"So Rheza, you see, I really need you to agree to those new drilling terms or poor old Bo is going to be in real financial trouble. And our families have been friends for long enough that I'm sure you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?" Bo waved his cigar at the prince with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Rheza spread his hands and shrugged. "Now Bo, you know I need to think of my country before my friends, no matter how good a friend they have been to me. Your suggested terms will take too much oil out of Zakir for too little return. You know Penelope was right at dinner about our need to protect our most vulnerable subjects in the modern world."
"Yes, your little princess has a lot of opinions about such things, doesn't she? Including me – I get the feeling our little Penny doesn't like me much" said Bo, irritation showing in his voice even as he tried to pretend to laugh it off. "You should learn to control that filly of yours. I'm sure once she has a little prince or princess in her belly, she'll stop trying to interfere with how you run your country."
"Oh well," laughed Rheza with some embarrassment, knowing Bo was right about Penny's opinion of him. "She's a very intelligent woman with a lot of insight into social problems. And of course, I am proud to have her help me rule my country. I married her because I love her, but I love her because of her passion for doing the right thing for our people."
Bo leaned forward and pointed a finger at Rheza. "Well, the right thing for you to do for me is to sign those new oil leases."
Rheza shook his head. "I'm sorry, Bo, but I simply cannot. It would not be good for Zakir and that must be my first consideration."
There was a knock at the door and then one of Bo's ranch hands ducked his head in. "All done, Sir" he said and withdrew.
"Good! Good!" said Bo, rubbing his hands together. "Now Rheza, what if I were to tell you that it would be very much in your interest to sign those leases in the next 24 hours?"
"I'm sorry, Bo, but I can't see how that would be true."
"Well, it will certainly be in the interest of your princess then. I've arranged for her to go on a little vacation without you and whether or not she comes back from it is entirely up to you."
Rheza stared at him in disbelief. "What are you saying? What have you done to her?" He leapt to his feet, shouting as he ran to the door. "Guards!" He flung open the door, expecting to find one of the royal guards as usual but instead found only two of Bo's men staring at him balefully, hands on their side holsters. He turned back to stare at Bo. "Where are my men? And what have you done to Penny?" he asked again.
"Your men are all safely locked up in the basement, and as for your princess, I haven't done anything to her. Yet," grinned Bo, lighting up yet another cigar. He blew a smoke ring and looked at Rheza genially. "But I can't say what will happen without those leases. She might have a terrible accident, for instance. This part of Virginia is just a hotbed of things that can go wrong. Trails giving way, horses spooking, poisonous snakes… sure would be a pity if she were to run into any of those things. In the meantime, my men have taken her somewhere for safe keeping."
"Are you insane?" breathed out Rheza, realizing even as he asked that there was no other explanation for it. Bo couldn't seriously think that he would simply sign away his country's assets without a fight, could he? Even if he signed any paperwork tonight, he could easily renege on it later, claiming duress.
"Crazy like a fox," answered Bo. "I have loans coming due on Monday and without those leases to act as collateral, the banks will take everything and if I go down, then my companies go down and we take Zakir with us."
The wild light in his eyes told Rheza he absolutely believed that to be the truth. He realized he needed to tread carefully if he was going to keep Penny safe. "Bo, my old friend, even if I sign those rights over to you, do you not think the Zakirian people will rebel against it? How would I justify it to them? They will demand my abdication."
"I'm sure you'll find a way. You could kill two birds with one stone if you say Penny forced you into it. I'd have my oil and you'd have your throne and a built-in excuse to rid yourself of a brood mare who ain't producing. I mean, really Rheza, you should have picked better breeding stock."
Rheza's lips thinned as he pressed them together – the only sign he showed of his inner rage. It occurred to him that the longer he kept Bo talking, the more likely it was that help might arrive.
"You might have a point there, Bo," he answered slowly. "Why don't we have another drink and discuss that?" He sank slowly back into his chair and waited for Bo to do the same. As Bo began to outline exactly what he wanted and how the prince was going to give it to him, Rheza's mind was racing trying to figure out what he was going to do to save his wife.
Help was closer at hand than Rheza realized. Francine had slowly come to upstairs, wincing at the pain in her jaw and gingerly running a hand over her face, trying to assess the damage. She groaned at the telltale swelling as she pulled herself upright. Experience in similar situations told her that the level of swelling meant she'd been out for at least half an hour, probably more. She checked her ankle holster – her gun was still there so it seemed likely Bo's man hadn't realized she was an agent. Which will probably mean no guard either she thought. She moved to the door and quietly opened it, giving a silent cheer when she did in fact find an empty hallway. She slipped down the hall, gun in hand, peeking around corners until she reached the top of the stairs. She could see two of Bo's men in the foyer, obviously standing guard outside Bo's study. So Bo is in there she conjectured but who is with him? They wouldn't have knocked me out if they were only taking Penny – and why have they taken Amanda as well? And where were all the Zakirian guards? Were they in on something? Was this a coup?
She pressed her lips together in thought, wincing as she recalled her split lip a little too late. Backup, she decided. Backup first, exploration second. She slipped back down the hall to her bedroom and locked herself in before dragging the phone into the closet for added safety. She dialed the main number for the Agency, praying that whoever was on night duty wasn't a rookie.
"Melrose" came the most welcome voice she could have heard.
"Billy? Thank God," she croaked.
"Francine? What's wrong?"
