She snapped her vest closed and slung the coil of rope crossways across her body. There, that should hold it securely. Raking her windblown hair out of her face, she placed her right foot tentatively on one of the slats and leaned her weight on it. It held.
Grabbing the trellis in both hands, she put her other foot on it. The structure bowed out a little, but still held. She took another hesitant step upward, then another. So far, so good. She made her cautious way upward, stepping carefully around the slippery leaves.
About ten feet up, the wind gusted, blowing her hair in her face and making the trellis sway. Kelly immediately hugged the wall and felt like emulating the leaves that trembled around her. It was so cold, and she didn’t have the training for this.
Why am I doing this again?
Oh yeah, to rescue Chaz. She froze in place. Maybe Mother was right. Maybe this was too dangerous. Chaz was in no immediate peril, but Kelly was. It might be better just to go back inside and see what happened.
Coward.
I can live with that.
Disgust filled her. No, she couldn’t. For five long years, she hadn’t given up on Chaz, had believed and hoped he was alive, even when everyone else had given up on him. Giving up now that he was finally back home would be a total cop-out, a denial of everything she believed in. Chaz would never give up on her, and she owed it to him to do the same for him.
More resolute now, she turned her gaze up toward her goal and headed toward it with a single-minded determination. Luckily, the vertical sections overlapped so she didn’t have to worry about the weak parts at the top and bottom. Though her hands and face were freezing and it wasn’t as easy as it looked to find secure footholds, she finally made it to the third floor balcony.
Tentatively, she reached out with her right foot and placed it on the floor of the balcony from the outside. Then she moved her right hand, her left hand, and her left foot to the balcony. Carefully, she swung herself over and dropped to the floor, shivering with reaction.
Made it!
The thought exhilarated her. She’d done it, she’d actually done it. She hugged herself and hunkered down out of the wind for a moment, sticking her hands in her armpits to warm them.
It took a minute or so before the shakiness passed and her knees didn’t feel so weak, then she rose to her feet to peer in through the sliding glass door. Where was Chaz?
She couldn’t see him. All she saw were some clothes on the bed. Women’s clothes.
That stupefied her for a moment. Why would they put women’s clothes in Chaz’s room? Then the truth dawned on Kelly. Those were her boss’s clothes, and her boss’s luggage against the wall.
This wasn’t Chaz’s room. It was Candace’s.
Kelly sagged in disbelief. How could she have made such a mistake? She glanced over at the other balconies. Yes, this was the fourth from the end, so how . . . ?
Her mind raced, giving her the answer. The first balcony was farther away from the end than it should have been. So, the room on the end either didn’t have one . . . or the balcony was on the other wall, facing another direction.
Of course. Why didn’t she realize that earlier? That meant Chaz’s room was the next one over. Now what?
More time had passed than she had anticipated, and she couldn’t waste any more. She glanced down and shivered when she realized how far up she’d come. She couldn’t go down again, then back up to the other balcony. There was no time, and in this weather, she’d probably freeze to death before she made it. They’d find her lifeless body, frozen like an icicle to the trellis, the vines twining greedily around her.
She shook the image from her mind. That’s not helpful.
She’d just have to go across the wall. She couldn’t use the rope, of course, but she could cross the trellis to the other balcony the same way she had climbed up—hand over foot.
She took a deep breath and looked over at her new goal. Okay, it was only twenty feet. She had climbed much farther to get here. She could do this.
She had to do this.
Taking a deep breath, she swung her leg over the railing and once more found a secure foothold. Just don’t look down.
Carefully, she resumed her precarious perch on the trellis and took a tentative step to the left. Unfortunately, Kelly soon learned that going sideways was more difficult than going up. She had to take a wide step left, then pull her right side over to her left. It was a lot slower going.
And as she neared the side of this ten-foot section halfway across, the trellis bowed out more, leaving her feeling very nervous, especially since it was hard to see where the edge was around the leaves.
She reached out to the left and grabbed a slat. It broke in her hand.
With a small scream, Kelly flailed for a secure hold and reached out blindly, grabbing another slat in desperation. It held.
Adrenaline pumped through her body, and her heart rate and fear revved up along with it. I can’t do this.
She clung to the trellis as the lifeline it truly was. I must do this.
What had happened? Why did it break? Realizing she must have grabbed the piece on the very end of this section, Kelly relaxed a little. Okay, she just had to make sure she didn’t put her weight on the edges.
Carefully, she reached out with her left foot, not quite as far as she had reached with her hand, and stepped down. The slat broke.
Her left foot floundered in the air for a moment as she sagged on the trellis. When she finally found purchase with her foot, she made the mistake of looking down. Three stories down. . . .
She closed her eyes and dizziness assailed her. Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod. I’m going to die.
But as her freezing fingers still clung to the wood and the dizziness abated, her fear receded as well. No, she had made it this far and she was not going to die, damn it. She was going to finish crossing this wall, rescue Chaz, and live happily ever after.
If she survived this, she would deserve it.
Okay, all she had to do was avoid the weak part where the two trellis sections joined together. It was a risk, but a calculated one. Carefully, she inched over square by square toward the edge. When she was sure she was at the limit of the safe part, she tightened the grip on her right hand and foot, and leaned out as far as she could to grab the other section in her left hand. It didn’t break. Yes!
