Defending the Duchess (17 page)

They were above the city among the bluffs that overlooked Seaview Drive, which wound its scenic path along the cliffs overlooking the sea.
She could hear the distant waves crashing as the helicopter blades stilled completely.

But closer still and of greater concern, Julia saw more men approaching. They strode past a vehicle that gleamed in the floodlights.

Julia blinked.

It was the SE323. She’d studied enough production sketches and product brochures to recognize the thing and to feel a nauseous surge of fear at the
sight of the car which became a death trap once the speedometer hit 75 miles per hour.

It was surely no coincidence that the men who’d been trying to capture her had brought her here, to this vehicle. Given the circumstances surrounding Balfour’s and Chen’s deaths, Julia guessed what the men intended to do.

One of the approaching men laughed, and she turned to the sound, recognizing
yet another image from the brochures she’d studied.

Todd Martin, the Motormech CEO. “I see you recognize this vehicle. Good.” His laughter froze with the iciness of his words. “Then you will understand the implications of all I am about to say. I have, as you are no doubt aware, a very successful business. Thousands of people depend on me for jobs, for designs that make their lives more efficient.
I am a hero.”

Everything inside Julia rebelled against the thought. Those jobs only existed because Motormech had destroyed the companies that had originally created them. All of Todd Martin’s accomplishments had been achieved by stealing the work of others, and killing to cover up what he’d done.

The CEO continued, “I have a reputation to protect and a company to defend. You know too
much, so you must be eliminated.”

“You can’t clear your name by killing me,” Julia spat back, refusing to believe that this man who’d destroyed so many dreams could defeat her, as well. “I’ve already passed on some of the evidence I’ve gathered. Even without my explanations, too many people know what you’ve done. You can’t kill them all.”

But the blue-eyed multimillionaire only stepped
closer and bent his face down toward hers, shouting louder than was necessary at such close range. “This evidence you have passed along doesn’t point to
me
. It points to a fool. All the investigators need is a name to fill in the blanks. I gave them Pendleton’s name, but he wanted too much to clear it, so he had to die. I tried to make your lawyer friend my scapegoat, but you wouldn’t allow that,
either.”

Martin’s blue eyes narrowed icily. “This could have been quite simple. I could have killed you and pointed all signs of guilt toward your tombstone. It would have been a clean break. Your loved ones could have turned their backs on the scandal of your involvement and gone on with their lives unscathed, but you wouldn’t let them. You had to share your suspicions, didn’t you? You had
to get other people involved. Now your death will not be so simple.”

With a snap of his leather-gloved fingers, Martin directed his men. Klein and Roland got hold of Julia, while the other men who’d approached with Todd Martin stepped forward and muscled Linus toward the SE323. They shoved her into the driver’s seat and slammed the door.

“Here’s the solution,” the CEO continued, pulling
out a thin sheaf of papers from the attaché he carried, and leaning in the open window to speak to her. “This is your suicide note, a confession of all you’ve done to sabotage the SE323 designs. You see, ever since you handled the initial case between Seattle Electronics and Motormech, you saw the potential for profit. By burying Seattle Electronics in scandal and debt, you hoped to force them
to sell their entire company to Motormech, buying up stock on the knowledge that once Motormech fixed the design flaw, the SE323 would quickly become one of the most profitable automobiles in America. You had Pendleton and Gordon killed when they tried to expose you.
You
were behind it all.”

Julia heard the man’s lies and realized with horror that anyone desperate for an explanation would
believe them. No one wanted to think Motormech was capable of any wrongdoing. They’d be glad to pin the blame on her. And the evidence she’d passed on would only reinforce their claims.

“My men here have tried to stop you. That’s why you were attacked on the beach,” Todd Martin continued his lie-filled revision of her recent history. “They tried to reach Pendleton and Gordon in time to learn
the truth, but you killed them before they could speak out against you. Once you realized you could no longer cover up the truth, you confessed everything before trying to run away with your bodyguard, only to die from the very malfunction you engineered.”

Julia listened in horror, trying to spot the hole in the man’s plan.

