Royal Opposites (20 page)

“Then it wasn’t meant to be, old friend. You’ll have to accept that and move on.” Jai pushed off the wall to look him squarely in his eyes. “Can you do that?”

“It’s for the greater good, right?”

Jai nodded.

“Then, yes. I can.” Tom looked back toward the boutique satisfied with the plan. He could do this. He could persuade Joan to fall in love with him and become his wife. The one thing he couldn’t wait to do was get started.

“You’re looking far too satisfied with yourself over there, so I think now is the perfect time to discuss the growing unrest between the merchants and their suppliers.”

Tom shoved his hands through his hair and sighed. “There’s still no contract?”

“The merchants are pressuring the crown to step in. They hope the additional leverage will force the suppliers back to the table. In the meantime, the average price to the consumer has almost doubled.”

“On luxuries?”

“On everything.” Jai shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “If this keeps up, I’m going to need a raise.”

“Not that you wouldn’t be worth it, but your salary is already generous. You’re telling me you can’t afford the basics?”

“The suppliers raised costs across the boards. The merchants either pass it on to the customers or go out of business.”

Tom bit his lip. Something was already vying to compete with Joan for his attention. He thought about Joan and her coupons.

Maybe the two didn’t need to be mutually exclusive. He wondered how she’d feel about…His train of thought screeched to a halt and he did a double take.

A rotund man wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and shorts which showed off his white, hairy legs walked into the boutique where Joan was shopping. It took him a moment to recall the uniform and nametag, but Tom recognized the man. It was one of the bank guards who’d been chasing them. How in the world had he found them here? But most troubling was the fact he seemed to be going after Joan.

“That’s him!” he shouted to a surprised Jai then shoved his way through the stream of tired passengers hurrying to or from their flights.

Inside the boutique, Tom paused long enough to look around. The store was pretty empty of customers so it wasn’t hard to get a glimpse of the man’s loud shirt when he pushed through a door marked for employees.

“It’s who?” Jai asked, coming to a stop beside Tom.

“The bank guard. He’s going after Joan.”

Tom rushed to the door while Jai shouted to the wholesome looking clerk who appeared startled by their abrupt entrance. “Call the police.”

He pushed the door open to shove his way through when his momentum was halted by a beefy hand on his arm.

“You must be crazy to think you’re going in there first,” Jai objected.

“But Joan—”

“...Is my charge now just like you.”

Tom nodded and stepped aside. Jai shoved the door open and scanned the interior. Tom peeked over his shoulder and was dismayed to see a long corridor that ran each way along the length of the terminal. The guard was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Joan. His heart constricted in his chest. He’d just found this woman. He couldn’t lose her now.

****

Joan backed away from the fat guard who’d managed to corner her in some type of office. Leave it to her to pick the one door that led to a dead end when she needed to escape. How the heck had he found them? They’d paid cash for the train tickets.

Tom had even bought phantom tickets on his credit card to throw these people off. And yet, here the man was. She hadn’t seen his partner yet, but she couldn’t imagine he wasn’t somewhere nearby.

She was thankful that Jai was with Tom. At least he’d be safe.

“End of the road, girly. Hand over the video card and we’ll both go our separate ways. Easy as pie.” She recognized his voice.

He was the one the other had called Freddie.

Joan eyed him, wondering if it could be that easy. At this point, she had nothing to lose. Jai had already uploaded the video to the FBI and his staff.

“Just like that? You’ll let me go?”

Freddie smiled, but it had a dangerous glint to it. This whole thing might’ve been just business for him at first, but now it appeared to be personal. She couldn’t say she blamed him. She’d hate to get shown up by some average strangers on her job, too.

Given the stakes he had in the outcome, she didn’t imagine his higher ups had taken his failure very well, either.

“How’d you find me?”

“What? You think you covered your trail that well? Credit cards aren’t the only way to track a person.” He shook his head.

“You sure have a lot to learn.”

“So teach me. What’d we miss?”

He rolled his eyes then fished a phone out of his pocket.

“Text messages are paper trails just like credit cards. But I do applaud you for trying. I gotta admit, you got a lot further than I expected.”

Joan recognized the phone. It was Tom’s. Had he texted their plans to Jai? Or had Jai texted them back? Either way, no one could’ve foreseen they’d lose their phones. Far as Tom and Jai had been concerned, the phone had been secure. It would seem the guards had more smarts than she first figured.

“Fine. You want the memory card. You can have it.” Joan fumbled in the case which still held her broken camera. A piece of it snagged on the fabric pulling it up to reveal the license she’d thought she’d lost. She didn’t take the time to investigate further.

She ejected the card from what was left of the camera slot and held it up. “See? It’s all yours.”

“Hand it here,” Freddie commanded.

Joan started to reach forward to give it to him, but thought better of it. She set the card on the corner of the credenza behind her. If he wanted it, he could have it. But he’d have to clear her path to the door to get it.

“Here it is. All yours.”

“I said, hand it to me.” Freddie’s eyes got a little wild. So her instincts had been right. He was less after the card than having her within easy reach.

“You think I’m crazy or something? If you want this card, then you better walk around the desk and get it. You’re not going to get it any other way.”

The glint in his eye became challenging. Instead of walking around the desk like she’d demanded, he stepped up on top of it.

“Stay back!” Joan pressed against the credenza, trying to stay out of his reach.

“What? You told me to come and get it.” He snarled down at her. She inched toward the door, snagging the card as she went.

Her hand brushed a stack of file folders.

“Give me the card, girl.”

“Back off, then.”

He made a move toward her and she flung a file folder at him. Not the best choice of weapon, but she’d work with what she had. He was stunned for the moment giving her the chance to get closer to the door. She kept throwing them at him, but he’d gotten past the initial surprise and batted them away. Her hand closed over a paperweight. She tried to throw it when he lunged at her.

She dove toward the door, but he caught her foot dragging her back toward him. Seeing her chances of escape narrowing, she decided to deprive him of what he wanted and flipped the memory card across the floor. It slid right under the door and into the hallway. If he wanted it, he could go get it.

He flipped her over and tried to catch her flailing hands.

“Where is it? Give it here.”

“It’s outside. You better hurry before somebody else gets to it first.” Furious, he backhanded her across the face. Stars seemed to cloud her vision while her neck wrenched to the side under the force of the blow.

“Do you know what you’ve done?” He grabbed her by the neck and squeezed. Joan tried to gasp for air, but couldn’t get any.

The room started to go dark and her limbs tingled from lack of oxygen. She couldn’t fight him anymore. He’d won. The million or so things Joan’d wished she’d done in her life danced through her brain. The regret that took the lead was that she’d missed her opportunity to kiss Tom.

The chorus line faded like someone had lowered the curtain.

She felt so weak. Joan heard a faint thud then everything went black.

Chapter Nineteen

Joan seriously wished the buzzing would stop. Her head was pounding and the buzzing just made it worse. She worked to pry her heavy lids open. The first thing she saw was a large man peering down at her looking very concerned. She frowned then things came into focus. Jai. But where was Tom?

“She’s waking up.” She registered the relief in his voice before Tom stepped into view. His face was tight and drawn. He seemed so austere in his pristine suit. Except, his tie was a bit askew. She was so relieved to see him. She sure could use a big hug right now. And that kiss she’d regretted missing out on was going to be had at the first opportunity.

“Take it easy,” Tom warned when she tried to sit up. Jai tried to press her back down, but she waved him off. He helped her sit up instead.

“I’m fine.” She took in her surroundings and took note of the airport policemen standing over Freddie. His hands were cuffed behind his back and he was on his knees. He had a defeated look on his face. One of the officers hooked a big hand under the guard’s arm and hauled him to his feet. Joan refocused on Tom and Jai. The latter was kneeling next to her while Tom stood a bit off from them.

“You found me.”

Jai smiled, but it was still very somber. He held up the memory card. “Tom saw this slide out from under the door. We got here as soon as possible.”

She heard the apology in his voice and patted his hand.

“Looks like you were just in time, too. Thanks.”

Paramedics rushed in the office. The one in the lead nodded to Joan. “Is this our patient?”