"I need help – and fast." As quickly as she could, she outlined what had happened, Billy's questions helping her collect the thoughts scattered by the pain of her throbbing cheek.
"Scarecrow and Beaman left an hour ago – they should be there soon." Francine closed her eyes in relief at hearing how close her backup was, and then realized Billy was asking her something.
"I hate to ask but do you think you can safely do some reconnaissance before they get there so they know what they're walking into? I don't want them walking into a situation and making it worse if this is a coup."
"I'll do what I can," answered Francine. "If you don't hear back from me, send in the army, okay?"
"You go it," replied Billy, instantly. "And Francine? Be careful."
She hung up and eased her way back out of the closet. The front stairs weren't an option, but if her instincts were right, there would be back stairs as well. She slipped down the hall, sighing with relief when her guess proved correct. Tiptoeing down the stairs, she found herself outside the kitchen, ducking back behind a corner as someone emerged from what appeared to be a basement door and walked into the kitchen, greeting someone as he went.
"The prince's men are all still secure," he said to whomever was just out of sight. "But boy, are they pissed. I sure don't want to be around when we let 'em loose later."
So not a coup – or at least not a Zakirian one. That makes this easier.
Francine made her way along the hall, listening carefully to the conversation in the kitchen as she went. It soon became apparent that whatever was going on, it was Bo who was pulling the strings, with Earl as a willing accomplice.
"I thought that other woman was never going to stop sneezing," a third voice was guffawing now. "I was sure Earl was going to punch her lights out too until that princess got up in his face and told him to back off. She's a pistol that one!"
"Is he coming back tonight or waiting for sun up?"
"He said he was going to get them all comfy and leave them locked up. Bo wants him back before morning," came the response. "Him and that prince fella are still locked in there – he must not have gotten what he wants yet."
Francine eased the basement door open, holding her breath and listening for sounds of pursuit as she moved down the stairs. Turning a corner, she found herself facing a wall of cells, like a scene from an old Western film. "What kind of nut has a prison in his basement," she muttered to herself. She moved forward quickly, causing a dozen Zakirian heads to swivel towards her.
"Hello, Boys," she said. "How about we bust you out of here and go rescue the prince?" It was obvious only one of them spoke English as he broke into a grin, and she recognized him as the one who'd been outside Penny's room but the others were soon smiling equally broadly as she found a piece of wire and began to pick the cell locks.
"Shhhh," she urged, holding a finger to her lips, then pointing to the ceiling. She turned to one who had understood her before. "Tell them to keep quiet until we can get upstairs and surprise the bad guys."
He turned immediately to his fellow guards and said something curt in Zakirian which made every man lapse into complete silence and turn as one to face Francine. "They are yours to command, My Lady," he explained simply.
She couldn't help the grin spreading across her face. "Well then, let's go kick some ass," she said happily and began to quickly sketch out her plan.
It was the sound of gunfire that finally alerted Bo to the fact that his plan might not be working out quite the way he wanted. When the study door flew open and the man who had been guarding the door gasped out "Them ay-rabs are loose!", Bo had let loose a bellow of rage. He pushed Rheza aside, knocking him to the floor as he ran for the door to see for himself. He looked down the hall to see a wall of angry Zakirian guards coming towards him as Rheza began calling out to them. Bo slammed the study door shut and locked it, looking around wildly before bolting for the French doors and vanishing into the night.
Rheza scrambled to his feet and ran to let his guards enter the room, followed by Francine, brandishing her pistol. He raised a brow at this unexpected twist. "Well, you weren't the cavalry I was expecting," was all he could think to say.
"I'm Agency, Your Highness. I'm sorry we couldn't tell you before now, but right at this moment, I'm more interested in finding out where Bo is," she responded in a curt tone.
Rheza gestured to the open French doors. "He left that way, but I'm not sure where he was headed. Do you have any idea where Penny is?" he asked frantically.
"No, but he's taken them somewhere else," replied Francine. Seeing the question in his expression, she added, "They took Amanda as well and I heard some of his goons talking about them being taken to another location."
She looked around for the phone. "I have to call for reinforcements. You get your men to secure the property - and stay put!" she added as she saw him open his mouth to protest. "We're already missing one member of the royal family, we don't need to lose you too!"
Rheza nodded miserably, knowing she was right. Francine picked up the phone and dialed Billy's number. Before he could answer she handed the phone to Rheza and ordered, "You tell Mr. Melrose everything we know – I'm going to go see if I can figure out where Bo's gone!"
She headed out into the hall, crossing the foyer and out onto the front steps. She spotted the Zakirian guard who spoke English. "What's your name? Inam? Ok, Inam – you get some of these guys to start searching every building around the house and see if they can find Mr. Johnson. And you come with me and bring some men – I want to get a guard on the front gate in case he tries to get out that way."
Which is why forty-five minutes later, when Lee and Efraim drove stealthily up to the gate, headlights off, they found themselves instantly surrounded by Zakirian royal guards, all pointing rifles into the car. As they raised their hands and slowly obeyed the angry gestures to leave the Porsche, they exchanged a look, wondering how on earth they were going to get out of this one. Lee was still calculating and recalculating possible escape routes when they were ushered into the study to find Francine and Rheza poring over something on the desk. He heard Efraim's hiss in tandem with his own at the sight of the massive purple bruise still swelling on her face as Francine turned to greet them with a huge smile. "Hey, Boys! What took you so long?"
