Between the Lines

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  She was about to turn to the right and search in that direction when voices drifted toward her, carried quite clearly on the still desert air. Amber froze, listening intently.

  “You gotta understand how badly Mr. Delaney wants this deal to go through, Mr. Grayson,” Roger was saying quite earnestly. “I’m afraid he’s been getting the impression you aren’t planning to recommend the sale to your client. Mr. Delaney is getting kind of worried.”

  “My business is with Delaney, not with you, Roger.” Gray’s voice sounded calm, even slightly bored. “I don’t appreciate your boss sending you and your friend to make me see the error of my ways.”

  “You got it all wrong.” This was Ozzie, sounding deeply concerned about any false impressions that might have been given to a guest. “Mr. Delaney just wants us to put a proposition to you.”

  “Why didn’t he put this proposition to me himself? No offense, gentlemen, but I see you two more in the role of brawn than brain.”

  “Mr. Delaney’s busy tonight.”

  “Sure. You mean he preferred not to get his hands dirty in the event something goes wrong.” Gray sounded amused. “Very wise of him.”

  Roger spoke up again, his voice tightening a little. “This proposition of Mr. Delaney’s could make you a rich man, Grayson. For your own sake, you’d better listen.”

  “He’s offering a bribe for me to doctor the report going to my client? No wonder he didn’t want to come along with you two. He’s going to deny any connection to this if it turns sour, isn’t he? He’ll claim you were acting on your own. Just a couple of overly enthusiastic, loyal employees. Doesn’t that make you guys a little nervous?”

  Amber took a deep breath and managed to unstick her sandaled feet. She took a tentative step toward the small rise that shielded the three men. There had been no threat of violence, but her heart was pounding. Something was very wrong here. Gray would never take a bribe. She was utterly sure of that. Unfortunately she wasn’t at all sure of what Roger and Ozzie would do if he refused. Roger and Ozzie seemed quite devoted to Vic Delaney.

  The conversation continued as Amber edged her way closer, but she only caught bits and pieces of it. The voices carried well on the night air, but so did the sounds of the dance band playing in the lounge behind her. Occasionally the music overwhelmed the more delicate thread of the quiet conversation taking place behind the hillock.

  “…thousand dollars sound, Mr. Grayson?” Roger

  “It sounds like it’s meant to sound,” Gray murmured. “Like a great deal of money. I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse, however. I’m sure you can understand my position. It’s bad for business if word gets out that I can be bought this easily.”

  “No one has to know,” Ozzie said, sounding more earnest than ever.

  “I’ll know. You’ll know. Your friend here will know, and so will Delaney. That’s not exactly a small crowd. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should be getting back to my wife. She’ll be wondering where I am.”

  “Don’t you worry about your wife,” Roger said. “Mr. Delaney’s taking good care of her.”

  “Is he?” For the first time there was a distinct edge in Gray’s voice. Until now he had sounded half bored and wryly disgusted. But things had changed. The two younger men must have sensed it because they suddenly became a little harder sounding and a little less anxious to please.

  “You don’t seem to understand just how much Mr. Delaney wants you to take this commission he’s offering, Grayson. If you’ve got any sense, you’ll stop acting heroic and start acting sensible. He’ll give you the money in cash just as soon as the deal closes.”

  “Forget it.”

  There was a rustle of movement, and Amber realized that Roger and Ozzie had probably moved forward to cut off Gray’s exit.

  “Sorry about this, Grayson, but we can’t let you go back until we’ve made you see how important this deal is to our boss.” Ozzie didn’t sound at all sorry. There was an undercurrent of anticipation in his words, as if this were the moment in the confrontation he, personally, had been looking forward to with some enthusiasm.

  Amber waited no longer. She put her hand inside the big straw purse and stepped around the small mound of brush and sand. “Excuse me, gentlemen, but I’ve come to claim my husband.”

