It all started to make a crazy kind of sense: Flynn’s initial reluctance to discuss his work, the growing feeling she’d had that he was hiding something which had made her follow him tonight, even... Here Natalie had to stop and take a breath to steady herself. Even the fact that Flynn had stopped her from calling the police after that intruder had been in their rooms! Just what was he involved in?
The question plagued her as the hours passed. Several times the man came to bring her food or to escort her to the small, dirty bathroom but he never said anything further and cut short Natalie’s attempts to question him. Through the cracks in the window boards, Natalie watched the sun gain its zenith then start to slide from the sky and knew that a full day must have passed. What was going to happen next? Would they have contacted Flynn by now and laid down the terms of the exchange? Would he agree? She couldn’t bear to dwell on what might happen if he didn’t!
She must have fallen into an exhausted doze when the sounds of shouting from the next room woke her. Natalie leapt off the bed and ran to the door, pounding on it with her fists. ‘Let me out of here! Do you hear me? Let me out!’
‘I imagine a dead man could hear you, sweet. Do you really need to scream like that?’
There was no mistaking the voice yet it sat oddly with the figure who suddenly appeared as the door was thrust open. Natalie backed away, her eyes enormous as they swept over the white-robed figure with the dark hair and eyes who stood smiling at her in a very familiar way.
‘Don’t you recognise me, Natalie? I’m cut to the quick.’
‘Flynn?’ Her voice sounded dry as dust, echoing with disbelief. ‘Is...is that really you?’
‘It is. Amazing the difference a drop of hair dye and some contact lenses can make.’ He shot a look over his shoulder, his face suddenly sobering when he turned back to Natalie. ‘Still, there’s no time to go into that now. Come along.’
‘Where? Where are you taking me? What’s going on, Flynn? Tell me, damn you!’ Perhaps it wasn’t the most logical moment to start demanding answers but as reaction set in Natalie couldn’t help herself.
‘That wasn’t a request, honey, it was an order. Save the histrionics until later when we’ve more time to deal with them.’
He had her by the arm and through the door before Natalie could stop him. She tried to wriggle free, twisting and squirming in his grasp, then stopped abruptly as she caught sight of the figure slumped on the floor by the table.
‘Is...is he dead?’ she whispered in a horrified tone.
Flynn didn’t bother sparing the man a glance. ‘No. But I imagine he’ll have a headache to beat all others when he comes round. Now let’s get out of here before any of his cronies turn up. I hate to ruin my image but I doubt I’d be a match for more than one at a time.’
He wrenched the door open, then shot a quick glance outside before hauling her after him, half dragging and half carrying her to a battered Jeep which was parked out of sight down an alley next to the ramshackle house. He helped her inside then slid behind the wheel, starting the engine and pulling away in a cloud of dust.
Natalie took a long, shaky breath, feeling the ripples of shock coursing through her body when she glanced back at the house as they skimmed over the rough road. ‘I want to know what’s been going on. I think I deserve some sort of explanation!’
Flynn kept his eyes centred on the road, increasing his speed as they left the village behind. ‘Unfortunately, you got involved in something you shouldn’t have. I apologise.’
‘You apologise?’ She rounded on him in sudden fury, eyes glittering fiercely. ‘I was drugged and abducted and you think that saying sorry is going to make up for it?’
‘No, but there isn’t anything else I can say right now.’ He cut her an icy stare, his hands moving skilfully on the wheel as he turned the Jeep on to a track which had the vehicle lurching from side to side as they sped along it.
‘You could try explaining what you’re involved in! That man back there told me that I had been kidnapped because you have something he and his friends want. I want to know what it is. I want to know what you’re involved in, Flynn!’
‘It’s better that you don’t know, Natalie. It will serve no purpose telling you. For your own good I suggest that you leave me to handle it the way I see fit.’
