The Trustworthy Redhead

by Iris Johansen

  “Until Saturday, Bree.” He broke the connection with a soft click.

  Yes, until Saturday. She replaced the receiver wearily and walked toward her bedroom. This was what was important and real in her life. Not that mad, sensual magic she’d experienced on the beach tonight and certainly not Alex Ben Raschid. That being the case, it made no sense that she was suffering this sudden, aching loneliness. Absolutely no sense at all.

  FOUR

  “I TOLD YOU he could do it, Jess!” Sabrina said jubilantly, her face alight with a fierce pride. She threw herself into his arms, and hugged him ecstatically. “Wasn’t he wonderful! Third place! Did you see his face?”

  “I was too busy looking at yours,” Jess said dryly, unwinding her arms from around his neck. “For a moment there I wasn’t sure which one of you had won the prize.” Despite his joking words there was a suspicious moisture in Jess’s eyes as his gaze tried to search out David’s figure in the pens at the far end of the huge arena.

  “Oh, it was his prize,” she said softly, her emerald eyes glowing like stars. “It was his victory all the way.” She sat down on the padded seat in the box and sighed contentedly. Third place! Her glance moved absently around the opaque, domed auditorium, scarcely noticing the gaily dressed western audience in attendance at the Houston Rodeo. She was too filled with exhilaration generated by David’s triumph to be conscious of anything else. “Weren’t you proud of him, Jess?”

  Jess Bradford sat down beside her. “Very proud,” he said quietly, taking her hand in his. “As proud as I am of you, Bree. You’ve worked miracles since he left the hospital two years ago. I don’t know what Sue and I would have done if you hadn’t been there for him.” Jess’s gray eyes darkened with pain. “God, it’s such a waste. He was so brilliant. Why would he want to experiment with drugs, anyway?”

  “Why does anyone?” Sabrina asked soberly. “Curiosity, perhaps. David always wanted to try everything, do everything. If he’d been lucky, he might have satisfied his curiosity and got off scot-free.” Her face was taut with pain. “He wasn’t lucky. The acid that pusher sold him was very dangerous stuff.”

  “I wish I could get my hands on that bastard,” Jess said grimly. “I’d tear him apart.”

  “David doesn’t even remember him,” Sabrina said. Her clasp tightened on Bradford’s work-roughened hand. “And I try not to myself. It’s over, Jess. All we can do is pick up the pieces.”

  Jess’s rugged face was creased in a frown, his gray eyes brooding. Then his expression brightened slightly. “I didn’t tell you, Bree. Sue and I had a long talk last night. She wants you to bring David home for a visit.”

  “But you said—”

  “She believes that it’s time,” Jess interrupted. “She thinks she can take it now.” His face was grave. “I hope to hell she’s right.”

  “So do I,” Sabrina said, biting her lip worriedly. “If she’s not, it could hurt them both terribly.”

  “That’s why I want you to come with him. You’ve become the center of his life now, Bree.” His gaze was serious. “He may need you. Can you come right away?”

  How could she not come when he put it like that? Yet it undoubtedly presented problems. They needed the money she earned at Noveltygrams far too much for her to run the risk of being replaced, as she surely would be if she just blithely took off without clearing it with Joel.

  “I’ll have to see if I can make arrangements,” she said, running her hand distractedly through her hair. “When are you going back to the ranch?”

  “Tonight,” he said. “I don’t want to leave Sue alone too long.” He leaned forward and kissed Sabrina gently on the forehead. “Don’t worry about it, honey. If you can’t work things out, we’ll just have to postpone it.”

  “I’ll call you Monday and let you know,” Sabrina promised. She looked up and leaned forward eagerly as a blare of trumpets announced the starting of the grand parade. The finale was a colorful parade of all the rodeo participants, led by the country-western superstar who was this year’s lead attraction. She applauded enthusiastically at the stirring spectacle, her eyes searching the column of riders. “Do you see David?”

  Then she spotted him near the end of the parade. He was dressed in black jeans and a brilliant blue satin shirt, his golden braid gleaming under the lights. He was an almost barbarically handsome figure on his black stallion as he lifted his head, his eyes searching the stands. When he saw them, his face lit with such joy that she caught her breath. He took off his black Stetson and waved it jubilantly at her.

