Authors: Fabulous Beast
What the hell could be wrong?
But something
was
wrong. Terribly wrong. There was no one inside the rest room as Dev discovered
when he impatiently disregarded the proprieties and pushed open the door. No one at all.
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The gardens. Perhaps she’d decided to take a quick look at the gardens that had been described in the
brochure. One could only see a portion of them from the dining room, and he knew she’d been intrigued
by the idea of the maze somewhere in the middle.
Damn it, if she’d decided to take a quick trip outside without telling him…! He cut off the thought with a
disgusted grimace. He’d hardly given her any reason to think she shouldn’t go outside alone. How could
he blame her if she’d dashed out for a quick peek at the maze? The perspiration was beginning to
dampen his khaki shirt as he started down the hall toward the entrance to the formal gardens. He should
have told her he was in great pain. He ought to have pleaded much more severe discomfort. Then she
wouldn’t have decided to take the little side trip to the gardens.
Outside on the wide veranda he stood gazing at the sweep of heavily landscaped grounds. Over a
century of carefully assisted growth had created a near labyrinth of luscious plantings. Magnificent, tall
hedges, huge shade trees and tangled thickets of exotic flowers all combined to form a dense pattern of
foliage which stretched across a couple of acres. Some formal garden! The jungle appeared to have had
a strong influence during the years. There was no way he could see anything clearly beyond the first few
yards.
There was no sign of Tabitha. No sign of anyone, in fact. The gardens were silent.
Dev’s fingers tightened on the cane as he considered his options. There weren’t a whole lot of them.
Maybe she’d gone in search of the maze. It was supposed to be somewhere in the middle of that
conglomeration of greenery.
Before he’d made it past the first few ten-foot-high hedges, Dev knew disaster hovered near. The
prickly feeling down his spine was rapidly turning into a full-scale alarm.
When he rounded the next wall of boxwood he was almost prepared for the sight that awaited him.
Tabitha was there all right. She was standing very still, her huge eyes wide and fearful as she gazed at
him.
The man with the gun in his hand had his free palm clamped firmly over her mouth. He was thin, lanky
and his long hair was dark and greasy looking.
“It’s about time you came looking for her, Colter. Thought we might have to send a message or
something. But Waverly was pretty sure you’d come looking when your girl friend didn’t return to the
dining room.”
Steve Waverly, the irritating weasel who had tried to dance with Tabitha two nights before, sauntered
out from behind a hedge. He still had that California beach-boy grin, Dev thought disgustedly.
“Game’s over, Colter,” he said laconically. “Let’s have the film.”
Only years of training kept Dev from gritting his teeth in self-disgust. How could he have been so stupid?
He should have guessed that Waverly had been after more than just Tabitha. Who the hell was he and
how did he know about the film?
Something about being around Tabitha had dulled his highly developed senses, Dev decided grimly.
Around her, other things seemed more important. He could only hope that his lapse wasn’t going to cost
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both of them their lives.
Six
«^»
“Let her go, Waverly. Tabby’s not involved in this.” Dev didn’t really expect that bit of logic to have
much of an effect and it didn’t. Steve Waverly just smiled a little more broadly and shook his head.
“Now, you know I’m not about to do that. Not until I have the film. Then as far as I’m concerned both
of you can go back to the ship. In the meantime Miss Graham here is going to play the part of incentive
for you.”
Tabitha’s eyes flickered warily from one man to the other. The long-haired man with the gun who was
holding her never said a word. It was clear Waverly was the one in charge. Dev concentrated on him,
trying not to see the fear in Tabitha’s questioning gaze.
“Waverly,” he said very softly, “I told you the other night that if you came near her again I’d take you
apart. And that was just if you asked her to dance. Can you imagine what I’m going to do to you for
manhandling her like this?”
The toothy smile sagged for a fraction of a second before it was tacked firmly back in place. Good, Dev
decided sardonically, he hadn’t completely lost the old charm. He could still put a trace of fear in a man
like Steve Waverly, even though Waverly’s henchman held a gun. Too bad he simply hadn’t dumped the
younger man over the side of the ship when he’d first made a nuisance of himself. Would have saved a lot
of trouble.
“Your lady friend isn’t going to get hurt and neither are you. All we’re after is that film you picked up on
St. Regis. Then the two of you can go back to being happy-go-lucky cruise passengers.” Waverly threw
a derisive glance at Tabitha, who was watching him as if he were a snake. “That is if your tabby
cat—wasn’t that what you called her?—if she doesn’t mind continuing to play the role of convenient
cover for you. Will you mind that, Miss Graham? Now that you know what’s going on, are you going to
object to sleeping with him? He just used you to give himself a little protective camouflage, you know.
Paired off with you, he appeared to be merely another male passenger who was having a good time on
board ship. Helped him pass the time very pleasantly, I imagine. Kept him from getting bored.”
Tabitha made a muffled sound behind the hard palm that was slapped across her mouth. The words
were unintelligible but her eyes were blazing. It occurred to Dev that she was not only terrified; she was
furious. If her temper was akin to her passion, Tabitha Graham might turn into one hell of a dangerous
commodity when angered. Strangely enough, it would have been impossible before now to even imagine
her truly furious. She was such a gentle little thing!
“She’s not interested in your analysis of our relationship, Waverly. Let her go.”
“Not a chance.”
“I haven’t got the film,” Dev said wearily. “It’s back on board the ship. Hidden in my cabin.”
“I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t let it out of your sight until you handed it over to your boss. We both
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know that!”
“Do we?” Dev inquired with deceptive mildness.