She smiled cuttingly, her temper fuelled by echoes of the fear she’d lived with for the past few hours. What would have happened if Flynn hadn’t found her...? She blanked out the thought, feeding her anger because it was all she had left between her and a total loss of control. ‘For my own good, eh? I wonder why that phrase is usually used to excuse something unpleasant, like eating your spinach or taking cod-liver oil?’
He laughed suddenly, a low roll of sound which made her toes curl despite her fury. ‘I don’t recall ever being likened to cod-liver oil before.’
‘I’m sure you haven’t! I’m sure most people are taken in by the famous O’Rourke charm, that wonderful face you present to the world! But even without this little episode to back up my suspicions I was beginning to wonder if it wasn’t all just a marvellous front, that the real Flynn O’Rourke wasn’t someone completely different!’
‘How perceptive of you, Natalie.’
‘So you admit that it’s all a mask you hide behind, then?’
He spared her a glance before he turned his gaze back to the treacherous track. ‘We all hide behind masks of one sort or another. It’s only the very young who face the world head-on, but even they soon learn to hide their feelings.’
His words made her ache, her emotions too raw to miss the poignancy of the brief, flat statement. ‘But not everyone has as much reason to hide as you do, perhaps?’
‘Meaning?’ He arched a brow.
‘That obviously you’re involved in something you shouldn’t be. What is it, Flynn? I want to know!’
He shook his head, his lips thinning. ‘I have already told you that it’s better you don’t know all the details. I’m sorry you’ve been dragged into this, even sorrier for what happened, but as for explaining it all...’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe I’ll be able to do so later, maybe not. We shall have to see.’
‘And I shall have to be content with that?’ She tossed her head, swinging the heavy tangle of hair back from her face. The sun had disappeared completely now, the sky along the horizon blood-red as night fell. ‘I’m sorry, Flynn, but I need more than that. When we get back to Cairo I’m going straight to the police. Maybe they can persuade you to tell them the whole tale!’
‘We aren’t going back to Cairo.’ His voice was edged with steel and he increased the speed until the Jeep was in danger of overturning as it rocked over the uneven ground.
Natalie had to grip hold of the door-handle to stop herself from being thrown out and was suddenly glad of its solid feel in a world which seemed to be hurtling out of her control. ‘What do you mean we aren’t going back to Cairo? Where...where are we going?’
‘Into the desert.’ He flicked his lights on to main beam so that they cut a swath through the darkness. In the glow from the dashboard his face looked harshly unfamiliar, the chiselled perfection of his features more pronounced than ever. It wasn’t just the obvious differences of hair and eyes; it was as though suddenly the real man had been revealed.
Natalie fought to control a rising sense of panic but it was impossible. Too much had happened in too short a time so that she could feel hysteria bubbling to the surface.
‘I want to go back to the hotel...to the others. Damn you, O’Rourke! Just take me back there!’ She pounded on his arm with her free hand and heard him swear roughly as the Jeep skidded alarmingly before he managed to bring it back under control. He slewed to a halt, turning in his seat to pin her arms by her sides so that she couldn’t strike him again.
‘Stop that, Natalie! You’re getting hysterical.’
‘Am I indeed?’ She laughed out loud, the sound shocking her because it sounded out of control. ‘Am I?’ she repeated m
ore quietly, searching his face with fear-darkened eyes. ‘I wonder why. Could it be because I’m scared out of my wits by what’s happened?’
He sighed harshly, his grip loosening although he didn’t let her go. Almost without conscious thought his fingers slid up and down her arm in a soft, strangely tender caress. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know it’s been tough and you’ve been scared. I have too—scared I wouldn’t be able to find you, scared that when I did—’ He broke off, turning away without completing the sentence yet Natalie knew what he’d meant. She gave a small, eloquent shiver and heard him groan harshly before he swung back and dragged her into his arms, holding her so tightly that she could barely breathe, although breathing was less essential than just being held right then.