  Sabrina waved back, her throat tight and aching with tears. She saw the eagerness on his face as he suddenly gathered the reins, his gaze still fixed on her face. Sabrina suddenly knew what he was going to do. “Oh, no,” she whispered. “He wouldn’t, would he?”

  “He would,” Jess said, his lips twitching in amusement.

  He did.

  He left his position in the parade, cut across the vast arena in front of the outraged superstar and his entourage, and reined in before their box.

  “Hi, Bree,” he said happily, his face alight with pride. At a signal, his horse bowed low before Sabrina. “Good trick, isn’t it? I wanted it to be a surprise. Every time you had to work and Gino took me to the stables in your place, I practiced it.” He looked around in surprise at the applause of the crowd, then grinned delightedly and waved his hat in acknowledgment. He turned back, his expression hopeful. “Did you like it, Bree?”

  Sabrina could feel the color stain her cheeks as the eyes of the entire audience turned to their box. Yet all she could say to David was, “I loved it. It’s a wonderful trick.”

  David’s pleased smile was rainbow brilliant. He edged the horse closer, then stood in the saddle balancing for a moment before vaulting lightly over the rail into the box.

  Oh Lord, what next?

  “Did you know that there’s an amusement park right next door, Bree?” he asked excitedly, not even noticing the crowd’s renewed applause. His face was eager. “Could we go over there after the rodeo?”

  Yes, she knew about the amusement park and so had he formerly. How many times had they run over to the park with their friends after a rodeo? “I don’t see why not, love,” she said lightly, over the lump in her throat. “I want to see if you can ride those merry-go-round horses as well as you did that bronco.” She turned. “Jess?”

  “It’s all right with me,” Jess said quietly. “I’ll meet you down at the pens and help you curry your horse and stable him temporarily. Bree can meet us at the front entrance.”

  His face alight with excitement, David nodded and turned back to the rail.

  “David.”

  Sabrina impulsively moved forward. To hell with their amused audience. She kissed him gently on the cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “I’m glad,” he said simply, but his smile could have lit all of Houston. Then he vaulted over the rail and onto the black horse and was riding back to his position in the parade.

  “I’ll see you in about twenty minutes, Bree,” Jess drawled, as he left the box. She nodded absently, her gaze on that proud, glowing figure on the glossy black stallion.

  The huge crowd started moving up the stairs of the stadium as the last of the parade left the arena. Sabrina had gathered her belongings from the box and joined the slow crawl to the exits when a firm hand pulled her out of the aisle into the now vacant bleachers.

  “Hello again, Miss Courtney,” Clancy Donahue said cordially.

  His massive figure looked much more at ease in Tony Lama boots, Levi’s, and a blue chambray shirt than it had in the tuxedo, and his breezy grin was just as warm.

  “You look right at home with all these cowboys, Mr. Donahue,” Sabrina said. “Are you here with your family?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve always been a loner,” he answered. “I’ve been too busy batting around the world raising hell to acquire any dependents. Alex and Lance are as close as I’ve ever come to a family.”

>   “Yes, I remember you mentioned knowing Alex as a boy,” Sabrina said. “Was that in Sedikhan?”

  “Yep, I was bossing one of old Karim’s oil rigs when he was scouting around for someone to take over the job of tutoring the boys.”

  “Tutoring?” Sabrina’s eyes widened in surprise.

  A rough diamond like Donahue seemed a bizarre choice of tutor for a boy destined to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world.

  “It came as a shock to me, too,” Donahue said dryly. “But the old man knew what he wanted. When he called me into his office, he had a dossier on me that dated back to the time I was in diapers. He knew Alex would have to be tough as steel to survive and keep what was his. Sedikhan isn’t exactly the most civilized country, even these days. My job was to make sure he was smarter, and a hell of a lot more lethal, than the wolves who would try to gobble him up.”

  “And did you succeed?”

  Donahue’s grin was just as genial but there was a glint in those cool blue eyes like sunlight on a bared sword. “What do you think?” he asked softly.

