Royal Opposites (14 page)

“She’s an American citizen. We met the day before yesterday.”

The sheriff and deputy exchanged another look. The sheriff’s eyes flicked to the bed then back to Tom. His hackles rose. Despite his sore muscles, he straightened his spine and stared the man down with every ounce of royalty he had in him.

“I don’t believe I care for your implication, sir. Joan is an upstanding woman of unquestionable moral character.”

“I’m sure you understand how it looks—”

“I don’t care how it looks. She sustained a nasty bump on the head when we were run off the road last night. I was not about to leave her on her own.”

“Tom?” Joan’s soft voice behind him cut into his tirade right when he was getting wound up. She was wearing one of the t-‐-shirts he’d purchased for himself with a pair of his new sweatpants. Had she not found the clothes he’d bought for her?

“Joan?” He stood and went to her. “What happened to the clothes I bought for you?”

She gave him a little smile, but her eyes flicked past him to the policemen. The sheriff stood at her entrance which made Tom grant him a few points. Maybe the man had manners after all.

“They’re a bit small.” A blush tinged her cheeks. “Are things okay out here?”

Tom sent a warning glance at the sheriff then smiled at her.

“Of course they are. How are you feeling?”

“Even my ears ache, but I’ll live.” She strode over to the sheriff and extended a hand to him. He shook her hand. “I’m Joan Smith.” The sheriff and deputy exchanged another of those looks Tom was growing to hate. Joan didn’t seem to mind. She laughed instead. “I get that all the time. It’s such a nondescript name. But it is mine. For better or worse.”

“Sheriff Barley. He’s Deputy Coolidge.” She turned to shake the other man’s hand then sat in the chair nearest the door. Tom searched through the bags she’d put back on the credenza for the other shirts he’d purchased. He was thankful he’d purchased each of them three sets of clothes. He hadn’t counted on her wearing his, though.

“The two of you beat us to the punch.”

Sheriff Barley frowned. “What do you mean, ma’am?”

“We were coming to see you when we woke up. Last night was quite a night. I think we need some help.”

“Do you need help?” The sheriff leaned forward and stared at Joan with compassion in his eyes. Tom didn’t like the look at all.

Nor did he like the slight emphasis the man put on the word ‘you’

or what he was implying. Tom managed to keep from rolling his eyes and sat on the bed to rejoin the conversation. The tiny shift the man made to put himself between Tom and Joan annoyed him even further.

“Oh for–” Tom began, but Joan cut him off.

“We. As in the both of us.” She slanted a smile at Tom.

“Although, Mr. Macho over there thinks we can handle this ourselves.”

The sheriff relaxed his posture a bit although the deputy remained watchful. “Maybe you better tell us what’s going on here.” “What were you guys out here talking about for all that time? The weather?” Joan looked at each of the men in turn.

“Typical.”

****

Joan settled back in her chair and met the sheriff’s eye. “We need help because a bank in L.A. tried to swindle Tom out of his money and he called them on it. We stopped here because we couldn’t go on any longer. I didn’t think we’d be able last long enough to meet Tom’s head of security so I suggested we contact you. But you got here first.”

After recounted everything they’d been through over the last couple of days, Joan sucked in a well-‐-deserved breath. She couldn’t believe it. Just three days ago, she’d never even met Tom Rafferty. To think that such a short time later she was waking up in the man’s arms and totally cool with it. She still ached, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a wonderful night’s sleep.

“That’s quite a tale, young lady,” the sheriff said after a long moment of silence. “Got something to back up anything you say?”

Hadn’t the man been listening? She’d told him all this was because of the video. Of course she could back up what she said.

Instead of letting her annoyance show, she stood and crossed the room to retrieve her camera. She replaced the memory card and powered it on. Her relief morphed to frustration when the lens opened and fell off the camera.

“Crap.”

Tom stood and crossed to her. “Do you think it’ll still play?”

“I don’t know. It must have gotten pretty beat up when we crashed last night.” She turned to look at the two officers. “Do you have a computer? We can watch it there.”

Joan didn’t like the look the two men gave each other. She looked to Tom. Joan saw the same foreboding in his eyes when he met her gaze. So perhaps this hadn’t gone quite like she’d planned.

