Remaining silent, she leaned against the door and examined her hands.
“I know you think I’m just like your father, but have I ever given you reason to mistrust me?”
She looked up, blue eyes tragic. “No.”
“Then why—”
“It’s as if the universe won’t allow any other outcome because of how different we are.”
“Come on, Taki.”
“Then it’s me, Reese. I told you. Somehow I always manage to screw things up between us.”
“Yeah, well, I have to agree with that.”
She offered a sad half smile. “Why don’t I think we’re talking about the same thing?”
“Words are like that sometimes,” he said. “They’re imperfect and don’t convey what we really mean.” Reese smoothed her cheek with his thumb, finding the skin soft and cool.
“In your heart, Taki, don’t you think your father loves you? Maybe he just doesn’t know how to say the words.”
“Loves me?” She batted his hand from her face, her eyes flash-frozen into blue ice. “No way.”
“Maybe you’ve been too busy hating your father to properly grieve for your mother. Have you considered you’re running away because you’re afraid you are like your mom, and you’re terrified your fate could be similar to hers?”
“How could you know anything about my mom?”
“You see our lives as a repeat of your parents’ tragedy, but life isn’t preordained like that no matter what you think.”
“What I know is my father drove my mother to suicide, and didn’t even feel guilty about it afterward. He’s a selfish brute, and he made my life hell.”
Startled by the anger and resentment falling from her lips, Reese remained silent. He’d never seen Taki so agitated. Maybe he was hitting too close to home.
“Listen, Reese, you can relax,” she continued, coming to her knees. “In fact, you deserve to be commended. You paved the way perfectly for the monster tonight.”
“What are you babbling about now?”
She scrambled to her feet and brushed off her jeans. “Wild, mindless sex always leaves an heiress weak-kneed and unable to say no to the lawyers. Hasn’t that been your experience, too?”
“Stop it, Taki.” He stood beside her and placed his hands on her shoulders, wanting to shake sense into her.
“You stop telling me about my father. You never even met him. How can you pretend to understand what went on in our lives?”
“Then why don’t you tell me about it.”
“What difference would it make? Can you change anything that happened?”
“You are irrational on the subject of your father. Don’t you see that?”
“Yeah? Well, you think I’m irrational about a lot of things.”
“You’re pushing me away because you’re afraid, but I am nothing like your father.”
She jerked open the door in an unsubtle invitation to leave. “You’d better go report in about your success this evening. I’m sure they’re anxiously awaiting word.”
“Taki, your father—”
“I refuse to discuss my father or my mother with you. Please go.”
Reese stepped outside and she slammed the door behind him.
In his car, he sat for a moment and tried to unravel how during his brief, explosive time with Taki their emotions had gotten completely turned around. He’d arrived at her cottage furious with her, while she was appropriately repentant. But by the time he’d left, she spat pure venom at him while he wished he knew how to make things right between them again.
When he’d made the smallest attempt to heal the rift between her and her father, she had gone absolutely ballistic. Yeah, the man was a first-class jerk and should never have been awarded sole custody of a young girl. But money equals power, especially in their legal system. He’d seen it happen before. If what Taki had told him were true—and he had no reason to doubt her—the man didn’t deserve his very special daughter. But she was only hurting herself by constantly running away. Why couldn’t she see that? Reese understood it would be hard to forgive the man, but Taki needed to reconnect with her father so she could regain control of her life.
What had made her go off so crazy on him?
And even stranger was how he had again experienced an uncanny sense of coming home, of being where he belonged while he’d made love to her. At least this time he could explain the bewildering feeling of familiarity by the fact that they had made love before.
Well, he’d done what Winslow had asked. He could set up a meeting with Taki—Kim—whenever he wanted.
But it was time for him to face the painful facts. Any chance of understanding or compromise with Taki was impossible.
Her reality was different from his.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE NEXT MORNING Taki stepped into the oxygen-rich atmosphere of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens’s conservatory and moved quickly away from the door to duck behind the leaf of a huge tree fern. She sucked in a deep breath as she realized she was completely alone. There wasn’t even a volunteer hovering by the front door.
Overgrown with towering palms and flowering tropical plants, this garden created its own natural temple, a richly fragrant sanctuary where a weary soul could take respite from everyday cares and search for renewal. Closing her eyes, she invited healing prana, the energy of life, to flow through her body. She listened to the gentle trickle of a waterfall, hoping it would quiet her edgy thoughts.
But her mind wasn’t anywhere near quiet today.
Regretting that she couldn’t allow time for Mother Nature to work her soothing magic, she opened her eyes to survey her surroundings with a critical eye.
She’d deliberately arrived an hour earlier than Mayhugh had instructed. She wanted to scope things out, see if there was any danger, maybe identify an escape route. And if the location seemed safe, the extra time would calm her, help her overcome a bad case of jitters.
Something about her conversation with Mayhugh bugged her. Something didn’t seem right, so she’d called Reese’s FBI agent Javi to let him know about the meet. Yeah, Javi would likely notify Reese, but she couldn’t help that.