‘When I realised what had happened, that you’d been taken, I nearly lost my head! I knew there was something going on. I just didn’t expect them to move so quickly. If I’d had any idea that you would be in danger then...’ He drew her even closer, his cheek pressed against the top of her head. Natalie had the feeling that his holding her was not only comforting her but easing his own recent fears as well. She’d been afraid but so had Flynn, and a small glow of warmth started deep inside her at that thought, that he must truly care about her to feel that way.
‘How soon did you find out I was missing?’ she asked softly, shuddering as her lips accidentally brushed against his neck and sent sensations through every nerve in her body.
‘Almost immediately, I imagine. Once I discovered you weren’t at the nightclub with the others I went to find you. When you weren’t in the suite or in any of the public rooms, I knew something was wrong even before I received that message informing me about the deal.’
His voice was hard and filled with a deep anguish at the memory of the moment when his worse fears had been confirmed. Natalie’s hands slid up to his chest and rested there, wanting in some way to offer him comfort. She’d been scared and shaken and still felt that way, but had it been any easier for Flynn?
‘Then what did you do? Did you call the police?’ He shook his head, easing her away from him as he sat back in the seat and stared through the windscreen. ‘No. I knew that would put you in worse danger.’
‘But why? What is this all about, Flynn?’
‘What it is about is deceit and treachery which have had repercussions no one could ever have foreseen.’ He laughed harshly. ‘Even I didn’t fully understand the dangers!’
Natalie shook her head in bewilderment, finding it impossible to make sense of what he said when she was still so much in the dark. ‘If you didn’t call the police then what did you do?’
‘Luckily I have contacts. I used them, called in a few favours, and by sheer good luck discovered where you’d been taken. Now what I need to do is make certain that you remain safe until I can get you out of here.’
‘You don’t think they would... would try it again?’
His expression hardened at the note of alarm in her voice she couldn’t disguise. ‘These people aren’t playing games, Natalie. The stakes are high and they’ll stop at nothing to get what they want. They obviously saw you as the lever they needed to get what they want and that hasn’t changed!’
‘But it’s so crazy. Why did they imagine that you would be willing to trade this thing...whatever it is...for me?’
‘Because this act we’ve been putting on for Damian’s benefit has been rather too convincing!’ Flynn laughed sardonically at her gasp of shock. ‘Yes, I see you’re starting to get the picture. And when you look at it from their angle it does make sense. We’ve been sharing that suite at the hotel, acting to all intents and purposes as a loving couple, so they drew all the obvious conclusions.’
‘Sense? It’s madness.’ She stopped, struck by a sudden unpalatable thought. ‘That means that they’ve been watching us, doesn’t it?’
‘I imagine so.’
‘Of course!’ She gasped, her eyes huge. ‘The man back there, the one who kidnapped me...he was the one in the hotel garden the other night!’
‘I’m sure you’re right. He might even have been the person who was in our suite, or there could be others involved. My contacts haven’t been able to come up with a lot of information but it doesn’t surprise me. These people are professionals, Natalie. That’s why we cannot risk going back to Cairo, because that’s the first place they’ll look for you.’ He swept a hand towards the darkness which surrounded them. ‘Out here I can keep you a damned sight safer than I could there.’
‘But what about the advert...David and the others?’ Her head was reeling with all he’d told her, and all he hadn’t, which was almost worse. What was he mixed up in? She wished she knew yet at the same time dreaded finding out!
‘I told them that you’d had a message to return to England, a relative who’s been taken sick suddenly.’ He shrugged, his hands resting lightly on the steering-wheel. ‘I used that as an excuse for your absence last night, told them that naturally you were upset and that I would be flying back with you today so no one would think it odd when I disappeared too. David was quite happy when I promised to get back late tomorrow to complete the job.’
‘But won’t that be dangerous? What’s to stop those men from turning their sights on you now that this plan has gone wrong?’
