by Diana Palmer
As they were going up in the elevator to their rooms, Della studied him from the folds of her beach robe with curious eyes.
“She was gorgeous, you know,” she told him.
He searched her eyes. “You’re gorgeous,” he replied, and he wasn’t teasing. “Inside and out. After you, I don’t know that I could look at another woman.”
She caught her breath. “Isn’t this sudden?”
He nodded. “Like lightning striking. You never see it coming. Then it hits, and your life changes.”
“Changes, how?” she asked hesitantly.
“I’m not sure yet.” He studied her oval face quietly. “I wouldn’t have gone into the water if you hadn’t insisted,” he said. “I’m glad you did. I don’t look as bad as I thought, apparently.”
“Of course you don’t,” she scoffed. “You’re still devastating to women, scars and all.”
“I noticed,” he replied with a speaking glance at her body.
She felt uneasy. “You aren’t angry?”
His eyebrows lifted. “At what?”
“At me, for not wanting to go back to your room with you.”
He only smiled. “I’m disappointed. I’m not angry.” The elevator stopped and he caught her hand in his and held it until they reached her door. He turned to face her after she’d inserted the card key and opened it. “I like you the way you are, Della,” he said. “Old-fashioned hang-ups and all.”
“I’m glad.”
He bent and kissed her gently. “Get some sleep. I have a feeling we’re going headfirst into the fire in the morning.”
“You, too,” she said. She reached up and brushed back a lock of unruly dark hair from his forehead. Her heart was in her eyes. “You need someone to take care of you,” she said quietly. “You don’t take care of yourself.”
His fingers touched her cheek. “You might take on the job,” he said softly. “There’s a vacancy.”
She smiled. “I’ll think about it. Good night. Sleep well.”
“You, too.”
He gave her a long last look before he wandered off down the hall in his own beach robe, looking as elegant as he did in a suit. Della watched him until he was out of sight. It occurred to her that she was in love with him.
CHAPTER FIVE
The day dawned rainy and dreary. Della ordered breakfast from room service and sat down by herself to eat it. She was still elated from the night before and anxious to see Chris, to see if he regretted how far things had gone between them.
He rang the bell just as she was drinking a second cup of coffee. She went to let him in. His dark eyes approved the soft yellow suit she was wearing with a lacy white blouse and white high heels.
“You look elegant,” he mused.
She liked the way he looked in slacks and a navy jacket with a roll-neck sweater. “So do you,” she replied.
He closed the door behind him and pulled her close, bending to kiss her with tender warmth. “Good morning,” he whispered.
“Good morning.” She pulled his head down and kissed him back, melting into his tall, hard body with obvious pleasure.
“Morning is always the best time,” he murmured against her mouth.
“Is it, really?”
He wrapped her up against him, loving the smallness of her in his arms, the way she clung to him. “I’ve avoided commitment all my life,” he said at her ear. “Trust me to let a gorgeous little blonde waltz up on my blind side.”
“I’m not gorgeous.”
“You’re gorgeous.” He held her closer. “Don’t think you’re going to get rid of me when this is all over,” he remarked, feeling her heart jump at the statement. “I’ll be tenacious.”
“What a lovely thought,” she purred.
He drew in a long breath. “I suppose it will have to be orange blossoms and white lace, after all,” he said. “You’ll be a vision in white.”
“Are you proposing?” she squeaked.
“Of course.”
She drew back. “We don’t know each other!”
“We’ll get married and go from there.” He searched her soft eyes. “We like each other, we’re attracted to each other, and we have mutual elderly headaches to take care of.” He shrugged. “It’s more than a lot of couples have to start with. Where’s your sense of adventure? Don’t you ever take risks?”
She was floored. She’d expected anything from him except a proposal. “You’ve had so many women in your life…”
“And now I only want one. You.” He was dead serious. “We’ll go at your pace. But at the end of the road, there’s going to be orange blossoms and lace. Period.”