Certainly this should qualify as doing the work. Navi would be very pleased. Lately, she’d felt nothing but pain and harmful emotion, constantly thinking about her mom, and it was all because of Reese. She’d never been this miserable before he’d forced her to start examining her life, her motives.
Until the moment he’d uttered his nonsense about how her father really loved her last night, she’d intended to tell him all about this meeting.
Reese thought she was irrational? Yeah, right. A renewed surge of outrage shot through her. Maybe Reese was her soul mate, but he didn’t know what he was talking about. He read some moldy files created by lawyers and thought he had all the answers. He thought her beliefs were a smoke screen? How insulting.
He wanted her to trust him and had the nerve to be furious because she didn’t do everything he said. But how could she trust him when he’d gone to work for her enemy? His defense of her father had finally pounded home the concept that matters between them were hopeless. He would never experience the universe the way she did.
She took another deep inhalation and straightened her shoulders, forcing her thoughts away from her rising temper. Navi had taught her to use moments of anger to breathe deeply, close her eyes and reconnect with her spirit. She needed to remember why she was here.
Reese wasn’t the only one who could smooth a path. If she found his briefcase and returned it, their chances were bound to improve in the next life. Present-day experience is created by past actions. She believed that. She truly did. So what she accomplished this morning would positively affect her future with Reese.
Sooner or later, in
one lifetime or another, they would remember hard-learned lessons and put them to good use.
But when?
She loved Reese with a fierce passion that made her breathless every time she saw him. But that same passion made her fury at him burn too hot to control. Made her react and say things she didn’t mean. How could she stay grounded, remain in the present moment when her anger rose up too fast, took control of her mind so completely that she couldn’t even think? That behavior wasn’t who she was. Not really. Or was it?
They were no good for each other.
She ran a finger along the smooth spine of a palm frond. She might be furious with Reese, but she couldn’t deny the strength of her feelings for him, feelings of belonging, completeness and what she recognized as pure, perfect love.
Well, maybe not perfect, but the kind of love her parents had shared before it all got ruined with her father’s jealousy, hateful accusations and lawyers’ intervention.
When you loved someone that strongly, did it always turn out bad? Did half of the couple become obsessive about the other like her father had about her mother? Reese believed in happy endings. He’d told her so on the trip to Cassadaga. Victoria and Bert had lasted a lifetime together. A long, happy lifetime of marital bliss. Why couldn’t she and Reese have that?
She longed to help him, to make things better for him. Even if it had nothing to do with their future lives together—which he didn’t believe in any way—she wanted to find the briefcase to apologize for the mean things she’d said to him.
She had to remember that’s why she’d come.
Drawn by a sweet, heady fragrance, Taki moved into the orchidarium where she admired healthy plants adorned with dazzling blooms of deep purple, lavender, yellow and white. Beyond the trellised wall that displayed the flowers, she saw row after row of wire benches where the garden staff nurtured seedlings to maturity. They did excellent work at this botanical garden, gathering and conserving rare plants.
She tried the screen door leading to the nursery. When it opened easily, the tension in her center loosened its grip a bit. She could make a quick getaway through this gate if things soured when Mayhugh arrived. Hopefully Javi or another FBI agent would arrive by then.
Hearing the main door open, she whirled, her heart pounding so hard it scared her. A young woman entered the conservatory pushing an infant in a stroller, accompanied by a rambunctious little boy. With a gentle admonition to her restless son, the mother made her way toward the waterfall in the back.
Not Mayhugh. But at least now there was someone else nearby, although that knowledge didn’t ease her nerves. A woman with two young children would be of no help. Who knew Fairchild would be deserted this early in the morning? Had everyone slept in? She’d expected the conservatory to be crowded, like the restaurant had been. Where was the FBI?
She was vulnerable here. Anything could happen.
A sharp noise behind her caused her to turn back to the blooming orchids. Mayhugh already? She fingered the pepper spray in her pocket and sucked in a breath.
No. Only a staff member dressed in a khaki uniform who disappeared behind another door.
Taki heaved a sigh and placed her palm over her queasy belly. This was all wrong.
She shouldn’t be here. Not alone. Of course she was anxious—she had good reason to be worried.
Hadn’t she arrived early to scope out possible danger? Well, this location absolutely was not safe. She needed to get out of here before Mayhugh arrived. She needed to rethink this whole idea.
Taki exited the way she’d entered, scanning constantly for any sign of the fence or Javi. She made it outside and hurried out of sight of the conservatory without seeing anyone. With a quick decision, she stepped onto a path marked Tropical Rainforest.
A quickly moving stream followed the trail, its tumble over limestone rocks creating a soothing sound. The dense tree canopy overhead blocked out almost any sight of a pale blue sky peeking through thick limbs. Lower tree branches and trunks featured more blooming orchids and colorful bromeliads. The air hung dense with humidity.
