While he was preparing to leave, Roarke spotted Summerset updating Eve's Autochef.
"The Lieutenant is back to her routine now. No wonder she's quite energetic," said Summerset.
It was quite funny on Roarke's end how his wife and his foster father bickered with nonsense things only to catch one of them doing something sweet behind each other's back. Just like now.
He pulled a bar stool while observing how meticulous Summerset arranged Eve's things, and probably have waited for her and the whole team to leave before he climbed upstairs.
"Everything will be busy for a while, now that she's dealing with an unusual case."
"Since when did the Lieutenant handle a 'normal' case?" the butler sneered "But then, it will be a relief that someone can look out for her."
Roarke smiled at that comment then frowned when he remembered the person that he had to be dealt with.
Summerset knew all of the quirks of his adopted son, and with his momentary silence and scowling expression, he laughed much to Roarke's chagrin.
"Oh boy, when are you going to forget about Levinski? That was several years ago yet you're still holding that grudge?"
With the media announcing of Eve as primary of the Harminian consul's case, it was not difficult for Summerset to connect it with the upcoming marriage of his nemesis.
"That bollock never worry me at all. Besides, I have toppled him down in Wallstreet and took most of his prospect investments as a payback for what he did here. And with his name tangled in the case, I am willing to fry his balls and give it to the hounds."
"Yet you're still affected. I wonder what would be the Lieutenant's reaction if she knew", Summerset mused that earned a narrowed glare from Roarke.
"What if I told Eve that you have a soft spot for her?"
"She won't buy that.", Summerset scoffed.
Roarke walked towards him and snatched a piece of a peanut brittle he was about to add on the autochef's menu.
Ever since he overheard Eve's praise on a gift several days ago, he was making peanut brittles in various flavors. Last time he served several meringue pies after she brought home one from the same grandmother, making Roarke assumed they were celebrating Pie Month. There were also chocolate chip cookies against Nadine's bribery and pastries against Ariel's cakes.
Summerset always competes for Eve without them knowing it.
"Oh yeah, before I forgot.", Roarke paused a bit to grab his suitcase, "I've heard that crullers in Harmin are world-class, especially their buttermilk flavor. I bet the Lieutenant will like it."
He couldn't wipe the smirk on his face when he saw Summerset's stunned realization as he exited the house.
After settling inside the limo, Roarke pulled out his link' and dialed a number. A woman immediately appeared on his screen.
"Good morning, Roarke. What's up?", the female greeted.
"Good morning, Reva. I need you to do something for me."
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"And Roarke is okay with it?", Peabody meekly asked Eve who was currently driving towards their assigned location. They were trying to engage a conversation while observing some tails behind, which happened to be the same vehicle that Levinski used last night.
"We have talked about it, and he knows that we don't have much time to look for a perfect bait as I do. He'll do hands-on in this op, so no worries.", Eve replied as she swiveled towards the Skyline.
Peabody pulled her communicator as it beeped. "McNab messaged me that they have a tail now going to Central. Trueheart sends one as well, but they were able to lose it and now they're currently going to Levinski's residence."
"Playing a prince to his damsel in distress, huh?", Eve mused, trying to hide her irritation of Levinski's stupidity of taking cops like an amateur.
"Do you think Levinski did it?", Peabody asked again.
"Let's see how Mira would say about it."
Instead of leaving the DLE again at the hotel's entrance, she parked it in the proper slot.
"Is that the reason why you left the interrogation to Baxter?"
"Regardless if Baxter or I handled it, Levinski is already convicted for accepting bribes and will be convicted sooner or later. And revealing these shreds of evidence, Feds or even the HSO, or worse the Harmin officials, will dip their hands to our platters."
Eve might be telling her partner the truth, but that was not all. She wanted Levinski to be dealt with no preferential treatment since Roarke happened to have some past with him. With the upcoming consul party, she'll be able to evaluate Levinski up close, together with Roarke.
"Just remember, you have to interview some of the Harminian staffs, get their sympathy - you're good with that - and study the interiors. If you got stalled, try the hotel staff and the owner. Wait for my message before you return here."
"Yes, sir.", Peabody replied then went outside the car.
