Chapter Four

It was annoying and discouraging to just be there watching all that, but he wasn’t giving up. He never gave up, and he had completed phase one of his mission, which was finding the princess.

There was no going back now. When king Robert had come to him with panic in his eyes and a huge sum of money, he had been unable to say no to the offer. The man was very rich and willing to spend any amount of money to find his beloved daughter, the princess, and David loved jobs like that….Jobs that paid that much were his favorite because he needed the money. Although he had asked the king why he didn’t go the police to find his daughter.

“My daughter isn’t missing” the king had said. “She even sent us a message a day after she left telling us that she was fine. The thing is that she doesn’t want to be found. She is an adult and has the right to go away if she wishes. She is not a prisoner, but I know what is best for her and this isn’t it. She has to come back home, so help me find her, please and I will pay you well for it.”

David’s reputation preceded him, and he was good at what he did. So good that he had found her one week since he started searching for her…or maybe it was because she was just so terrible at hiding, and her cover just sucked real bad.

Right now, he just couldn’t understand why she was hanging out in a place like this. Each of the strippers had a gimmick, he noticed. He thought it was rather ironic. One of them played out a tough street cop, complete with black pants held together with strategically placed Velcro. They came off with only the smallest tug. The guy even had an original leather jacket to add to his authenticity. The women loved It, judging by their screams. He honestly never knew how sexy the cop persona was to females. Or if he would have cared if he did.

He had to concentrate on his mission and the last thing he needed now was a distraction with big brown eyes. His gaze wandered back to Bonnie Rimmer. She was loitering on the corner beneath the street lamp, holding that large, lumpy bag to her chest and trying to fit in. David snorted. That old coat she was wearing was buttoned so high she was damn near strangling herself. What the hell was she doing here?

He'd just about convinced himself not to care about what she was doing there and go straight to doing his job, when three young men seemed to notice her. David watched as they approached her. She started to back away, then evidently changed her mind. She nodded a greeting, but it was a wimpy effort. Hell, the men looked determined to get to know her, without any encouragement on her part. She, on the other hand, looked ready to faint.

Walk away, he thought, willing her to move. But she stood her ground. Obviously, she was the stubborn type. He sensed, then he knew for certain, she was getting in over her head. His body was already tensing, his eyes narrowed, waiting for the trouble to start. They seemed to be talking, or, more to the point, she was trying to speak to them. She gestured with her hands, her expression earnest. Then one of the men grabbed her and she let loose a startled screech. In the next instant, those huge brown eyes of hers turned his way, demanding that he help her. The little twit was asking for help from another stranger…who she wasn’t even sure if he was one of her attackers. He wasn’t surprised at all. She was a princess…probably had never been alone her entire life. What did she think when she ran away? That she could take care of herself? Obviously she was wrong.

Well, hell, he couldn’t allow her to be manhandled. He pushed himself away from the doorway and started forward. The men were obviously drunk. One of them was doing his best to pull her close, but she kept sidestepping him. David approached them all with a casual air.

“Here now, boys.” He kept his tone low and deep, deliberately commanding. “Why don’t you leave the lady alone.” David could see her trembling, could see the paleness of her face in the yellow light of the street lamp. The man didn’t release her; if anything, he tightened his grip.

“Go to hell.” The man who held her said.

The words were slurred, and David wondered just how drunk they were. He couldn't get into a brawl—he might literally lose his pants. Not that he wouldn’t enjoy knocking some heads together, he would…but still….

He turned his gaze on Bonnie Rimmer, and asked sarcastically. “Do you want their company?”

She swallowed, her throat working convulsively. “No.”

One of the men shook his fist in David’s face, stumbling drunkenly as he did so. “She already made a deal with us when she came prancing about.”

The man grinned stupidly at Bonnie, then added, “She is fine with us. You can't expect a pretty thing like her to walk around here without getting any attention…”

One of the other men slugged the speaker. “Shut up, you fool.”

David went very still, scrutinizing the Bonnie’s face. “Well?” he said.

Again, she swallowed. “Well…what?”

“Why do you have some kind of deal with them?” Whisper-soft, his question still demanded an immediate answer.

Shaking her head, then looking around as if desperately seeking a means of escape. He couldn’t walk away even if she was some girl he just saw around. His first instinct whenever he saw someone in danger was to help.

Disgusted, David propped his hands on his hips, his eyebrows drawn together in a frown.

“Do you want the company of these men or not?”

She peered cautiously at the drunken, leering face so close to her own. Her lips tightened in disapproval and disdain. “Ah…no. Not particularly.”

A genuine smile tipped his mouth before he caught himself. She had gumption, he’d give her that. She was no bigger than a sixteen-year-old sickly kid. The coat she wore practically swallowed her up. She was fine-boned, petite, and everything about her seemed fragile.