"Maybe he had no choice, Lily. You saw him as all-powerful. His money and his reputation certainly gave him far more license than others have, but he was in bed with some pretty powerful people."
"Phillip Thornton is a troll. He's a moneymaker, that's why Dad backed him for the presidency of the company, but he's a wimp, Ryland. He's always been politically correct, seen with the right people, saying the right things. He would never go against my father. Never. He would be afraid to."
"He hated your father. He was afraid of him, Lily. Thornton came into the laboratory while we were working on some tests and interrupted us. Your father was furious and ordered him out immediately. I was standing across the room, but the wave of hatred and malevolence was shocking to me. It didn't show on Thornton's face. He simply apologized, smiled, and went out, but his eyes were flat and hard and focused on your father. If I had to guess that one man wanted your father dead, he would be my guess. Did he stand to gain anything?"
"Of course he did." Lily slipped out of the warmth of Ryland's arms and paced across the room, restless energy feeding her quick grace. "My father's vote counted for a lot. If he and Thornton had a falling out over something and Dad wanted him gone, he could make it happen. In any case I know Phillip is tight with Higgens. Between my father and me we hold the lion's share of stock in the company. Dad's influence counted a great deal among the stockholders."
"Do you inherit the stocks?"
"I inherit everything, but without his body, it will be complicated. The house is mine and has been for years. Dad gave it to me on my twenty-first birthday. I have a huge trust fund. Fortunately, my name is on everything Dad owned, all his companies, everything, so I can sign the necessary papers to keep things going. We took a few hits in the market when he disappeared but I authorized a publicist to work on shoring up our image of being solid and it seems to have worked. What about Colonel Higgens? He's my guess. He hated my father too."
Ryland shook his head. "No, with Higgens, it isn't personal. He's cold-blooded. I could see him getting rid of someone in his way, but it wouldn't matter any more to him than squashing a spider."
Lily pressed her hands to her head. "I think I need to start all those exercises again, Ryland. My head hurts."
Ryland led her to the couch and urged her to sit. His hands went to her shoulders in a gentle massage. "You're under a tremendous strain, Lily. It's only natural that you'd have headaches." He searched for something to take her mind off of her father. "It feels like we're all back in school, learning what we should have months ago. Everyone is complaining about your latest exercise. You should see Jonas controlling the pencil and blocking noises while Kyle does the chicken dance around the room."
Lily burst out laughing just as he knew she would. "I think we should record Kyle doing the chicken dance so we can blackmail him later on. And tell Jonas he's a baby. The pencil is just the beginning. He's going to be controlling much larger items, blocking noises while Kyle flaps his wings and carries on a telepathic conversation."
"We're going to have a rebellion."
"Men really are babies. I was doing that kind of thing at five. If you don't have a sufficient barrier how do any of you think you'll survive if you're caught and held in an enemy camp? Even working together on a mission, if you went in and Gator was separated from his anchor he would have to be able to function on his own." Lily reached back and caught at Ryland's hands, holding them tight. "If we fix this thing with the military and all of you are reinstated with no charges, you know Jeff Hollister will always have a weakness on his right side. And that's if we work hard with all the physical therapy Adams will recommend."
"I figured as much, Lily. I think he was afraid of it, too."
"It doesn't mean anyone will notice, but he will, and I doubt they'll allow him to function as a member of your team if they keep you all together."
"Kaden is a civilian. He joined to be in the antiterrorist unit only, called up when needed after training. He's a police detective and a darned good one. Probably because his intuition is a real psychic talent. It will be interesting to see if he's able to increase his arrest record and find the perps even faster. He was always remarkable. We went through training together years ago and have remained friends ever since."
"Did you know any of the others before this?"
"Nico. Kaden and Nico and I met up in boot camp and ended up in Special Forces training together too."
Lily shivered. "Nicolas is a bit scary, Ryland."
"He's a good man. You can't be in his business and not have it get to you. That's one of the reasons he agreed to come on board this project."
"Can you see him as a civilian?"
Ryland shrugged. "Nico is the epitome of a GhostWalker. He can disappear and never be found if that's what he wants to do."
"But he won't leave the rest of you."
"Not unless we got caught and then he'd go into hiding until he could break us out. He's loyal, Lily, and if you're his friend he'll go to the wall for you."
"He would have killed you had you been the one to give the order pulling the anchors. I saw his eyes, Ryland."
"I wouldn't have expected less of him, Lily," he replied quietly. "Somebody was killing our men."
She stood up in that quick, graceful way she had, completely unconscious of making his heart turn somersaults. "You live in a different world, don't you?" This time it was Lily who reached for his hand.
Ryland leaned into her, his body brushing up against hers. "I'm squarely in your world, Lily, and so are the others. Ghost-Walkers have no choice but to stick together."
Lily's sudden smile lit her face, drew attention to her enormous eyes. "Did Nico come up with that name?"
"You're beginning to know the men." Ryland was pleased.
"I'm beginning to know you." She rubbed her hand along his jaw. "You have a way of always making me feel better. I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but if I forget to tell you, I'm grateful you came into my life."