They were walking on the thin wire now that the Lieutenant and the Impostor must exist at the same time, and it so happened that these two were a single person.
Five minutes after Peabody left, Afef emerged from the lot and slipped inside the passenger seat.
"Greetings, Lieutenant. I would like to thank you personally for helping our Royal Highness' causes.", he said.
"Thank Roarke. He's the one who arranged everything.", replied Eve.
She heard a disappointment grunt when she mentioned Roarke's name.
"So, how can you leave using your vehicle without them knowing?"
"I can pull some tricks.", she said, pushing some buttons on the DLE. She just recently learned that not only it has stealth, it has a camouflage-holo duplicate; and depending on her moods, she can alter her gray-colored DLE with a striking red exterior in a matter of seconds.
"I see that your husband doted you so well.", he jeered.
"Do you have a bad blood with Roarke?", Eve asked as they left the premises.
The butler scoffed.
"None as I can remember, as we met only once during a luncheon for the Royal family. I admit he was better than Mr. Levinski even with his murky past, but I'm glad he did not end up as one of our royal consorts."
"I think Roarke mentioned to me before that one of your princesses was offered to him for marriage. Was it insulting that he rejected the proposal?"
"As I've mentioned earlier, I'm glad he did not become one of us. And speaking with that princess you mentioned, she's now a mother of five and living happily with her husband.", he stared at Eve with warmth. "But it seems that he was more fortunate than anyone of us to marry you, and with your state..."
She almost forgot that she was dealing with a sensitive, so she tried to return the topic back to its pace.
"Levinski owns some villas here in New York, yet a bunch of you stayed here in the hotel. Why is that?", she asked.
"It is forbidden for a woman in our culture to stay in her soon-to-be husband's property before marriage. Also, the Skyline is a property of our brethren. We only trust ours."
"Yeah, right. And one of your brethren attempted to kill your Princess."
The butler remained silent.
"I take it as a yes, then.", she concluded. She waited for a few beats before continuing "I read all about your murky past, same as all the royalties who lived and died. I don't really care about your traditions and stuff, but I know how to empathize. Life has never been fair."
For a natural observer, it gave Eve some level of difficulty to know what Afef was thinking. He was overwhelmingly cooperating and trusting, to the point of having doubts on possible traps. She tested him when she showed the cartographic sketches that Baxter provided.
Unbelievably, he was gravely shaken as he began to tell her the names of those persons.
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The first time she stepped in Dochas, it gave her some traumatic flashbacks. But after dealing with McQueen's case in Dallas, she started to recover from her childhood and come to terms with it, which includes developing some attachments to her fellow survivors.
Now she was in the said shelter again to check out another survivor.
Petun was sitting on a stone bench at the dome garden, wearing a peach-colored turban that covered her whole face and a column-style dress. She was holding a piece of a flower which she was twirling it with her fingers.
Both similar eyes met. Taking as a cue, Petun removed the turban to reveal her face. She looked exactly on the picture, only with horizontal slash above her nose that was covered by a bandage.
"They told me you looked like me."
"Mine told me otherwise.", Eve replied as she strode towards Petun. She sat beside her, looking at the white petunia flower in her hand.
"I never expect to see a beautiful garden like this full of petunias. Only petunias. Did you know that I was named after this flower?", Petun said as she held the flower to Eve. "It was a significant flower to me."
"It was significant to me as well, as that was my wedding flower."
The princess smiled at Eve's response, then moved closer to her space.
"I don't know why you trust me enough to record our conversation, despite the fact that this act is forbidden in your culture. You did not seek any counsel for this, even to your butler."
"We are in a foreign land, Lieutenant, and we don't have any power over it, so we have to obey the laws here."
"Why?", Eve could only ask, waiting for Petun to explain her side.
"When I first read the Icove's Agenda, I started to admire Lt. Eve Dallas - you - and grew stronger when I watched the movie. I couldn't believe that everything in that book was real. You were real. You don't know our cultures exactly, but us females do not have an equal status as what you have here in this country. I'm not allowed to go outside or choose the things that I want. Even the books that I read or the screens I watched. All my life I was raised with make-believe ideals, but you are my only "fantasy" that is real. I wanted to be like you, and now that you're here in front of me, everything feels like a dream."