But there was no hole—none he couldn’t plug up with smooth words
once she was dead and unable to defend herself. Everyone wanted to believe Motormech was an honest company. They wanted to see Todd Martin as a hero. They’d only be too eager to believe him and to blame every evil deed on her.

Still, she fought against his words. “No one will ever believe you,” she insisted, wishing the words were really true. “They won’t honestly think I wrote that note.”

Todd Martin only laughed. “They will when you sign it.”

“I won’t sign it! You can’t make me.”

“You
will
sign it,” Todd Martin explained, “or we’ll place an anonymous call to the palace alerting them that you’re here and you need help. When your precious guards and family members come rushing to your aid, they’ll arrive just in time for the SE323 to crush them as it malfunctions.
And so, anyone who might question why your suicide note wasn’t signed, will be killed by the same accident that kills you.”

Julia could only stare at him, certain his plan couldn’t work, but unable to articulate a single protest against it. She didn’t want to believe it possible, but what if he was right? What if Linus’s fellow guards and even her concerned sister drove up the perilous roads
to try to rescue her?

What if they died because of her? Even if the car didn’t malfunction precisely as her concerned sister arrived, Todd Martin could have her killed and make it look as though it had.

Julia turned to Linus, hoping he’d spotted some hole in the man’s plan, some way out of the predicament they were in.

His brown eyes glinted with determination. “I believe, Your
Grace, you’d better sign whatever they ask you to sign.”

Julia looked back at the power-hungry CEO and the gunmen who surrounded him. Todd Martin held out the papers and a pen.

“Okay,” she whispered, hardly believing she was agreeing to his demands. But what else could she do? She couldn’t risk letting anything happen to her sister. “I’ll sign.”

SEVENTEEN

L
inus kept his eyes riveted on Julia while his hands worked feverishly behind him. Fortunately Todd Martin and his men seemed far more interested in Julia than in whatever Linus was doing with his fingers under the cover of his draping tuxedo jacket.

They didn’t seem to realize that he’d pulled a safety pin from his pants, or that he’d already used its slender prong
to unlatch the lock on the handcuffs that bound him. He’d realized in the process that the handcuffs weren’t made of metal, but a strong plastic that would no doubt melt in the flames of their accident, erasing all evidence that he and the duchess had been held against their will.

But Linus got the cuffs slipped off without Martin or his men noticing. Now if he could just keep them from figuring
it out long enough to get Julia safely away, and maybe even contact the rest of the guard in time to apprehend the Motormech conspirators before they left Lydia. If Todd Martin crossed the border, he’d be out of Lydian jurisdiction, and it would become vastly more difficult to capture him.

But Linus couldn’t let himself be distracted by that fear. Far more pressing was the urgency of saving
the duchess. With Julia’s signature on the document, the only way she could prove her innocence was if she survived. If anything went wrong, Martin would get away with his evil plan.

“Thank you, duchess. Have a lovely ride.” The CEO yanked her door open, shoved the running car into gear, clamped down the accelerator, and threw the door shut again as the vehicle took off down the driveway.
“Try to steer, duchess!” he called after them. “We’d hate for anyone to think you died because you couldn’t drive!”

Linus flew into action the moment the door was shut, throwing himself across Julia’s seat and reaching for the accelerator.

It was stuck!

He pried at it, but he couldn’t get it loose. What had they used to clamp it down?

It didn’t matter. Having stared long enough
at the SE323 design drawings, Linus knew where to find the emergency brake. He got hold of it with one hand just as he slipped his left foot past the duchess, stomping the regular brake against the floor as he pulled with all his might on the handle of the emergency brake.

White smoke poured up through the open windows against the unrelenting power of the full-throttle engine.

The combination
of brakes was enough to slow the vehicle against the floored accelerator, but not enough to stop it entirely. Given how much smoke poured through the windows, Linus knew the brakes wouldn’t last much longer before they were burned completely through and there was no longer any way to slow the car. And from their height on the bluffs, all roads led downhill to the rocks that edged the sea.

There was no other option. He had to get the duchess out of the car now—while it was still moving slowly enough for them to escape alive.

Unwilling to take his hands from the brake for even the slightest second, Linus asked Julia, “Can you open the door?”

