The Robber Princess

Chapter 25. With Friends Like These...

Chapter 25

With the Eidelstein necklace recovered and Regina in his custody, Brickelstein was confident that he, Folkering, and hopefully Colonel Mason also, would be awarded the Order of Merit. But Brickelstein no longer cared, for the emotional cost to himself had been too high. That afternoon he and Regina would be on their way to Eidelmark. The next day he would be sleeping in his own bed again, while the love of his life was being processed for detention and trial—and lost to him forever.

He took some small comfort in that she apparently had forgiven him for their dust-up in Ecuador. That being the case, he wanted to be at her side for as much as possible of the little time they had left. He tried to make her as comfortable as possible and treat her as gently and affectionately as he could under the circumstances. Regina seemed to appreciate his kindness but was oddly quiet and docile—quite out of character for the happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care, carpe-diem woman whom he had come to know, admire, and love.

Upon returning to the house, he let her clean up, then he did so while she took a nap—handcuffed to the bed, of course. Brickelstein was taking no chances, and Regina understood and was cooperative. Still, he was relieved that when he emerged from his bedroom in a fresh uniform, Regina was still lying on her bed, apparently having made no effort to escape.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked her. Regina raised her eyebrow devilishly. "Besides letting you go, of course?" he clarified.

Regina chuckled and sat up. "I don't think so, but thank you for asking. And, Heinrich ..." She paused and looked up into his eyes softly. Brickelstein felt as if his face would melt from the warmth of her loving gaze. "I want to thank you for your professionalism this past month. If it were anyone but you, I might have ended up ..." Regina looked away for a second as she fought back a tear. "... like Marcelo."

Brickelstein teared up slightly. Regina could have given him no higher compliment. "You've been a worthy adversary, Regina," he reciprocated. "And you do understand that I had nothing to do with Marcelo's treatment, right?" Regina nodded. Brickelstein was about the shut the door and let her go back to sleep when she said, "Wait. There is something you can do for me."

"Tell me."

"Take me to Eidelmark tomorrow night instead of tonight. Let's spend the next twenty-four hours together, just you and me. 'On my honor as the Crown Princess of Rochevaux,' I promise I will not try to escape."

Brickelstein liked the idea very much, and Regina had already proven that her word was golden. Not once had Regina ever broken it—not even in Rome when she had gotten the better of him. Had Regina ever been treacherous, Brickelstein could never have excused that. But Regina had never crossed that line; her coyness and misdirection was simply how the game worked between adversaries—and professionally, Brickelstein had admired Regina's skill more than any other adversary he had even faced. He sat down on the bed facing her. "Okay, we have twenty-four hours. What would you like to do?" he asked.

"This is my third time in Tanzania and would you believe, I've never been to Kilimanjaro?"

Brickelstein rolled his eyes. "It's two hours just to Arusha!"

"And another two hours to the mountain and then two more hours back to Arusha." Regina reached up with her free hand and caressed Brickelstein's face again. "But we'll be together, for one entire day, and"—her voiced cracked—"and probably for the last time." Regina looked into his eyes. "Please, Heinrich."

The beads of sweat forming on the top of Brickelstein's balding scalp reminded him just how uncomfortably warm and sticky he had felt during the previous week. The cooler air would probably agree with him, he thought. "All right," he replied finally.