So far, so good.
With great care, she moved her left foot over just as far. It held, too, though the way the sections leaned out in her face made her stifle another scream. Both sections would break loose if she wasn’t careful. Quickly, she brought her right hand and foot to join the left. The swaying stopped and she breathed a sigh of relief.
From there, the rest of the way seemed positively easy. After what seemed like eons, she finally dropped into the balcony. Safe.
Relief, elation, and satisfaction filled her. She had pitted herself against an incredible obstacle and survived. Not just survived—she had triumphed. Adrenaline gave one final surge and subsided. No wonder Chaz loved this feeling—it was quite a rush. Hell, it was rather fun, too, even the scary parts.
But it wasn’t over yet. She still had to get Chaz out. She had taken so long. Was he still there? Was this even his room?
She looked inside, and intense relief filled her as she saw the back of Chaz’s head. As Spencer said, he was tied to a chair—she could see the ropes.
She tried the door and, for once, luck was on her side. Thank heavens for Chaz’s habit of leaving windows and doors open.
She slid the glass door open and Chaz swiveled his head around to stare at her, his eyes wide above the gag in his mouth and the bruise on his cheek. Ohmigod. Poor Chaz. He made a few noises around the gag and she held a finger to her lips. She didn’t want Gilbert to hear them and give the game away. Not after everything she had gone through to get here.
She hurried toward Chaz and worked at the knots holding his arms to the chair until he was free. Finally. The thrill of success zinged through
her.
He immediately reached up and pulled off the gag and, wild-eyed, threw it away as if it were a deadly snake. Jumping up, he rubbed fiercely at his arms where the rope had been. Good heavens, he was trembling. She had been right to rescue him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in a fierce whisper.
“Saving you,” she whispered back. What did it look like?
He looked annoyed. What? Did he think only men could be heroes? Well, she’d done a great job all by herself, thankyouverymuch.
“Why?” he asked insistently.
Strange question. “Because I realized I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” She smiled, anticipating his reaction.
She got one all right, but it wasn’t what she expected. “That’s a switch.” His eyes narrowed. “Why? Because you learned Amalia wasn’t pregnant with my child?”
She stared at him in surprise for a moment, wondering why he was so angry. Then again, he’d been beaten and tied up, not knowing what was going to happen to him. That was bound to make anyone a little cranky. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, she said, “True, Amalia’s not pregnant, but—”
“Now you believe me?” He shook his head sadly. “Why couldn’t you trust me before, when it really counted?”
Damn. This wasn’t going at all like she’d planned.
18
Chaz watched the shock settle on Kelly’s features as he waited for her answer. She looked glorious. Red-cheeked and windblown from her exertions, she was nowhere near her mother’s ideal of the perfect daughter.
But she was awfully close to being the perfect wife. He couldn’t believe she’d climbed the wall. The fact that she would actually risk her life to rescue him made the blood thrill in his veins.
But he also couldn’t get over the disappointment that she had to have outside confirmation that he was telling the truth first.
“But I do trust you,” she said in a rush. “I was coming to tell you that when I found out you were tied up. That’s when I learned Amalia was pregnant—after, not before.”
Chaz frowned. Could she be telling the truth?
“I swear it,” Kelly said fervently. “Just ask Scott—he’ll tell you.”
“So why am I still being held prisoner here?”
“I guess Amalia was embarrassed at being caught in a lie. She’s disappeared and her brothers won’t believe that she’s not pregnant. One of them went for a priest to marry you two.”
“A priest?” Chaz repeated incredulously. So that was their plan. “That’s ridiculous. Even if they could find a priest to go along with this stupid plan, it wouldn’t be legal.” And didn’t they need a marriage license, not to mention Chaz’s consent?
“Well, it might be. Remember, Gerald thinks we’re no longer legally married.”
“What do you think?”
Kelly made an impatient gesture. “I think we need to get out of here before they return.” She lifted the rope coil off over her head. “We can talk about this later.”
“No,” Chaz said. “I want to talk about it now.” Who knew if they’d have private time again later?
“Well, at least tie the rope to the balcony, okay? So it will be ready if we need it?”
“All right.” As he secured the rope, Chaz asked, “If Amalia’s test didn’t make you change your mind, what did?”
“Something Scott said.”
“What?”
“He made me realize that you were right and I was wrong. I guess I was punishing you, subconsciously.”
“That’s it?” She believed her brother but not her husband?
“That, and the fact that I realize you’re an honorable man, and that means you wouldn’t even look at another woman while you’re married to me. I was wrong to suspect you of cheating on me. I know you’d never do that. I just forgot it for awhile.”
Chaz sighed in relief, not realizing how much tension had been in his shoulders until he let go of it. So she did understand.
Kelly moved closer. “I’ve missed you terribly, and I don’t want to go through the rest of my life without you. Can’t we work this out?”
“I don’t know. . . .” Their goals seemed so distant from each other. “Do you think we can find a solution that won’t tear one of us apart?”
“I don’t know either,” Kelly said. “But I’m willing to try. How about you?”