In her defense, however, she would have checked the camera out long before telling that long tale to anyone, much less the police who appeared ready to toss them in a cell and melt the key.

Chapter Thirteen

Tom studied Joan who was seated beside him. That was the single fortunate thing about this whole mess that he could think of.

He should be feeling triumphant that he’d been right. Instead, all he could do was sympathize with her obvious misery that she’d been wrong in expecting the police to help them.

They bounced over a rut in the road and she fell against him.

He tried to steady her, but his cuffed hands made the move awkward and unhelpful. She gave him a small smile in acceptance of the gesture then righted herself the best she could with her own hands shackled together. At least the sheriff hadn’t deemed them dangerous enough to cuff their hands behind their backs.

Tom returned his attention to the passing countryside. In other circumstances, meaning any which didn’t involve him being carted around in the back of a cop’s SUV like some common criminal, he would enjoy the scenery. Everything was wide open spaces in every direction. He could imagine the dangers the land possessed, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying the sight of his first tumbleweed. It was smaller than he’d imagined it would be after seeing them in movies, but it did tumble and that was enough for him. If he were driving this stretch of road alone, he’d pull over and investigate further. He was quite curious to see what it felt like.

He reflected over the past few days when he’d driven across several American states. He regretted that the drives had been made at night for the most part. There was no telling how many wonderful sights he’d missed seeing while in the dark. He pondered the cuffs. No matter. He’d make time for another drive after they resolved this unfortunate mess.

He wasn’t happy about leaving the resolution in the hands of American authorities, but at this point, he had no choice. It wouldn’t take much to confirm his identity. From there he would make whatever demands he deemed necessary and see which ones were met.

He looked at Joan again. He hated that she didn’t have the same protection. A crazy idea teased the edge of his consciousness.

Before it could take shape, he snuffed it out. It would be ludicrous for him to marry her just to keep her out of jail. Although, there was a loan he could call in on her government. That would achieve the same result.

“You folks recognize this area?” Sheriff Barley cut into his thoughts giving him a needed interruption. Tom focused his attention back out the window to take a look. He glanced at Joan and saw a puzzled look on her face which likely mirrored his own.

“Should we?” Joan asked.

“It’s where you would’ve run off the road, if you’re telling me the truth.” Sheriff Barley stared at both of them in the rearview mirror. Deputy Coolidge trailed behind them in his own county vehicle.

Tom took a careful look around the area, but nothing was familiar. They hadn’t taken the highway so he had no sense of where they were.

“Wait. Isn’t that the bridge we hit?” Joan sat forward and nodded down the road.

The sheriff didn’t snort, but his tone did it for him. “Honey, if you hit that bridge and went off the road you wouldn’t still be here to tell about it.”

But Joan wasn’t to be deterred. “That’s gotta be it. Just look.

Please.”

“This better not be a waste of my time. I shoulda already had you back to the office for booking.” Still, Sheriff Barley slowed the SUV and pulled to the side of the road a few hundred yards away from the bridge. “I’m going to take a look.”

“Let us come with you.” Tom insisted.

The sheriff twisted in his seat to look at them. “You all wouldn’t be foolish enough to try to make a run for it out here, would ya?” He gestured at the land that was a whole lot more barren than Tom would’ve believed after scrabbling up the canyon the night before. “I would warn you about all the dangerous critters that come out after dark and how it’s not safe, but the truth of the matter is I just don’t feel like chasing you down.”

“We’re not going to make a run for it. We don’t know where we are, much less where ‘it’ is.”

Tom’s lips quirked at her sassy reply. It was about time she turned that acerbic tongue loose on somebody else for a change. He was also glad to note it wasn’t just him who got on her nerves.

Sheriff Barley raised an eyebrow and stared her down. Joan stared back. The man broke first causing a spot of pride to bloom in Tom’s chest. It was a little victory, but given how few battles they’d won over the past few days, he’d take it.

The sheriff climbed out of the SUV and opened the door for Joan who had been seated behind him. She slid out of the vehicle with a jerky motion due to the cuffs throwing off her balance, but at last she was standing beside Barley waiting for Tom to slide across the seat and join them.

