
“What do you say we try elsewhere?” Joan nodded and looped the camera strap around her wrist after freeing it from the bag on her shoulder.
This time when they got off the elevator, Tom strode with purpose toward the exit. He heard a snicker behind him and spun in time to catch Joan trying to suppress a grin. It was contagious.
He smiled, too, and offered her his arm. She switched the camera strap to her free hand when she took his arm. He realized, belatedly, that every time he’d seen the camera, it had been attached to her in some way. He was glad she was being so cautious with the security of the footage.
The elevator ride and stroll across the lobby was made in companionable silence. He was glad she seemed to be over whatever she’d gotten upset about. While they approached the car, Tom pulled his keys from his pocket.
“Any idea where we can find a computer to use?”
Joan tilted her head in thought. “An office supply chain.”
“I guess it does make sense to buy a laptop. Then we can—”
“No. We can do what we need to do from a demo computer.
They’re usually wired. We can upload a copy for us then give the FBI the card.”
“I have a better idea.” Tom frowned at the deep voice that spoke from behind them. He and Joan froze in their tracks. “Hand over the camera.”
At the demand, both Joan and Tom turned in slow motion to face the heavy guard who was standing less than five feet from them. He was wearing plain clothes, but there was still no mistaking his identity. He held out a hand like he expected them to obey, no questions asked. Tom exchanged a look with Joan. At her tiny nod, they whirled away from the guard to run. They didn’t get more than a few steps before the skinny guard appeared in front of them. With cars on both sides and the guards in front and behind them, they were boxed in.
Tom shielded Joan the best he could with his body. “Look, gentlemen, I’m fairly certain that what you are doing is against the law. Move aside and let us pass. We’ll forgive and forget the rest.”
“Well ain’t you just too kind?” The heavy guard sneered.
“Yeah. Too kind,” his partner echoed.
“Give me that camera and we won’t have to hurt you.”
“If we both run at the skinny dude, I think we can get by him,” Joan whispered in Tom’s ear. He focused on her proposed target and nodded.
“Go!”
At his command, he and Joan sprinted toward the man. The look on his face would’ve been comical if they hadn’t been so desperate to get by him. He went slack jawed and his eyes got big as saucers. Together, Joan and Tom hit the poor man and knocked him flat on his back. They didn’t pause to see if he got up or not.
Just kept running toward the Acura.
A couple rows away, Tom risked a peek over his shoulder to check the guards’ progress. The heavy one had joined the chase, but the skinny one was still trying to climb to his feet. Keys clenched in his fist, Tom sped up since he noticed Joan was pulling ahead of him.
She beckoned to him when she skidded to a stop at the passenger door of his car. “C’mon, c’mon!”
Tom sprinted to the driver side. It took him a couple tries to fit the key in the lock, but he got the door opened at last. He slid behind the wheel and leaned across to unlock Joan’s door. She tossed her bag inside then jumped in when the guard was barely a car
width away. She slammed the lock down when the man lunged for the door handle.
Tom fired up the engine and backed out of the space with a squeal of his tires. The heavyset guard stumbled out of the way.
Joan braced herself against the dashboard while Tom whirled the steering wheel hard to the right causing them to bounce out onto the street. An SUV honked at them, but he didn’t give them a second thought.
“They’re following us.” Joan twisted in the seat to watch for their pursuers out the back window. How had they managed to find them? They’d left the state, for goodness sake. He sped through an intersection then dug his smartphone out of his pocket.
Handed it to Joan.
“The map application should still be open with directions to the FBI. I have the first part memorized, but I’m a little fuzzy on the rest. Can you guide me?”
Joan threw one last look over her shoulder and called up the screen. “What about the copy?”
“We’ll have to take our chances.” Tom craned his neck to check out the street signs. “That was Twentieth. Do you see us on the map?”
Joan scrolled the application. “Yes. We’ll go under a highway then turn left on Sixteenth.”
Tom jammed his foot down on the accelerator. He wove in and out of traffic. Joan checked the progress of their pursuers.
They’d fallen a bit behind among the cars, but hadn’t given up the pursuit.
“Crap. Give me the next right,” Tom demanded. The left turn lane was full of cars waiting for traffic to clear in the other lane so they could turn.
“Twelfth, but it’s pretty far ahead and going the opposite direction of where we’re trying to go,” Joan pointed out.
“I know. Look for a way to loop around to get us back on track, but using right turns.” He risked a glance at her expecting to see a puzzled frown on her face. Instead, she gave him an understanding nod.
“So we don’t have to stop in traffic. Got it.” She scrolled a bit more. “Right on Twelfth, right on Colter. That’ll swing us back around to Sixteenth.” Tom slowed to turn right on Twelfth. “Wait. I take that back. Keep going. If we do Central to Colter to Seventh, we’ll loop around to their front door.”
Tom gave her an admiring nod. The woman caught on quick. He pressed on the accelerator again. He followed her directions to the letter. When they skidded on to Colter, he slammed on the brakes.
Joan’s attention was snatched from the phone and she reached out to brace herself on the dash. “Do not enter. Figures.
Turn wherever you can and I’ll catch up.”
Tom nodded. He swung right into the gas station and waited. “You know something? I don’t think they can do much of anything to us while we’re on the move.”
Joan followed his gaze to the guards who’d just pulled into the station. They sat waiting in their car, too.
“You want the direct route to the FBI?”
Tom glared at the men. “That’s exactly what I want. Then, I want you to call them to let them know we’re coming.”
Chapter Eight
“With pleasure,” Joan said and focused her attention back to the phone’s screen. She rattled off their new route then tapped on the icon for the FBI headquarters and Tom got them moving again.