  Sabrina shivered as she remembered the sudden chill she’d known in the parking lot three days ago when Ben Raschid had confronted Hector Ramirez. “I think perhaps you did your job very well, indeed.”

  “So do I, Miss Courtney,” Donahue said with satisfaction. He made a face. “Sometimes I think I did too good a job. A little cynicism goes with the territory, but Alex has problems trusting anyone these days. It’s turning him into an exceptionally lonely man.”

  “It doesn’t appear to bother him very much,” Sabrina said skeptically. “And according to the gossip columns he has more than enough willing companions.”

  “Women?” Donahue shook his head. “Alex doesn’t have any use for women except in the most basic sense.” His eyes narrowed thoughtfully on her face. “At least he didn’t until now.”

  “Me?” She shook her head. “I assure you that Alex views me in exactly the same light as he does other women.”

  “Somehow I don’t think so, or I wouldn’t be here right now, Miss Courtney.” He paused. “I have a message for you.”

  “I gather this meeting isn’t accidental.”

  “Well, in a way it is. Alex didn’t know you were here until he spotted you on closed-circuit television.”

  “Alex is here?” She felt a rush of panic.

  Clancy Donahue gestured across the arena. “Sedikhan Oil has a corporate box, and Alex is entertaining a few guests.” He raised his eyebrows puckishly. “A mideastern head of state, the mayor, and a few movie stars.” He shot her a sidelong glance to judge the effect of his words.

  “How nice for him,” she said flatly, only half hearing him, wondering wildly how she could escape without seeing Alex.

  “He wants you to join us, Sabrina,” Donahue said quietly.

  “No!” The word burst out with the force of a pistol shot. Then, gaining more control of herself, she lowered her voice. “Please convey my thanks to Alex, but I have other plans.”

  All the laughter left Donahue’s face. “You don’t want to defy him this time, Sabrina. He’s not in a very good mood. In fact, that’s quite an understatement. I hope I never see him as angry as when he saw you kiss that cowboy.”

  “He saw me kiss David?” she asked faintly.

  “Fifty thousand people saw you kiss him,” Donahue amended dryly. “But Alex was the only one who broke the stem of his champagne glass when he watched your touching little scene. He got quite a nasty cut, too.”

  “Perhaps he had too much to drink,” she said coolly. “I’m sure my actions couldn’t have such a violent effect on Alex.”

  “It’s none of my business what’s been happening between you two, but don’t underestimate your effect on Alex. He’s been perfect hell to work with the past week and I’d bet the responsibility lies on that little red head of yours,” Donahue said grimly. “I also know what I saw in his face upstairs. He said two words to me—‘Get her!’—and I knew I’d better not slip up on this little assignment.” He smiled coaxingly. “So how about it, Sabrina? You wouldn’t want to get me in trouble with Alex would you? Why don’t you come along like a good girl?”

  “Does he pay you extra for acting as a pimp?”

  She thought for a moment that he just might hit her. But he drew a deep breath and the smooth control was back. He said coldly, “I’m not bringing you to his bed, Miss Courtney. Alex wouldn’t thank me for that. He likes to stage his own seductions in his own time. I’m just a messenger inviting you to a very respectable party.

  “That half the society women in Houston would give their eyeteeth to attend,” he added ironically.

  Sabrina felt a twinge of remorse that her temper had led her into such a harsh condemnation. She couldn’t help liking Clancy Donahue and it was true he was doing nothing shameful in carrying out Ben Raschid’s orders.

  She turned toward him, her eyes glistening with tears. “I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice, “that was terribly bitchy of me.”

  “You’re damn right it was,” he said grimly, then smiled reluctantly. “But not entirely unjustified. My duties don’t usually include standing in for Alex. He would have come after you himself if he weren’t tied up with a rather temperamental oil sheik. Mahoud wouldn’t understand being deserted for a lowly woman.” Then, noticing her tear-brightened eyes, he touched her cheek gently with one finger. “Damn, you’re just a baby!” he said abruptly. “Do you want some good advice? Run like hell, kid.”

  “You’re not being a very loyal employee, are you?” Sabrina asked, liking him more every moment.

