Sara's Surprise (20 page)

She hugged herself and tried to fight the knot of dread growing in her stomach. "Is it about me?"

"Yes."

Sara made a soft sound of horror and covered her face. He whispered her name sadly and tried to pull her head to his shoulder, but she began to struggle, furious. "You invaded my home and now you're going to inform on me!"

"There's nothing to tell about you! Don't you understand?" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. "Audubon has found out that I'm with you, and he just wants to know whyand what I've learned. All I'm going to tell him is the truth, that you're studying the medicinal uses of exotic plants."

"And that I have a baby daughter who was conceived in Surador!"

"Yes. I've told you already, no one is interested in Noelle!"

"Will you tell Audubon that you and I are lovers?"

"Yes."

Stunned, she stared at him. Then, between gritted teeth, she whispered, "Be sure to describe the details. How I moved, how my body felt, what I said in your ear"

"Stop it!" His eyes glittered with torment that matched her own. "Sure, I'll tell him that we're lovers. I'll tell him that we love each other. I'll tell him that I want to marry you and be a father to your daughter, and that all the three of us want is to be left alone!"

"The government will never leave me alone! They want something from me!"

"We're not talking about the government, Sara. We're talking about Audubon. He's free-lance. Don't be stubborn and foolish. You've got nothing to be afraid of. Not Audubon. Not me."

"You planned to get information on me right from the first."

"No. I came here as a friend, I swear. Hell, Sara, I came here because I couldn't get you out of my mind. I had to prove to myself that I ought to forget you, because you'd never want to get involved with me and my scars. I thought that once I knew that there was no hope, I could go on with my life. Thank God, I was wrongyou need me as much as I need you. I won't let anything ruin things for us now."

She glared at him through tear-filled eyes. "If your brother adopted a professional persona that was cold and cruel, what persona did you take?"

His jaw flexed; he eyed her with both despair and frustration. "I'm trying to be as honest with you as I can. I'll tell you more as time goes on. You can trust me."

"I don't even know you." She braced her hands against his chest and tried to push herself away. For a second his grip tightened on her arms, but when she began to struggle he let her go. She scooted away and crouched on the foot of the bed, feeling like an animal protecting its den.

"I think I understand your disguise," she said, her voice low and broken. "Jeopard tricks people by making them fear him; you trick people by making them trust you."

He inhaled softly. "Yes. I'm good at it too. When it's necessary, I can make friends with the deadliest S.O.B.s you've ever imagined. Then I use that friendship to put them away, to keep them from hurting innocent people. I'm a little ashamed of how good I am at the con jobs, but I'm not ashamed of what I've accomplished because of it. I've never tried to con the people I love ."

"Don't go see Audubon. Tell him to take a flying leap."

"I can't, Sara. Despite what you think, his motivations are good. Inside your mind you're carrying the know-how to create a herbicide so powerful that a tea-spoonful would wipe out most of the greenery in this state. It's his job to keep track of you. And when one of his former agents is living with you, it's his job to ask for an explanation. Look, why would I tell you all of this if it weren't true? Why would I risk your distrust?"

"Because you're worried that I'd find out the truth about you anyway."

His shoulders slumped. "How much do you really want to trust me? There's something inside you that I don't understand, something that you seem to be holding back. I think this is a good excuse for you to put me at arm's length because you're hiding something else."

She trembled violently. She'd thought that she and Noelle were so safe. Sara reminded herself that Kyle hadn't deceived her more than she was still deceiving him. But you're doing it for his own good. Think how the truth would hurt not only Noelle, but him . Sara turned away from him and huddled on the end of the bed, staring fixedly at the floor. "You'll be leaving for Virginia in the morning, to see Audubon?"

"Yes. Sara, I"

"I think you ought to sleep in the guest room tonight."

His voice came back graveled with anger and sorrow. "I don't want to leave you alone with your morbid fears and suspicions."

"When you're gone I won't have anything to fear." The obscenity that came from his mouth had a wounded sound that tore at her. "There's one other thing to consider," she said desperately. "If you leave the keep, I'll make certain that you never get back in. So, don't leave."

She heard him stand up. Slowly she turned her head to look at him. His eyes were cold, his face an angry mask made cruel by the scars. "I'll get back in," he told her. "Count on it." He let his gaze flicker over her for a second. "I'll get back in."

He left the room, closing the door behind him with a slow, confident motion of his hand, and she felt as if he had just made her his prisoner.

