The Royal Guard

by Cindy M. Hogan

  “Ottavio of Aligard is our man. Sounds like his mother is leading the charge. Check the airports for any charter flight plans registered in the next little while. They’re trying to smuggle Tara out of the country. This dude…he gives me terrible vibes, like a used car salesman. Yuck. We have to find Tara and bring her in. If not, I hate to see what will happen to this little country. And I found the document if you missed that little bit. It was definitely forged, and the result is that the Fiorelli family will lose the mines near the castle and gain the ones inside Aligard.”

  Marisa gasped and turned to Jeremy. “Hold on, Christy. What is it? What do you know?” He held his phone nearer Marisa.

  “There are rumors running around the castle that there are problems in the Aligard mines. It’s only been whispers, but they’re saying the main mine will soon run dry. If that’s true and the mines are switched today, it will set Ottavio up with all the money and power he needs to take over the present king and queen. If I’m right, this little forgery could topple the Monterran royal family in only a few hours from now.” Marisa grabbed a folder from the floor and started to fan herself.

  “You have five hours to locate Tara and get her here.”

  “Okay. See you soon.”

  “This is all my fault. Ottavio is going to control the mines in the capital and fight his way to be king.”

  As Marisa watched Christy sneak back into dining hall, Jeremy said to the team, “We have a bead on Tara. They’re trying to smuggle her out of the country.” He consulted his computer screen. “There are three airports, and we have less than five hours to get her to the castle.”

  Halluis closed and secured his laptop and jumped into the driver’s seat. He took off down the road.

  Marisa turned up the volume on her headset, not wanting to miss a thing that was going on at the table at the castle. Christy sat quietly for about ten minutes while everyone ate and talked in a formal tone that held waves of suppressed anger. Marisa could barely contain her worry, wondering when Christy was going to act.

  Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Christy and the Captain had finished their lunches. Christy said, “I hope you can excuse me now. I have many more documents to check before the day is done.”

  “But of course, Signorina Orsini. It was nice to meet you.” The queen nodded.

  “Oh,” said Ottavio. “Are you new here?”

  “Just the special auditor.” Marisa could tell Christy was nervous for some reason, and it made Marisa’s adrenaline spike.

  His eyes narrowed. “The special auditor?”

  Marisa’s heart sank and her blood froze. “Really, there’s nothing special about it,” Christy said. “I think the special part really only means the last one to know.”

  The queen gave a little laugh. “Well, today you’ve proved that not to be true.”

  Christy turned to leave, but Ottavio said, “And why is that?”

  “It would seem,” said the queen, “that our full-time auditor fell ill with a terrible bout of food poisoning this morning.”

  “And his assistant?” he pressed.

  “It was her day off, of course, and we’ve been unable to reach her.”

  Ottavio’s eyes narrowed slightly. “This won’t cause any delay to the celebration this afternoon will it?”

  “Oh, no. Signorina Orsini is very efficient at her job and has already found the documents in question. Wouldn’t it have been a shame had we not been able to locate the peace agreement for the celebration tonight?”

  He nodded, but Marisa could see that he didn’t take his eyes off Christy. She said, “Con il tuo permesso.”

  The queen nodded, and Christy and the captain of the guard got up and left. Neither spoke until they were in the vault once more. Christy whispered to the captain once deep inside the vault. “He suspects something.”

  “Let him.”

  Marisa screamed at the screen embedded in the back of the passenger seat in the van. “No. Get out of there.” A fierce sense of foreboding hit her.

  “What’s going on?” Jeremy asked from his seat behind Halluis, but she shook her head and waved him off. He joined Marisa, watching and listening to the events at the castle unfold.

  Christy shuffled through more items in the vault, but she’d already seen everything. She spoke again in a quiet whisper. “If I’m right, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure I am, if that document is reaffirmed tonight, there will be a regime change in less than one year’s time.”

  “This is not good.”

