Chapter 12
“You,” Craig Robinson ordered Tyler. “Get back. Now.”
Craig Robinson, whom Berry still thought of as Grady Craig, held a short black rifle pointed at them. His formerly handsome face was disfigured with desperate fury, and his blue eyes were coldly empty. He sported a day’s growth of beard, and his blond hair was matted. The black trousers and shirt he wore were wrinkled and dirty.
Berry collapsed weakly back onto her chair. She noted with fatalistic horror that the rifle was easily hidden beneath the black windbreaker he had tossed over his arm. She thought of Daniel, how he had opened the door to this man and failed to notice the rifle until it was too late. Terror filled her.
“Come, Beryl.” Robinson gestured with the rifle. “You thought you’d get away, didn’t you? You really should have known better than to call the police on me.”
His crisp, staccato speech told Berry more certainly than anything else how determined he was to kill her. He cared nothing for being caught, so long as he could kill her first. He blamed her for the failure of his brilliant plan.
She had to protect Tyler. She had brought this evil on him. She balanced her right hand on the chair arm and struggled against waves of fright and dizziness to stand.
“Let me by, Tyler,” she said. “I’d better go with him.”
Now that Berry accepted the fact that she was about to die, she felt strangely calm in spite of her fear. It wouldn’t be so bad. Daniel would be there.
“Hold it right there, Robinson.” Tyler placed himself in front of Berry. “You’re too late. Mary MacGregor died last night. In the eyes of the law, her fortune has already passed to Berry. Killing her now won’t do you a lick of good. Your best bet would be to make a deal with her. A couple of million—”
Robinson snarled. “It was all mine! It belongs to me. I worked for it. If I don’t get it, neither does she.”
“Berry married me two days ago,” Tyler said. “Once you’ve killed my wife, Mary MacGregor’s money is all mine.”
“You’re lying,” Robinson said flatly. The muzzle of the short rifle he held never wavered from Tyler’s chest. “That money belongs to me.”
“Too bad you couldn’t hold the pose of an urbane young engineer long enough to marry Berry yourself,” Tyler sneered. “You lose, sucker.”
“Tyler, stop it,” Berry hissed, anguished. She felt sick and dizzy from just sitting up straight. How could she save Tyler if she was too weak to even stand up?
Robinson swore. The muzzle of his rifle vibrated with his fury.
“Go ahead,” Tyler invited. “Kill me. I have two brothers, three sisters, and two parents just waiting for their share of that money, and that’s not counting all my nieces and nephews.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and gave Daniel’s killer a friendly smile. “My father is bosom-buddies with the D.A. and the coroner. They’ll swear Berry died first, then me. Face it, Robinson. There’s no way your wife is going to inherit one cent of Mary MacGregor’s fortune. I beat you to it.”
Tyler had gone too far, Berry realized. Robinson’s face flushed dark red with fury. In Robinson’s mind, the MacGregor money was his by right, and Tyler had just bested him in the contest to get it.
Tyler took a couple of casual steps toward him and spread his hands in a placating gesture. “But I’m willing to be reasonable. After everything you’ve been through—”
Robinson went crazy. He gave an incoherent howl of rage and swung the butt of his rifle at Tyler’s head.
Tyler dodged and the rifle butt connected with his shoulder rather than his head. He crashed to the floor and rolled aside as Robinson rushed him, trying to use the rifle as a bludgeon.
Tyler brought his legs up and kicked out. He connected with Robinson’s left kneecap. Robinson staggered back, cursing and swinging in blind rage.
Berry groped on the table beside her for something to hold on to so she could stand. Her right hand settled around a familiar object. The chunk of polished Llano granite she had given Daniel as a paperweight fitted her grip as if it had been created for the use she intended to make of it. Summoning every bit of fear and rage, and what little strength she had, she lifted the rock and heaved herself forward out of the chair. With all the force of her body behind it, the jagged edge of the rock connected with the back of Robinson’s head.
Robinson staggered sideways, stunned but still standing. He brought the rifle around and aimed it directly at Berry’s chest.