Confused and exhausted from a sleepless night, Sara dressed in a sweater and pink overalls, combed her hair neatly, and hid her emotions. She waited for Kyle in the kitchen at dawn, with a pot of coffee made. He walked in brusquely, dropped his big leather tote bag on the floor, gazed at her with troubled, searching eyes, and then said, "Well?" as if he were expecting her judgment, guilty or innocent.

"I keep thinking that Noelle trusted you at first sight."

"And?"

"Maybe I should have faith in her opinion. I don't know."

Sara noted that his eyes were ringed with shadows and he had nicked his chin shaving. His golden hair was rumpled. His jogging shoes were sloppily laced. He'd already put on his blue down jacket over his jeans and white sweater, and the jacket collar was haphazardly turned under on one side.

He didn't look like a sophisticated, conniving super-agent. He looked very human and very much in need of a hug. She groaned inwardly with frustration. Perhaps it was an act. Perhaps. No. She couldn't tell. Yes. Maybe.

Finally, her head felt as if it would burst with indecision. All she could do was stare at his jacket and luggage with a sinking heart. "You're leaving right now?"

"The sooner I go, the sooner I'll get it over with, the sooner I can come back here and try to convince you that I'm not your enemy."

"All right." From the kitchen table she got a plastic bag filled with orchid blossoms. "Would you like them? There's enough for two days. You really shouldn't miss a day using them. Even if you don't have a blender you can crush them up in a glass of milk."

A muscle Hexed in his jaw. His eyes softened, but only a little. "Thank you." She handed him the bag and stepped back. He laid it carefully on his tote.

"Would you like a cup of coffee before you go?"

"No."

"I know that my coffee tastes a little like a bad lab experiment, but"

"I don't think we'll solve anything by drawing out the good-byes, Sara. Do you trust me any more than you did last night?"

Wretched, she looked at him. "I honestly don't know. I don't know what to believe."

"Honest." He made the word sound unsavory.

"Would you like to say good-bye to Noelle?"

"I already have. She was asleep. I even told Daisy good-bye." He grunted with dismay and almost sounded amused. "I don't think Daisy heard me. She was snoring too loud."

Sara stuck her hands in her side pockets and clenched them. "So you're all set. I'll walk you to the door."

"You'd better ride down to the gate with me." He dug the remote control from a jacket pocket. "Don't you want this back? Don't want me to have easy access, do you?"

"Why not? Do you enjoy using your Tarzan act to get over the garden walls? I thought I'd let you use the gate next time."

"I wanted to give you a sporting chance to make good on your threat to keep me out."

She laughed dully. "In a calmer moment I realized how ridiculous my threat was. I might as well try to keep crab grass out of a garden."

"My root takes that as a compliment."

Sara shrugged. "I like crab grass."

He slipped the remote control back into his pocket. took the bag of delicate orchid blossoms in one hand, and picked up his tote with the other. Sara followed him from the kitchen. He's going to vistt a man who's a stranger to me, and he's going to tell that man the personal information about my life.

By the time they reached the entrance foyer her teeth were gritted and her resolve solid. Sara took the ornate key ring from the antelope horn and unlocked the door. She could feel Kyle's gaze on her face every second of the time, and she steadfastly ignored him. But her hands fumbled with the electronic lock, and she needed three tries to get the code right. "Damn."

"Which did you forgetyour IQ or your birth date?"

"My reason for letting you know this code in the first place." She pulled the door open and stood beside it like an usher.

With one of his easy, loping strides he moved close to her. In another instant his lips brushed a gentle goodbye across her forehead. She shut her eyes to squeeze back tears.

"Keep the dragons at bay until I come back to help you fight them," he said.

When she opened her eyes to let the obstinate tears flow freely, he was gone.

Audubon's home had become extremely familiar to Kyle over the years. It served very tastefully as the group's headquarters, and when Audubon called an agent in for a meeting, that agent was treated with all the polite hospitality of a master host, which Audubon was.

Kyle gazed out the window of his suite at white fences and sprawling pastures stocked with polo ponies. Like everything in Audubon's fashionable, old-money world, they were carefully chosen for quality and variety, like the selections in Audubon's wine cellars, the classic cars in his garage, and the glamorous women who paraded through Audubon's life.

From somewhere downstairs in the mansion a gong began to sound, as if heralding the arrival of royalty. Dimly Kyle heard a helicopter approaching the estate. He glanced out the window and spotted it, a large custom model, one of Audubon's favorite toys. The gong kept pounding. Audubon loved grand gestures and melodrama. If he ever saw Sara's castle, he would probably want to buy it.