by Nic Saint
Dante, who stood next to Odelia, gleamed with pride.
“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” said Odelia.
“She is. She’s grown in the role and handles it all with such grace.”
“I think she’s wonderful, no matter what the media people say.”
The gleam diminished as Dante locked eyes with Otis Robbins for a moment, then looked away. “It’s tragic the media would choose to turn my wife into a target. Especially as she’s the most wonderful person I’ve ever met and the terrible things they write about her are lies, every single one of them.”
“I must say that not all the media are against her, though,” said Chase, gesturing to several members of the press who smiled and applauded as Tessa placed a kiss on an elderly woman’s cheeks, much to the woman’s glee.
“No, of course not. But it’s people like Otis Robins who don’t seem to grasp that we have a real opportunity here. An opportunity to change the way we royals interact with the public. On an equal footing, I mean.”
Odelia watched as Tessa’s smile was infectious, and reflected in the smiles of the people she met. “I think it’s true what they say about her,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“Despised by the media barons, loved by the people.”
“That’s exactly true. Which just goes to show that whatever they write about her, the vast majority of the population sees right through those lies.”
“Her rise has certainly been meteoric,” said Chase. “Until a few months ago I’d never even heard of Tessa Torrance.”
Dante looked up sharply. “What do you mean? She’s Odelia’s cousin.”
Oops! “What Chase means is that I never told him about her,” said Odelia.
“Right. And why is that?” asked Dante, a little crossly, it seemed.
“It’s complicated,” said Odelia. “Family stuff. You know.”
Dante nodded. “Oh, I do know. Family is both the most wonderful and most frustrating thing in the world.”
“It is,” said Odelia, staring at her grandmother, who stood practicing her regal poise, and had started waving to anyone who would pay her attention.
Tessa now called for silence. “I would like to say a few words,” she said with an engaging smile. “I think what you’re doing here at the center is both important and incredibly inspiring. And being with you here today has certainly inspired me to do more—to be more. I can’t imagine the situations some of you have endured, and the courage it must have taken you to live through them and still be the amazing, gracious people you clearly are.”
And she would probably have said more, if not suddenly there was a loud crack, and suddenly something seemed to explode behind Tessa. And then all hell broke loose, as more cracks sounded, which Odelia now recognized as shots being fired. Tessa and all those present ducked for cover while the people from her security team all huddled around her, keeping her safe.
People were screaming and yelling and as Chase growled, “Too bad I couldn’t bring my gun!” suddenly the lights in the room were doused and for a moment it seemed as if fear was the only thing Odelia knew.
Being on the floor, in the dark, a crazed shooter on the loose, she flashed back to the most crucial times in her life. And as she lay there, Chase right next to her, she suddenly heard herself ask, “Chase, if we make it out of here alive—will you marry me?”
“We will make it out of here alive,” he said, “and yes, I will marry you. But damn it, you kinda stole my thunder, Poole!”
“I’m sorry! I just thought if I don’t ask now maybe we’ll both be dead and I’ll regret not asking!”
“When you’re dead you have no regrets. Or at least that’s the consensus.”
“I know! I’m not thinking straight right now.”
“Thinking straight or not, I’m going to walk you down that aisle, babe, and I’m going to kiss the bride, if it’s the last thing I do!”
“Me, too!”
Suddenly the lights in the room flashed on again, and when Odelia glanced around, her eyes adjusting to the light, she saw that Tessa was still alive, and seemingly not hurt. Dante was with her, and he, too, seemed to be all right.
Gran, meanwhile, said, “Will someone save your queen, for God’s sakes!”
She was stuck to the floor, a rather voluminous lady pinning her down.
Chase removed the lady by yanking her up, thereby saving ‘his queen.’
“Thank you, my loyal subject,” she said, and extended a hand for him to kiss.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” he grunted.
“Hey—I could hold you in contempt!” she shouted.
Police came charging into the room, and one by one everyone was led out.
“Did you get the shooter?” asked Odelia when she found herself being jostled out along with Tessa’s cousin Nesbit, the beefy security man.
“No, we didn’t,” he said, looking grim. “But by God, we will. And when we do, he’s going to wish he was never born.”
Chapter 21
When Tessa and Dante piled into the house, followed by Angela, Chase, Odelia and Gran, they were all atwitter. Apparently something had happened.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, lifting my head from my paws. I’d put in a solid couple of hours of sleep and I was slowly starting to feel like myself again.
“There’s been another attack,” said Odelia as she sat down next to us on the couch. Tessa switched on the TV, and we could all see firsthand the pandemonium at the homeless shelter. People were screaming, shots were being fired, and suddenly the lights went out and the place went dark. A grave-looking newscaster announced that the Duke and Duchess of Essex were safe, but that for a while there things had looked very hairy indeed.
“It’s a miracle you made it out alive,” I said, riveted by the images.