"But this is a reality now, your Highness. You are a witness of two murders, and the perpetrator made an attempt to you. In a few days, you'll be marrying one of America's moguls, making you as one of us. You'll have your own freedom."
"But in exchange of my freedom will be a lifetime sacrifice of emotions? Of love? Have you ever fall in love?"
"Yes."
"Then you know how it feels when you spent your life with someone you never loved!"
Both of them were silent for a while. Then the princess continued.
"Only two people know my secret, and you will be the third one."
Eve made a nod.
"I summoned Mr. Howe for a meeting to discuss something about myself. Lieutenant, I'm in love with somebody else."
Petun told her everything - how her lover visited her every night, and when she received a message that she'll be prepared for marriage, they made plans for elopement. He promised that he will save her and that they will live in a faraway land as a normal couple.
Eve felt her eyes twitched as she listened to the story. She used to have this ill-feeling whenever Peabody shares her weird stories about her cohab McNab.
She pinched the bridge of her nose "Are you telling me that your lover will snag you on the day of your wedding, so both of you can go for elopement?"
"Yes, that's right."
"And this alleged lover of yours serenated you secretly for three years, and you haven't seen his face at all?"
"You have understood me well."
"Are you dimwit crazy?!" Eve revolted "How sure are you that there was no foul play there, or it wasn't a poser all along? What if he was not even existed? Or if he did, and for some unknown reasons made an access to your so-called chamber, why not made an elopement when you two were still in Harmin?"
"My father is the king. He controls everything, including the entrances and exits of every community. Even if we luckily escaped the country, we'll still be trapped on the borders. But unlike this country, which is not one of our borders and quite far for my father's influence, we have an existing treaty of peace here."
The lover made a really well-devised plan, Eve though, but was he able to foresee a sudden variable?
"You have an assassination attempt here since your arrival, and currently involved in my murder investigation. Was this a plan all along?"
Petun smiled.
"If you think we'll go all means to kill just for diversion, the answer is no. And to correct you, Lieutenant, I received several blackmails and murder attempts since I was young. My brother was shot and died in front of me, and I was luckily saved because he cushioned his body in order to receive all the blows that were intended for me. I will never kill anyone to save myself."
She might be slightly distracted how they looked alike, but she could sense the honesty behind her words. It reminded her how she dealt with Marlo Durn, the actress who played her in the movie, and just like Petun, she looked exactly like her.
"I told Mr. Howe about my plans, believing that he might find some legal ways to save me, but before he could continue, a loud crash and a smoke engulfed us. I saw a tall person clad in black clothes slashed Mr. Howe and the server lady. I tried to save her by hitting the black person with a chair. I have basics in sabres, so I was able to defend myself. Then Afef saved me."
"If we established that the perpetrator was skilled in Harminian sword-fighting and was tasked to kill you, will your government interfere ours?"
Petun closed her eyes for a few seconds, as if thinking, then stared at Eve with a determined glare.
"You're the one who taught me about "protect and serve" belief, and sadly, our county lack some passions like yours. Whoever desires to end my life, I want you to be my avenger.", she took Eve's hand and kissed its back much to the cop's bafflement.
"Us Royals have a notion that only our brethren can save us. Afef was a firm believer to that creed, that's why I'm surprised how you were able to persuade him."
"I threatened him to jail."
The princess chuckled. "I don't think that threat was enough for him to obey someone. He told me he knows you, in another life, and that you still have the same nostalgic scent as before. He said he was your attendant."
"Then I must be some rich spoiled brat in my previous life."
"I understand you're cynical to these things, but if you'll try to look for it, you might find some memory fragments with him. Who knows, you might be one of our reincarnated ancestors."
Petun wore her turban again as Eve left the garden. She spotted Moira O'Bannion, the head counselor, talking with Afef, strangely, in Gaelic.
"I have no idea you're linguistic," she commented.
"I've stayed in Ireland for quite some time, and knows some basic words.", Afef replied casually then excused himself to attend the princess.
"He told me a few bits about her niece, like her favorite foods and drinks.", Moira told her. Only Eve, Roarke and Afef knew about Petun's identity and her whereabouts.
"I see. I bet she's picky. How's her recovery?"
