I’m the only one who’ll listen to him.”
“Lorenzo will listen to him.”
“I’m sure he will. The problem is Willy won’t talk to him. He won’t talk to anyone but me.”
“I knew it!” Lorenzo snorted in disdain. “This is nothing but a scam.” Turning to his aunt and uncle, he said, “Can’t you see she’s just stringing you along? How do we know this Willy character even exists? She could have made this all up, bought the scarf over the Internet and trampled it in the dirt to make it look like it had been in the weather.”
Indignant, Eliza snapped, “And why would I do such a thing? For a story? According to you, there is no story. And that would come out soon enough if I tried to slip something so outrageous past my readers. I’d lose my job, and I’m not going to risk that for a story that doesn’t exist.”
“Then tell us more about Mr. Cranshaw,” the queen said. “If he truly does exist, Lorenzo really needs to meet with him. There might be something he didn’t think to tell you about the scarf that could lead us to Lucas.”
She had a point, one Eliza couldn’t disagree with. But they were talking about Willy, for God’s sake! How in the world was she going to get him to cooperate? If he got it in his head that the duke was suspicious of him, he might take off up into the mountains because he was afraid he was going to be arrested or something, and there was no telling how long he’d be gone.
“Willy is a hermit, Your Highness. I can’t predict how he will react to Duke Lorenzo—or me, for that matter, if I introduce them. But I’ll try,” she promised. “I came here because I truly believe Prince Lucas is alive. I’ll do anything I can to help find him.”
“For a price,” Duke Lorenzo said dryly. “You want the story.”
“I already have the story,” she reminded him. “I’ll admit that I would love an exclusive, but whether the king grants me that or not, I’ll do whatever I can to help find Prince Lucas. That’s the real story here.”
“I agree,” King Marcus said in a tone that warned them that he had had enough of their bickering. “The only thing of importance is finding Lucas. You can’t do that from here, Lorenzo. Not when he may be wandering around the mountains of Colorado, lost and confused and no doubt suffering from some serious injuries. So I’m reopening the investigation and sending you home with Eliza.”
“What?!”
“Your Highness, Duke Lorenzo doesn’t need me to show him the way to Colorado.”
“That’s true,” he replied, his lips twitching. “But he needs you to take him to Willy. And you did say you would help in any way you could. You meant that, didn’t you?”
Trapped, Eliza could hardly add that her help didn’t include doing any favors for the duke. She’d just have to bite her tongue and learn to tolerate him, like it or not. After all, it wasn’t as if she was going to have to spend weeks at a time with the man. The minute they reached Denver, she’d arrange a meeting with Willy, and drive him out to his place. Willy, of course, wouldn’t have anything to do with him, and that would be that. The Duke would admit defeat and fly back home, end of story.
So what was she worried about? She might have to spend another twenty-four hours in the duke’s company? If she couldn’t handle that in order to get a story, she had no right being in the newspaper business.
“Of course I meant it,” she said quietly. “I’ll call Willy as soon as we get back to Denver and set up a meeting.”
Pleased, he smiled. “Then it’s settled. You and Lorenzo will work together. Between the two of you, with your investigative skills and his years in intelligence, you’re bound to find Lucas.”
Lorenzo wasn’t too sure of that—the prince had been missing for a year and could be anywhere!—but at the moment, the king had another pressing problem to handle. Down the hall, family and new allies were waiting for him to announce his successor. Now that there was a strong possibility that Lucas was alive, that announcement would, of course, be put on hold.
“For the moment, I think it would be wise if you didn’t say anything specific about this new evidence, Your Highness,” Lorenzo said quietly. “Just as a precaution.”
“I agree,” he replied solemnly. “Lucas obviously isn’t himself or he would have been in touch with us by now, so we must do what we can to protect him.” Turning his attention back to Eliza, he gave her a hard look. “I need your word that you won’t reveal my son’s whereabouts until he is safe, Eliza. If you can’t do that and still write your story, then I need to know now.”
Eliza didn’t pretend to misunderstand what he was saying. If she couldn’t promise to write the story the way the king wanted, there would be no exclusive. “I like to think I’m a responsible reporter, Your Highness. I believe in freedom of the press, but I also realize that what I write can have repercussions. I don’t like withholding information from my readers, but in this case, I agree that there is a need to protect the prince as much as possible. What I’d like to do is write a feature story on him—his life, and hopefully, his rescue. The search for him will have to be included in that, of course, but the story won’t be printed until after Prince Lucas is back home, safe and sound.”
“And your editor will agree to this?”
Simon would have a stroke, but that was something she had no intention of telling the royals. “He won’t like it,” she said honestly. “He would much rather cover the search as it’s happening, but he’ll accept whatever terms I agree to.” He had to. She was writing the story. He couldn’t force her to divulge anything she didn’t want to. “I give you my word that I won’t write anything that will place the Prince in danger.”
Considering that, the king glanced at the queen. “What do you think, sweetheart? Should we even consider giving anyone an exclusive at this point? We have to do what’s right for Lucas.”
Before she could respond, Lorenzo said, “Then the real question here is whether you can trust a woman you don’t know from Adam. She’s a reporter. She has her own agenda.”
Her eyes flashing with irritation, Eliza didn’t say a word in her own defense. How could she? He was right. She was a reporter and she did have her own agenda—she wanted a story that would rock the world back on its heels. That didn’t mean, however, that she was a liar.
“We all have our own agenda,” Queen Gwendolyn replied. “I want my son back, and just this morning, I didn’t think that was possible. Thanks to Eliza, now I do.”
Turning to Lorenzo, she said, “So the answer to your question is yes, I think we can trust her. By granting her an exclusive, it’s in her best interest to keep Lucas’s whereabouts a secret. Not only will she have more to write about, but she’ll protect her source so someone else won’t find him before we do and steal the story right out from under her.”
“I agree,” the king said. “Eliza will do the right thing. The exclusive is hers. Lorenzo, find my son for me.”
“I’ll do my best, Your Highness.”
“I know you will,” he said gruffly. “Now that that’s settled, I have an announcement to make. I’ve kept my guests waiting long enough.”
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