Royal Wedding Threat (15 page)

“They lost him,” Oliver said with defeat. “He had a car.”

“Was a driver waiting?”

“No. He drove off. Elias was too far behind to stop him, and by the time Milos reached
them, it was all he could do to take down the plates.”

“Run the plates.”

“It’s a rental.”

“Of course it is. Find out who rented it and get back to me. I’ll finish here. Don’t let on to Ava what’s just happened. I’ll tell her when I get there shortly.” Jason winced as he ended the call, already dreading what this new complication might mean and how Ava would react to it.

She’d
handled everything so far with grace and poise—but then, she was a wedding planner. It was her job to remain unruffled no matter what went wrong. Even when gunmen had infiltrated the palace grounds during Duchess Julia’s titling ceremony, Ava had kept the reception flowing smoothly, so that only a few irate guests had discovered they were locked down inside the ballroom.

Ava was highly skilled
at holding everything together on the outside, even when she was falling apart inside. He realized that now that she’d let him see past her armor. But behind her poised facade she was terrified—and not just for her safety and everyone else’s. Every time he’d had to call into question the motives of someone she’d loved and trusted, he’d watched her deflate a little, taking the blow and recovering
quickly, though she’d never quite bounced back completely each time.

All these deceptions had taken their toll on her. Jason wasn’t sure how much more she could handle, especially without faith in God to comfort her. He’d been praying more and more, not just for her physical safety, but also for her spiritual well-being. It hurt him to see her hurting. When she found out her father had come
looking for her, it would only hurt her that much more.

And yet he had to tell her. She needed to know what had been happening, or her father might surprise her the next time, and she’d be too shocked to respond. Ava deserved to know. She would insist on knowing if she suspected anything had happened.

Jason headed back inside to let his men know he was going back to the palace a little
early. He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation and the hurt it would cause Ava, but he couldn’t put it off. The wedding would take place the very next day. All the pieces Ava had so carefully laid out were ready to fall into place.

But what about the pieces the killer had put in place? Would they fall in due time, too? And would they take Ava with them this time?

FIFTEEN

A
va saw Jason approaching and glanced back down at her schedule, checking the time to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. She excused herself quietly from the meeting, which was nearly over anyway, and met Jason near the doors.

“You’re supposed to be at the cathedral,” she reminded him. “Did you find something?”

“The cathedral looks clear. The dogs were just
finishing their search.”

“So why the visit?” Ava would have liked to tease him about not being able to stay away from her irresistible self, but she wasn’t in a joking mood, and something about his expression seemed to indicate he didn’t have good news to share. Uneasy fear raised goose bumps along her skin.

“Your father came to the front palace gate looking for you. When the guards
tried to pat him down for weapons, he ran.”

Ava closed her eyes, processing this new development. When she found her voice again, she met Jason’s eyes and found comfort there, enough for her to find her voice. “What does it mean?”

“I don’t know.”

“How long ago?”

“Less than half an hour.”

Ava looked up at the ceiling a moment as she tried to evaluate this new development.
“I don’t know what to do.”

“There’s not much we can do. Everything is in place for the wedding. Your father drove away in a car rented out yesterday under his real name. Considering that he rented the car without using a fake name, I instructed Oliver to ask all the local hotels if they’ve let out any rooms to a Douglas Wright. I imagine most of the hotels have been booked full well in advance
of the wedding, but he has to be staying somewhere.”

“You should circulate Tiffany’s name, as well.”

“Yes. Oliver included her name with his request, along with an image of a Seattle Mariners baseball cap.”

“I’m sure the hotels are all very busy with the crowds in town for the wedding.”

“Yes, but they tend to respond quickly to our inquiries. We only ask questions when security
is at stake, and none of the hotels want any problems, at their hotel or anywhere in town. The insurgent coup last summer nearly killed our tourism industry. If it hadn’t been for the royal weddings, we might never have bounced back.”

Ava felt a reluctant smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

“What is it?”

“You make it sound as though these weddings have saved the tourism industry.”

“Yes, they have,” Jason insisted, looking a bit surprised that she hadn’t known. “Ava, many people in our kingdom depend on tourism for their livelihood. By creating beautiful weddings, you’ve restored their jobs and their way of life.”

In spite of his glowing words and the ardor with which he spoke them, Ava couldn’t feel happy. “If the killer strikes tomorrow, that would ruin everything—not
just for me and the royal family, but for all those hardworking—” Her voice caught, the awfulness of it all too much for her.

Jason squeezed her hand, letting go of her fingers to rub her back, and she leaned against him. “We’ll get through this all right. Everything is going to work out.”

“How can you say that? You can’t make that promise when you don’t know what will happen.”