  “No. And, to make matters worse, Ottavio found the best forger around to do the work for him. I doubt any specialist will be able to swear a forgery has taken place. The document is flawless. We have to have Tara or there is no hope. If we don’t have her to testify, this Royal Family of Monterra will be no more.”

  “This can’t be.”

  “Be on your toes, Captain. Ottavio is not an idiot. He has been planning this for a long, long time. He is bent on taking the kingdom, and he just might succeed if we don’t stop him.”

  “Do you feel confident that you will be able to control the document, have it in your possession or do you need me to stay and do it?”

  He paused, but only for a second, and so she said, “I will stay.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m sure your team could use you to locate Tara, but I can’t give that guarantee. I am needed in many places all day today.”

  “Let’s go and retrieve the document from your head clerk. I’ll keep it with me until we can locate Tara. Once we have her corroborating evidence, we can go to the king. But until then, we need to keep this document secure—and we need to keep them from reading it at the ceremony. I’ll need a secure and secret room for me to wait it out.”

  Marisa was fixed on the screen. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Because of her, the whole Monterran government as she knew it could fall. And Christian was right in the middle of it all.

  “I am going to alert the king,” Christian said.

  “Don’t you dare.” Christy grabbed his arm. “If the king found out, he would panic and get a bunch of people involved. We don’t know who is under Ottavio’s influence, and by informing the king, you will be putting him in more danger.”

  He shook his head. “The king isn’t like that. He listens to me. I won’t go into details, only alert him that Ottavio is up to no good. All I can say it that this whole thing had better work.”

  “Yes. It had better.” They walked out of the vault and toward the head clerk.

  Marisa ripped off her headset, and with terror lacing her words said, “We have to find Tara before she leaves the country. We have to get her back to the castle before the ceremony or Monterra will be no more and it will be my fault. How can I help?”

  “What you’re doing right now is helping,” Jeremy said in a calm voice. “Put the headset back on and keep us apprised of any new information.” Jeremy unplugged his headset and moved back to his seat. She nodded and sat back down, her heart pounding so hard in her ears she could hardly hear.

  Halluis drove them to a point that was equidistant from all three airports in Monterra. From there, all three were on laptops and occasionally talking on phones as Marisa watched nothing happen at the castle for two straight hours. Christy was in one of the guest rooms in the castle, her gun at the ready.

  A quick double knock sent Christy to the door. When she opened it, it jerked back into her face, hitting the glasses and interrupting the feed. She fell back onto the floor.

  16

  Marisa was on her feet in the van, her body bent over. “No!”

  “What happened?” Jeremy said.

  “Someone forced their way into the room. Christy is down.”

  “She won’t be for long,” Ace said. “That cat has an endless supply of lives.”

  “There’s no audio, and the glasses are useless, staring off into a corner.”

  “Ace, pull up the other two feeds.” Jeremy moved over to the portal for Chr
isty’s feed. Marisa couldn’t help but notice his unsteady hand. It took him three tries to get his headset plugged in. At least someone was worried.

  Ace split the screen for Marisa. “How can you be so calm? She could really be hurt. They could have the document,” she said. And Christian could be down too, she thought, though she didn’t say it. Her gut ached.

  “In our line of work, we’ve learned to take things as they come and not freak out,” Halluis said. “Freaking out gets in the way. We’re problem solvers. Sit down and help us solve the problem.”

  She sat hard in her chair and huffed. On the screen was chaos as it only showed stuff from waist level. The guys were right—Christy was on her feet, fighting what looked like two men.

  A man held a gun at her and another entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Marisa couldn’t hear what was being said, but she was sure they were asking for the document. She moved back slowly. And then there was a flurry of movement again. The gun was in Christy’s hands and both men were out. The glasses were back on her face, but still no sound came through. She pulled out her phone.

  Jeremy’s phone rang. As he retrieved his phone from his pocket, it fell from his grasp. He cursed, then snatched it up and pressed speaker.

  “Do you have sound?” Christy’s voice came through the line.