  All three men turned to stare at her in astonishment. Amber shivered as she took in the way Roger and Ozzie were obviously about to close in on Gray. Gray was standing with his feet slightly apart, his hands held easily at his sides. He seemed even more startled than Roger and Ozzie to see her.

  “Amber...” Gray began. He cut off his own words as she smiled quite brilliantly and moved the purse a few meaningful inches. Her right hand was still buried inside the straw bag.

  “Hello, Gray. I had a hunch you’d gone out for a stroll. You should have said something. You know how I always insist on being present at your little impromptu business meetings.” She directed her smile at Roger and Ozzie, who were glowering at her. In the starlight she could see their faces quite clearly. Roger responded first to the intrusion.

  “Get out of here, Mrs. Grayson. We’ve got a few things to discuss with your husband.” His words were rough but his attention was on her purse. Ozzie’s frowning gaze was also on the bag.

  “I’m afraid I can’t leave Gray out here all alone,” Amber explained politely. “You see, he pays me good money to stick around on these business trips just in case folks such as yourselves get carried away with enthusiasm for the deal.” Amber paused and added deliberately, “I’m not exactly Gray’s wife. Why do you think he requested a suite with two bedrooms, gentlemen? My job is to keep an eye on him, but it’s strictly business.”

  There was a moment of stunned silence. All eyes were fastened on the straw purse. Amber hoped Roger and Ozzie were busy visualizing the gun they apparently thought she was holding inside. With any luck they’d have seen enough television during their formative years to make the image very clear. Gray, at least, wasn’t going to give the game away. She knew that after one quick glance at his impassive face.

  Ozzie finally looked intently at Amber as she stood facing them. “Who are you? Grayson’s bodyguard?”

  “Mr. Grayson prefers to call me his personal assistant.” Amber paused for effect. “And sometimes he calls me his wife.” She didn’t glance at her husband as she asked calmly, “Ready to go, Gray?”

  “I’m ready.” His teeth flashed briefly in the shadows as he strolled forward to stand beside her. The small grin was both amused and a little dangerous. “Remind me to thank you later for rescuing me from a very boring meeting.”

  “My pleasure.” Amber was aware of a flood of excitement that was blotting out her fear. It was going to work. Roger and Ozzie believed her at least enough to be wary of her. They were almost convinced she was Gray’s bodyguard. “I think we should be getting back to the hotel now.”

  “There’s just one more thing,” Gray murmured. He smiled at Roger. “I’d like the keys to the Jeep you keep parked in front of the lobby, please.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Gray held out his hand. “Amber and I have had enough Southwestern hospitality for one year. We’re leaving town tonight and we’ll need transportation to the airport. I don’t think I want to impose on either you or Ozzie, so we won’t ask you to drive us in the limo. Just give me the keys to the Jeep.”

  Roger hesitated, his expression hardening with a helpless rage. He shot a quick, assessing glance at Amber who continued to hold the straw bag at about the level of his chest. Then, obviously gritting his teeth, Roger reached into his pocket and withdrew a set of keys. “Mr. Delaney isn’t going to like this.”

  Gray caught the keys easily as Roger flung them at him. “Mr. Delaney isn’t the only one who’s a little upset at the moment. I can’t say I’m all that pleased with the situation myself. Definitely time to
cut this trip short. Don’t think it hasn’t been fun. Let’s go, Amber.”

  Amber slid him a quick glance, unsure of how to handle the retreat. She felt she ought to keep the imaginary gun trained on Roger and Ozzie, but that would mean backing up the whole distance to the hotel lobby. Gray understood her dilemma at once. He took her arm and swung her around to head back toward the resort.

  “Don’t worry about Roger and Ozzie, my love. I’m sure they understand the situation perfectly. They’re not going to get in our way now.”

  She wasn’t sure how he could be so certain of that, but she knew Gray well enough to respect his understanding of human nature. If he thought they were temporarily safe from the two muscle men, he was probably right. Keeping her hand inside her purse, she allowed herself to be walked briskly back toward the safety of the lobby lights. There was no sound of pursuit.