He kissed the palm of her hand. She didn't know Ryland Miller yet, but she would. Lily was his other half. He knew it with his heart and soul, with every breath he took. He didn't know the future, but he did know wherever it took them, they would be together. And more than likely the other men would be around. His men.
Lily caught his faint grin and her eyebrow went up. "What?"
"Just thinking about the kids."
"What kids?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"The ones upstairs.
Fifteen
JEFF Hollister was smuggled back into the house the day of the fund-raiser. Lily spent most of her time working with the men, ensuring they did their mental exercises. She could tell she wouldn't be able to hold them much longer. They were men of action and hiding; even though the training they were doing was necessary, it didn't sit well with them. They groused, albeit good-naturedly, each time she raised the noise level and gave them multiple tasks to do.
"The lot of you are babies," she teased, looking around Hollister's bedroom where they all tended to congregate. She loved the way they all stuck together, never leaving their fallen comrade alone.
"You're a slave driver, Lily," Sam said.
She couldn't look at Ryland. She had spent the last two nights waking up in his arms in the middle of the night, crying like a baby. Even in the dark, when they were alone, she hadn't worked up the courage to tell him what she would be doing. She blurted it out in front of the others, hoping he wouldn't go ballistic on her.
"I can't remember whether I mentioned it or not, but I have to go out this evening and I'm already running late." She glanced at her watch for effect, trying to appear casual. "I still have to dress. I'm giving a speech at a fundraiser for Donovans."
There was instant silence. All the men seemed to hitch forward, staring at her as if she had just announced she was pregnant. They looked from her to Ryland. He didn't disappoint them.
"What the hell do you mean, you're going to some fundrai
ser? You've lost your mind, Lily." Ryland's voice was very low, clipped between clenched teeth.
Lily felt her heart jump. She would have preferred him raising his voice to her. The sudden tension in the room added to her nervousness.
Ryland took a step toward her. "Thornton is involved up to his eyebrows in this mess. He can't get to you in this house, so he's luring you out into the open. If you don't start taking your safety seriously, Lily, I'm going to have to do something about it."
Lily patted Jeff Hollister's shoulder before straightening up and turning to look at Ryland. She tried to appear unaffected by his anger, but she was shrinking against the bed like a coward. "I think you've been cooped up too long with Arly. Believe me, I wouldn't dare not be aware of safety, he'd draw and quarter me." She smoothed back Jeff's hair, hoping to change the subject. It bothered her that her hand trembled and Ryland's dark eyes noted it. "Are you doing those exercises I gave you? I know you're still weak, Jeff, but they're so important. If you can build your mental shield, you can stand being out in public and around other people for longer periods of time. It's no different than pumping up your body by lifting weights."
"It's a lot harder," Hollister objected, attempting to look as pathetic as possible. "I just got back and the trip was rough on me. That brain doctor poked and prodded in my skull. It's not ready for all that muscle building."
"That muscle building is going to enable you to go home to your family. Stop being a baby," she ordered. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have to get ready for tonight."
An instant protest went up. Nico actually rose, a fluid rippling of muscle that caused her heart to beat faster in alarm. She backpedaled toward the door. "Just keep working and behave. All of you. I'll be checking in later and I'll tell you how it went." She hurried out of the room. They were all looking dangerous.
Ryland followed her down the hall, his eyes glittering with menace. "I thought you had a high IQ, woman. Can't you see how risky this could be?"
"The fundraiser was planned months in advance. My father was giving a speech, and I'm going to give it in his place. Has it occurred to you that if I don't continue to act normal and go about my everyday life, I'll come under suspicion and then we'll all be in jeopardy?"
"For God's sake, Lily, you have a military team parked outside your fence, patrolling the parameters of the estate and trying to hear every word said using devices you wouldn't understand."
She turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised.
"All right, maybe you would understand," he conceded, "but damn it, you are under suspicion. You have to start keeping a lower profile."
Lily took the stairs two at a time, unconsciously trying to get away from Ryland. He was right, of course, and she knew it. There was some danger in doing anything Phillip Thornton wanted her to do, but it was a calculated risk and well worth it as far as she was concerned.
"Lily!" Ryland kept pace easily.
She paused just inside her sitting room. "I have to go, Ryland. I promised I'd give the speech and, believe it or not, funding is important. Several of the researchers need grants. Their work is important. My father never missed it and he detested parties and just about anything else that kept him from his work, yet he insisted I go too."
"I doubt seriously if he would think it was important enough to risk your life. You've already been attacked once, Lily."
"Because I found the recorder." She stopped dead in the middle of the bedroom. "There was another disk, Ryland. I slipped it into my lab coat pocket before I crawled out from under the desk. I bet they never even knew it was there. Why would they? How could I have forgotten? It's probably in my jacket pocket right now, hanging in my office." She looked at him. "I have to get it."
"Not tonight, Lily. You're making me crazy. It isn't worth your life. You could have been killed." His fingers curled into a tight fist. His gut was churning with fear for her. "Why the hell do you have to be so stubborn about this? If you want the damned disk, I'll break into the labs and retrieve it for you."
