Of course the cops didn't take Jamie at his word. There was still a good deal of tension and a lot of pointing of weapons. All it needed was one twitchy trigger finger and there'd be a major diplomatic incident. Which in this age of the internet and social media, would become world news. The mainstream news media might not touch it, but everyone else would. This was escalating. A combination of seemingly random incidents leading to a stand off between the police and the relatively young nation of Tuvah. So young it didn't yet warrant a seat at the UN. Ninety nine percent of people didn't even know the place existed. If this got out they soon would. Then just when things were normalising at a bit fucked up, the princess got back out of the limo. The younger of the two cops twitched. For a millisecond it looked as though he would point his sidearm at her. In doing so he'd die, very quickly. Right now they were perfectly balanced on the edge of a razor. To either side were a lot of very sharp spikes.
The princess had her phone at her ear. She was not happy with whoever was on the other end of the line. Whoever it was, wasn't saying the things she wanted. Therefore she moved up the chain. To their boss, and after that to his boss. Until the mayor and the chief of police were involved. Brad was still face down on the ground with Miles standing over him. Lev still had the two officers covered. Although his pistol wasn't aimed at anyone, he could drill anyone in front of him without thinking.
"You." The princess spoke to the senior curtly. Holding out her phone she took a stride towards him. Jamie moved to put himself between her and the guns. "He wants to speak with you." The officer looked puzzled. "Your boss policeman. He wants to speak to you."
That seemed to lighten the mood from frozen to chilly.
"Gentlemen please, can we all put our guns down." Jamie interceded again. "Chad there isn't going anywhere. Not in his pissy pants at least. These others, who seem to have tripped and fallen badly, are no threat to anyone." The barrels wavered, then lowered. They hadn't uncocked them yet though.
From there things became messy. Messy is time consuming. A simple family outing had assumed huge proportions. Not that the princess and the girls could really have a simple family outing. They were royalty. That made the simple complicated. For a wide variety of reasons. After the patrolman had spoken to the Chief of Police, he and his comrade retired to the unlocked gate. Keeping an eye on the three prone men. The captain of the local precinct arrived in an unmarked car. He was allowed to enter. Jamie felt some sympathy for him. He'd been given the shitty end of the stick, then instructed to make all the bad things go away. If he didn't he'd be beaten with that same stick. The poor guy did his best. Listened to both sides of the tale. Decided, in the best interests of everyone involved, that they'd take it from here.
"These men won't be pressing charges, so that should end the matter."
Jamie could feel the heat off her glare on the back of his neck. The princess was not happy, but then she rarely was. Money can't buy it, it only makes the misery more comfortable.
"We will be pressing charges captain. Trespass, assault, sexual assault, those three men told you a pack of lies. I want them arrested and charged. If you don't guarantee that to me, then they will remain here."
"Ummmm." Jamie interjected. "I hate to be that guy, but shouldn't someone have called an ambulance? Their injuries were minor, but these two lemons were knocked out. Someone should be shining a light in their eyes at the very least."
"Well captain? I demand these men be placed under arrest for their crimes."
"Strictly speaking mam trespass is a civil offence." The captain offered.
"Really?" Her look told him he was barely a step above pond scum. "This is the sovereign territory of Tuvah. If these men had trespassed their way into a bank, would that be a civil matter?"
That one had him stumped. Who the hell knew? None of this was standard day to day police work. It was out on an unfamiliar shaky limb, few dared step on.
As the three miscreants were led away in handcuffs, the princess advised the captain she would be checking to see he did as promised. She was being deliberately prickly for some reason. This gave Jamie pause for thought. An awful lot of coincidences had to have lined up for this to happen. Bradley Kreuz turning up here was the biggest one. Hundreds of miles from the place Jamie once called home. Maybe he was being paranoid. Things like this happened all the time. Next door neighbors meeting one another in a foreign country. Even ending up in the same hotel.
Eventually the drama was over. Jamie climbed into the limo, for the long drive round the side of the building to the front. It seemed they'd left something behind. He parked up at the front. Miles and Lev had taken up positions, by the time he exited the car. Then he had to defeat the entire purpose of the exercise, by entering and leaving through the front door. This whole thing was turning into a circus. Jamie hated circuses. By the time he'd returned the princess had gone walkabout. No one told him. They seriously needed to start communicating better. If he didn't know better, he'd have suspected someone was dicking about. He did know better though, so he was certain someone was dicking about. It could only be the princess. Which game was she playing this time? It seemed clear he was a major part of the game.
No sign of her. Apparently no one was sure where she was. Only that she was attending to something. Somewhere else. It was fine of course, because Lev was with her. He waited beside the car. Then he waited some more. There was a tap on the window from inside, it lowered gently. The chauffeur's cap was passed to him. They didn't need to say anything. Those big brown eyes said it all. He began his performance. Slinging the hat back and forth. Flipping it from hand to foot to head and back. Something so simple and seemingly meaningless, yet it could bring such joy. These two little girls deserved some happiness for once.
"Jamie? Is that you?"
Of course. It had to be. There was no Punch without Judy. She had to be here. Now. And finally he knew he was being gamed.
"Hi Kelly. It's been a while." He spoke as he swung round, the hat askew on his head.
Five foot six. Blonde with pale blue eyes. Very pretty. Her face didn't seem to know whether to smile or cry.
"You're... uh... Looking good." The lift at the end almost made that a question.
"You to." She mistook his grin for a smile.
Kelly gave him a mildly condescending once over. He wondered if she was looking for Bradley. As far as he recalled they'd married and were still a couple. A badly matched couple, but them being together saved at least two other people from terrible relationships. He wanted so much to tell her hubby was in police custody for sexual assault. The urge was burning in his chest. He couldn't though. He very nearly giggled as he wondered, how exactly would you bring it up?
"Anyway.... I'd love to chat.... but I'm busy right now and I'm sorry about this, but you aren't allowed in here. Not unless you have official business and as it's not yet open, you can't be."
She frowned noting the keep out signs for the first time. The slow swivel, with a fake smile threatening to crack her face. The princess had returned. She snatched the cap off his head then hit him with it. Kelly snorted.
"You can't get reliable staff these days can you." In a gloating oily tone, Kelly smirked.
The princess looked down that perfect nose at her.
"Are you looking for work? Sorry we're not hiring. If you email the details I'm sure someone will contact you with any suitable opening."
Major burn bitch. Kelly couldn't have looked any more offended. Temporarily tongue tied her jaw opened and closed.
"I'll.. I'll... I'll have you know my family's worth millions. I don't need to work. I'm rich."
Jamie coughed, holding out the battered copy of Forbes. On the front cover was the princess with a legend indicating she was currently worth 23 billion and expected to become the first trillionaire.
"Comparatively rich Kelly." His turn to gloat, not as good as the princess though.
She struck him with the cap again, across the shoulders.
"Why are you talking to this woman Jamie?"
"Kelly's my ex fiance. Dumped me for the better man over ten years ago."
Those dark brown eyes surveyed the property from head to toe.
"Well you certainly dodged a bullet there Jamie."