“I believe God is watching over us.”

Ava wanted so much to believe his words were true. She’d have given anything to go back to the days when she’d truly trusted that God would keep her safe from all harm. But she’d learned otherwise the hard way. “Where was God when my mother died?”

She waited, hoping Jason would know the answer. But instead of offering her reassuring words, he remained
silent. Compassion simmered in his eyes, but he had no words of hope to offer her.

Of course not. There weren’t any.

She shook her head, feeling foolish for daring to hope. “I need to be going. I have another appointment shortly, and I really ought to touch up my face.”

* * *

Friday evening, the wedding party assembled in the palace courtyard to travel to the cathedral for
the rehearsal. Jason almost didn’t recognize Ava from the back, but then she turned to face him with uncertainty on her face, and he realized instantly what she’d done. “You dyed your hair brown.”

“It’s my natural color. We didn’t have time to add highlights. Do I look awful?”

Jason assessed her appearance. Instead of styling her hair stiffly upright, she’d left it loose, styled in curls
that framed her face. “You look gorgeous, Ava. You look more like you.”

“Like me?”

“In the picture on your desk.”

“Oh.” Her face fell slightly. “That was my engagement picture. I cut Dan out of the picture and kept the rest. Is that silly of me?”

“I’m glad you did. It helped me to realize there might be another side to you—a side I wish I’d known about long ago.”

Ava gave
him a thankful smile. “I really must give everyone their final instructions.”

“Go.” Jason squeezed her hand, then stood back as Ava directed the cars out of the courtyard in order without missing a beat. She was so good at what she did. He realized how truly blessed the kingdom of Lydia was to have her. How blessed he was to know her. He’d never learned the answer to the question his mother
had prompted. How long would Ava be staying in Lydia?

He didn’t suppose she’d be ready to answer that question until the killer who was after her was caught, but Jason knew he didn’t want her to leave. It would take some work to clarify the Royal Guard Code of Honor to accommodate the honorable love his guards felt for the women they were involved with, but Jason now understood, thanks to
Ava, just how important it was to make those clarifications. He didn’t want anyone to misunderstand his love for the wedding planner.

Ava trotted back to his side. “We’re in the last car.” She slipped into the backseat, and he climbed in after her.

While Ava sat beside him silently and their armored car lined up at the rear of the queue, Jason debated bringing up her question of faith
again. He didn’t want to push her too far for fear he might push her away, but at the same time, it pained him to know she didn’t feel that God was with her. He didn’t like to see her hurting when he knew God had the power to comfort her—if only she’d open her heart to that possibility.

But before he could speak, his earpiece buzzed to life.

“This is Detective Varda from the Sardis Police
Bomb Squad.”

“Yes, Detective Varda, go ahead.” Jason recognized the man’s name from working with him before—his dog had picked up the scent from the explosive residue on the street after the bomb went off in Ava’s car. Jason had asked the SPBS to return to patrol the perimeter with their dogs during the rehearsal. They’d been happy to oblige.

“My dog picked up a scent near the front
corner of the building and followed it behind the cathedral. There was a man in the parking lot. My dog ran at him, the same way he would anyone carrying the scent he was following. But before my dog caught up to him, the man jumped into one of those TV vans parked back there. They drove away.”

“Did you get a good look at him?”

“Sorry, no. He had too much of a head start. But the van
had to navigate around another van, and I got a pretty good look at the driver.”

“Can you identify him?”

“Her. She looks like the picture you’ve been circulating—Tiffany Sterling? I’m not one hundred percent certain it was her, but from what I saw, she looked the same.”

The limo had reached the front stairs of the cathedral. It was time for Jason to escort Ava inside, but he held
her hand, preventing her from exiting until he was sure Tiffany wasn’t still around. “Which way did they van go?”

“Toward the arterial highway. They turned north and headed out of town. That was the last I saw of them.”

“Good. Thank you. Can you inform the others of what you’ve seen and file a description of the van with my office?”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks. We’re here now. I’ll
be inside the cathedral.” Jason nodded to Ava to exit, but she hesitated.

“Which way did who go?”

“Someone who looked like Tiffany and an unidentified man. They were lingering in the back parking lot, but they headed out of town. Don’t worry. Now that they’ve seen them, neither my men nor the police will let them near here again.”

Ava offered him a wan smile, which he figured was
the best he could hope for, under the circumstances. Tiffany—or whoever had been driving the van—was still one step ahead of them. Until the royal guard got the upper hand, Jason didn’t figure there was any reason for Ava to smile.

* * *

The rehearsal went as smoothly as any Ava had ever performed. Had it not been for the constant threat of death hovering over her, Ava would have been
delighted. Instead she could barely muster a smile as she congratulated the royal couple and dismissed everyone to head back to the palace for the rehearsal dinner.