Berry’s strength was gone. She swayed, lightheaded from exertion. She hadn’t been strong enough to deliver a telling blow. Because of her, Tyler was probably going to die.
She faced Robinson fearlessly. All the loud cursing he’d been doing was bound to notify someone of trouble. Perhaps the sound of the rifle as he shot her would bring help before he could turn and shoot Tyler.
Tyler rolled swiftly to his feet. Berry saw his movement from the corner of her vision.
“Tyler, no!” she screamed.
Robinson swung around. His matted blond hair whipped out in an arc, which Berry saw in slow motion. Before he could aim his rifle, Tyler connected with his waist in a flying tackle worthy of Daniel Challoner at his best.
The rifle discharged above Tyler’s head with a horrifying roar. Several glass panes of the window shattered and rained to the floor.
Robinson fell with Tyler on top of him. Tyler came up instantly and drew back his fist, but he didn’t need to use it. Craig Robinson had finished himself off by throwing his head back as he struck the hard tile of the floor.
Berry collapsed to the floor, faint with a combination of fright and over-exertion. Blackness closed in on her from all directions. Sick and dizzy, she struggled to stay somewhat erect.
Tyler’s arms came under her, supporting her. He lifted her to the bed and laid her on it.
“Challoner, we are going to have to have an understanding,” he said, panting. “If you don’t stop throwing yourself in front of people with guns, I’m going to have a heart attack before I’m thirty-one.”
Berry opened her eyes and gazed on his face, full of joy and gratitude. “It was worth everything to be able to bash Grady on the head with a rock one more time.”
The hall resounded with screams and pounding feet. No one entered, however, until a security guard, gun in hand, cautiously pushed the door open a moment later.
“Call the police,” Tyler said with credible calm. “This guy’s a wanted killer.” To Berry, he added, “I hope they get him out of here before Pastor Miller arrives. Having that creep in the room would detract from our wedding.”
• • •
Berry stood shakily at the wide, picture window of a white stucco cottage and pretended to study the lush, tropical splendor spread before her in the late afternoon sunshine. Tyler had rented a honeymoon cottage at a resort on Grand Cayman with both a garden and an ocean view. It was incredibly exotic and beautiful, but Berry had other things on her mind than the scenery.
She glanced over her shoulder. Tyler had placed their suitcases on the bed—an enormous, king-sized affair with a spread covered with tropical flowers—while he methodically unpacked. He had tossed aside his light blazer, and the thin cotton of his shirt showed the fit, muscular body beneath the material all too clearly.
Although she felt stronger, Tyler had decided she was too weak to even think about getting on with the usual honeymoon activities. Berry bit back the comments she longed to make and glowered out the window. A honeymoon with no lovemaking? What kind of non sequitur was that?
“How’s your shoulder?” Tyler asked.
“It feels fine.” Her shoulder ached, but she wasn’t about to say so and swallow one of the painkillers Tyler had sitting ready on the dresser. She walked carefully to a white wicker chair and sat down.
“Good,” Tyler said, smiling at her. “I thought we’d have dinner here tonight. You’re worn out.”
“How can I be worn out? I’ve done nothing but sleep all the way here,”
she grumbled.
She regarded the bed with a lackluster gaze. It was the only bed in the small honeymoon cottage. The sofa wasn’t long enough for a man of Tyler’s height. That meant he intended to share the bed with her, and she was so tired she might not be able to take advantage of the situation. Some honeymoon.
“The doctor said you’ll be tired for a few days while your body replaces all the blood you lost,” he said. “You’ll have to take it easy for a while.”
Berry looked down at the sling holding her left arm. “Do I have a whole lot of choice here?”
“No, thank God,” he said, laughing. “If the doctor hadn’t found a way to immobilize you, I’d have been forced to come up with something.”
Berry muttered beneath her breath. She’d been too weak to brush her own hair. If it hadn’t been for Celia Reid’s tender ministrations, she’d have boarded the plane looking like a wild woman.
