Brandishing a Crown. Rita Herron

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СКАЧАТЬ is my opportunity to see another part of this beautiful state and understand the people and their culture before visiting the oil drilling sites.”

      Hector’s gray brows furrowed with concern, but Stefan dismissed him and hurried to join the others.

      Dumont was located at the foot of the mountains and served as a point of departure for camping, fishing, hunting, mountaineering, and wilderness travel. They passed a national park as they drove into the town, then the city hall, a museum of Native American history, a casino, bed and breakfast, sporting goods shop, bike shop, Museum of the West, and various other businesses along the square.

      “Dumont was named after a famous female expert gambler,” Amir said as they climbed out at a rustic building where loud country music floated in the air.

      “Perhaps we should try a game of twenty-one?”

      Sebastian and Antoine exchanged grins. “I intend to people watch,” Sebastian said with a devious wink.

      Stefan grinned. “You mean women watch?”

      “Yes.” Sebastian shrugged. “Purely research, mind you.”

      “Right, brother. We shall see what the west holds,” Antoine said with a chuckle.

      Stefan tensed as their security guards surrounded them. He would have preferred to visit the town uninhibited by the constant barrage of protectors yet knew it was futile to argue. Still, they made quite an entrance as the agents swept them in.

      Locals stared and whispered, some snapping pictures with their mobile phones. A few women gawked and approached for autographs but the security agents warded them off.

      Amir seemed preoccupied, as if he was searching the room for someone, and Stefan wondered if he had made friends on his previous visit to the town.

      Country music blared, the locals participated in some strange dance called square dancing and clogging, but all the men were entertained.

      By 2:00 a.m., jet lag and fatigue set in, and the men filed out, the late night patrons of the honky tonk having imbibed too much to gawk any longer. It appeared that alcohol softened the haze of animosity between the cultures. The fact that Stefan, Antoine and Sebastian had warmed to a few patrons and forced security to grant them some leeway hadn’t hurt their cause, either. Efraim, on the other hand, continued to harbor anti-American sentiment.

      Stefan yawned as the limo deposited them back at the resort. “Thank you, Amir, for showing us all a good night. If the remainder of the trip goes as smoothly, we will be leaving here with the COIN compact signed.”

      The other royals climbed out, each agreeing, but Amir remained by the side of the limo. “I have enjoyed it immensely, my friends. But I have an errand to do.”

      Stefan checked his watch. “At this hour?”

      Antoine poked his twin brother. “You know our friend is a rebel, what the Americans call, a party animal.”

      Amir laughed. “You are right, I am not ready to end the party tonight. I will see you tomorrow at the summit.”

      Amir’s security agent seemed irritated at Amir’s decision, but allowed Amir to settle back in the car, then he joined him, and the limo disappeared again.

      The security agents escorted Stefan and his friends to their private quarters, and Stefan dismissed Edilio so he could retire for the night.

      Before going to bed, Stefan checked to make sure his notes for the next day’s presentation were in order. His shirt was halfway unbuttoned when a pounding sounded at the door.

      “Prince Stefan,” Edilio shouted. “Sheik Aziz says it is urgent.”

      Stefan rushed to answer the door. Efraim bolted inside, his features contorted with worry. He grabbed the remote control and flipped on the television set.

      “What is wrong, Efraim?” Stefan asked, his own heart suddenly pounding.

      “A limo just exploded a few miles from here.”

      The special news broadcast burst onto the screen, cameras focusing on a burning vehicle. Smoke billowed toward the sky as rescue workers converged to douse the flames and save whoever might be inside.

      “That limo,” Efraim said in a choked whisper. “It looks exactly like the one that just dropped us off.”

      Stefan’s blood ran cold.

      The very limo Amir had left in only moments earlier.

      Had Amir made it out alive?

      Chapter Two

      Jane’s cell phone buzzed, jerking her from a restless sleep. She’d been dreaming about high school when she was a science geek and the popular kids had made fun of her.

      They’d tied test tubes filled with condoms on her locker, then spray painted the words virgin forever on the front. The football team had thought it hysterical.

      She had cried the rest of the afternoon.

      The phone buzzed again, and she shoved the covers away from her face, cataloging the memory into forget mode as she reached for the phone. The ringtone signaled this call was work.

      Not that she had many personal calls. That would require a personal life, and plain Jane Cameron didn’t have one.

      Her gaze landed on the clock as she answered the call. 2:50 a.m. What now? “Jane speaking.”

      “Jane, it’s Ralph. Get your butt out to Snake Valley Road. We got us a crime scene.”

      “What happened?”

      “Car bomb,” Ralph said, his voice raspy as if he’d been running. Of course with his extra thirty pounds, he wasn’t in the best of shape anyway.

      “Injuries?”

      “Yeah. One dead.” Ralph wheezed a breath. “Don’t know if there were other passengers, but them security dudes following them royals showed up. Makes you wonder…”

      The hushed exit from the airport replayed in Jane’s mind, and she instantly became alert. She could still see Prince Stefan’s piercing green eyes searching the area as if he suspected trouble. Had he been inside the limo when it blew up?

      She took a deep breath. “The royals were attacked?”

      “Don’t know for sure,” Ralph said. “Sheriff Wolf’s checking to see who was inside.”

      Stunned by how much it bothered her that the prince and his friends might have been murdered, Jane rubbed her hands over her eyes, then sighed.

      She was not caught up in the grandeur of the royal blood like her own mother had been. For God’s sakes, Prince Lutece and his friends were just men. They put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else.

      Except they wore robes of silk, had private valets to help them put their pants on, and held the future of entire nations in their hands.

      But СКАЧАТЬ