  “No. Sound is compromised. I’ll keep you on speaker on our end. Keep this phone line open.”

  The tell tale knock sounded at the door again. She slid the phone under the bed transmitting so that her team could know what was going on before moving to the door. She said, “Di Stefano?”

  There was silence then a muffled voice said, “Orsini?”

  Christy opened the door and rushed Christian inside, around the three men knocked out on the floor. Marisa sighed with relief, her pulse slowing considerably.

  “We’ve been made,” Christy said.

  “I see that. Let’s move.” He looked around the room. Marisa was thankful that she could be watching what Christian was doing.

  “Let’s put these guys in the bathroom. Tie and gag them.” She jerked her head toward the bathroom door and then retrieved her phone, putting it in her bra, still transmitting.

  Jeremy was back on his computer. “Come on,” he said to the screen. “File your flight plan already.” Jeremy had been the voice of calm the entire day. It was strange to see him somewhat frazzled. He really cared about Christy. Marisa’s gaze fell on Halluis and then Ace. Would Jeremy be as crazy if it were one of those two? Her eyes flicked back to the screen.

  Together, Christy and Christian moved and secured the men.

  “I figure we have about thirty seconds before the next wave hits,” Christy said.

  “This way,” he said and directed her into the closet, but just as they got there, the room door burst open and Christy, the last one entering the closet, turned to face her newest threat. She handed the document to hands in the closet and closed the door. She pointed her gun at the three men who had entered the room. Each had a gun pointed at her. One of the men shut the door and locked it. Their guns had silencers. Hers didn’t.

  “Just give us the documents and we’ll let you go.”

  “Famous last words.”

  Marisa could imagine what was going on in Christy’s head. Marisa yelled out in the van, “Fire two shots while rolling. You can do it.” As if reading her mind, Christy seemed to be doing just that. She rolled and one shot fired, but not another. “What?” Marisa yelled. “Two shots. Two!” The quiet sound of a silenced gun being shot sounded in Marisa’s ears. Christy screamed out in agony and fell to the floor, her head slamming into the corner of one of the bedposts.

  A guy was on top of her in a matter of seconds. She didn’t fight back. She didn’t move. She must have been knocked out. “No!” Marisa yelled as a third man crawled over to Christy and helped secure her. “They have her.” Marisa’s voice was no longer shrill or loud, but even and dry. “They’re tying her up. She obviously has no control. She’s unconscious. They are carrying her somewhere. Wait, the feed just went dead.”

  Halluis’ voice filled the van as he shouted out, “We got ‘em. Just logged the flight plan. Smart devils waiting until the last minute. They leave in fifteen minutes from Palmiro airport. The one we thought least likely they’d use.” The car sprang into motion.

  “Did you hear me?” Marisa yelled. “They have Christy. We lost the feed.”

  Jeremy talked over her. “ETA ten minutes.”

  “You better make that six,” Halluis said. “They’ll leave ground in six. You can leave up to five minutes early, and they’ll push it, I know it.”

  “Calm yourself, Marisa,” Jeremy said. “The feed is not dead. They’re in a dark room. Christy will be okay. We need to focus on retrieving Tara right now. Without her, we have nothing. Tara is the key to helping Christy.” His calm voice soothed her and helped give her courage, because she could see all over his face that he was worried.

  The engine roared, Ace at the wheel this time. He swerved between cars, forcing some to move to the shoulder. He even moved into oncoming traffic several times. Halluis and Jeremy were suiting up, with protection and all kinds of other gear, planning their attack and yelling out three different plans depending on what they found at the airport. Ace would assess the situation and then call out number one, number two, or number three.

  While Marisa could hardly contain her dread, she listened intently to all three plans, not liking any of them, but internalizing them. They all seemed way too dangerous with too many unknowns, but she assured herself that these people did this kind of stuff all the time and knew what they were doing.