“Don’t worry,” Tyler said, rightly interpreting her mumbles. “You’ll be a lot stronger tomorrow.” He lifted colorful wisps of nylon from Berry’s suitcase. “Well, Challoner, you outdid yourself buying fancy underwear. Did you have some sort of premonition about a wedding trip?”
“Darned right, Reid.” Berry flushed, vividly conscious of his hands on her lingerie. He ought to be putting his hands on her. “For your information, I lied all the way around. I didn’t come to Houston to investigate Daniel’s murder. My real plan was to seduce you and trick you into marrying me.”
“So, that’s it. I’ve been seduced and tricked.” Tyler tossed the colorful wisps of nylon on the bed and came to stand in front of her. “No wonder I’ve been wondering how it happened that I’m married and honeymooning in Grand Cayman, all in less than twenty-four hours.”
Berry focused her gaze on his chest. Her heart pounded with longing. “You see? I’m so good, you never knew what hit you until I had you wrapped up and bow-tied.”
Tyler knelt on the tiled floor in front of her so that she was forced to meet his gaze. “There were a few parts of the scenario I must have missed completely,” he said. He cupped her face in both his hands. “For instance, the big seduction. I must have slept through it.”
“I’ll tell you all the titillating details one of these days.” She felt heat sweep across her face.
“Was I good?” he asked, grinning.
“Were you—?” She grasped his meaning and felt a sudden rush of a different kind of heat. “You were fantastic. Why do you think I went through with the wedding?”
“Smart, Challoner. Try out the merchandise before you buy.” Tyler stood, bringing her up with him. Before she knew what was happening, he lifted her in his arms. “I’m glad to know I passed your most rigorous test. And it’s a relief to know you’re a satisfied buyer.” He laid her gently on the bed, shoving aside a suitcase.
Berry gazed up at him, bemused. The room whirled overhead so that she couldn’t follow what he was saying. He concentrated on not jostling her shoulder as he slipped his arms from beneath her. She found his ability to concentrate fascinating.
He arranged her to his satisfaction and straightened. She tried to reach for him, but he stepped back. Now she found the movements of his broad shoulders intriguing and watched him closely as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“In fact,” he said, “I feel so cheated, I’m going to have to ask you to repeat the scene.”
“What?” Her heart beat faster with hope.
“The big seduction,” he amplified. “I want you to repeat it, down to the last titillating detail. Before you start, kindly make sure I’m awake and aware. I don’t want to miss a thing the second time around.”
“In that case, there’s no time like the present,” she said, and held up her good arm.
Tyler bent slowly to her. He brushed his lips over hers and smoothed her hair back from her forehead. Berry’s arm closed around his neck, holding him close. He smelled of green-forest aftershave and the male scent that was his alone. Berry nuzzled his neck, breathing deeply of him.
Tyler made no move to take their lovemaking to the next level. He simply stretched out beside her, holding her gently, and let her snuggle against him to her heart’s content.
Too late, Berry realized she’d been tricked. Her body grew too heavy to move, and her brain could no longer hold a thought. Whatever she’d been dosed with was potent. Even without the painkillers, she could barely stay awake.
“You tricked me,” she whispered.
He sat up and leaned over her, smiling. “Just get well fast, Challoner. I’m not sure I can wait much longer.”
As badly as Berry wanted to wake up, she found it impossible to so much as pry her eyes open. This was, she reflected, one heck of a time to find herself incapacitated.
She drifted into wakefulness the next morning at the sound of Tyler’s voice.
“Maybe I should call a doctor.” Tyler sounded almost frantic. “She hasn’t had a bite to eat since yesterday at the hospital. How’s she going to regain her strength if she doesn’t eat? Is she supposed to sleep this much?”
Berry stirred, opened her eyes, and turned automatically toward the voice. Tyler stood at the window with his cell phone in his hands. He had his back to her.
She pushed herself up on her right elbow, ignoring a complaint from her left shoulder. He wore only a pair of khaki trousers. His hair was rumpled, as if he’d run his fingers through it, and his feet were bare.