"You will not!" The alarm showed in her eyes. He was certainly capable of doing such a thing. "Ryland, don't be crazy on me. I have to go to this event. I really do. It's very political. Congressmen, senators, everyone who is anyone influential will be there. Everyone is going to be represented, including the military. Don't you realize what that means? General Ranier will be there. I've known him since I was a child. When I see him I'll know if he's lying. If I talk to him on the phone I won't be able to tell."
Lily slipped into her dressing room where her dress was already laid out. She stepped into the shimmering gown, a stunning red that clung lovingly to her breasts and waist like a second skin but plunged daringly backless nearly to her buttocks. Along the curve of her hips, the dress began to flare, leaving her room to dance. Sparkling diamonds adorned her earlobes and a small diamond pendant hung nestled just above her breasts.
"The general has come to the fundraiser for the last three years and he's always danced with me. I've known him for years and we always considered him a good friend. It's the perfect opportunity to talk to him." She tilted her head to one side, studying her image in the mirror as she held her hair up to see which style best suited her dress. She met his gaze in the looking glass and laughed self-consciously. "I rarely do my hair or makeup for these things. Someone comes here to the house. I didn't want to bring anyone here this time in case it was used as an opportunity to slip someone into the house and put you all in danger. But I'm not very good at this."
She had spent an hour in the bath, another hour choosing her dress before going to see the men. Lily looked closer and frowned at her image.
"Wear it down." Ryland's voice was harsh, his expression intimidating as he came up behind her. "You look beautiful. Too beautiful to go to this thing alone." His hand brushed lightly over the curve of her bottom. "Do I have to worry about what you're wearing beneath this thing?"
She leaned back against him, fitting snugly into his body. "You're so obsessed with my underwear."
"Not your underwear, your lack of underwear. There's a difference."
"Well, look at it, Ryland, there's nowhere to put underwear, it messes up the lines." She smiled at him in the mirror. "Don't you prefer smooth lines?"
"It has no back. There's no material at all." His hand nudged at the edges of her dress, the clingy material cupping her breasts so lovingly. "You're going to start a riot in this dress."
"You do like the dress." Her eyes were beginning to sparkle.
"You're going to give the older men heart attacks." He brushed his knuckles along her swelling flesh. "And all the men are going to have painful hard-ons." He pushed against her so there was no mistaking his meaning.
Lily laughed at him, turning into his arms, her mouth seeking his. She gave herself up completely to his kiss, burning in his arms, feeding the flames in his belly so that every cell in his body hungered for her. Needed her. Craved her. Ryland tightened his arms around her. Why did be always feel as if she would flit away from him? One minute she belonged to him, shared his mind, his skin, the next gone so far he couldn't hold on to her.
Lily made a sound and he realized he was crushing her to him. "I'm sorry, honey," he murmured, brushing kisses over her face. "I don't want you risking your safety just so you can speak to the general, if he's a part of this thing, and it looks very much as if he is…"
"Then I'll know, won't I? I've always been able to read him when we're dancing; even if we shook hands I could feel his emotions. He's too busy thinking about other people to protect himself." Lily slipped out of his arms. "I'll be fine. Stop worrying." She glanced at her image in the mirror. "Thank heavens a few days have taken the swelling down. At least I can tone down the bruises with makeup."
"Where is this thing?"
She shrugged. "Arly knows. He can get hold of me. It's the Victoria Hotel."
"Of course. The one with the glass dome and you have to be wearing a suit to get through the door."
Ryland's hand curved around the nape of her neck and dragged her back to him, his mouth hard and demanding, feeding on hers, branding her his. Abruptly he turned and walked out of her room.
Lily stared after him for a long while, her fingers against her lips. The taste of him burned in her mouth, in her body long after she arrived at the hotel and had begun her circuit of greeting the other guests. It was strange how she felt Ryland with her, almost as if a part of him lingered inside her. And maybe it did.
THE music was loud and rhythmic, pounding out a beat that seemed to consume her. The room was enormous and still the crowd spilled over, into the halls and the dining room. There were so many people she felt crushed. It was difficult to keep her barriers erect and not be overwhelmed by the tremendous outpouring of emotional energy crackling in the air around her.
As Lily moved through the room, working the crowd, she went into automatic fundraiser mode. She read each person as she shook hands or exchanged hugs and fake kisses. Peter Whitney had drilled the importance of knowing the right people, getting them on her side. Now, more than ever, it was important to her. While they ate their exquisitely prepared meals she gave her impassioned speech on helping mankind and the need the researchers had for funding. She pledged a large sum to start the ball rolling and smiled with the right touch of confidence as they applauded her.
She drifted through the crowds, talking and laughing, saying all the right things, making her way to the ballroom. The muted lighting in the ballroom was much easier on her eyes. The pounding music managed to give her some relief from the excitement and sexual tension, the arguments flaring here and there, the undercurrent of affairs and conspiracies and corporate gossip.
Shadowgame Page 27