“Turns out it was just firecrackers set off by a couple of kids. At least that’s what the police are saying. There actually was an attack, only Tessa opted not to tell the police, for the same reasons she mentioned earlier.”
Tessa and Dante were conferring with Angela, and judging from the heated argument they weren’t seeing eye to eye.
“So there was an attack?” I asked, greatly concerned.
“While the lights were out, Tessa says she felt something graze her cheek.”
Odelia was right. There was a band-aid on Tessa’s cheek.
“Someone fired a shot at her but missed,” said Odelia.
“Could whoever is responsible set off the fireworks?”
“Possibly. They say it was kids, but I’m not convinced. More likely the killer paid them off to create confusion, then cut the power to cover his tracks.”
“Did they find out who was responsible?”
She shook her head. “There were a lot of people there. The moment those firecrackers hit the place descended into chaos.”
Gran cranked up the volume on the TV. “Listen to this,” she said, and everyone’s attention turned to the screen.
“There are rumors this may have been an attempt on the Duchess of Essex’s life,” said the newscaster in the same mournful tone, “but a statement has just been issued claiming those rumors to be absolutely false.”
“Oh, for goodness sakes,” Dante said under his breath.
“Through an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances the Duchess suffered a minor injury but at no time was she in any danger, real or imagined,” the newscaster continued reading the royal statement.
“Who issued this bogus statement?” asked Dante. “That’s what I would like to know.”
“I did,” said Tessa.
“Someone tried to shoot you! I was there! I heard the shot!”
“No damage was done,” she said, touching the band-aid on her cheek.
“This is serious, Tessa,” he said, concern lacing his voice. “Someone took a shot at you. And now I’m starting to wonder if that stone ball that fell on you was an accident or a deliberate attempt on your life.”
“There was a third attempt,” said Angela suddenly.
“Mom!” Tessa said, aghast. “I thought we agreed—”
“I think it’s time you told your husband, honey.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I said. But I’ve changed my mind. Dante was standing right next to me when that shot was fired, and he was as shocked as I was.”
“He was standing next to me when that ball almost fell on me. You said he was probably working with an accomplice.”
Dante looked shocked. “What?!”
Angela took a deep breath. “Dante, someone tried to poison your wife’s tea. Also, Odelia isn’t actually Tessa’s cousin and Vesta isn’t her grandmother.”
Dante looked flabbergasted, his face taking on a scarlet hue. “She’s not your cousin? So who is she? And why has she been staying under our roof?”
“I can explain,” said Tessa with an exasperated look at her mother, who pulled an ‘I’m sorry, honey’ face.
It took Tessa a while to tell the story but she told it well, and by the end of the convoluted tale, Dante looked even more worried than before.
“We have to tell the police,” was his first reaction. “ASAP.”
“That’s exactly what I don’t want,” said Tessa. “No one can know.”
“But—”
“What’s going to happen if people become aware there’s somebody trying to kill me?”
“They’ll be stopped!”
“No, it’s going to turn into a huge scandal—one that will be plastered across all the front pages and dominate several news cycles. Your family will be faced with an enormously embarrassing episode.”
“So? At least you’ll be safe.”
“It’s attention we don’t need—attention we don’t want.”
“We don’t control the media, Tessa. They’ll write what they write.”
“I know, but I want people to pay attention to us for the right reasons. For the work that we do. The charities we support. The message we want to convey. I don’t want us to become the couple hounded by a would-be assassin. It’s going to define us and it’s going to define your family and mine and we don’t need that kind of publicity.”
“So you’re telling me to just sit back and do nothing?!”
“No, of course not. That’s were Odelia comes in. She’s handled this type of situation before, and is on the verge of catching whoever’s behind this.” She directed a questioning look at Odelia, who nodded.
“We’re making progress,” she confirmed curtly.
“Have you at least some idea who this person is?” Dante asked.
“We’re closing in on a suspect,” Odelia said after a moment’s hesitation.
Dante narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t have a clue, do you?”
“Not an inkling,” Odelia confessed.
Dante dragged a hand through his thinning ginger mane. “Oh, God. This is a nightmare. And why didn’t you tell me this before?!”
“That’s on me,” said Angela. “You were one of my main suspects.”
“You actually thought I would kill my wife? Are you crazy?”
Angela shrugged. “I just figured that with all the negative publicity Tessa has been getting, you might want to get rid of her.”
“By murdering her?!”
“I figured that’s the way you royals dealt with troublesome spouses.”
“We’re Windsors, Angela. Not the Corleones.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “Oh, pipe down, Dante. It’s not as if you haven’t given me reason to suspect you. You keep getting into fights with Tessa. And you keep telling her she needs to adapt. I just figured you were already looking for a way out of this marriage, and seeing how you royals are allergic to even a whiff of scandal a nice ‘accident’ just might do the trick for you.”
“I don’t believe this,” he said, shaking his head with exasperation.