She sat on a wooden bench in an open area next to a gentle cascade and allowed her pulse rate to slow.
What was wrong with her? She’d allowed her anger with Reese to make her stubborn, to behave foolishly. But she wasn’t stupid. She’d lived on her own for years without getting herself into any trouble.
She needed to calm down and figure out what it was about her conversation with Mayhugh that bothered her.
From the very beginning, all the communications, including the notes, only said she’d receive information about the bowl. They never actually said they’d give her the bowl. What did that mean? Was it a scam? No, they’d sent her a photo with a dated newspaper. They had her property. Whoever “they” were. And why were the notes made differently? That seemed strange.
What really didn’t make sense was Mayhugh’s refusal to tell her what he wanted in exchange for the bowl. He’d said, All will be revealed tomorrow. She didn’t believe for a minute he would hand it over because he was a really nice guy.
Why would she even consider meeting a man, a known criminal even, in a deserted garden? She should have confirmed everything with Javi. No wonder Reese had been so angry when she’d gone to Mayhugh’s home. Why hadn’t she seen this before?
The longer she remained in the peace of the rainforest, the more she understood her bowl was gone. She’d never see it again. She’d gotten attached, and attachment brought misery. And the bowl had only been a symbol, anyway.
Or maybe it was an illusion. Yes, like in the sutras where you see a stick on the ground and think it’s a snake. Your mind can play tricks on you. Her mind had been playing tricks on her.
But not anymore.
She looked up to judge the time by the sun’s angle. How long had she been sitting here hiding from Mayhugh? She wanted to wait until she was certain he had given up and left. As added security, she’d parked next door at Matheson Hammock, although she doubted Mayhugh would recognize her Jeep.
For the first time in her life she wished she owned a cell phone. But she’d find a phone somewhere and call Reese and Javi. They needed to know why she’d aborted the meeting. She’d tell them to question Benny again, although the FBI had already spoken to him once. Oh, but she hoped he wasn’t involved.
And then she’d wait for that man from the Trust to call.
When certain enough time had passed that Mayhugh would consider her a no-show, Taki exited the rainforest area.
Trudging back to her Jeep, she decided to call the Trust herself. Today. Why wait any longer? Better to just get the surrender over with, move on with the next phase of her life. Reese would give her the number.
As she neared the Jeep, she dug for her keys in the bag draped over her shoulder. When she raised her head, she was startled by the appearance of a familiar face emerging from the vehicle parked next to hers. A car she didn’t recognize.
“Hector?” she asked, amazed to see SoBe Spa’s popular personal trainer, his powerful physique completely out of sync with the tranquil natural environment. She frowned. Had Hector been using steroids? Something else she hadn’t considered before.
“Hey, Taki.”
“What are you doing here, Hector?”
“I followed you from your home,” he said with his usual carefree grin.
When he raised his muscled arm toward her, a spurt of alarm caused Taki to take a step back. What was Hector...
“Thanks for making me rich,” he said.
Before Taki could react to his nonsensical statement, she heard a strange zapping noise, and a jolt of electricity shot through her.
Intense pain paralyzed her, stiffening her limbs. Unable to move, she collapsed to the ground.
* * *
REESE PAUSED READING and glance
d at the clock by his bed: 5:00 a.m. He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose which had lately become irritated. How could Taki’s gift make the print so clear when everything about her was so muddled? Like this information he was trying to digest. He picked up where he’d left off in the text.
“Even soul mates follow a rocky path to pure harmony. This is because a soul mate relationship is more intense than a normal relationship, in both negative and positive ways. However, true soul mates learn to love each other’s flaws, so they find it easier to move beyond the bad moments and resolve their conflicts.”
He shut the book, examined its cover and shook his head. Facts suited him much better than vague theories that couldn’t be proven.
Last night he’d slept only fitfully, waking long before dawn. His normal pattern these days. Unable to stomach further research on Carlos Romero, he’d sifted through the reading list Taki had sent to the Spencer Trust’s offices when she’d gone on the lam. Winslow had forwarded several of the texts. Around 4:00 a.m. he’d selected one on reincarnation.
Maybe if he understood Taki’s offbeat thinking, he could find a flaw in her logic and a way to convince her to face her problems. She believed they were soul mates, and he was trying to understand exactly what that meant.
Could they really have known each other through countless lifetimes, failing on each go-around to learn the mysterious lessons referenced in the text? His natural inclination was to immediately dismiss that far-fetched possibility, but he had to admit since he’d known Taki he’d experienced some novel reactions. Besides, for some unfathomable reason, the theory rather pleased him.
Meeting up with Taki in life after life would have its rewards.
Growing annoyed with his thoughts, he tossed the book aside and headed for the kitchen to brew coffee. The most important trial of his career began in less than three hours, an event that would shape his political future. A future of public service that he’d worked toward since being elected senior class president at Princeton. He couldn’t let a beautiful yogini distract him with impossible-to-prove theories on reincarnation.
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