Several options came up to call the agency, show them on the map or even go to their website. They bounced over a pothole when she tried to select the call option. She tapped the go to their website instead. “Shoot.”
Tom shot a quizzical look her way then checked the rearview. “What is it?”
Joan shook her head. “Just hit the wrong thing, that’s all. Oh crap.” Joan scrolled down the tiny webpage and read in disbelief. “I think the FBI is out.”
“What do you mean?” Tom stopped at a traffic light and looked at her. She held up the phone that now displayed the wanted poster with their pictures on it. “Are you kidding me?”
“I wish I was.” She slumped in her seat. “What do we do now?” We can’t go to the police. We can’t go to the FBI. We have Boo Boo and Tu Tu on our tail. We are so screwed.” Just when she’d thought she was about to get her life back on track, too.
Would this never end? Or better yet, would it have a good ending, meaning one that didn’t have her in jail for the rest of her life.
Running from the local authorities was one thing. Evading a federal agency like the FBI was a whole different ball of wax.
Tom eased forward in the flow of traffic, but spared her a look. “Come now. Surely, you’re not ready to give up.”
“What else can we do? It’s not like there’s some accessible higher authority over the FBI. Maybe we should turn ourselves in and take our chances.”
“We do have one more option.”
“Yeah? What’s that?” Joan frowned.
“Come home with me.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me? I don’t have a passport and yours is in Los Angeles, most likely under lockdown by the local cops. Not to mention the fact that even if I could afford a plane ticket, chances are pretty high that I’m now on the ‘no fly’
list. So how exactly do you propose we leave the country?”
Tom smiled at her and held out his hand for the phone. She pressed it in his palm and stared out the windshield. What a ridiculous idea. Even if they could leave the country, she couldn’t just pick up and go. She had a life to—then she remembered. Life as she knew it was, for all intents and purposes, a thing of the past.
She fiddled with the camera case that contained the one thing that might get her life back on track. Assuming she could find someone to believe her.
“There’s been a change of plans. I need you to send the jet after all.”
Joan frowned when she tuned in to Tom’s conversation. The jet? Hope had the nerve to sprout in her chest. Of course he had a jet. After all, he was royalty, right? She’d almost forgotten about his little revelation from earlier. Maybe he hadn’t been pulling her leg.
“I’m fine, Mother. Send it to Dallas. We’ll meet it there.”
Joan watched him closely. She wondered at the blush staining his cheeks all of a sudden. He glanced at her, but looked away just as fast. What was that about? And Dallas? Why not Phoenix? That’s where they were.
“Thank you, Mother. See you soon.”
He hung up the phone, but stared straight ahead for a bit.
When it became obvious he wasn’t going to volunteer anything, Joan prompted, “Dallas?”
He focused on her at last. “Yeah. It’ll take a couple days for the pilot to get here and I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to stay put for too long. It’ll take us a day or two to drive to Dallas.” He checked the rearview again. “But first, we must lose our friends.
Then we’ll drop off the grid until we can get to safety.”
Joan had to admit. She liked his plan. Anything that had to do with their getting to safety was all right with her. Except for one little thing. “But how do we get through airport security to board your jet?” She tried not to be flabbergasted she was talking to someone who had a jet. Wonder if they offered coupons for that.
He smiled at her. “Jai, my head of security, will prep for our arrival.”
Joan rubbed her forehead. What had she been thinking? Of course he had a head of security. And of course he’d prepare for their arrival. How ridiculous of her to think otherwise. If she hadn’t felt out of her element before, she certainly did now.
She stared out the back window at their pursuers. “We could use your head of security right about now.”
“Given my abrupt change in plans, I expect him to arrive with the jet.” Tom gave a one shouldered shrug. “Even when we were kids, he was always a bit overprotective.” Tom snickered in a very un-‐-royalty-‐-like manner. “Meaning, no one could pick on me except him.”
Joan raised an eyebrow and looked at him. Who was he kidding?
“You’re asking way too much here. First, you tell me you’re royalty and now you expect me to believe y
ou were anything less than epitome of the ‘in’ crowd?” She glanced out the back window again. “How does a prince manage to not be popular?”
“It’s pretty easy if you’re a scrawny little fellow with huge teeth who’s sent off to boarding school where princes are a dime a dozen.” Joan turned to look at him again. Even though his tone was flippant, it didn’t quite hide his distaste for those memories. “After months of enduring my complaints, my parents sent Jai to the school.”
“The two of you became fast friends and you no longer cared what anyone else thought of you.”
Tom slanted her a look and laughed. “I wish. Jai had everyone on campus charmed within five minutes of his arrival.
That’s when the comparisons started. ‘Why can’t you be more outgoing like Jai, Tomas?’ or ‘Jai has already completed his assignment.’ Then there’s my favorite, ‘Analee is going to ask Jai to the Fall Dance.’”
“Let me guess. You were in love with this Analee and couldn’t bear to see her dancing the night away with someone else.
So you declared your love for her at the worst possible moment, she dumped Jai and because you deigned to continue speaking with him afterward, he was forever in your debt.” Joan settled in her seat to listen to the story, almost forgetting they were being pursued by two men who’d accused them of being bank robbers.
Tom took an onramp to a freeway and slowed to merge with the thickening traffic.
“I think I like your version better.” Tom gave her a smile while they inched along in the rush hour traffic. “I worked up my nerve to confront Jai.” He paused in thought. “Although, you are right about the worst possible moment. I confronted him at the dance.” Joan cringed. “Bad move.”
“Tell me about it. I accidentally on purpose spilled red punch all over his white tuxedo. I knew my parents were footing the bill for his tuition even if no one else did. I taunted him that I’d be happy to replace it since I knew he didn’t have money for a new one.”
Royal Opposites Page 6