  “Are we really going to leave tonight?” she asked as Gray ushered her through the wide glass doors. Inside the lobby everything looked normal and serene. It was hard to believe the scene that had just taken place out in the desert.

  “We are.” Gray was already leading her toward the elevators. “The sooner the better. You’ve got five minutes to throw everything into a suitcase.”

  “That’s not enough time to pack!”

  “I’ll replace whatever you have to leave behind,” he told her blandly. “I’ll deduct the cost from whatever I’m paying you for your bodyguarding services.”

  “Don’t laugh at me, Gray,” she said as they stepped out of the elevator and hurried toward their suite. “It was all I could think of on the spur of the moment.”

  “I’m not laughing,” he assured her, his teeth showing briefly in a wicked grin as he shoved the key into the lock and opened the door. “I’m impressed. You sounded very professional out there.”

  “I watch television the same as everyone else,” she told him flippantly. As she stepped into the room, she swung around to confront him. “What was going on out there?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way to the airport. You’ve got four minutes left.” He was, already moving into his own room and reaching for the shirts he’d left hanging in the closet.

  Amber’s head filled with a thousand questions, but she put them aside as she raced into her bedroom and collected her things. She threw her clothing into her suitcase without any regard for wrinkles and slammed the case shut. Precisely four minutes later, she and Gray were heading back down toward the lobby in the elevator. Just as they stepped out on the bottom floor, Amber hesitated.

  “I think I forgot my green heels.”

  “I told you, I’ll replace them.” He had a firm hand under her arm as he led her toward the well-lit lobby entrance. His attention was on Roger and Ozzie, who were lounging against the front desk. Neither moved to stop the two guests who were departing at such an unusual hour, but there was a barely controlled anger simmering in their gazes. Delaney was nowhere in sight.

  Gray was still grinning faintly as he tossed the suitcases into the Jeep and swung lightly into the driver’s seat beside Amber. She glared at him.

  “I get the feeling you’re enjoying this,” she said accusingly.

  “It does make a change from the normal routine of these trips.” He spun the wheel and sent the small vehicle leaping down the drive toward the main road. “I’ll have to take you along more often. How much do professional bodyguards get paid?”

  “A great deal more than personal assistants, I’m sure. I’ll be expecting a big increase next month. Listen, Gray, this is serious. I want to know what was going on back there. When I came around the corner of that little hill, I had the impression Roger and Ozzie were about to beat you to a pulp because you weren’t agreeing to accept Delaney’s bribe.”

  “Your impression probably wasn’t far wrong.” He didn’t sound worried.

  “Well, shouldn’t we go to the police?”

  “And tell them what? No one laid a hand on me or you. No one even overtly threatened us. Delaney would deny all knowledge of the bribe and offer to fire Roger and Ozzie for hassling guests. That would be the end of it. We don’t have any proof that anything really nasty happened. It’s conceivable, in fact, that Roger and Ozzie might complain that you pulled a gun on them for no reason.”

  “I didn’t pull a gun on them!”

  Gray showed a few more teeth in his smile. “Try telling them that after the cool act with the purse. I was pretty impressed myself.”

  A fierce exhilaration flared in Amber. “I wasn’t bad, was I?” She felt quite pleased with herself now that they were safely out of the reach of Ozzie, Roger and Vic Delaney. “Tell me exactly what was happening out there in the desert.”

  Gray shrugged. “Delaney must have realized I was turning negative on the deal he was offering Symington and that my report would reflect it. He decided to try a bribe. He kept you occupied on the dance floor while he sent Roger and Ozzie, to, uh, talk some sense into me.”

  “Do you think Delaney realized Roger and Ozzie would threaten you physically?” Amber asked.

  “I’m sure Delaney knows exactly how Roger and Ozzie work.”

  “You don’t sound particularly upset about this whole mess,” Amber pointed out. “Does this sort of thing happen often on your business trips?”

