Royalty in Death - an In Death series fanfic (J.D. Robb)

Chapter 17

"Darling, would you like to eat some truffles?", Levinski asked as he placed some to Eve's plates.

"No.", was her abrubt reply.

"How about these paella? I know you like paellas."

"No."

"Some cake rolls then?"

She would kill to have some, but she's not in the mood to enjoy the treat. His overly faked display of affection was one reason; another was burnt odor that came from his turban. Not only it spoiled her appetite, it gave her a magnificent headache.

On top of it, she could hear Roarke's random Irish curses vibrated on her ear piece.

"Nobody has a right to call you Darling. Only me.", he scowled.

Was it her or was he transmitting it on their centralized communicator?

She saw Commander Whitney and Chief Tibble at the far-end table, and even though they seem relaxed while dining, their cop-eyes were at full-alert. Peabody was acting like she's interested on her conversation with a reporter, but Eve saw her twinkling eyes to McNab in a dark wig, who was acting as one of Harmin's servants. Baxter was doing the securities, while Trueheart was with the caterers, but these two partners looked like they were there because of the food, not because of their job.

She's queasy, with a head-splitting headache and forcibly sat beside the most irritated man in the universe, while her gorgeous husband was swearing, and her team was at their own fantasy world.

This was the shittiest op she ever handled.

She was ready to excuse herself and leave, but the announcement of the arrival of Prince Lamook stopped her.

Just like what her sister Petun described, Lamook carries an air of superiority. He's tall, lean, with whiskey-colored eyes and a thick, brown hair. Beside him was a pretty woman in traditional clothes, with long dark hair that matched her eyes.

According to the data, she's the fifth royal consort Lady Sora, one among Lamook's eight wives, and since the royal family didn't require their married women to hide their faces, Lady Sora has all the vanity to display her gorgeous looks.

"I'm happy to see you again, my brother in law!", Levinski said as he shamelessly hugged Lamook, even though it's evident that the man was displeased - and possibly got a whiff of his smoked head - of his public actions.

Eve was interested to know why the Prince was irked about Levinski, even though he's his matchmaker for Petun. She's also curious if he shared some confidentiality to Lady Sora, who was looking stoically at her.

"You look good, my beloved sister.", Lamook said to Eve in their own dialect.

"You're like the other way around.", she replied at the same tongue.

A thin smile formed on the prince's face. He was impressed how an American cop created a facade of Petun so smooth that if he was not informed about the situation, he would buy it.

While the rest were enjoying the banquet party, the EDD were busy monitoring the scene at the opposite building owned by Roarke.

"You looked like a confused puppy, Roarke.", Feeney commented as he bit a slice of hot pizza. "You've been staring at Levinski and Prince Lamook like they steal your ball."

He might be operating two consoles, but he was able to observe the man. Roarke was also operating two consoles, but his full attention was on Eve's movements, and yet despite of it, he could run an imaging software which filtered all the guests that fit their suspect's body description.

Wouldn't it be surprising that there were ten women that fit the said description, and one of them was Lady Sora.

Roarke saw on the monitor screen that Eve excused herself and left the table. She might have muted her earpiece but he could still hear all of her conversations – either translated or untranslated ones – and knew that she's unwell. Even with that thick binds and veil on her head and body, he knew her wife's small gestures.

Eve told him that her check-up with the doctor went well, and now he's starting to doubt it.

When she entered the toilet, Roarke saw some movements in the side screen.

"Something's not right.", he muttered.

Then suddenly, all of their monitor cams went dead.

Eve booted herself and poured all the food she had eaten. The nausea was horrible, leaving a disgusting aftertaste, and when she believed it's all over, another wave would attack her that would make her vomit for minutes.

She removed her clipped earpiece earrings and locked it at the side cabinet, in case Roarke would manually activate it to detect the noise. She didn't want the whole team got worried about her sickness, especially Roarke, and make it as a reason to end their op. Two lives have been lost, and another one if they would let the suspect do its own bidding.

After rinsing her mouth with cold water, she heard a click, and when she looked back, Lamook was standing at the door smiling. He was holding an electronic jammer.

"This is a female toilet, and I believed the door's been locked.", she said coldly.

"I know.", Lamook replied in a heavy-accented English. "Thus we have all the privacy to talk about something."

"About what?"

Eve had her clutch piece strapped on her leg, and thanked her unbreakable habit of leaving without one. She could feel its bump on her skin, and if Lamook would launch himself to her, she would never think twice to stun him. He had caught her in a bad condition, so it's not obvious to him if she faked her tremors.

"About you, my beloved sister, and the throne.", he answered.