by Ginna Gray
"What the—?"
Puzzled, David and Travis looked at each other, and slowly their faces hardened as the truth struck them simultaneously.
"Why you sorry scuzball," David growled. "You wanted that information to fall into Russian hands, didn't you? Which means only one thing, whatever is on that film is phony. We risked our lives for nothing. It was all a setup, wasn't it? Wasn't it?"
"All right, all right. It was phony. But the operation was important."
David made a low sound and lunged for the man, but Travis and Sam pulled him back before he could get his hands around Charley's throat. "You scum! You dirt bag! I'm gonna tear you apart!"
"Easy, easy, Cuz. He isn't worth it."
"Travis is right," Sam added. "Cool down, David."
"Look, Blaine, we had to put out false information," Charley insisted. "We've got a high-ranking mole in the Company and we were trying to flush him out. We'd narrowed the suspects down to five men. So we gave each one a different set of false information. We would have known who our mole was by which information surfaced."
The explanation did nothing to cool David's anger. He stared at the agent through narrowed eyes. "It won't wash, Charley. All you had to do was pick up Abbey and the microdot. You'll know who your man is as soon as you examine the film. You wanted the other side to have that information," he accused. "Why? What is it?"
"Look, I don't have to tell y—"
"Charley, if you value your hide, you'll spit it out. Now!"
"All right, all right." Charley heaved a sigh and raked a hand through his thinning hair. "The microdot contains a short list of double agents—Russians supposedly working for our side. The men on the list are actually loyal KGB men. The plan was to have had a twofold benefit. It would get the other side to take out their own men and, depending on which enemy agents suddenly disappeared, we would have the identity of our mole."
David lunged toward Charley again, but Travis and Sam held him bade. "You risk our lives to trick the other side into snuffing out their own men! Why you sick bas—"
"What's the big deal?" Charley spread his hands, truly perplexed. "Miss Stewart was never in any real danger. One of my men penetrated Sergio's group months ago. He was looking out for her safety."
Charley frowned and turned a hard look on Abigail. "By the way, that reminds me. Peterson wasn't too happy about having his hands glued together. We had to saw that post apart to get him free. He's in the hospital now, waiting for the company that manufactured the stuff to send a solvent that'll unstick his hands."
His chastisement of Abigail enraged David all over again. "The American with Sergio's group is one of you guys? That's your idea of protection? Hell, that's a laugh. