Chapter 12
R aphael
Under the hot sun, we walked the roped line into the botanical gardens. Princess Alexandra smiled and waved at the crowd then shook hands with members of the welcome party.
I scanned the faces, looking for anything unexpected, as well as for the paparazzi from the nightclub. The one good thing was that the princess hadn’t been announced as attending, so until the moment she got out of the car, her being here would’ve been a surprise.
Riss had walked us all through a well-put-together risk assessment and strategy, including an exit at the end of the event into a side street, rather than back into the throng.
With her at the helm, I was a lot more confident in the princess’s safety.
Didn’t stop my heart thumping every time Alex glanced my way.
When she’d emerged from the palace to meet us at the cars, she’d lowered her sunglasses and welcomed me back.
A damn arrow straight into my heart.
At some point over the course of the week, I would find a way to talk to her. I didn’t know how, but if I wasn’t getting the cold shoulder for the nightclub overstepping, I had a shot.
We entered the party, passing through a high-ceilinged brick building thick with flowers before heading out into extensive gardens with a marquee at the far end. Tall and elaborate plants bloomed all around, and peacocks strutted their stuff amongst the attendees. The guest list had been provided ahead of time and checked over by Johnnie and Will, with no red flags popping up.
Our job was to keep the princess in our eyeline but stay out of her way, so I took a position beside a stone archway and tried to blend in.
As at the art gallery, Alex sparkled. She had her hair up in pretty ringlets that I’d never seen on her, and a light, floaty white-and-blue dress.
As I stared at her, possibly more intently than I needed to, she reached into her pocket, then scattered something on the ground.
I squinted, wondering if I was seeing things.
She moved on to another group of partygoers and chatted for a few minutes before doing the same thing.
Two peacocks closed in on her and pecked the ground at her heels.
Was she feeding the birds? There was fruit juice and cake available, but she hadn’t stopped by the marquee table to get any, which meant she’d brought whatever was in her pocket with her.
I prowled the edge of the party, keeping my distance but laser focused on her actions.
Alex continued on for a while with no further rogue animal feeding, but then crossed a bridge over a tiny stream and scattered crumbs on the other side.
Two small birds I couldn’t identify but that were poultry-like pattered after her. The peacocks noticed and scurried over, too.
Riss appeared at my shoulder.
I swung my gaze to her. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, just a bird invasion.”
“They’re free to roam about the gardens. Nothing for us to worry about.” She held up her phone. “But this troubled me. Unusual activity online. Look at this.”
I scanned the status she’d discovered. A royal fashion watcher had shared the website of a clothing designer, stating Princess Alexandra would be wearing their latest line today.
Then I clocked the timestamp. “This was posted before we got here.”
Riss gave a single nod.
I worked it through. “Suggesting that this was information provided ahead of time? Is that standard?”
“There is no standard as the princess is new to this role, but I checked, and she did not announce her outfit, and in fact changed her mind when dressing for the event. Whoever told the royal watcher what she was wearing did so between us leaving the palace and arriving here.”
That was a narrow window of time. We hadn’t left the city.
“Could someone have taken a picture while we were driving?”
“Perhaps. But I can’t find any posted, and that’s a big ask to work out which frock she has on.” Riss skimmed her gaze over Johnnie and Will who were across the gardens.
I followed her focus. In my conversation with Ben, I’d told him of my suspicion about someone on the inside. At that point, Jared had been my main concern. Now, I doubled down on wondering if it was one of the other men.
It was too early to tell the new team leader, though. I’d only been back a day. I needed more to go on if there were genuine threats to Alex’s safety.
She pursed her lips. “Stay with the principal. I’m going to make some calls.”
“Will do.”
Riss left me, and I followed the princess to the table of drinks and food. She picked up a glass and turned, spotting me.
Alex tilted her head. “Want one?” She held out the orange juice, moisture beading on the glass.
“Not while on duty, thank ye.” Even if I was hot as hell. Even as I subtly switched off my outgoing comms to allow a private conversation.
Her gaze travelled over me. “I’m glad you’re back. I wanted to talk to you.”
“I want to talk to ye as well. Obviously not here.”
She huffed agreement. “Obviously. Too many ears for what I want to say.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Aye, same.”
Alex’s fingers slid into her pocket once more and scattered crumbs.
I gestured at her action. “What are ye up to?”
She brushed her fingers clean on her skirt and regarded something distant. “Who, me?”
A robin and two tiny brown wrens flittered to her and pecked the grass.