“Tell him to shut up and hand over the film, Steve,” the long-haired man whispered urgently. He was
clearly much more nervous than Waverly. Which didn’t make for a good situation. If there was one thing
worse than a man with a gun, it was a nervous man with a gun.
“Don’t worry. Mr. Colter will cooperate, I’m sure. We just have to convince him we’re quite serious.”
Waverly made a production out of lighting a cigarette as if he had all the time in the world. Given the fact
that no one else seemed to be wandering down into the gardens from the hotel, that might be quite true,
Dev was forced to acknowledge.
“How did you learn about the pickup on St. Regis?” he asked as if only idly curious.
“The man who tried to stop you in that alley survived.” Waverly smiled, narrowing his eyes against the
smoke from his cigarette. “I guess you didn’t know about that interesting tidbit, did you? We found him in
the trash bin at the far end of the alley where you’d stuffed him after you practically killed him. Did you
think he was dead?”
“I wasn’t sure,” Dev said dryly. “I knew he was unconscious, though, and I didn’t want to leave him
lying around to litter the streets.” Well, hell. It had taken almost the last of his strength to dump that guy
into the trash bin in the hope that he wouldn’t be discovered for some time. Looked like it had all been a
wasted effort. Out of the corner of his eye Dev saw Tabitha looking at him incredulously. This whole
thing must be coming as one hell of a shock to her. Later he would try to explain everything. Right now
he had business to transact.
“Well, he made it, and he gave me the identification I needed on you. Our information was that whoever
was assigned to the pickup would be traveling on board the cruise ship, but we couldn’t be sure which
passenger was our rabbit. Once Jeffers managed to tell me about the tall bastard with the cane, I was
able to spot you.” Waverly glanced at Tabitha, who glared back. “I’ll admit I couldn’t figure you out,
Miss Graham. Definitely not Colter’s type from what we knew of him. Then I finally realized he was just
using you for cover. Sorry you had to get involved in all of this but that’s the breaks, I guess.” He
stepped toward her. “Speaking of breaks…” Almost casually he fingered the line of her jaw. “I’d hate to
have to resort to breaking various and sundry bones in your soft little body.”
“Get away from her Waverly!” Dev snapped, ice layering every word. He watched, trying to keep his
glance stony as Waverly turned toward him. Then the other man smiled bleakly and very slowly allowed
his hand to trail down the line of Tabitha’s throat to the curve of her breast. Dev knew he was on the
edge of losing his control completely as he watched the other man touching Tabitha with such obscene
intimacy.
“Get away from her!”
“Sure, Colter. Just as soon as you hand over the film.”
“You can have the goddamned film. Just turn her loose!” Dev growled savagely.
Waverly stepped forward a couple of feet and politely extended his hand. “Film first, I’m afraid.”
Tabitha tensed, knowing she was never going to have another chance. The thin, lanky man with the
greasy, long hair was concentrating almost completely on the drama the other two men were acting out. It
had to be now or never.
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With a muffled shout, she twisted, throwing herself sideways against the man with the gun. He really
wasn’t all that much heavier than herself, she realized distractedly.
He yelled as she fell against him, stumbling awkwardly beneath the unexpected assault.
“Tabby!”
She heard Dev call her name as she toppled to the ground on top of her victim but all she could think
about was the gun. The thin young man was proving to be far stronger than he looked. She would never
be able to outfight him. He squirmed violently beneath her, still gripping the gun, although he couldn’t yet
raise his arm to use it.
“You bitch!” he shouted tightly, lashing at her with his free hand. “Get off me, you damned bitch!”
Almost simultaneously Tabitha heard Dev’s cane whistle through the air in a violent arc that cracked
against Waverly’s face. Then, just as she realized how hopeless her own attack was going to prove, Dev
was in front of her, his foot coming down on the gunman’s arm. The man screamed, but his hand
clenched spasmodically around the handle of the pistol instead of releasing it.
With a desperate heave the thin man threw off the scrabbling Tabitha, sending her crashing against Dev,
who staggered briefly under the unexpected impact of her body. Instantly Tabitha pushed free,
scrambling to her feet, but she didn’t need to hear Dev’s short, explicit oath to know that it was too late.
“Waverly! The gun!” The long-haired man on the grass hurled the weapon frantically at his companion
even as the edge of Dev’s hand came down against the side of his neck in a devastating blow that
rendered him unconscious.
Dev stumbled awkwardly as he tried to regain his balance after delivering the karate chop. He cursed
the cane and the stiff leg which was slowing him down. Time was running out. He would never be able to
get to Waverly in time. The other man, holding his head with one hand where the cane had drawn blood,
was just closing his fingers around the handle of the gun.
“Tabitha! The maze!” Dev steadied himself with the cane and jerked at Tabitha’s wrist. Without pausing
he yanked her after him as he plunged into the narrow entrance of the dense, boxwood maze. God! He
would have given his soul in that moment for the old speed and coordination that he had once taken for
granted along with the rest of his acute senses.
At least Tabby had the sense to keep her mouth shut and not demand explanations at this point, Dev
thought with some satisfaction as he pulled her deeper and deeper into the maze. He relied on instinct to
orient him.
Tabitha wasn’t asking questions because she was too busy fighting down panic and anger. The walls of
the maze loomed incredibly high, blocking out much of the sun; the dense foliage was so thick it was
impossible to see from one aisle into the next. This was a real maze, she thought in stunned wonder, not
just some gardener’s whimsy. Whoever had constructed it originally had intended for the final product to
be a real challenge. What did Dev think he was going to accomplish by dragging both of them in here?
Then again, he might have decided there wasn’t much to lose. Waverly had the gun. She and Dev were
unarmed.
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