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Three weeks later, Janel found herself on a commercial flight bound for America. Commercial—not one of the private royal jets. To her father, negotiations meant his way or not at all. She’d conceded to having two bodyguards, Haris and Theo, who would stay in the background, and a secured house with the adjacent one for said bodyguards.
An elbow poked her in the ribs. “Did you see that guy two rows in front of us? Doesn’t he look like the American actor Channing Tatum? The one in the Magic Mike movies.”
Oh, yeah. Her cousin Rica joining her was also a stipulation. Janel turned her head to peer at her younger cousin. “And how would you know that? I am sure Uncle Zahir and Aunty Ella would never allow you to watch those movies.”
Rica giggled. “You’re right, but Seri and I bypassed the main router…” Here was where Rica veered off to technical jargon Janel couldn’t comprehend, so she blocked it out until her cousin wound down and continued with, “and now we can download whatever we want to watch with no one the wiser. We’ve even watched”—she lowered her voice and whispered, “porn.”
Janel’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Yes, her twin cousins were extremely smart. Genius level even, but she never expected they’d use their smarts to watch porn. She’d never watched porn and she was four years older than the twins. “You better hope Uncle Zahir never finds out or you and Seri will be grounded for the rest of your lives.”
“Don’t worry about it, cousin. We’re good. Very good.”
“Sorry you got stuck with babysitting me.”
Rica snorted. “Are you kidding? This is a dream. Two months of living in America instead of attending the boring parties father insists are part of our royal duties is the best thing that’s happened to me in forever! Seri is so mad she’s having to stay, but we played rock, paper, scissors and she lost. Best two out of three so it was a fair fight.”
They chatted, read, or dozed, through the rest of the flight. Janel’s excitement level intensified the closer they came to landing on her mother’s native soil. When she walked off the plane, she’d be just a regular person like everyone else on board.
The pilot announced they would be landing soon and she turned to Rica. “Remember to call me Jane. And always wear the brown lenses.”
Just like all of the SuMartra women, except for Janel’s sister Shayla, Rica had the same mane of dark hair and SuMartra blue eyes.
Rica gave her a thumbs up. “You got it. We are going covert. I think I should have an American name also.”
Rica wasn’t that different, but whatever. “Okay, sure, who do you want to be?”
She tipped her head in thought and came up with, “Ariel.”
“Like the mermaid?” Janel asked.
Rica paused and scrunched her heart-shaped lips. “You’re right. I don’t want to be a fish. How about Ree?”
Janel giggled. “We already call you Ree.”
With a shrug, Rica deemed, “So it’s perfect. You won’t have to remember a new name.”
Janel wasn’t sure about the logic, but she’d go with it. “Fine, Ree with brown eyes.”
“I think we should use our American accents too. You know, to blend in.”
Since their mothers were American and they’d heard their accents all their lives, it came second nature to all of their kids. They could easily slip into the accent, but always speaking that way might be a challenge. It’s not a bad idea. “Sure, we can try.”
The landing was smooth and they were able to navigate to the baggage claim area, mostly because they followed the flow of people around them. Pulling their bags behind them, they headed to the exit where, for the first time in her life, she would ride in a vehicle that wasn’t driven by a member of the royal staff or was bulletproof.
Janel stumbled when a man ahead of them turned and looked directly at her. Her breath caught. For that one moment in time—she thought it was James. She started to call out to him, but he turned and disappeared into the scurrying crowd.
“Jane, what’s wrong?” her cousin asked.
“No…nothing. Just a chill,” She shivered to prove it. Taking a breath, she closed her eyes and mentally forced herself to admit that wasn’t James. James was dead and buried back in Tanistan. The man she thought was James only had similar coloring.
For years after the accident, Janel thought she saw James in the crowd, on a sidewalk, or in cars passing by. It took years of working with her therapist to understand that was only her brain trying to make sense of his death by tricking her into believing he wasn’t really gone.
She wasn’t going to fall into that trap again.
As they stepped from the terminal, the first blast of cold American air sent shivers over her exposed skin. Ducking back inside, both girls opened their carry-ons to retrieve their jackets.
“Mother said it would be cold,” Janel remarked, her teeth chattering.
Rica answered between shivers. “She did, but I didn’t realize it would be this cold. Look, that man only has on shorts and sandals.”
