Page 14 of The Eagle (Spy Girl 2)
"It's only been a short while since my father passed. She shouldn't be making decisions right now."
"Give her some time. I'm sure she'll come around to your way of thinking. She loves you and wants to make you happy."
He takes my hand and presses his lips against it. "As I do you."
I want to ask him to clarify that. I'm sure he meant he wants to make me happy, not that he loves me. But just as I'm about to open my mouth, Juan interrupts the moment to tell us our car is waiting out front.
Upon arrival to the Archives, we are escorted through a back entrance. We're getting a VIP tour that allows us to see the preservation rooms as well as some of the pieces that are rotated on and off display. It's cool to see the care that is given to our country's important documents.
Next, we are taken to the grand hall where the Declaration of Independence is displayed. The place is packed with summer vacationers and full of children.
"There it is," Lorenzo says. "Your Declaration of Independence. It's incredible to think that a new country, your government, was created by a few men with great foresight."
"America has become a super power in a very short time. Do you think it will be like other world powers who have fallen, or will it be able to maintain this status?"
"If history is any indication, all super powers eventually fall. My father always said we should learn from the mistakes of the past. And we can learn much from the history of our countries. Montrovia is like Switzerland. We remain neutral in world politics. It keeps us from getting involved in costly wars."
"That's true, but terror has yet to come to your country."
"And it probably will not because we've created no animosity with any country."
"You flaunt your wealth and western ways, isn't that enough for some?"
"Perhaps," he agrees, "but the deep seeded hate is not there."
"I wish there was no hate in the world," I say with a sigh, then point to the document and change the subject. "Did you know there's an invisible map on the back of it?"
He smiles. "I've seen that movie." He wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close enough so that he can whisper in my ear. "I think in another life I was a treasure hunter. So much excitement. Speaking of that, you've been spending time with me. I like it but was wondering, am I still your mission?"
I shake my head. "No, you are not."
"So you are here with me simply because you enjoy my company?"
"Yes," I say, standing on my tiptoes and kissing his cheek. "I most certainly am."
He's pulling me in for a kiss when my peripheral vision notices something out of place.
Shit. We have to act quickly.
I duck behind Lorenzo's shoulder and tap Juan. "Three o'clock. Black puffy jacket."
"It's not cold out," he says.
"And there are a lot of children and families here. We have to do something."
Nearly everyone in the place is taking photos and videos. If I tried to approach the man, it could end horrifically, not to mention completely blow my cover. But that would be better than being blown to bits.
Juan reaches for his concealed weapon.
"Don't do that! If he has a bomb, you'll risk him setting it off and killing everyone in here. Including us."
"Well, what would you suggest?" he says sarcastically.
"If you want to play the hero, you can hug him tightly, which would lessen the bomb's impact. You would die but you'd save a lot of people."
"Any other brilliant ideas?"
"You need to go behind the bomber, grab him around the shins, lift up, and push forward. He should instinctively put his hands out to break his fall. Once his hands are away from the bomb's trigger, shove your knee into his back to keep him down flat. Then you can shoot him if need be."
The other guards surround Lorenzo and I, but I'm not sure why they are bothering. If the man does have a bomb, and it goes off, it won't matter. We'll all be dead.
Juan circles behind the man.
"Lorenzo," I whisper. "You need to leave the building."
"Maybe the man is just chilly?"
"He's here by himself, wearing a coat in the middle of summer, and his lips are moving."
"Then we need to stay here and help these people. Are you armed?"
"Actually, I am, but if I shoot him, the bomb could still explode. Let's see if Juan can handle it."
I wait until Juan dives into the man's shins then yell out, "He's got a bomb! Everyone get out!"
A mass panic occurs, people scream and run for their lives.
This helps to clear the area around the bomber. Juan jabs his knee in the man's back, but the man keeps struggling.
I'm afraid he will get free.
No one is looking at me, so I shoot the man in the neck with a tranquilizer dart, causing him to quickly stop struggling as he goes limp.
Juan narrows his eyes at me then rolls the man over and opens his jacket.
"There is no bomb," he says. "Merda."
"Check his underwear," I say. "I read in the paper the other day that--"
"I'm not unzipping his pants," Juan argues. "If you're wrong about this, it's going to be a social media nightmare."
I bend down and unzip the unconscious man's pants, proving my point.
"Holy mother, will you look at that?"
"I've heard about those," one of the other guards says. "They use liquid explosives, like TATP and nitroglycerin. We only had to go through a magnetometer here. It wouldn't have picked it up."
"Get your hands in the air!" a policeman yells as we are surrounded by lots of men with guns.
"Drop the weapon," another yells at Juan.
"I am the King of Montrovia," Lorenzo says, his voice booming as he steps directly into their line of fire. "These men are part of my security detail. Because of their quick thinking, they took down a suicide bomber who nearly caused the deaths of many people. Lower your guns and treat them with the respect they deserve."
To my surprise, the men do exactly as told.
I can't help but smile with pride.
An hour and a million questions later, we are allowed to leave.
The good news is they don't believe the man was targeting Lorenzo. The bad news is he got past their security.
"I think we should skip the rest of our tour," Juan says.
When we get back to the house, Juan asks to speak to me in private.
"Miss Von Allister," he says formally. Usually he calls me Huntley. "May I ask why you have a watch that shoots tranquilizer darts? Darts that look much like the ones used when you, your brother, and the Prince were kidnapped?"
I look down at my watch, wondering what I could tell him to allow me to maintain my cover.
I slump my shoulders and sigh, like I'm about to tell him a secret.
"As one would expect, being kidnapped kind of freaked my brother and I out. I suggested getting a gun for protection, but Ari said that I would end up shooting myself. So we did some research and found a website with all these covert, spy-type gadgets." I hold my arm up, showing him the watch. "With their help, we retrofitted this watch to hold two tranquilizer darts."
"Okay, let's say I buy that," he says, scrutinizing me. "How is it that you knew the proper way to take down a suicide bomber?"
I look him straight in the eye and lie through my teeth. "Ari and I worked with a professional security advisor. Although we are not royalty, we're told that our money could make us a target, particularly for kidnapping. So we were taught some basic techniques. That was one of them. I was really impressed with how well it worked."
"I can't believe I listened to you," he says with a smile, shaking his head. I'm not sure he totally buys it, but at least he goes along with my story. "However, I'm glad I did. Can you give me the name of the firm? I think I'd like to have them do a training session for the King's guards."
"Um." Merda. "Absolutely, I'll have Ari get you his name. We considered hiring our own security guards, but that seemed a bit pretentious
. Ari and I aren't used to all this media attention. I suppose Lorenzo grew up with it and doesn't know anything different."
"He did, and he often acted out accordingly," Juan says with a laugh. "You're good for him. After the kidnapping, he distanced himself from you."
"I know. He wouldn't talk to me."
"But he wanted you to attend his coronation."
"To get back the Royal Jewels, I assumed."
