Once Upon A Tiara: Once Upon A Tiara / Henry Ever After. Carrie Alexander

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      4

      LILI AGREED. She’d done the most difficult part—hoisting herself up and stepping along the brick ledge between the windows. A crazy impulse. When she’d realized that the key to the ladies’ room could set Jana free, she hadn’t been able to resist offering the Romany woman a chance to get away from the handsome, but awfully stern, police chief. So she’d gone out the window, sidled along the ledge to the next window and passed the key to Jana in the snack shop, who’d unlocked her door and then given the key back.

      Stepping into the trash can had worked marvelously as a distraction, although Lili certainly hadn’t planned it that way.

      “How did you manage to get into the limo without my driver noticing?” she asked Jana.

      The Gypsy snapped her fingers. “Nothing to it. He—and everyone else—was watching the pandemonium under the tent.”

      “And none of the museum guards saw you?”

      “I’m adroit. Besides, they’re not looking for a person stealing out of the museum.”

      “Chief Russell?”

      “Him.” Jana’s brows drew together. “He’s going to hunt me down first thing, you know. Our little escape means nothing.”

      “I know.” Lili shrugged. “It won’t matter in the end, since you’re innocent.” She didn’t know why, but she believed Jana was honest. Mutual circumstances had created an immediate sisterhood between them. “At least you’re free for now.” She opened the limo’s small built-in refrigerated compartment. “Aha. Champagne?”

      Jana sat silently while Lili poured them each a glass. Lili checked the windows—there wasn’t much time to spare before their arrival at the hotel—then clinked flutes. “To us, for putting one over on the men, however briefly. I love a good caper.”

      Jana sipped, continuing to watch Lili warily. Finally she blurted, “Why did you do this? Why did you help me?”

      “I don’t know. Sympathy, I suppose.”

      “But I could be guilty as sin. I might even steal your jewelry, right here, right now.”

      “Phooey.” Lili couldn’t pretend to be a perfect judge of character; after all, she’d nearly let Lars Krunkel sweep her off her feet when she was eighteen, and he’d turned out to be the biggest two-timer in Spitzenstein. She’d always been susceptible to a handsome face and a smooth line. “You’re innocent. Mrs. Grundy wouldn’t have let me get in the limo with you otherwise.”

      One side of Jana’s mouth quirked into a reluctant smile. “How would Mrs. Grundy know?”

      “That’s what my sisters and I often wonder! But she does. She always knows.” Lili shrugged. “It’s the strangest thing. There’s something almost…magical about her. Like a fairy godmother.” Lili laughed a little to show how silly that was. Even though it wasn’t, really.

      Strangely, Jana seemed accepting of the absurdity. She nodded at the privacy panel. “If that’s the case, then she knows I’m back here right now. She might be arranging for the police chief to meet us at your hotel.”

      “Don’t worry.” Lili pressed the switch that opened her side window. “Mrs. Grundy wouldn’t do that to either of us.”

      Jana didn’t look convinced, but she let it go. “You haven’t answered my question.”

      Lili emptied her champagne out the window. She took Jana’s flute and did the same. “Swill,” she said, raising the window.

      “Sympathy isn’t reason enough.”

      “Perhaps it was…freedom.” Lili lifted the empty glasses as if she meant to toss them out the window, but then returned them to their fitted niche instead. She gave a soft sigh. “You see? I’m too well trained. I have my moments, but in the end I’m always dutiful to my position. That’s why I envy your lack of responsibility. Your total freedom.”

      “Oh, please.” Jana folded her arms, looking cynical, except for the sympathetic rapport that Lili had already discerned beneath the brunette’s brittle shell. Lili was certain that if they could forget their “stations” and apparent clashing family histories, they would be great friends.

      “I know. Poor me, subjected to first-class luxury and limos on demand, albeit ones stocked with domestic swill.” She shrugged, aware that the car were slowing and turning as they made their way through the downtown area. The hotel was moments away—the mayor had proudly pointed it out earlier. “But it’s true, Jana. What I wouldn’t give to be you for the night, a Gypsy, free to go where I want, when I want. To dance, to sing, to travel…”

      “To spend the night in Chief Russell’s jail cell.”

      “But you’re innocent!”

      “That means very little when you’re a Roma. Our reputation precedes us.”

      Impulsively, Lili reached out and squeezed Jana’s hands. “What can I do?”

      “Nothing. I will handle Chief Russell.”

      Lili grinned. The police chief was one handsome hunk of man. “I’m sure.” She checked their progress. No time left, and she had so much to ask! “Can you tell me what you know about the Vargas diamond? I’m sensing there’s more to the story of the bridal tiara than I’ve been told.”

      “My family’s side of it isn’t fit for the official version.” Jana regarded Lili steadily. “You’ve been protected….”

      Lili made a face. “It shows?”

      “Sometimes that’s a good thing.” Jana turned her face away. “You should probably ask Mrs. Grundy for the entire story. I’m sure she knows it.”

      “But what if she won’t tell me!” The car had stopped at a traffic light in downtown Blue Cloud. “When can I see you again, Jana? I know. I’ll come to the carnival.”

      “We’re camping outside of town,” Jana said. “You’re welcome anytime.” She hesitated. “At least by me.” Before Lili could respond, Jana whispered, “Thank you,” opened the door and slid out, as elusive as water trickling from a palm. Lili threw herself across the seat to catch the door, hoping for a last word, but the mysterious Gypsy was gone, moving swiftly away from the car, lost among the pedestrians.

      After a long moment of inner struggle, Lili resisted the urge to follow. She pulled the door shut, resting her head against it. Oh, to succumb to the temptation СКАЧАТЬ