The Hero and the Hidden Royal - Renae Kaye Page 0,18
more because they’re really scared of everything?”
“I can’t say I know that type,” Derek said, faking nonchalance. “In my experience, those who are afraid of everything just turn invisible.”
“Ha.” Sam grabbed the cork off the table and lobbed it at Derek. It bounced off his forehead and landed in the middle of his rice. Derek grinned and tilted his head to the side to consider the new topping on his food.
“Do you think this is edible?” he asked as he pushed it around with his fork.
“Sorry,” Sam apologized, reached over, snatched the cork back, and replaced it on Derek’s plate with a prawn cracker. “I’m a heathen. Just tell me to behave when you see me do something stupid like that.”
Derek picked up the cracker and crunched it. “Yum. I like these. I could live on them.”
“I’ll be sure to tell Mr. Lee that you approve,” Sam said.
“Good. I can tell you like Mr. Lee.”
“I do. I like them all, which is why I’m worried about them. I want to fix what’s bothering them. And besides, it’s wrong. It’s criminal. I wish I had a superpower and could go and fix it all.”
Derek brightened, sitting up straight and opening his eyes wide with feigned excitement. “Oh my God. I have a superpower. Maybe I can fix it. I’ll sneak up on them and tap them on the shoulder and scare them to death. Or perhaps I could just trip them over and make them unconscious. Will that help?”
Sam gave him a long look. “Are you being serious?”
Derek deflated. “No. Not really. I can’t control the invisibility long enough to be helpful like that. Although I could probably maintain it if I were around the scary guys. It’s the getting out of the way bit that’s hard. Can you appreciate how difficult it is to avoid people who don’t know you’re there? I could easily sneak up and tap someone on the shoulder, but what’s the first thing they do? They spin around. They’d possibly knock me over, then step on me as they try to work out who tapped them on the shoulder.”
They sat in silence, until Derek said, “But have you considered contacting one of the Royals? Maybe anonymously? They could come and investigate or something?”
Sam’s face was skeptical. “Really? What? Do I write them a postcard? ‘Dear King Bastien, I think someone is doing something wrong. Can you come and check it out?’ No. And it’s not like I have enough money to hire them. Not on my wages.”
With a furrowed brow, Derek admitted that wouldn’t work. “But surely there must be something?”
Sam shrugged. “Which is why I was behind the jewelry store last night. I caught the tail end of an argument. I think Mr. Gravos was refusing to pay up, or maybe refusing to pay the higher extortion that they were demanding. There were threats made. I tried to get Mr. Gravos to tell me what was going on, or at least go to the police. He wouldn’t. So I asked Mrs. Veroni who owns the bookstore what happens to someone who refuses to pay, and she just said, ‘They’ll be back tonight and will rob you.’ So I decided I’d be hanging around in the alley when they did.”
“Just like that?” Derek was astonished. “You knew a crime was about to be committed, so you plonked yourself in the middle of it?”
“Not exactly. I was there as a deterrent. Or maybe a witness.”
This was horrifying to Derek. “They had a gun!”
“I didn’t know that at the time, did I now?”
“But….” Derek waved his hand around to show his distress. “Couldn’t you have realized that? Criminals usually arm themselves. Didn’t you think ahead? Didn’t you think that maybe they would not want to be caught and would defend themselves? Didn’t you think that there would be more than one of them? Didn’t you think that if you were supposed to witness it, you could’ve simply put up a camera or something? Didn’t you think that maybe you could get hurt?”
He stopped when he saw the incredulous look on Sam’s face.
“You mean, this is all the things you worry about and think of all the time?” Sam asked softly. “Jeez. No wonder you’re anxious.”
“You mean you don’t worry about all those things all the time?” Derek shot back.
“Hell, no. What will be, will be. I’ll deal with it then.”
“Oh.”
They stared at each other.
Finally Derek couldn’t stand it any longer. “So what happened last night?”
With a sigh, Sam