She smiled slowly, feeling as if fountains of joy were rising up into her heart. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I,” he chuckled. “But there it is. All we have to do is rescue Tansy and get on with it.”
Her face fell. “How can I possibly interview my future mother-in-law for a scoop?” she asked suddenly, horrified.
“You’ll be kind to her,” he said simply. “You’re the very best person to do it.” He sighed. “God, I hope she’s all right. I hardly slept, worrying about her.”
Just as he finished the statement, the telephone rang. He went past Della to pick it up. He listened carefully, murmured something, and hung up.
“Seth,” he explained when she looked the question at him. “I’ve got an address. We’re honeymooners, lost and looking for directions.” He grinned. “I told you I know how mercenaries work.” The smile faded. “You do exactly as I say. I won’t risk you, not even for Tansy.”
She nuzzled against him for a few sweet seconds. “I won’t risk you, either,” she said softly. “Let’s hope Seth knows what he’s doing.”
“Amen!”
* * *
The address was on the outskirts of London in what looked to be a shabby apartment house. Chris took Della firmly by the hand and moved to the front door. There was a doorbell. He rang it. There was no answer. He looked at Della, concerned, and rang it again.
The door suddenly opened. A young man in a leather jacket peered at them from behind it. “What yer want?” he demanded.
Chris drew Della closer. “We’re from America,” he drawled. “Just got in from the airport and we’re lost. Trying to find a cousin of ours, a…wait a sec.” He drew a piece of paper from his pocket and read, “Billy Withers, 44 Truebridge Lane, London.” He looked around. “This is Truebridge, but we can’t find number 44.”
The man looked irritated and impatient. “T’ain’t no such number!”
Chris’s face fell. “But we’ve come all this way! Are you sure you have no idea?”
There was a crashing sound in the back of the apartment. The young man scowled, turning toward the inside of the dark room. His hand went to his jacket.
Della never saw Chris move, but the next minute, the young man was on the floor and Chris was standing over him with an automatic weapon. He cocked it with confident ease and leveled it at the downed man.
“Seth!” he called loudly.
There was another scuffle, another crash, and a familiar face appeared in the hall.
“Damn!” Seth exclaimed when he saw the man on the floor. “That was a neat piece of work,” he murmured, grinning as he bent to drag the young man up from the floor. “Come along, Tansy’s in here.”
“Is she all right?” Chris asked quickly, drawing Della’s cold hand into his free one.
“She’s a little rocky, but I gave her a pack of glucose. She’s rallying.”
Tansy was sitting on the edge of a ragged little cot, sucking on a glucose packet, looking weary and almost defeated. She looked up and saw Chris and burst into tears.
Chris put the safety on the pistol and tossed it to one of Seth’s men before he bent and gathered Tansy close.
“You idiot!” he muttered at her ear, holding her closer. “Dear God, you gave us a scare!”
“Which is nothing compared to what I got, my dear,” Tan
sy sighed, clinging to her son. “My globe-trotting days are over. This is the absolute end.” She lifted her head. “Did they find poor Cecil?”
“Yes, just after you vanished. Have you been here the whole time?” Chris asked.
She nodded. “They snatched me and held me until they got their money from Lady Harvey. I was a material witness and she told them to keep me here for collateral until she could get to her funds.” She laughed hollowly. “I gather from what those goons said that she reneged and expected them to finish me off. They decided it might be better to hold on to me, because I could implicate her. She doesn’t know that,” she added. “But I was wearing a wire when she confessed that she and Tony Cartwright had planned Cecil’s death.”
Seth was suddenly all business. “What happened to the recording?”
“He had it.” She pointed to the man on the floor.
Seth pulled out a nasty-looking knife. “Get them out of here,” he told Chris.
Chris moved the women ahead of him and looked back at the nervous man on the floor, presumably the vile Tony. “He usually only takes a finger. For his collection,” he added with a cold smile. “In your case, it might be an organ. A vital organ. If I were you, I’d tell him what he wants to know. In any case, I’ll remove the ladies before you start screaming.”