“Yes.” Tom said in a terse tone at the same time Joan said,

“No.” She glared at him. “I’m fine.”

“You lost consciousness, ma’am.” He flicked a glance between Tom and Jai. “How long was she out?”

“Not long. Maybe thirty seconds,” Jai reported then moved away from her so the paramedic could take his place.

He shined a light in Joan’s eyes. “Can you tell us what happened?”

“She was attacked,” Tom snapped.

I’m fine, though. Really,” she insisted more for Tom’s benefit than anyone else in the room.

“I understand, sir, but we need to hear it from her.”

“The guy was mad I wouldn’t give him the memory card so he choked me. I heard something thud then I blacked out. Joan winced when the man tilted her head back to inspect her neck.

“We should get you to a hospital.”

“No!” She didn’t have a coupon for that. Come to think of it, she didn’t have any health insurance either. “I’m fine. They got to me in time.” She nodded to Tom and Jai who were still looking pretty anxious.

“You don’t know that for sure, Joan. You’ve had a rough couple of days and—”

She cut Tom off with a stern reply, “And I’m fine.” Then to demonstrate how fine she was, she pushed herself up from the floor. The room spun in crazy circles, but she refused to let on that her balance was compromised. “See? And what exactly can a doctor do for me, anyway, that a couple days of rest wouldn’t cure?”

She prayed they backed off soon. She could feel her legs starting to shake. Joan wasn’t sure how long this show of strength could continue, but she wasn’t about to give in. She already had quite a financial hole to dig herself out of. Joan wasn’t going to make it worse if she could help it.

Since the threat was over, there was no need for her to go to Rafferstonia with Tom. His promise to protect had been fulfilled. It was time for her to get her life back on track and she no longer had any reason to put it off.

The paramedics relented. They packed their gear and Jai walked them out of the office leaving her and Tom alone for the first time. She moved toward him. Maybe she could get a hug now.

Except he backed away. She frowned. Was something else wrong?

She couldn’t put a finger on it, but somehow he’d become a stranger. She noticed it earlier, but put it down to other people being around.

“You’re being an idiot, you know.”

She bristled at his imperious tone. He was giving her the full royal treatment now. And it was ticking her off.

“You can’t wait until you get a coupon to take care of things like hospital visits, Joan.” He folded his arms and glared at her. She glared back.

“Maybe you can’t. But you seem to forget, I don’t have the deep pockets you do. I’m unemployed, remember?”

“How could you think that I wouldn’t pick up the tab? I told you I’d protect you, and I aim to keep my promise.”

“It’s over, Tom. Consider it kept.” He pulled the office chair out from the desk and spun it toward her.

“Sit,” he commanded in a tone she hadn’t yet heard from him. It left no room for argument. She dropped her hostile stance and sat down. He must know her too well by now to fall for her act.

Too bad she couldn’t say the same. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out why he was so standoffish all of a sudden. The moment she sat down he retreated to the other side of the room like he couldn’t get far enough away from her.

That didn’t stop her from pointing out with a peevish tone,

“I’m not going to the hospital. You’re just as banged up as I am.

You go to the hospital.”

“Joan, I–”

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Jai’s return. He took in the space between them and the tense lines around his mouth eased. She couldn’t imagine why that would be.

Two men in police uniforms followed him in.

“These gentlemen are going to take your statements. Joan, why don’t you stay in this office? Tom will go with Officer Peck to the one next door.” Jai waited for Tom’s nod of agreement before continuing. “After they’re finished, we’ll regroup.” He looked to Tom. “I’m afraid the press has already gotten wind of this affair.

They’re chomping at the bit to get at you.”

Tom gave a grim nod then followed one of the officers from the room without even so much as a backward glance at her. And just like that, Joan knew what it was like to have one’s heart crushed. It seemed that all the hand holding and teasing was okay when they were alone and no one knew him. He was free to have an anonymous little tryst. Not that there’d been much trysting, but still. Once he put his public persona on she mattered less to him than a speck of mud on his shoe. Fine. If that’s how he wanted it that’s what she’d give him. Still, her resolution didn’t keep her from being sorry that this was possibly the last time she’d ever see him. It would’ve been nice to at least say goodbye.