With her hands still cuffed together in front of her, the duchess fumbled momentarily before successfully lifting the handle.

She was just in time. The brakes stuttered and caught, slipping repeatedly. They had to be nearly worn through. Just up ahead, Linus spotted an open field between two rocky plots of woods. If he could steer the car into the field, it would give them the best opportunity for a safe landing.

“When I say go, we’re going out the door. Can you do that?”

“I’m ready.”

Steering them into
the open field, Linus was relieved to discover that the thick meadow grasses caught up around the tires, slowing the car’s advance to barely a crawl. “Now!” Linus let go of the brake and leaped after Julia through the door, rolling free of the car as it rumbled on toward the woods, accelerating again without his pressure on the brakes.

Linus wrapped his arms around Julia as they rolled to
a stop, then swept the hair from her face as he examined her for any sign of injury. “Are you all right?”

“I’m alive,” she panted, looking around as though assessing the damage. Then her gaze came to rest on his face. “Because of you.”

She leaned forward and Linus thought she was going to try to sit up, but instead her lips found his with an urgent kiss.

He didn’t intend to kiss
her back, but there was no stopping it. Relief and affection filled him as he returned her kiss.

But the sound of the SE323 crashing into the trees reminded him of all that was still at stake. He broke off their kiss and pulled out his phone. “We need to get the guard after Martin.”

“You’re right.” Julia held tight to his arm with her cuffed hands while he dialed.

After a brief
conversation, he updated Julia on what he’d learned. “The guards are already apprehending Martin and his men. They took off in guard helicopters when they saw Martin’s copter lift off the palace roof. They arrived just as the SE323 drove off, but they didn’t realize we were inside it until after they were on the ground.” Linus put the phone back into his pocket and pulled out another safety pin. Using
the pointy tip, he quickly freed the duchess.

“Thank you.” She reached for his face and kissed him again.

Linus lost track of time for a moment, thrilled by her touch and the realization that now that Todd Martin and his henchmen were caught, she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. But that awareness brought another change. “Julia?” He caressed her face lovingly as she leaned against him
in the meadow.

“Yes?”

“Now that you’re safe—” he brushed another kiss against her cheek “—will you be going back to America?”

Julia pulled back just far enough to look into his eyes. In the evening light he couldn’t read what he saw there, and she gave him no reassurances.

Instead, bright lights streamed down from above, and they both looked up to see a royal guard helicopter
with Sam leaning out the door.

“There they are!” The guard pointed joyfully, then shouted down at them. “I’ve told the car where to find you. They’ll pick you up in just a moment!”

Linus helped Julia to her feet, as she smoothed down her dress and straightened her tiara. A car he recognized from the royal garage rolled to a stop alongside the meadow a moment later. “Get in,” Paul said
as he pushed a door open for them. “Let’s get you home.”

* * *

The next day, Julia felt sore from the tumble out of the SE323. But the royal guard had apprehended Martin and his men, along with the dented SE323 and enough evidence to link them to kidnapping, attempted murder and conspiracy charges, along with Scott Gordon’s murder and several other crimes they’d committed in Lydia in
the process.

That in itself was a relief. More so was her sister Monica’s announcement over breakfast with all their extended family present.

“We wanted to keep it a secret until after your titling ceremony. It needed to be your special day, and we knew our announcement would only cause distractions. But at the same time, all our trips to the doctor couldn’t go unnoticed much longer.
Nor could the toll on my health.”

Julia stared at her big sister, fearing that Monica must have an awful disease. But the queen beamed as King Thaddeus took her hand in his, smiling broadly and gazing at her with adoration.

“We’re pregnant,” Monica explained.

And just as quickly, Thaddeus added, “with twins.”

“That’s why you look so awful!” Sheila Miller responded with a gasp,
then blushed as she scrambled from her chair to embrace her daughter. “Oh, Monica, I’m so delighted!”

“The twins haven’t made life easy,” Monica admitted as she opened her arms to her mother, “and I’m not as young as I was when I had Peter.”

Julia rushed to hug her sister, as well. “I’m so relieved,” she whispered through her happy tears, “and so thrilled for you.”