  “I’m afraid they usually aren’t this exciting.” Gray flexed his hands on the wheel and cast a quick appraising glance up at the night sky. “Sort of puts you in mind of a Twitchell poem, doesn’t it? Here we are fleeing for the border under a midnight sky with gunslingers on our heels.”

  Amber jerked around in the seat to stare at the empty highway behind the Jeep. “I don’t see anyone following us.”

  “A figure of speech, my love. A poetic allusion, if you will. Use your imagination. Twitchell would have appreciated the scene, I think.”

  Amber sank back into her seat with a groan. “If you’re about to quote Twitchell to me, I’ve got a better suggestion.”

  It was too late. Gray was already into the opening lines of “Midnight Ride.”

  “The desert night was starry bright,

  But there was crimson blood on the ground.

  The gunman stood with a smoking iron

  And listened, listened for the telltale sound.

  Pursuit would come in a moment,

  In a moment all hell would break loose.

  He must ride hard for the border or

  Risk the hangman’s noose.”

  Amber lifted an admonishing finger as Gray concluded the unmemorable lines. "Another reference to iron,” she pointed out, not without a measure of satisfaction.

  “Is that all you can think about at a time like this?” Gray chided her. “Here we are reliving one of Twitchell’s legends and you’ve got literary phallic symbols on the brain.”

  “I think Ms Abercrombie may have inspired me,” Amber muttered sotto voce.

  “What’s that?”

  “Never mind. Are we going to stay at one of the airport hotels tonight?”

  “I think we will remove temptation from Roger and Ozzie’s path,” Gray said thoughtfully.

  “We’ll buy a ticket to Phoenix and stay there for the night. In the morning we’ll head on back to Bellevue.”

  Amber’s eyes widened. “You don’t think Roger and Ozzie would actually try to track us down again tonight, do you?”

  “No, but I’d rather not take any chances.”

  She couldn’t argue with him on that score. Amber sat back in her seat as the Jeep raced along the lonely road back toward town. She was distinctly relieved when no headlights appeared behind them until after they were safely into the city.

  Gray left the Jeep in the airport parking lot, put the keys in an envelope, addressed it to the resort and dropped the packet into a mailbox. Then he escorted Amber on board the jet.

 
The flight to Phoenix was a short hop, and Amber was still pulsing with excitement and nervous energy when they reached their destination. She couldn’t seem to settle down, she realized. Gray, on the other hand, appeared totally relaxed after the adventure. She eyed him covertly, wondering why he wasn’t more upset. After all, he was the one who had come so close to getting pummeled by Roger and Ozzie.

  Always assuming, of course, that Roger and Ozzie had actually intended to use physical persuasion. Amber frowned as she walked off the airplane. Perhaps nothing would have happened, she told herself. Gray was right; it would have been awkward to go to the police. No real threats had been made, and she had interrupted the proceedings before the two young men could demonstrate how far they meant to go in their efforts to convince Gray to accept the bribe.

  “Do you think Delaney’s likely to send Roger and Oz after us?” she asked as Gray led her toward a cab.

  “No. Delaney’s too smart to move off his own turf.” He deposited Amber into the cab and told the driver to take them to the nearest large hotel.

  “Did you know he was the type to resort to bribery and muscle-bound assistants when you took the Symington job?”

  Gray shook his head. “You never know who will become the ‘type’ when he gets desperate. Delaney’s no fool, though. He made a try and it didn’t work. He’ll back off now. After all, he’ll be traumatized by the thought of having to deal with my ‘bodyguard.’”

  “It was a pretty good act, wasn’t it?” Amber said with satisfaction. The farther she got from Tucson, the more euphoric she felt. She knew already she wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight. She was far too wound up, far too excited.

  “There was only one small flaw in your act,” Gray informed her blandly.

  Amber was offended. “What was that?”

  He looked across the seat at her. “What was all that nonsense about not being my wife?” he asked softly.

  Amber blinked. “Oh, that. I thought it sounded more authentic to say I wasn’t your wife. How many men marry their bodyguards?”