Once Tom was out of the vehicle, Deputy Coolidge jogged up behind them.

“This here the spot?”

“So they tell me.” Barley slapped his hat on his head then planted his hands on his hips. “You take the rear, Coolidge.” He nodded to Tom and Joan. “You two lead the way.”

Tom walked ahead of Joan, but she scrambled to catch up.

Barley fell in behind them while Coolidge parked his vehicle in back of the SUV then brought up the rear. Tom squinted his eyes while he studied the bridge. The metal support wasn’t dented, but a large streak of green paint was visible. He nodded toward the pole. “That’s what we hit before we went over the side.” Sheriff Barley followed Tom’s gaze and noted the damage.

“All that tells me is you were in an accident and never reported it.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Joan glared at the man. “What do you think happened out here? You act like we were out joyriding instead of running for our lives.”

“Until I see evidence to the contrary, that’s a much more plausible scenario.” He shot a look in Tom’s direction. “I mean, it’s not every day we get a visit from royalty. What we do get are swindlers and crooks. Until I’m satisfied you’re not either, I’m going with that one.”

“What possible reason could we have to make up such an unbelievable tale?” Joan pressed on. “Shouldn’t we have some kind of motivation to tell you all this if it weren’t the truth?”

“In my experience, motivation becomes clear when the suspects are pressed far enough. I’m curious to see how far you’re going to take this charade.”

Joan opened her mouth to argue, but Tom squeezed her shoulder. When he had her attention he shook his head. Seeing must be believing for the sheriff. So Tom figured it’d be best to show the man the wrecked car.

She nodded. The two of them headed toward the canyon edge and gazed down. Tom wasn’t sure what he expected to find, but the scattered bits of his vehicle hadn’t been high on the list. If Joan’s sudden intake of breath was any indication, she was as surprised as he at the automotive pieces littering the side of the canyon wall just before a steep drop off.

The setting sun glinted off the underbelly of the car. Three of the four tires were missing and who knew what else. One door was open, but bent almost in half due to the uncustomary weight now resting on it. His heart beat a little faster at the thought that he and Joan had been inside it when it had landed there.

Tom wanted to hold Joan’s hand. Needed to reassure himself she was standing beside him and wasn’t still trapped in the car. With his hands cuffed, he couldn’t. He shouldn’t anyway.

Soon, they’d get this thick sheriff to believe them and the whole thing would be cleared up. He and Joan would go their separate ways and get on with their lives. His brain rattled off all the reasons why he should be glad his hands were cuffed thus keeping him from doing something stupid. His body, however, quite decisively stopped taking orders from his head and leaned toward Joan so his arm was touching hers. The tiny contact brought him so much comfort that his mind shut up.

“Oh my goodness, Tom. How did we get out of there?”

“The two of you survived that?” Tom and Joan stared at Coolidge when he joined them on the edge of the canyon. He squatted down in the loose gravel beside the edge of the road. “Did either of you stand out here before now?”

Tom and Joan exchanged puzzled glances. The man sure was getting talky all of a sudden. Tom spoke up. “No. Why do you ask?” Coolidge dusted off his hands and stood. He and the sheriff walked a few feet away and exchanged a few words. The sheriff stared at the two of them for a long moment then nodded. He and Coolidge rejoined them. To Tom’s surprise, Barley pulled out his key ring and unlocked her cuffs before freeing him.

“You believe us now?”

“Maybe not all that malarkey about you being royalty, but I can tell by looking at the two of you that you were in the car when it went over.” He jerked a thumb at Coolidge. “And my deputy here assures me two men stood right about here pretty recent like.

Ain’t no reason for that unless they were witness to or somehow involved in your accident.”

Tom and Joan exchanged looks. Had they found someone to help them at last? Could they stop running and take a stand? Tom hoped so. He was more than ready to get back to his life. For the most part. He’d miss Joan a great deal which was silly because they barely knew one another. Once he became ruler of Rafferstonia, he wasn’t sure how much time he’d have to cultivate a friendship with someone who lived more than an ocean away. He tried to shake away the sudden sadness he felt at the thought of his life without her. When it didn’t work, he chose to ignore it instead.