“I don’t,” Deidre replied, pushing her dark glasses up on her nose, her gaze darting from Lara back to him. “I only know that I saw a man on the upstairs balcony last night. I didn’t even see the package.”
“That’s true,” Lara said, deciding she’d deal with Gabriel Murdock later. “I’m the one who alerted Malcolm and his team about the package.”
Deidre stopped sobbing and stilled, shock coloring her face. “You don’t think that I—”
“Of course not,” Lara replied, taking Deidre by the hand. She lifted her gaze toward Gabriel, daring him to voice what she knew he must be thinking. “But...Deidre, Mr. Murdock does have a point. Since no one witnessed the first delivery and Herbert is not answering his phone to verify what you told us last night and now you claim you saw a man—”
“I did see a man,” Deidre said, getting up to whirl around. “I don’t know anything else. I brought you the first package, but I found it. I didn’t plant it, if that’s what you’re implying. That’s the truth. I’d never do anything to harm you.”
Gabriel lifted his chin toward Lara. “May I say something else?”
Lara wanted to tell him no. She wanted to tell him to leave her house. But that little niggle of reality kept her from sending Gabriel away. That and the concern in his dark eyes.
“What?”
He gave her a nod of thanks. “Deidre, I’m the one who suspected you. Princess Lara was concerned for you, but I suggested that you might be involved. I apologize. It was very brave of you to come back and face her.”
“She’s brave because she has nothing to hide, right, Deidre?” Lara was determined to make him see that he was wrong. If she couldn’t trust Deidre, whom could she trust?
“I’m telling the truth,” Deidre replied. “Truly, ma’am, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“We believe you, don’t we, Gabriel?”
He stared at her a long minute before nodding. “I don’t want to get involved in this, but I’m here and it’s hard to avoid. It’s the nature of being an investigative photojournalist. Too curious for my own good.”
Deidre’s dark gaze probed him. Then she turned to Lara. “May I please go to my room now? I’ll unpack and we can finish what’s left of today’s schedule.”
Lara got up and hugged Deidre. “You go, but don’t worry about today’s schedule. Take a long nap. I’ll make sure Malcolm posts a guard by your door.”
Deidre nodded and grabbed her small suitcase. Lara waited until she heard the girl’s footsteps on the stairs. She turned to Gabriel, but Malcolm popped in the door.
“Ma’am, I hope the girl explained her absence and her return.”
Lara nodded. “She did, Malcolm. Thank you for going after her.”
He nodded, then left as silently as he’d come. Odd that Malcolm hadn’t even questioned her acceptance of Deidre’s return. Usually, the man was full of questions. But then, this whole affair had taken on a strangeness that didn’t set well with Lara. Not a good way to start out her time here in New Orleans.
Lara took a deep, settling breath. “And as for you, Gabriel Murdock—”
Gabriel moved toward her like a panther stalking a dove. “You can’t be serious. Do you actually believe her?”
“Yes, I certainly do. She’s young and afraid and confused. I believe she got scared out of her wits and wanted to go home to her family in Europe. Sometimes, we all just want to go home.”
He stared down at her and nodded, his expression changing to something less forceful. “Am I still on this assignment, Princess?”
She thought about that long and hard, and then she nodded. “Of course. We’re all a little fatigued and on edge. I appreciate you being so diligent, but you need to remember you are not here to do any investigative journalism. You’re only here to do an in-depth study on me. A factual, enlightening study to showcase my work here in New Orleans. Do I make myself clear?”
He leaned close, the scent of something spicy and masculine surrounding him. “Very clear, Princess. I’ll report what I see and I’ll write what I know to be true. But you have to know—this threat is not over.” He hesitated, then rushed ahead. “And you also have to know that I won’t stand by and watch if I think something is about to happen to you.”
She grabbed at her pearls and inclined her head, hoping to distract herself from the way this man seemed to have a natural need to protect her. Maybe that was just the way he was wired, but his actions were somewhat confusing. “We’re all aware now. We’ll watch and wait, and I’m sure between Malcolm and the police, this will soon end.”
He moved toward his equipment bags. “Then let’s get started with your day.”
Lara cleared her mind and tried to focus on the many tasks at hand. But she couldn’t get past Gabriel’s suggestion that Deidre wasn’t being honest.
Especially when she’d noticed how strange her assistant had been acting lately. Was Deidre scared because of all the unsettling things happening around here? Or did the other woman actually know who was behind this?
* * *
Gabriel took another shot, from a different angle. The afternoon sun glistened off of Lake Pontchartrain and cast a golden shimmer around the woman in the stark white sundress.
Lara Kincade was in PR mode. This press conference would announce her intentions of building more Kincade houses in one of the disaster-stricken wards of New Orleans. With the lake behind her and most of the Louisiana press before her, Lara commanded the mike space with a regal elegance.
He wanted to capture that elegance.
So he snapped away with two different cameras and several lenses. He caught her smiling softly. He captured her with a hand lifted in the air, her diamond solitaire a signal that while she might be alone, she still held her marriage as sacred.
“And so, I’m happy to announce that I have a team of contractors and carpenters on standby to finish the work my husband started. I’m very excited and blessed to be able to be a part of this important recovery phase for the city of New Orleans.”
After a round of applause, Deidre—wide-awake and back in control—stepped to the mike. “And now Her Royal Highness will be happy to take your questions.”
Everyone started talking at once. Out of habit, Gabriel turned to snap a few pictures of the crowd. It never hurt to record anything that might become history. It never hurt to get faces that might become assets or foes later, either.
Or in this case, help him to protect the princess even more—the princess who didn’t want to be protected. The woman was a walking target, but she had a job to do. He had to admire her fortitude. But he was also grateful for Malcolm and his expert security team. And having pictures of the crowd could serve as backup later. If anything else happened.
Gabriel had a feeling something else would happen. And soon. With art worth millions hanging around, and a highly visible princess taking up residence in the city, New Orleans was abuzz with intent. Some of it good and some of it bad.
He watched Deidre, too. The girl who’d been so rattled this morning now seemed as polished and cultured as a fresh pearl. Not the same girl who’d cried and played coy earlier. She’d appeared after lunch and just in time for the press conference that Lara had refused to cancel. What was the story with that one, anyway? He could always do a background check on her later, on his own time.
But right now he had to keep at the subject at hand.
He snapped away, his methods unobtrusive, and managed