by Merry Farmer
Again, Johan had the feeling there was much more behind her words. If it weren’t for the ticking clock in the back of his head, he would have set everything else aside, pulled her into his arms, and asked her to tell him what was behind the tension rippling off her. Instead, he said, “Come on, let’s get back to the reception and see what everyone else has found out.”
Tracy relaxed a bit as he took her hand and walked on through the palace halls. The afternoon had worn on in the middle of their search, and when they entered the ballroom, the reception was wrapping up. Late-afternoon sunlight streamed in through the windows. It was easy to spot the cluster of the royal family in the thinning crowd.
“There you are,” his mother said as Johan and Tracy made their way over to them.
“Did you find anything?” Alek asked, still in take-charge mode.
“Yeah,” Johan said. He took a breath to gather his thoughts. “Marina and Lindqvist are definitely still together.”
“Was she over at his house?” his mother asked, her brow raised in shock.
“No,” Tracy told her, “but a lot of her clothes and things were.”
“She must live there at least part of the time,” Johan went on. “Or at least that’s what it looks like.”
“I never noticed,” Marcia said, looking stricken. “I mean, there’s a lot about my father that I don’t know. Our paths didn’t cross much, even when I lived with him. But you’d think I’d have noticed that he had someone else over in his wing of the house with him so much.”
“Don’t give yourself a hard time,” Viggo said, sliding a comforting arm around her shoulder. “You’ve had other things to worry about.”
“There’s a connection between the two of them and Storm Holdings,” Johan went on.
“Storm Holdings?” Dr. Hayes asked, a little louder than Johan was comfortable with. The frown he wore hinted that he’d heard the name before.
“Do you know something about it?” Tracy asked.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve definitely heard the name before, but I don’t know anything about them.”
“When have you heard the name?” the queen asked, clutching his arm.
“They’ve been mentioned a few times on the ecology reports I’ve seen.” He jerked straight, blinking as though someone had just shone a light in his eyes. “Wait a minute. They were on the report that I showed to Marina back in March.”
“What did the report say?” Tracy asked, leaning toward him.
She wasn’t the only one. A zip of electricity had rushed through their group. It didn’t matter that the band was still playing or a few inebriated party guests were still having loud conversations nearby. The entire royal family was suddenly focused on Dr. Hayes.
He rubbed his forehead as if trying to jog his memory. “The report was about leakage from oil rigs in the Baltic and North Seas. Most were well within normal bounds—if you can consider any sort of oil leakage normal, which I most certainly don’t. The damage to fish habitats is—”
“Could we discuss the habitats later?” Alek interrupted.
“Oh. Right. Sure.” Dr. Hayes nodded, shaking himself. The queen patted his arm to encourage him to go on. “I took that report to Marina, saying that the government needed to do more to catch and penalize the worst offenders in order to protect the environment. She’s the one who has the power to take care of those things, you know, as your closest advisor.” He smiled at the queen. “At least, she did then. I guess that’s my job now.”
“But what did she do about the report you showed her?” Alek steered him back on track once more.
Dr. Hayes turned to him and shrugged. “Nothing, as far as I know. Which I thought was odd. You’d think she’d care about Aegirian waters and want to protect the nation’s commercial fishing interests, even if she doesn’t care as much about the environment as she should.”
“She does,” Arne said, ever Marina’s defender. “So why would she ignore a report like that?”
“She hasn’t been receptive to any of Dad’s suggestions about the environment,” Cassandra said. “I’ve been hearing about her indifference for years.” She sent her dad a fond look.
“Well, clearly she has something to do with Storm Holdings, considering all the papers we saw in her office,” Tracy said.
The queen and Dr. Hayes, as well as Viggo and Marcia, turned to her in surprise. Johan realized they hadn’t been there for the earlier conversation.
“We found financial statements for Storm Holdings on Marina’s desk,” Johan said. “The company is doing very well selling oil to African nations. I haven’t seen anything about them in the Department of Trade and Commerce, though.”
“Then the company must be in violation of Aegiria’s trade regulations,” his mother said.
Johan nodded. “The company could be illegal.”
“But how can you have an entire illegal company?” Cassandra asked, shaking her head. “Aren’t companies, like, public? Don’t they have to be registered and licensed or incorporated or something?”
“The company itself could be incorporated abroad,” Johan explained. “But all foreign corporations who want to do business in Aegiria have to be registered. Especially something like an oil company drilling in Aegirian waters.”
“Okay, but don’t you guys have records of all the oil rigs in our waters?” Arne asked, still on the defensive. “How can an illegal company drill oil in Aegirian waters and sell it under the table without anyone knowing about it?”
“Is there such a thing as an unregistered oil rig?” Cassandra asked.
“I doubt it,” Johan answered, even as Dr. Hayes tilted his head to the side and frowned as though thinking of something. “The Department of Trade and Commerce keeps a close eye on all of that.”
“It has to be something else, then,” Tracy said, her shoulders slumping. A moment later, she regained her energy and turned to Johan. “If we could just—”
“Lindqvist has escaped.”