“Does this mean
you’ll stay?” Monica asked, looking at her intently.

“What?” Julia blinked at the queen, then looked around at all the royal family, who seemed to be anxiously awaiting her answer. “What do you mean?”

“I know you have a successful law practice in Seattle, and I hate to ask you to walk away from that, but I’m sure you’d have no trouble practicing law in Lydia if you wanted to, and it
would make me so happy if you were closer, especially with the babies on the way. But I won’t ask you to—”

Julia cut off her words with a big hug. “Of course I’ll stay. I’d love to!”

Thaddeus’s sisters and brother and their fiancés all pressed forward for a turn congratulating the couple, and Julia backed toward the door, still stunned at the news, and feeling suddenly rather alone and
left out. She’d always pictured her kids and Monica’s kids growing up together, but Monica was soon to be a mother of three, and Julia wasn’t even attached to anyone. Though she was thrilled for her sister, she couldn’t completely repress the feeling that she was being left behind.

She backed toward the doorway to the hall, ready to make her escape if her emotions overwhelmed her.

“I
see that look.” A bass voice whispered near her ear as familiar fingers slipped around her hand. “You’re thinking of sneaking out again,” Linus teased. “Not without a guard.”

“Linus.” Julia turned to him and grinned, having thought about him all morning, but not having seen him. “Did you hear the news?”

“Yes. Twins. The entire kingdom will be overjoyed.”

“That, too,” Julia said
as she beamed at him, unsure if he’d been informed of the king’s decision, which Monica had whispered to her just before breakfast. “And they’re going to award you with a medal for meritorious service. I get to pin it on you in a formal ceremony with your grandfather and anyone else you want invited.”

The teasing smile disappeared from Linus’s face.

“Aren’t you happy?”

“I am, but—”
he shook his head “—they can’t award me a medal without reviewing my record. Jason will have to share with them—”

“He already did.”

“What?”

Julia looked up at him, brimming with emotion. “Jason shared everything on your record. They still agreed unanimously to give you a medal.”

“So I get to stay on as a guard? I never thought—”

“Linus,” she said as they backed into the
hallway, unnoticed by the happy throng behind them, “they asked me this morning if I wanted you assigned as my primary guard.”

“What did you say?”

“I asked if it mattered that I was in love with you.”

“Julia.” His fingers swept the side of her face affectionately. “You must know how I feel about you. I fall in love with you more and more every time we’re together. If I wasn’t afraid
of overstepping my bounds—” he glanced toward the happy royals hugging in the room beyond them “—I might have an announcement of my own to make.”

“An announcement?” Her heart skipped a beat.

“I love you, Your Grace. With all this talk of royal weddings—” he looked down at her, his eyes aglow with emotion “—I suppose it’s presumptuous of me to want to claim you as my own, but you must
know, I’d marry you in a heartbeat. If only it were possible.”

Julia felt her mouth drop open slightly. “If you asked me, I’d say yes.”

Linus grinned and cast another look toward the oblivious party in the room beyond them.

“But your family...”

“My sister would wholeheartedly approve, and the king just wants to make her happy.”

“Well, in that case, would you marry me?”

“Yes.” She giggled, perhaps a little too loudly. Linus silenced her happy laughter with a kiss.

“But Julia—” he kissed the tip of her nose “—we should keep this between us for a bit. There have been plenty of royal announcements lately.”

“I agree. We should let them get used to the idea,” she kissed him again before continuing, “After all, they might argue that we don’t know each
other well enough.”

“I know that I love you. That’s enough for me.”

“I feel the same way.” She cleared her throat and tried to remember the important thing she’d been going to say before he’d distracted her by proposing marriage. “Which is why I shared my feelings for you with my sister.”

Linus bent his head nearer hers, his lips tauntingly close. “What did she say?”

“She’s
quite in favor of it as long as it doesn’t get in the way of you protecting me.”

Linus leaned down and kissed her then, wrapping his arms protectively around her as he drew her close. “I won’t let anything get in the way of protecting you.”

And he sealed his promise with another kiss.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt of
Betrayal on the Border
by Jill Elizabeth Nelson!