Judging from the sun coming through the window, it was late in the morning. After staring appreciatively at Tyler’s bare back a moment, she struggled up from the bed. She still wore the loosely fitting pants outfit she had worn on the plane. He hadn’t undressed her. She must have passed out cold yesterday afternoon.
She felt so dizzy, she had to prop herself against the wall a moment before she could make it to the bathroom. When she emerged, Tyler awaited her, looking both eager and relieved.
“It’s about time you showed signs of life, Challoner. I was about to call in a doctor.”
Berry yawned. “It’s been a heck of a week, if you want to know. Life as a high-class-bimbo executive secretary isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Neither is life as an auto parts counter salesman. I’ll never look under the hood of a car again.” He took her arm gently. “Your breakfast is waiting.”
“Who were you talking to?” She let him seat her in a chair before a small table, where a covered dish waited.
“My mother, of course. She called to see how you were. It’s a good thing she did, because I was inches away from total panic.”
Berry discovered she had worked up quite an appetite. In fact, she was starving. She set about delicately devouring eggs, toast, fruit, and a small breakfast steak while Tyler entertained her with a description of his final day as an employee of Farley Brothers Westheimer number two store.
“I’m so glad you found out what was going on,” Berry said. “Otherwise, I’d probably still be convinced Farley Brothers was behind Daniel’s death.” She sighed deeply. “And Walter Farley was so kind when he brought Daniel’s paperweight up to me. I felt like such a sneak.”
“Mom said he offered you a full-time job with the company. He was impressed with your initiative and your computer skills.”
Berry made a rude sound. “What skills? It was sheer luck, guessing Felix’s password.” She paused and added, “And maybe I did have a little help from Daniel.”
“Definitely, you probably had a hint from Daniel.” Tyler smiled across the table. “Lord knows, I’ve been getting them all week, and ignoring them until yesterday afternoon. Dad and I were having a great time playing private investigator, but the more I learned about how the fraud was run, the less I could see either Felix or Warren as a murderer. Then I got an email from the private detective, with the particulars of Mary MacGregor’s will and realized you were probably the killer’s next target, so Dad and I went running to your office.”
Berry's fork halted midway to her mouth. “
What? Are you telling me that little fiasco yesterday afternoon was Daniel’s fault? I was never so embarrassed in my life.”
“I don’t think Daniel had anything to do with my mother or my sisters showing up to have it out with ‘Mary MacGregor,’” Tyler said, rightly interpreting this. “That was strictly their own idea, I’m sorry to say. In fact, Dad had followed me to the Westheimer number two store in order to have it out with me, and about two seconds later I spotted Daniel’s wheels.”
“I warned you they loved you very much,” Berry muttered. “Naturally, they don’t want any gold-digging bimbo latching onto you.”
“That’s funny,” Tyler said. “Dad almost shoved you into my arms this morning and prompted me at the proper time to say ‘I do.’”
The wedding had taken place soon after Craig Robinson, sullen and silent, had been hauled out of the room in handcuffs and on a stretcher. Pastor Miller had been understanding enough to delay the ceremony while Tyler and Berry gave statements to the police. But the moment the door had closed behind the officers, Mason Reid had positioned the participants and beckoned the pastor to begin.
“This is really all about Daniel making sure he passes his name on,” Berry grumbled. “That’s about like him.”
“Did you really see him while you were unconscious?”
Berry thought this over and replied cautiously, “Well, I do remember having this weird dream … ”
“Confess, Challoner. If you’ll tell the truth, I’ll tell you about waking up and finding Daniel sitting on my bed.”
Berry’s gray eyes went wide. “I hope you’re kidding.”
Tyler added, “By the way, I like your own eyes a lot better than those purple contact lenses.”
“They’re violet. I keep on telling you.” She laid down her fork again. “You saw him, too?” She gazed down at her plate in silence a moment then looked up. “Do you know, I’ve thought and thought about that day I was rushing to answer the door and fell so hard, I lost a contact? There was nothing there to trip over, but it felt as if I’d run into a wire stretched across my path.”
Texas Temptation Page 19