The call came from Mack as he and Gloria rushed across the room toward them. The conversation stopped abruptly, and all eyes turned to them. A pair of formally-dressed Aegirian policemen followed several yards behind.
“Lindqvist has escaped,” Mack repeated when he reached the group. “And it looks like Marina helped him.”
“What?” the queen clapped a hand to her chest, gaping in horror. “Marina?”
The policemen caught up to the group. “It’s true, Your Majesty,” one of them said. “Lindqvist escaped from his holding cell, and according to surveillance video, Princess Marina was the one who unlocked the door and escorted him out.”
“She couldn’t,” the queen gasped. “She wouldn’t.” She teared up, and Dr. Hayes pulled her into his arms to comfort her.
Arne was oddly silent, looking stricken and betrayed. The rest of them wore looks of fury and determination.
“That settles it, then, if all her clothes in his closet didn’t settle it already,” Tracy said. “Marina and Lindqvist are definitely still involved.”
“She must be protecting him,” the queen said through sobs. “That’s the only explanation. She wouldn’t help a criminal to escape otherwise. She wouldn’t protect the man who attempted to hurt my Willy if she wasn’t motivated by emotions of her own.”
Part of Johan wanted to believe his mother, but he’d seen too much in the last few hours to accept that explanation without question. Judging by the looks his brothers and their girlfriends were exchanging as his mother went back to crying on Dr. Hayes’s shoulder, none of them believed it either, not even Arne.
“Your Royal Highness.” The second policeman stepped closer to Alek. “We need to stay on top of this. The airport and port authorities need to be alerted and…and so does the public.”
“Can’t it wait?” Arne pleaded. Emma had taken hold of his hand and now looked as though she was ready to hold him back from doing something he would regret.
“It really can’t, Your
Highness,” the policeman said. “This is a serious situation.”
“Give us twelve hours, eighteen tops,” Alek said, checking his watch. “It’s just after nine p.m. Give us until nine tomorrow morning to see if we can solve things on our own before alerting the public.”
The policemen winced, exchanging doubtful looks. “We really can’t delay an investigation like this, Your Royal Highness,” the first policeman said.
“I insist,” the queen said, straightening with a sniff. The policemen looked uncertain, but the queen said, “Give my sons until tomorrow morning to locate my sister and her….” She pursed her lips. “I’m sure they can deal with the situation delicately. The royal family might not be able to avoid scandal indefinitely, but at least we can be seen to be taking things into our own hands instead of condoning or supporting my sister in any way.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the policemen said in unison, equally doubtful.
The queen glanced around at her family. “That doesn’t leave you much time. You have to find Marina and try to talk sense into her and get to the bottom of things tonight.”
“We will, mother,” Alek insisted.
“We’ve already searched Lindqvist’s house,” Johan said. He turned to the policemen. “I’m sure there will be more information there that you can uncover.”
“I’ll take you there,” Marcia said. “I’ll help you find anything you need to know.”
“You can search Marina’s apartment too,” Tracy said. “We’ve already found evidence there.”
“We can help with that,” Kristoff said, glancing to Cassandra.
“We’ll check the airport to make sure they haven’t tried to sneak out of the country,” Mack offered.
“And we can check the marina to make sure they don’t take a boat anywhere,” Johan offered.
“And I can try to contact Aunt Marina through a couple other channels I know,” Arne offered, looking more upset and downhearted than anyone but their mother.
“Good.” Alek nodded. “We’ve all got a job to do. I’ll stay at the palace and coordinate our efforts with the police. If Marina and Lindqvist are out there, and they are, we’ll find them before dawn.”
Johan glanced to Tracy. She had a light of excitement in her eyes that turned him on, but that also filled him with dread. He could see it now. She was going to try to pull something, to run off half-cocked and get herself in trouble. Whatever the fire was that drove her to discover the truth, as she’d put it, it would lead to no good. Unless he did something about it.
“Let’s go,” he said, taking her hand and jogging off with her as the entire family set into motion.
6
Tracy’s mind buzzed with information and emotion as she and Johan made their way back down to the family parking garage. She really needed to change out of her formal sundress and into jeans and a t-shirt. She only had one fancy dress, and although she hadn’t had time to check it thoroughly, she had already spotted a couple of rips from climbing through the window at Lindqvist’s house. At least she’d worn flats to the wedding. Her clothing was the least of her worries, though.
“Okay, so let’s review what we know so far,” she said as they reached the garage and climbed back into Johan’s BMW. She wouldn’t need to go to the gym for a week after the night she was having. “Marina broke Lindqvist out of jail. The two of them have been together far longer than anyone thought.”
She glanced to Johan, but he remained stone-faced as he started the engine and pulled the car out of its space. A tickle of alarm swirled through her gut. She knew when a man was mad at her. Johan had the same kind of look her dad always had when she’d done something he didn’t approve of. But unlike her dad, when Johan looked at her that way, it wasn’t hypocritical.
She cleared her throat and went on. “Marina and Lindqvist were in Côte D’Ivoire just a few months ago. Storm Holdings was selling its illegal oil through Côte D’Ivoire, and possibly other ports of entry in Africa. Marina and Lindqvist both have connections to Storm Holdings, and personally, I don’t believe for a second that those connections are pure.”