“That thing with the birds. The big ones will be chasing ye soon.”
Something devilish gleamed in her eyes. “Wouldn’t that be strange? What an unusual afternoon if all the birds at the botanical gardens suddenly started chasing a guest, let alone a princess who won’t be able to make a speech because of it. Wouldn’t that make this afternoon the opposite of boring?”
She did a little pretend hair flip that made me grin. And my blood warm.
“You’re devious, princess.”
“How can I find you online?” she countered.
At the same second, a group closed in on the refreshments table, cutting off my ability to reply.
Alex turned on her heel and stepped away. The little birds followed, and the poultry appeared from under a bush in hot pursuit. More appeared. While the princess sipped her orange juice and chatted with someone who I guessed to be mayor by the chunky gold chain around his neck, the peacocks found her again. Then a flock of white doves descended from a tree.
I choked on a laugh. She was doing this on purpose. At the nightclub, I’d assumed that her friend was the troublemaker. Apparently, both were as bad as each other.
Riss’s voice sounded in my ear. “Problem with your comms system?”
Quickly, I flipped my comms back on. “Negative. An error on my part.”
“Roger that.”
Johnnie’s voice followed. “What’s with the birds?”
Another laugh threatened me, but I suppressed it while Riss commented on the odd scene. Ahead of us, in the centre of the lawned area, a menagerie of winged animals had gathered. Alex completely ignored them, playing the game so well I barely saw her hand movement, but from the pecking, she was still scattering food.
A uniformed member of the botanical garden’s staff edged over and extended a foot to nudge one of the larger peacocks away. It didn’t budge, pecking the staff member on the toe instead.
I clamped my jaw tight.
Oh fucking hell. This was ridiculous. She was playing a game to keep herself entertained, and it was so damned delightful I couldn’t have looked away if I wanted to.
Alex, the mayor, and another couple of guests were guided into the marquee by the woman she’d shaken hands with outside, presumably the director.
The birds followed, hiding under tables and with two uniformed assistants now in pursuit. There were a number of displays under the huge tent, including local crafts and a series of paintings on easels. Alex’s sly hand dropped crumbs in piles here and there.
Yet at the paintings, she balked. It was a small gesture of unhappiness that I couldn’t ignore, even if no one else appeared to notice. She liked art, didn’t she? I’d assumed so from the art gallery visit.
The group moved on. At the other end of the tent, they exited and emerged once more into the sunshine. The director tapped a spoon against a glass, summoning attention to her. An audience formed in a ring.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to thank you for your attendance and support of the botanical gardens annual garden party. This esteemed event…”
She continued on. I stared at Alex. By her tense, amused pout, she was leading up to something but hanging back near the exit to the marquee.
Then her gaze slipped to mine, and the minx tipped me a wink.
The director wrapped up her speech. “Please put your hands together for Her Royal Highness, Princess Alexandra, here with our joint charity ambassador, Lord Mayor Johnson.”
To polite applause, the mayor waved a benevolent hand and beamed.
Alex stepped forward to join him in the centre of the crowd.
From under the tables and the marquee, a rush of birds followed her in a pantomime-like procession.
People squeaked and stepped out of the way of the pecky peacocks. Men danced to avoid the birds underfoot, and the white doves fluttered up in a panic, one tangling in a woman’s frilly skirt. Heads swivelled as others tried to work out what was going on, and voices rose.
A swell of alarm passed over the audience. Some made for the main building.
The director went to speak into the microphone but stumbled over the biggest peacock, narrowly avoiding landing on the bird as she dropped inelegantly to the grass.
The bird pecked the director’s shoulder, and Alex clasped her hands to her mouth, but I knew it was to hide a laugh and not shock.
I narrowed my gaze on the little chaos goblin.
Over the comms system, Riss called it. “Code red. Exit immediately. Will, ready transport.”
My brain caught up, and I instantly got back in the game. Riss was right. The event had descended into a disturbance, and we needed to protect our principal. Even if this was exactly what she’d planned to get out of giving a speech.
We mobilised, forming our protective positions around Alex and moving to the side exit where Will had summoned our drivers. The three cars filled quickly, and I caught Alex’s gaze before she disappeared into the central one with Riss.
“Your details,” she mouthed at me.
A flood of need chased my adrenaline. She wanted to talk, so talk we would. I just had to find a way to get my information to her that wouldn’t make Riss kick me off the team when I’d only just got back onto it.