Chapter 20 #3
“If it isn’t, we’re back to square one because Mikel has uncovered no other suspects.” Raul blew out a breath. “Al-Buya has promised to give me a tour of his yacht tomorrow. That will give Dario and Pascal the opportunity to poke around while using my presence as an excuse.”
“That’s brilliant!”
“Only if they get lucky. The yacht is enormous.”
Silence fell. The torches sent shadows flickering over the carved planes of his face, making it hard to read his expression even though he was facing her.
“Quinn and Gabriel’s ceremony was perfect,” she said to fill the empty air. “And Odette kept her side of the bargain. I scanned the media regularly, but there wasn’t a whisper of anything about the kidnapping other than the usual references.”
“I’ve been doing the same,” he confessed. “Of course, the press office would have flagged it immediately, but I couldn’t stop myself from setting my own alerts.” He gave her a direct gaze. “We owe you a great deal for your insight. I’m sorry that only I know that.”
“For God’s sake, you don’t owe me anything.” She waved away his gratitude. “I was terrified my suggestion would backfire.”
“It was a gamble,” he said with a shrug. “But what did we have to lose?” He shifted in the chair, making it creak. “You helped me with something else as well.”
She waited.
“My father was not happy when I told him what I had done. He did not want me to meet with Odette again. He spoke out of love and concern,” Raul said firmly. “But I told him that it was my choice to make. And he agreed…after some arguing.”
Raul twisted his dragon ring a few times before he lifted his gaze to hers.
“You showed me that we can be different from our fathers. And that my father might be open to my ideas. Something shifted in the dynamic between us, as though our relationship had reached a different balance with more on my shoulders. But in a positive way.” He waved his hand. “It’s hard to explain.”
“I get it. It happened to me when I received my commercial pilot’s certificate.”
She had shown the plastic card to her mother, knowing Mama would be thrilled for her.
Her father had casually strolled over to where her mother was hugging her and asked to see the certificate.
He had turned it over in his hands a couple of times before he looked up at her.
She had seen something in his face that she had always hoped for and never received before—respect.
For a moment, they had faced each other as equals.
Then he had handed her the card, saying, You’d think it would look more impressive after all that time and money.
“It was the first time my father saw me as a capable adult,” Erica continued. “Not a child to be ordered around.” She gave a tight smile. “Of course, that didn’t last long.”
Raul barked out a short laugh. “We’ll always be children to our parents. Maybe that’s not a terrible thing.”
A wave of loss swamped her. She would never get the chance to earn another glimpse of respect in her father’s eyes.
And then anger surged in another wave. He had chosen to leave her and her mother so he could die a hero’s death.
He cared more about the sailors he’d gone back to rescue than about his own family.
The pain of his abandonment swamped the anger, as it always did.
Raul must have caught some sign in her face. “I’m sorry you never got to see how your relationship with your father would grow and change.”
“At least I got to know my father,” Erica said. “You lost your mother before you could.”
“It’s hard to miss someone you never knew.” He lowered his injured foot to the patio. “Much as I would prefer to stay here with you, duty calls.”
His preference for her company was clearly genuine, and she hugged the knowledge tight as she stood.
Raul’s gaze skimmed down her body. “I wish…” He shook his head and crooked his elbow. “Shall we?”
She slipped her hand through his arm, lifting her head high. Walking back into the party escorted by the prince would be her little triumph.
As they started toward the door, it opened, and Pascal stepped onto the patio, nodding to Erica. “ Senor, you asked to be kept apprised of al-Buya’s movements. He left the party half an hour ago, and his yacht just weighed anchor and departed from the harbor.”
“ Joder! I must have spooked him when I asked for a tour,” Raul said. “This makes him look very guilty, but how did he get the dragon and her eggs onto his yacht?”
“A determined smuggler can almost always find a way to get things onto a boat,” Pascal said. “Yarza has been around for a long time. He may even have someone at Customs in his pocket.”