  “Marisa, suit up. We need you.” He pointed to a bag attached to the wall of the van. Her heart thundered and an intense concentration came over her. She told herself she was in a simulation, a simulation that would determine her future and the future of three others. She would rise up and do the best she could for them and for her. She unbuckled and scurried over to it. Inside she found a vest, some night vision goggles, a black mask, and gloves. She put on the vest, mask, and gloves, and hung the goggles over her neck, then moved to confer with Jeremy and Halluis. What would her dad say if he could see her now? What would Christian say? Would she ever see either of them again?

  She buckled up and dug her fingers into the armrests as she reviewed the plans in her mind. She could see the airport ahead, her eyes flicked to the clock at the front of the van. It had been three minutes. The sign to the entrance to the airport said three miles. They were at the wrong end, but Ace turned toward the large dip and fence that surrounded the small airport. She screamed, but no one seemed to hear.

  The van flew over a large dip, sending them all on a little rollercoaster ride. Ace crashed the van through the fence at the end of the relatively short runway, and the moment the van stopped bouncing, Jeremy and Halluis positioned themselves next to the sliding door opposite her. “You ready, Marisa?” She jumped up, took the semi-automatic from Jeremy, and got ready to cover the two agents as they exited the van. The engine roared and squealed in protest as Ace forced it to perform. That’s when she saw it, a small plane headed straight for them.

  The old Marisa would have screamed about dying, but this new Marisa was ready for anything. This wasn’t about her or the three men with her. It was about the whole country of Monterra. And if they didn’t succeed, Christian and Christy and everyone else in the castle would be in terrible danger. She was focused. She had the skills to succeed. She was ready for this.

  “I call number two!” Ace yelled, giving a quick glance to Marisa and pressing harder on the gas. “Relax,” he said. “Don’t fight it. Just relax.”

  “Follow us out. Roll. Three! Two! One!” Jeremy yelled, when the plane was only fifty yards from them. Ace jerked the wheel, the sliding door rolled back, and the two armed men flew out, followed by Marisa. Marisa told herself to relax and roll and whatever she did, not to let go of the rifle. Her body felt weightless
at moments and heavy as stone at others until she came to a stop.

  She heard machine gun fire and opened her eyes. She moved her hand for her weapon and started shooting, giving Jeremy and Ace the cover they needed as she headed for cover herself.

  The gunshots continued to fill the air, and a siren started to wail. She’d hit two men, and both Jeremy and Halluis had attained the positions they wanted.

  Fractured glass hit the ground at the back of the van, and Ace climbed out. He held up night vision goggles to his eyes and then said, “Watch for me.”

  Ace ran fast, but she couldn’t continue to watch him. She had to continue to provide cover for Jeremy and Halluis if they needed it.

  She heard what she had been waiting for over the com, Ace’s voice, saying, “Five, four, three, two, one.” She let loose on the front of the plane and then she saw them, one man jumping from the side door of the plane, another person about to jump, and a third firing shots. A car sped toward the plane and slowed to a stop. Ace sat outside his window, shooting at the back of the plane. Jeremy and Tara stumbled toward the vehicle and then climbed in, shots hitting the car and ground as they ran, Marisa adjusted to give them cover. Ace adjusted his firing, too, and the barrage of bullets stopped.

  Jeremy and Tara were in the car. Halluis rolled under the plane and started running toward them. Marisa kept firing at the front of the plane, but when she saw some movement on the other side of the plane, she fired a few shots there. The form disappeared. Halluis piled in the back of the car and Ace slid in, his foot hit the gas until the car reached the back end of the van. His foot slammed onto the break and the car skidded to a stop. Marisa, who was still firing at the plane, continued as she ran to the front passenger side of the car. The door swung open. Marisa stopped firing and jumped in before pulling the front door shut. The firing stopped; the wail of the police siren hit her ears. She looked out the back window. Three cop cars were right on their tail. She glanced at Tara, wanting to tear her apart for causing all the trouble, but the moment was not yet.