“You’ll be joining us, won’t you?” Lillian asked.

“I’ll be a little late, I’m afraid,” Ava apologized. “I’m going to do a final check of everything here, and then I’ll follow after everyone’s safely arrived.”

Although
she’d purposely tried to play down the safety aspect of her plans, Ava watched as the meaning of the word registered with the soon-to-be princess. The simple fact was, Ava wasn’t comfortable traveling the streets of Sardis too closely to the other royal cars. From the moment Jason had informed her of the likelihood that Tiffany had been staking out the cathedral in advance of the rehearsal, Ava
had felt almost jittery, certain at any moment she’d see Tiffany lurking around the next corner.

She wished she could tell herself her fears were silly, but given the circumstances, the threat was all too real.

Lillian thanked her and headed out with the others. Normally Ava would have seen them off, but she didn’t want to present a target, not with so many innocent people around. Instead
she turned to Dom Procopio, the deacon who would be officiating over the ceremony the next day.

“Thank you so much for helping everything go so smoothly this evening.” She shook his hand as she spoke. “I found your scripture reading very meaningful.”

The old deacon smiled. “Alexander and Lillian selected the passage from Ecclesiastes, chapter four, but it’s always been one of my favorites,
especially verse twelve.”

“‘A cord of three strands is not easily broken,’” Ava quoted, then admitted, “That verse has always confused me. All the previous verses speak of two people, but suddenly, at the very end, the two change to three.”

“Ah.” Dom nodded. “You’ve hit upon the key to the whole passage. I don’t want to give away my message for tomorrow, but since you’ve already picked
it out, I’ll tell you. The two, of course, are the loving couple who stand by each other, support and protect each other through everything. One alone is weak. Two together are strong. But only with the third are they unbreakable.” He beamed as he spoke.

Ava nodded, though she still didn’t understand. “But who is the third strand of the cord?”

“The third strand of the cord—the One who
makes them unbreakable—is God.”

Ava heard a noise behind her and turned in time to see a shadow in the form of a man, moving toward her from the darkened rear of the sanctuary. She startled and just managed to stifle her scream to a yelp, recognizing Jason as he moved into the circle of light under the last illuminated fixture at the front of the sanctuary.

“I’m sorry,” the captain apologized
quickly. “I thought you knew I was here.”

“I did,” Ava confessed. “I’m just so jumpy tonight.”

Deacon Procopio had already moved toward the rear hallway that led to his offices. “You two have a good evening,” he told them as he left.

“You, too! Thank you again,” Ava called after him. Then she turned her attention to Jason, squeezing the hand he offered her, grateful not to be alone
in the vast, echoing building—and especially glad Jason was the guard at her side. “All clear?”

“So far. They’ll tell me if that changes. The limousines are heading out. Are you ready to go?”

“I’d like to wait to leave until everyone has safely arrived at the palace. I called ahead and made arrangements for the palace staff to begin serving the rehearsal dinner without me.” She took
a deep breath as she explained, “It’s just not worth the risk for me to be seen in the open in proximity to everyone else—not when the palace staff is perfectly capable of getting through the salad course without me.”

Jason smiled. “That makes good, prudent sense.”

“I’m glad you agree, because I think we should do the same thing tomorrow following the ceremony.”

“But isn’t the wedding
reception vastly more complicated?”

“It is,” Ava admitted, “but everyone knows their jobs. They can start without me, and if there’s any questions, I’m only a phone call away.”

“We’ll plan on that, then,” Jason agreed, meeting her eyes with an expression that seemed to indicate he had more he wanted to say.

“What is it?” she asked when he remained silent.

“I couldn’t help overhearing
your conversation with the deacon.”

“Oh? About Ecclesiastes?”

“Yes. And it reminded me of the question you asked last evening—where was God when your mother was dying?” Any trace of a smile had fled from Jason’s face. Instead his eyes held compassion and sympathy. “I’ve been pondering that question ever since.”

“And?” Ava asked in a whisper. She’d secretly hoped he would come up
with an answer, even though she felt it was impossible.

“Have you looked at the great stained-glass windows of this cathedral?”

“Yes. They’re magnificent.” Ava had long admired the stained glass, but she didn’t see what that had to do with her question. Perhaps Jason hadn’t been able to answer it after all.

But he led her down the aisle to the darkened rear of the sanctuary, where
light from the sinking sun outside poured vibrantly through the windows. Jason explained, “The images on the stained glass date back to the centuries when a large percentage of the population didn’t know how to read. The windows told the gospel story with pictures instead of words.” He stopped in front of a particularly moving image of Mary weeping over the slain Christ.