A sudden noise at the door caught Chaz’s attention. Someone was using his stolen key to come in the door. Bad timing. Quickly, he moved toward the door. Gilbert looked up in surprise to see him loose, and Chaz took advantage of the situation. Rushing forward, he lowered his head and slammed his shoulder into the large man’s stomach.
When Amalia’s brother landed on his butt in the hallway gasping for breath, Chaz saw Juan talking animatedly to a priest behind him, and Scott trying to restrain Deuce.
Deuce. This was all his fault. “You sonuvabitch,” Chaz yelled. “You did this to me.”
Scott let go of Deuce who turned a surprised face to Chaz. “Wait. I didn’t—”
But Chaz did. Not waiting to hear what Deuce had to say, he punched him, full in the face. Deuce went down for the count, falling over Gilbert and knocking Juan and the priest over as he did so.
“And he scores!” Scott yelled, raising his arms in jubilation.
Chaz let out a choke of laughter but didn’t stick around to see how the downed men would react. Instead, he slammed the door shut and closed the swing guard. Damn, that felt good. He’d been wanting to do that for a long time.
“Come on,” he said to Kelly as he heard a body hit the door. “I don’t know if these doors are built to withstand that kind of abuse. We’ll talk later.”
Kelly wasted no time in going over the side with him. For the third time, they climbed down a rope together.
At the bottom, Kelly asked, “What now?”
“I have no idea,” Chaz admitted. “This was your plan.”
Two men emerged into the courtyard. “Hey,” one of them called. “Are you Chaz Vincent?”
Reporters. In answer, Chaz grabbed Kelly’s hand and ran in the opposite direction. He risked a glance back. Damn, just as he thought. They were chasing him and Chaz had no idea where he was going.
“Maybe we can catch a cab out front,” Kelly yelled.
“Good idea.” But as he rounded the corner, he spotted three other men moving toward them from the opposite direction. When their eyes widened and one pointed at him, babbling excitedly, it didn’t take a genius to realize they were reporters, too.
Quickly, Chaz made a ninety degree turn and, still towing Kelly, dashed into the side door of the hotel. They’d just have to go through the lobby and catch a cab out front that way.
But he came to an abrupt halt when he reached the lobby. Damn. It was mobbed with people. And, oddly enough, he knew most of them.
They must have caught some fast elevators. Scott was arguing angrily with his mother and her boyfriend, Amalia and Deuce were talking excitedly with Candace, the Garcia brothers each had a firm grip on one arm of the shell-shocked priest, two policemen and three reporters were talking to Billings, and cameramen and open-mouthed spectators were milling everywhere.
Ah hell, just when he wanted most to be alone with Kelly.
Kelly almost screamed in disappointment. Just when she wanted most to be alone with Chaz. She followed Chaz’s example and tried to hide her face and edge around the crowd, but the five reporters from outside caught up to them.
Cameras flashed and reporters shouted questions at them. Kelly threw up her hands to shield her face, but when the entire crowd surged in their direction, she got separated from Chaz as the reporters and cameramen surrounded him.
With some vague idea of grabbing a cab and trying to rescue him anyway, she tried to fight her way free of the mob again, but was stopped by Billings.
He drew himself up stiffer than she had ever seen him and stared down his nose at her. “This is total
ly unacceptable,” he said in freezing tones. “The Pourtales cannot condone this sort of conduct. You seem to be the catalyst for this appalling behavior. I insist you leave at once.”
“You’re evicting me?” she asked in disbelief. But none of this was her fault.
“Yes,” he said with obvious relish. “You have one hour to pack your things and leave, or I will have the police escort you out.”
“Fine,” Kelly spat out. “I will be more than happy to leave your establishment. And to let people know how badly you’ve treated me.” Placing her hands on her hips, she glared up at him. “It’s a big mistake to piss me off, buddy. I work for Pizzazz magazine, you know.”
It didn’t seem to impress Billings. He just sniffed and stalked off.
“Actually,” Candace said at her elbow, “that’s what I’d like to talk to you about.”
“What?” Kelly asked, trying to hide her exasperation. Couldn’t Candace see this was not the time to talk shop? Reporters had cornered Chaz and he seemed to have given in and was holding a press conference. She wanted to know what he was saying.
The publisher nodded at Amalia who stood beside her with a smug smile on her face. “I’ve just hired our Pizzazz Girl.”
“Her?” Kelly couldn’t believe it. Candace had actually hired the bimbo? Trying to keep a reasonable tone, Kelly said, “I’m not sure I could work with her after what she’s done the past few days.”
Candace nodded sympathetically. “I understand. And I want you to understand that I appreciate the fact that you have released Spencer from any obligation.”
Kelly glanced at her erstwhile second husband who was standing just out of earshot, watching them uncomfortably with a growing shiner under his right eye. “Well, we still have to get the annulment. But I take it he has finally seen the light?”
Candace smiled sadly. “Yes, I think he has. We have a date scheduled for tomorrow night.”
So why the long face? “Good for you. I hope everything works out between the two of you.” Now, if only she could do the same for herself and Chaz.
My Favorite Husband Page 24