She glanced to Johan again, waiting for him to add something. He continued to stare straight forward, driving through Solrighavn’s streets, which had even less traffic now after dark. His jaw was set, and the flint in his expression had mellowed out to something that looked almost like guilt.
“Are you upset because you don’t want to think your aunt is involved in illegal activity?” she asked softly, sympathetic for his sake, even if she didn’t have the same reverence for royalty that Aegirians had.
“If she’s guilty, she’s guilty,” he said. It was a relief to hear his voice at last.
“I think she’s very guilty.” She reached across to touch his leg, but the muscle tensed under her hand. The car sped up. She pulled back. “My theory? She’s getting a kickback from Storm Holdings. She must be. I bet they treated her and Lindqvist to that vacation too. She has to be using her position in the government to cover up Storm Holdings’ illegal activity.”
Her thoughts spun instantly in a whole different direction, and she blinked.
“You don’t suppose the reason she was trying to stop the wedding was because she didn’t want to lose her position as your mom’s chief advisor to Dr. Hayes, do you?”
Johan’s face switched from the hardness of thought to the strain of surprise. He swore in Aegirian. “I hate to think it, but you might be right.”
“Dr. Hayes is deeply involved in environmental causes, after all,” Tracy went on. “Not only would he stop her from protecting Storm Holdings, he might be able to root out their illegal activity and shut them down altogether.”
Johan made a frustrated sound. “I can’t believe she’d do that.” He paused. “Except that it makes perfect sense. Especially if the money she’s making by keeping Storm Holdings under the radar is enough to buy all that jewelry and whatever else she wants.”
Tracy reached for his thigh again. “I’m sorry. No one wants to believe their family is capable of something so horrible.”
A lump formed in her throat. It quickly spread, until it felt like a rock in her stomach, holding her down. She knew a little too well what it felt like to find out a family member wasn’t who they said they were. Everything had been so normal and sunny in her life. Her family had been happy and whole. Until the night the cops knocked on their door.
She swallowed, pushing her old, painful memories aside in favor of the problems that faced them in the present. “So let’s assume Marina did try to stop the wedding in order to protect her interests where Storm Holdings was concerned.” She took a breath, finding it harder to think now that she’d opened the dusty old closet of her memories. “People will do horrible things for money.”
“Kidnapping and attempted murder go beyond horrible,” Johan muttered. “If she really is a part of everything Lindqvist is guilty of, beyond just springing him out of jail, she’ll go to prison for a very long time.”
He didn’t say it, but Tracy had a feeling he was also well aware of the national scandal the incident would cause.
“Good thing the police gave us until tomorrow to figure the whole thing out,” she said, attempting a smile that never quite materialized. It was more than her family got all those years ago. Not that they’d been in a position to do any sort of damage control when her father was arrested. “It all comes down to money, doesn’t it?”
“Money and oil,” Johan said. His voice was oddly quiet as he made a turn.
For the first time since setting out from the palace, Tracy focused on the road and where they were going. “Wait, aren’t we supposed to be going to the marina to see if they’ve tried to leave the country by sea?”
Johan flexed his jaw but said nothing. They’d pulled onto the street where Tracy’s apartment stood.
“Where are we going?” she asked, an edge to her voice. She sat up suddenly when Johan pulled into the parking lot of her building. “What are we doin
g here?”
Johan remained silent as he pulled into a free space, cut the engine, and got out of the car. Part of Tracy wanted to stay right where she was until he explained things, but the rest of her was too anxious to sit still. She leapt out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and whirled to face Johan as he circled the car and walked up to her. He grabbed her hand without a word and marched her up the path to her apartment door.
“If we are here for any reason at all other than giving me five minutes to change into something more comfortable, then I’m not having it,” she said, fishing for her keys and opening her door.
“You’re not coming with me,” Johan said once they were inside.
“Like hell I’m not,” she said, rounding on him and glaring.
Johan let out a harsh breath, his shoulders sagging. “You take too many risks, Tracy. This is something that requires delicacy and thought.”
“I’m not just charging off like a madwoman,” she argued. “I think hard about everything I’m doing before I do it.”
“Like jumping through windows to break into people’s houses?”
She glared at him, her face turning red with embarrassed fury.
He winced, rubbing a hand over his face. “Okay, I’ll admit, you usually do. I misspoke. But I still can’t have you running around all night taking unnecessary risks. It’s too dangerous.”
Tracy threw out her hands. “This whole thing is going to be dangerous one way or another. We’re dealing with criminals here. Criminals who have kept things secret for a long, long time. They’ve already tried to kill people.”
“Exactly,” he said with renewed energy. “And I won’t put you in danger that way.”
“But you’ll put yourself in danger?” She crossed her arms and raised her brow in challenge.
“Marina won’t hurt me or any of my brothers,” he insisted. “She might be a criminal, but she’s still family.”
Tracy laughed out loud. “Family bonds mean nothing when you’re dealing with people like that.”