They were in the next room with the door closed before Tansy turned to him. “You enjoyed that,” she accused.
He smiled grimly. “Yes, I did. After what he put you through, I’d have enjoyed slugging him even more, but I think our friend Seth will do what’s necessary.”
“Lord Bainbridge, you mean,” she corrected.
“We met Lord Bainbridge,” Chris said carefully. “He’s seventy.”
“He’s sixty-five,” Tansy stated. She jerked her head toward the door. “That’s his son—his only son—a colonel in the SAS until he retired year before last. Now he’s what the secret agencies call a problem-solver. Thank God he came after me. I don’t think I could have made it another day. I’m so weak, son.”
“We’ll get you to a hospital and have you checked over, just to be safe,” Chris said.
Tansy was staring past him at the pretty little blonde. “Who’s this?”
“Della Larson,” he introduced. “She’s eventually going to be your daughter-in-law when she makes up her mind that I’m serious about marrying her. But for the meantime, she’s a reporter. I promised her an exclusive interview if she came with me to find you.”
“She came right in here with you?” Tansy pursed her lips. She was impressed. “Brave girl.”
Della grinned. “That makes several of us. I’m glad to meet you, Mrs. Deverell, and I’m very glad that we got here in time!”
Tansy shook the hand that was offered and smiled broadly. “So am I, dear.” She lifted both eyebrows. “You’re going to marry my son, are you?”
Della sighed. “I think so,” she mused. “Of course, he may change his mind now that we’re all out of danger.”
“He won’t,” Chris drawled.
“He’s my son,” Tansy said. “I taught him always to do what he said he would.” She seemed to slump. “I want a steak,” she said. “And French fries and cherry cobbler and—”
“No cherry cobbler,” Chris informed her.
She made a face at him. “Even the most rigid diet allows sweets occasionally.”
“Not yours.”
“Just wait…”
Chris put an arm around her and drew her close. “You can have mangoes and bananas and coconut.”
She sighed. “My dear, you remembered!”
“How could I forget? The kitchen was always cluttered with mangoes,” he told Della. “She likes desserts, but fruit was always her favorite.” He glared at Tansy. “This time, you’re going where you can be found. No more adventures.”
“Spoilsport!”
“You could have died,” he retorted.
“Eventually we all do.” She shook her head. “Poor Cecil. He and I were friends years ago. He wrote to me and invited me to visit. I hadn’t met his new wife, so I accepted. But after I’d been there for a few days, I realized that not only did his wife not love him, but she was obsessed with getting her hands on the estate. He vanished one night, just after that shady man in there—” her head jerked toward the closed door “—came to visit Lady Harvey. She woke me the next morning and said that Cecil was dead and I was the prime suspect, because his will named me as executrix and chief beneficiary. Lies, of course, but I was too stunned to question her. Tony Cartwright hustled me out the door and into his car, and said he’d hide me. But that wasn’t what he did. He and his cronies brought me here and held chloroform to my nose and mouth. When I woke up, I was locked in that room.” She smiled wearily. “I thought I’d never get out alive. I heard them discussing what to do to me after her ladyship went public and accused Tony of killing her husband. He’ll be the prosecution’s best witness at her trial, unless I miss my guess.”
“Not without that tape recording he won’t,” Chris said solemnly. “Speaking of which…”
He turned toward the door just as Seth came out, all dressed in black, with cold eyes. He had something in his hand—a tiny tape recorder.
“The evidence!” Tansy exclaimed.
Seth nodded. “Irrefutable. Tony’s decided to become the state’s own witness. One of my men is telephoning the police even as we speak. I’m going to slip out with my men before they get here.” He put a heavy hand on Chris’s shoulder. “You’re a hero. I’m proud of you.”
“I didn’t do anything except disarm one of the henchmen,” Chris argued.
