Page 94 of Royal Caleva: Luis

“I just heard Pater went to the hospital.” Raul’s voice was tight with concern. “Do you know what happened?”

“Mom was with him, and she’s here, so she can tell you.” Grace nodded to Eve.

Eve repeated her abbreviated version of the night’s events, leaving out her theory about thallium poisoning. She had no qualifications for diagnosing Luis’s illness, so she wouldn’t share it with the prince.

“We need to get to the hospital,” Grace said as soon as Eve finished. “Mom says Mikel doesn’t want anyone else to know that the king is sick, but you must know how we can sneak in.”

“Come to my apartment, and we’ll leave from here.” He disconnected.

“Do you know where Raul’s apartment is?” Eve asked.

“Just beyond Dad’s,” Grace said, pulling on a hoodie.

Dad’s. She’d said the word so naturally. Something about that made Eve’s heart clench. “Let me get a sweater,” she said, dashing out the bedroom door.

Grace led the way down the hallway. A guard stood in front of the door to Luis’s apartment, nodding as they passed.

“Why are they guarding it now?” Eve murmured.

“Maybe to keep anyone else from getting poisoned,” her daughter said.

A cold realization hit Eve. It was a crime scene. Mikel and his personnel would be going through the rooms with a fine-tooth comb.

Grace stopped in front of a door and knocked. Raul opened it and waved them inside. He was dressed like Grace, in jeans and a T-shirt. “We’re going out the same way Pater did. There’s a car waiting for us in the garage.” He hesitated for a moment before saying, “When my father is…incapacitated, I become acting head of Caleva. I don’t want to invoke that provision yet, so let’s keep this very quiet.”

“Of course,” Eve said, understanding that Raul hoped his father would recover before any announcement needed to be made.

She prayed he was right.

A knock sounded on a different door, and Raul called, “Come in.”

A powerfully built man dressed in dark trousers and a long-sleeved shirt stepped inside. “We are ready, Señor.”

“Let’s go,” Raul said, waving Grace and Eve in front of him.

The man led them swiftly through narrow corridors with rough stone walls and worn stone floors. Eve wondered if these had been built for servants or soldiers defending the castle, or both. After several twists and turns, they arrived at the same garage where the van had whisked Luis away. Now a beige minivan stood in the dim light, its side door open.

After they had climbed in, their guide slid the door shut and jumped into the front passenger seat. As soon as he had settled, the driver headed for the now-opening garage door.

“How long to the hospital?” Grace asked Raul.

“About fifteen minutes at normal speed,” Raul said. “The medical van would have gone faster.”

“And there were doctors in the van with him,” Eve said, to comfort her daughter. “They would have started diagnostics and treatment right away.”

Grace was silent a moment before she gave a choked sob. “Dad and I just found each other.”

“Are you aware of something about my father’s condition that I’m not?” Raul asked, his voice sharp.

“We don’t have any more information than you do,” Eve assured him.

“You seem very concerned, though,” Raul said. “Why?”

Raul was far too astute. Eve sighed inwardly. “Based on my very brief observations of your father’s symptoms, I had one idea about what might have caused them, which I passed on to Mikel. Remember, I am not a doctor, and it is just one of many possibilities.”

“And your idea is?” he prodded.

“It might be thallium poisoning,” Eve said reluctantly. “In the U.S., thallium was once used for rodent control, so I’ve seen the symptoms in animals. Remember that I don’t work with human patients, so I’m speculating.”

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