  He said lightly, “I have a hunch you’re a great deal more vulnerable than the ladies who inhabit Alex’s world. He’s pretty potent stuff. He could hurt you badly.”

  “I know.” Her expression was nakedly revealing.

  Donahue smiled almost tenderly. “It appears my warning comes a little late.”

  “I’ll get over it,” she said determinedly.

  “I hope so, Sabrina,” he said skeptically, his blue eyes kind. “In the meantime I’d get as far away from Houston as I could. Alex isn’t going to let you go easily. Not now.”

  Sabrina laughed shakily. “This isn’t some feudal kingdom; this is one of the most modern cities in the world, and I’m not leaving my home and my friends just because you think Alex may decide to practice some form of sexual harassment. That would be ridiculous.” She broke away from him, then turned back abruptly. “I’m not running away,” she said softly, “but thank you for your concern. You’re a nice person, Clancy Donahue.”

  “I like you, too, Sabrina, but you’re making a mistake.” He shrugged. “Now, what do I tell Alex?”

  “I don’t suppose you could tell him you missed me in the crowd?” she asked hopefully.

  Donahue shook his head. “He’s probably watching us right now on closed-circuit television.”

  She shivered at the thought, imagining Alex’s eyes on her. It was almost as if he were right here beside them. She lifted her chin defiantly. “Then you can tell him I had a previous engagement,” she said, starting up the now deserted stairs. She smiled recklessly. “Tell him I regret refusing his gracious invitation, but I have a date with a carousel.”

  “Hi, Jean,” Sabrina, called cheerfully as she entered the modest offices of Noveltygrams Incorporated on Monday morning.

  Jean Roberts, Joel’s receptionist, looked up with a sunny smile. “Hi, Sabrina. What brings you in? Going to hit the boss for a raise?”

  Sabrina shook her head, her ponytail bouncing saucily. “Nope, I wanted a few days off to go visit friends. Will you tell Joel I’m here?”

  Jean nodded and picked up the phone, speaking into it briefly. “He says to go right in.”

  Sabrina nodded, then waved gaily before opening the door to the inner office.

  Joel Craigen leaned back in his chair and said genially, “You’re looking great, Sabrina.” He waved to a chair in front of his desk.
“Sit down and tell me what I can do for you.”

  She perched on the edge of the chair. “I was just wondering, could I have a little time off, Joel?” she asked hesitantly. When he didn’t respond immediately, she continued, “If it’s inconvenient right now, of course I’ll forget about it.”

  Joel was toying with a pencil, not looking at her. “We might work something out.”

  “That’s great! I’ll only be gone for a few days, Joel.”

  He dropped his pencil on the desk and rubbed hard at his thick neck. “Well, actually, Sabrina, I’ve been trying to reach you for the last half hour. I wanted to have a little talk with you. The truth is, I’ve decided to discontinue the bellygrams.”

  “Discontinue?” she asked blankly. “But they’re one of the most popular grams on your list! Jean told me last week there were lots of bookings. You’d have to cancel them!”

  “Then I’ll cancel them,” he said flatly. “The bellygrams are out.”

  Sabrina shook her head dazedly. It didn’t make sense. Why would he cancel one of his most lucrative acts? She smiled uneasily. “Well, if they’re out, they’re out. Can you fit me into one of the other acts?”

  Joel shuffled papers on his desk. “Uh, we’re pretty well staffed right now, Sabrina. You know how it is.” He looked up at last to meet her disappointed gaze. “Oh, hell!” he exploded in disgust, tossing the papers aside and running his fingers through his thinning hair. “Dammit, Sabrina, this is bull,” he said roughly. “You’re fired. I can’t use you any more. Not now, not ever.”

  “But why?” she asked, stunned. “I’m good. You know I’m good, and I’ve always been very reliable. I don’t deserve this. What did I do wrong?”

  “I wish I knew,” he said wearily. “But you sure made someone mad as hell.”

  “What on earth do you mean? Did one of my clients complain?”

  “Not directly. All I know is I got a phone call this morning from Jim Hudson, head of the legal department of Sedikhan Petroleum.”

  “Sedikhan Petroleum!” Sabrina gasped.