“Well, I sure as hell didn’t do anything,” Seth remarked haughtily. “I wouldn’t soil my hands with such filth.”
Tansy went to Seth, stood on tiptoe and kissed his lean cheek. “Thank you, dear.”
He kissed her back and smiled warmly. “Come visiting again. But do it in a conventional way this time, hmm?”
“Behave yourself,” Tansy directed.
“I’m the soul of discretion,” Seth assured her. He grinned at Della, glanced at Chris, and suddenly caught Della around the waist, bent her back over his arm, and kissed her with exaggerated passion.
He let her up, breathless and flushed, and grinned wickedly. “You should have met me first,” he repeated. He waved at the others, went to gather his men, and went stealthily out the back door.
“Damned bounder,” Chris muttered, staring at Della.
“Don’t you worry,” Della assured him as she smoothed down her hair. “He’s very good—but you’re better.”
Chris’s expression lightened. “Am I?”
She grinned. “Much.”
Tansy burst out laughing. “And that answers that question, doesn’t it, my boy?” she asked her son.
“Yes,” he agreed with a warm smile. “I suppose it does.”
* * *
They gave the tape recorder and the men over to the police when they arrived and gave statements as well. Tansy was taken to the hospital to be checked over. They kept her overnight and Della stayed in the room with her while Chris wound up the details of their trip, returned the rental car and got Tansy a seat on their flight back to Texas.
“It’s been a very exciting trip,” Della told the older woman, “although I’m sorry for what you went through.”
“It was an adventure, and it will improve with every retelling,” Tansy assured her with a wicked chuckle. “You and I are going to get along very well, my dear. I can tell that we’re the same sort of people.”
“Well, not exactly. But you should meet my grandfather,” she told the older woman. “He was a war correspondent.”
“War correspondent?” Tansy frowned. “Your last name is Larson? Is your grandfather Herbert Larson of UPI?”
Della blinked. “Well, yes.”
“For heaven’s sake!”
“You couldn’t… You don’t know him?” Della asked.
“Know him!” Tansy c
aught her breath and laid back among the pillows. “I’m surprised that he’s still alive, the chances he used to take!”
“You do know him!” Della exclaimed.
“About forty years ago,” Tansy said, “he and I were pinned down by Latin American revolutionaries when I was in South America, just after my first husband’s death. Your grandfather got me to the airport and onto a plane bound for home. I never met a man with such grit, such fire. He was…superb.”
Della smiled. “He still is. He doesn’t get around as well, and his sight isn’t what it should be, but he’s kicking.” She hesitated. “He’s diabetic but he won’t give up sweets. That sounds familiar, too, doesn’t it?” she added.
Tansy flushed. “Well, well.”
“He and I live together,” Della continued. She stopped dead and frowned. “Oh, dear.”
“Oh, dear, what?”
“I can’t leave him,” she said plaintively, staring at Tansy with huge worried gray eyes. “He’ll die if I’m not there to make him take his medicine and keep him away from the sugar bowl!”
Tansy reached over and patted her hand where it lay on the coverlet. “You marry Chris,” she said firmly. “And let me worry about Herbert. I think I may have a solution to your problem.”
Della didn’t believe her. But when they arrived back in the States, and found Herbert Larson sitting in a seat next to the concourse entrance at the Houston airport, she began to understand what Tansy meant.
The old man, silver haired and dignified, rose as the travelers came out of the airplane down to the concourse in the covered tunnel. He opened his arms and a happy Della ran into them to be hugged firmly and kissed. Tansy came out of the tunnel after her and stopped as the elderly man let go of Della and stood just looking at her. She was holding on to Chris’s arm, but she let it go and moved slowly toward the elderly man.
They just looked at each other for a long moment. “You’ve got wrinkles,” Herbert said abruptly.
“You’ve got flat feet,” Tansy shot back.
“My granddaughter says she’s going to marry your son.”