It was impossible to hide the fear she felt at the thought of the danger he might be putting himself in. No matter what Flynn was mixed up in, she couldn’t bear to think of anything happening to him!
‘I can take care of myself. They’ll have little chance of getting what they’re after when they don’t have you to use as a lever.’
‘Would you have given it to them, then...this thing they want so badly?’ Her voice was low yet she knew he’d heard her because he stiffened slightly, his hands tensing on the wheel before he seemed to make an effort to relax.
‘Fortunately it didn’t come to that, Natalie. So there’s no real point in speculating on what might have been. And once you’re safely out of harm’s way then we won’t need to worry about it.’
The sense of disappointment she felt was strong, yet what had she wanted him to say—that he would have gone through with the exchange to have her returned safely? It might be ridiculous but she couldn’t help wishing that were so! To know that Flynn cared that much for her safety would have gone a long way to easing the memory of this terrifying ordeal.
‘I see.’ She fought to keep her voice level, afraid that he would understand how she felt, for that was the last thing she wanted—to give him that kind of power over her. ‘It seems you have it all worked out. So what happens next?’
‘We shall spend the night out here then in the morning, once it’s light, we’ll drive to Farafra. I’ve made arrangements for us to be picked up there and taken on to El Khârga where a plane will be waiting. You will be flown out of the country to somewhere safe until I’ve got this sorted out.’
‘But how long will that take? I can’t just disappear! I have a job to do! What’s going to happen about the advertisement? And what’s Damian going to say when he discovers I’ve just upped and left?’
He swore softly, his face hard and set in the faint light. ‘You’re making a fuss over nothing.’
‘It might be nothing to you, Flynn O’Rourke, but we’re talking about my job here and it means a lot to me!’
‘More than your life?’ He caught her chin, forcing her face up to meet his angry eyes. ‘This isn’t a game of cops and robbers, Natalie. These men mean business. They don’t care who gets hurt. Understand?’
‘Oh, I understand all right. It’s just that I’m not too certain which side you’re on, Flynn. Are you one of the cops or one of the robbers, a goodie or a baddie?’
He let her go to start the engine. ‘I’m sure you have your own theories on that, so I shall leave you to decide.’ He cast her a hard look as he set the vehicle in motion. ‘It will all be over and done with within a week, Natalie... one way or the other!’
A shiver ran
down her spine at the tone of his voice, the harsh, unrelenting gleam in his eyes. She turned away to stare out of the window although there was nothing to see through the inky darkness. Would it really be over then? Perhaps this business might be sorted out, but just how easy was it going to be to put Flynn out of her life?
She glanced at him, watching the easy way he controlled the Jeep as it jolted along the track. She had no idea what he was involved in yet it seemed to matter less than the sudden realisation that very soon they would part forever. She should by rights be looking forward to that moment, now more than ever after what had happened, and the danger she’d been in because of him. Yet if she was honest then Natalie had to admit that she was dreading it. When the day arrived for Flynn to walk out of her life then he was going to leave a huge gap behind.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘WAKE up, Natalie! Come on...wake up!’
Hard hands shook her and she whimpered brokenly, her body racked with the icy spasms of fear. The man was coming closer now, gaining on her with every stride as she struggled through the sand. She chanced a glance over her shoulder and screamed shrilly, the sound turning to a keening wail of terror as she saw him just inches away, reaching for her...
‘Damn it, Natalie, wake up! It’s just a dream, honey.’
The deep tones finally cut through the fear and panic and her eyes drifted open, focusing hazily on Flynn’s face. Shock ran through her whole body when she saw the haunted expression in his eyes. She reached out and touched his cheek, needing proof that what he’d said was true, that this was reality, not that terrifying nightmare scene which still lingered in her head.
Under her fingers his skin felt warm, faintly rough where his beard was starting to grow. Natalie let her hand linger for a moment then slowly let it drop to her side, staring up at him with eyes still shadowed by the images which had caused her to scream out in terror just seconds before.
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