“Can’t you just send a police boat out to stop him?” Erica asked, her hand still resting on Raul’s arm.
Raul grimaced. “It gets touchy with a sovereign from another country. There’s a certain amount of diplomatic immunity unless there’s strong evidence of a crime. We’ve got virtually no evidence right now.”
“So Mikel can’t do anything?” Erica had a great deal of respect for Mikel Silva’s unorthodox methods.
“I can’t bother him right now,” Raul said. “He’s coordinating security for this party and all the other wedding guests who are still scattered around the island. It would be unwise to interfere with that. Pascal, any ideas?”
“I can get my hands on a fast boat, but I don’t know if it will be able to catch the yacht since we don’t know which direction it’s headed,” Pascal said. “I think we need a helicopter.”
Raul turned toward Erica. “Didn’t you say you could fly a helicopter?”
“I just got my rotorcraft license a few days ago.” Erica pulled her hand away from his arm and stepped back.
He wanted her to land on the deck of a moving ship.
At night. In the middle of the ocean. The idea was terrifying, especially with the weighty responsibility of having the prince as her passenger.
“I understand.” Raul gave her a half smile before he turned to Pascal. “Know any helicopter pilots you could contact right now?”
“They’d be military,” Pascal said.
“It would definitely spook al-Buya if I show up in a military aircraft. He might toss the eggs overboard. Hostia! ” Raul raked his fingers through his hair, his face tight with fury. “That maldito bastardo is going to get away with our dragon.”
Erica took a deep breath. This meant so much to Raul. She couldn’t bear to let him down. “I’ll do it. I’ll fly you to the yacht.”
“No, mi amor, I won’t ask you to do something you’re not comfortable with.” Raul’s voice was gentle.
He’d called her mi amor . Now she was even more determined to help him rescue the dragon.
“I just had to wrap my mind around it.” She turned to Pascal. “I wasn’t allowed to bring my cell phone into the party. Can you call the airport and arrange for the Halcón Aviation helicopter to be prepped and ready? I’d rather fly a craft I’m familiar with.”
“Does it hold four people?” Pascal asked. “Dario and I have to come along.”
Dear God, she would be responsible for the lives of even more people now. She nodded. “It has four seats.”
As Pascal pulled out his cell, Raul took both her hands and looked down into her face, his eyes clouded with concern. “Are you sure? I trust you one hundred percent, but I do not want you to feel forced out of your comfort zone.”
She wanted to say she was way out of her comfort zone, but catching al-Buya was important to him. And her.
“I want to save that dragon as much as you do.” She squeezed his hands lightly before releasing them. “We should get going.”
If he gave her another chance to say no, she might lose her nerve.
Once again, Raul slid gracefully through the crowded room, his palm pressed against the small of her back.
She caught a couple of envious glances thrown toward her by some young female guests.
If she wasn’t so anxious, she would have enjoyed them.
Instead, she was running through the helicopter flight checklist in her mind.
As they walked out a side door, Dario joined the three of them.
She had a feeling that there were guns concealed under the well-cut black jackets of Raul’s bodyguards.
Which made her consider her own clothes.
“I can’t fly in heels,” she said, thinking of the helicopter’s antitorque pedals.
“Any chance of finding a pair of sneakers real fast?”
“What size?” Dario asked.
She told him, and he peeled off, saying he’d meet them at the car.
Raul led the way through a maze of hallways until they arrived at another door, which opened into a large garage.
A row of gleaming black SUVs was parked along one side.
Dario stood beside one, a pair of black running shoes in one hand.
“They belong to one of the servers, but they’re the right size,” he said, holding them out to Erica.
“I’m not going to be picky right now.” She took them, wadded up her beautiful skirt in one hand, and climbed into the back of the car as Pascal held the door open. She didn’t even attempt to be graceful about it.