"The poison has been stabilized and removed from her system, so we're expecting that her muscles will be responding on the therapy. Four days tops if there will be some drastic changes. We've stitched her facial wound, but it might take weeks for the scar to vanish."
Eve made a mental calculation of Petun's recovery to her public appearances. Not a chance.
"Lieutenant, as one of her counselors, I would like to know how she ended up with that condition."
"Attempted murder using a poisoned sword, and apparently the sole witness of my murder investigation."
"My God."
"She needs to recover immediately to give her and the two murdered victims some justice.", Eve added. She looked at the exteriors of the dome garden.
"Most patients here visited the dome garden for devotion, sometimes meditation. Others stayed there to pray due to its relaxing ambiance. Roarke took the inspiration from your wedding, hence named this place as Eve's Garden.", Moira told her, unable to hide her grin when she noticed a perplexed expression.
"He's stupid with gifts."
"You can't blame the person who's stupidly in love. I know you might be hostile with me.", the counselor went on "But I would like to apologize on what I had caused to your husband. I'm glad he grew up in contrast with his father, and he deserves to know the other side of his family. He's a bit shaken, but it seems that he was able to come to terms with it."
"You have nothing to apologize, Moira. In fact, I am grateful for what you have done - making Roarke met his bunch of family he never knew before. We are happy to meet those people."
Eve did not expect a tear from Moira's eyes. She wasn't good at consoling people, but she moved and patted her back. It horrified her when Moira hugged her and cried on her shoulders.
They only spent one and a half hour in Dochas - without flagging their spies.
"We'll do some de-briefings here tonight together with the team. Pass that to all of the attendants.", Eve told Afef as she parked the DLE again to the same spot, reverting it to its default mode.
"You have my word - NYPSD will be protecting the princess, in exchange, you handle the outside party. I want the cooperation of the household, even if it requires you to lie with them."
"I want nothing but the Royal Highness' safety.", Afef only said.
"And I want nothing but to catch the killer.", she interjected "I don't care if you're seeking some refuge here to protect her; that's not part of my scope. But the two people killed are mine, and whether you like me or not, the Princess is mine too."
She wasn't used on smooth-sailing negotiations, and always prefer brute words for intimidation - well, she was a legendary kick-ass cop in the city.
After giving the butler five minutes to leave the parking lot and slipped in the hotel somewhere, Eve went outside the DLE and walked into the hotel's back entrance as if nothing had happened.
She spotted Peabody in the lounge with the hotel owner, Ahmed. He was a broad man, with a thick beard and bald head. Before Peabody could introduce him to Eve, the man shook the Lieutenant's hands.
"It was a pleasure to meet Roarke's cop, despite this unfortunate situation."
"I am but a mere homicide cop, but it will be a pleasure if we can have your cooperation."
"It is a certain, Lieutenant."
He led them to the topmost floor that was made exclusive for the royalty. It was a majestic place, almost filled with colorful ambiance with several touches of Western and Oriental decorations.
"I can't believe I am standing on a place where the kings and queens lived! Oh gosh, this is like a dream come true!" Peabody said giddily.
"I could kick your ass to snap you out from reality. Do you have no shame? You're a fucking cop and you're squealing like a girl!"
"Hey, I am a girl, and you're a girl too. It's an all-girls' dream to be a princess someday."
"It was never on my wishlist. Ever."
"But you'll be living as a princess," Peabody reasoned out. "Oh wait - you've been living as a princess for quite some time now, and currently married to a blue-eyed prince."
"Shut up."
"Oh, and by the way, I called Trina. You couldn't contain her overloading happiness when I tagged her to this. She wanted me to tell you 'See you soon!'"
Eve felt as if all of her blood drained out from her body as she pictured herself being 'tortured' by her so-called stylist. She tried to consider it as a sacrifice for honor and duty, just to console herself.
Afef appeared at the parlor where the two cops stayed, carrying a refreshment. Behind him was a group of Harminian servants who were ogling curiously at Eve.
"These are all of our Highness' attendants.", Afef introduced.
Prompting the butler to do some translations for her, Eve stood up like some warrior prepared for a battle. All eyes immediately looked at her.
"Starting today, all of you will call me your Royal Highness."