Just then, one of the guards approached the royal couple. “You have visitors, sir.”
“Tell them we’re a little busy right now,” said Dante.
“It’s your brother and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Bristol.”
Chapter 22
‘This is so exciting!” Harriet said.
“Why?” asked Brutus, at a loss.
“Are you crazy? It’s the future king and queen paying us a visit!”
“Oh, okay,” said Brutus, not convinced.
The future king and queen walked into the house, their faces masks of concern. Jeremy was a tall, thin man with thinning mane, while his wife Jennie was a kind-faced, rangy brunette. When she saw Tessa, Jennie immediately streaked forward, arms outstretched. “Oh, you poor thing. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” said Tessa with a strained smile. The events of the past couple of days had clearly left a big impression on her, and her customary sunny disposition had suffered.
“This is so awful! Do they know what happened?”
“Kids setting off firecrackers and a fuse box meltdown,” she said automatically, as if reading from a teleprompter. “The whole thing gave us a big scare. But nothing bad happened. Just a concatenation of circumstances.”
“Yes, I heard just now—you must have been terrified.”
“It was pretty scary,” Tessa admitted.
Meanwhile Jeremy clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Gave you quite a fright, the whole dreadful business, what?”
“It did,” Dante admitted. He clamped his lips together, clearly wanting to say more and being in two minds about Tess’s information embargo.
“Kids, eh?” said Jeremy. “Blimey.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Lock them up in the Tower?” Jeremy suggested, eliciting a weak smile from his younger brother.
Jeremy directed a worried look at him. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You don’t look all right. I’d say you look... awfully pissed off.”
“Well, I am,” said Dante. “How would you feel if your wife was suddenly under attack.”
“From firecrackers?”
“We didn’t know it was firecrackers. It sounded like gunfire.”
Jeremy smiled indulgently. “Surely an ex-military man like yourself can tell the difference between a firecracker and gunfire?”
“I didn’t know what to think. Everybody hit the floor and there was panic for a few moments, especially when the lights went out immediately after.”
“Shock to the system, eh?” said Jeremy knowingly. “Good for you, old chap. Brings out the old fighting spirit. Makes you feel alive. Speaking of which, I’ve heard through the grapevine Gran is on her way over.”
“Oh, dear God, no,” Dante groaned.
Gran, who’d heard her name mentioned, pricked up her hears. “Excuse me,” she said, approaching the two brothers. “Who’s on her way here?”
“Our grandmother,” said Dante. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Where are my manners? Vesta Muffin, this is my brother, the Duke of Bristol.”
“Please call me Jeremy,” said Jeremy graciously.
But Gran wasn’t interested in niceties or social decorum. “Are you telling me the Queen of England is on her way over here?”
“Yup,” said Jeremy. “She must have heard about the incident at the shelter and wants to see for herself what the fuss is all about. I honestly believe this goes to show your security people don’t know their arse from their elbow. What an astonishing cock-up.”
“They couldn’t have foreseen something like this would happen,” said Dante, though I could tell he was thinking the same thing his brother was thinking.
“They could have performed a sweep of the room. Confiscated those blasted firecrackers. Made certain those little blighters weren’t anywhere near you or Tessa. And then there’s the fuse box. They should have checked.”
“You’re probably right,” said Dante.
“Of course I’m right! Who’s in cha
rge of your security?”
“Kingsley Para.”
“I’d take a long hard look at his credentials. And talk to Protection Command. There should be consequences to a disaster like this.”
“I will,” said Dante. “Trouble is, one of the security people is actually Tessa’s cousin. And she tells me he’s quite good at what he does.”
“Well, obviously he’s not, is he, old boy? I’d think about chucking him—family or no family. Can’t have nepotism stand in the way of keeping safe.”
“What’s nepotism, Max?” asked Dooley.
“When you give an unfair advantage to members of your family in the distribution of jobs and such,” I said. “Like when the president of a country appoints friends and family to important jobs, without following procedure.”
“Like if Tessa would make Fluffy her head of security?”
“Maybe she should,” said Brutus. “Prince Jeremy is right. What a screwup.”
“Could it be that her security team is in on this?” I asked.
“You mean, could they be working with the killer?” asked Harriet.
“It would explain how he got through security just now, and managed to fire off a shot. And how he got into the house and laced her tea with Belladonna. Or sneak past security to tip over that stone ball.”
“It would explain a lot,” Brutus agreed.
“But wouldn’t her cousin know if a conspiracy was being hatched?” asked Harriet.
“Not if he’s in on it,” I said.
We all glanced up at Tessa, who was keeping it together, even though the strain the incident had caused showed on her face and her rigid posture.
“I think Odelia should have a chat with the cousin,” I said.
We agreed to bring it up as soon as Odelia was done talking to the Duchess of Bristol, aka Jennie, but then a loud noise told us another visitor had arrived.