Raul vaulted in behind her, his shoulder brushing hers as he settled on the seat. The fine wool of his tux felt like silk against her skin, and she wanted to rub against it.
“Okay, let’s go,” Raul said, obviously not affected by their brief contact.
Pascal finished the conversation he was having on his phone and swiveled around. “The helicopter is ready.”
A shiver of nerves ran through her, but she shook it off. She could do this.
She leaned forward to remove her sandals and put on the borrowed sneakers. She made sure to tie the laces securely, double-knotting the bows. Luckily, the shoes fit fine. Then she looked at the folds of her beautiful shimmery dress falling around her ankles. That was not going to work.
“I need a pair of scissors,” she said.
“Scissors?” Raul asked, baffled.
“I’m going to have to cut off my skirt to fly,” she said.
“I have a knife.” Pascal reached under his jacket and pulled out a black leather sheath with a black handle protruding from it. “Be careful. It’s very sharp.”
Raul took it and slid the knife partly out of the sheath. The blade was black but picked up a gleam of light from outside the car. “We will do this when we get out of the car. It’s too dangerous while we’re moving.”
“Agreed,” Erica said after a glance at the wicked serrations of the knife.
“Okay, now we need a story to get us on the yacht.” Raul thought for a moment. “Al-Buya loves to show off the Azzam . It’s his favorite, very expensive toy. We have to play on that.”
“You’ve already established that you want to see it, right?” Erica asked. “Maybe you noticed him leaving the party…and you’re bored, so you want to move up your visit.”
Raul was nodding as he looked thoughtful. Then he gave her an apologetic smile. “I have an idea, but I might have to make some slightly offensive comments about you. I apologize in advance.”
“Don’t hold back on my account,” she said.
Raul pulled his phone out of his pocket. Of course, the royals got to keep their phones at the wedding reception.
He tapped at the screen before holding the phone to his ear. Erica held her breath as they waited for several long seconds.
“Hey, Nasir,” Raul said, his voice genial and slightly slurred.
He was playing drunk. “I was looking for you at the party, but they said you left. You know, Kyran Redda is going to play later, so maybe you should come back. Anyway, I called to ask a favor. I met this very hot girl at the party, and I’d like her to come with me for the tour of your yacht tomorrow. ”
He went silent for a while before frowning. “ Mierda, why didn’t you tell me you were departing early? I already promised Erica the tour, and I don’t like to break my promises. Especially not when I’m trying to get a woman into bed.” The last was said with a heavy leer in his voice.
He listened to al-Buya’s response and then said, “Hey, I just realized something. Erica is a helicopter pilot. I’ll bet she could fly us out there right now. Just slow down a little, and we’ll get our tour.”
Al-Buya had a lot to say to that.
“I can see Kyran Redda anytime. He and Gabriel are good friends,” Raul responded. “But I don’t want to miss the world’s newest and fastest superyacht. You know as well as I do that yachts make women horny.”
Erica choked on a laugh, and Raul gave her an apologetic look.
“No, I insist, amigo . Erica and I are coming tonight, so put the brakes on. I’ll get your position once we’re in the air.” He lowered the phone and ended the call. “I can be a royal asshole too.”
“A very convincing one,” Erica said and heard a muffled snort from the front seat.
“Now we have to figure out how to look for the dragon eggs and possibly the dragon,” Raul said.
“Leave that to Pascal and me,” Dario said. “You keep al-Buya busy with showing you the fancy stuff on the ship. We’ll go exploring in the name of security. And with my apologies as well, Erica, but maybe you could cut your skirt off extra short to add to al-Buya’s distraction.”
“In these sneakers?” Erica lifted one foot clad in the well-worn athletic shoes. “But I’m flattered you think my legs could catch his attention.”
Raul gave her a smoking look and leaned in to murmur, “Every inch of you will catch his attention.”
Her internal temperature jumped about a hundred degrees as his words licked through her, almost dispelling her apprehension about landing a helicopter on a boat.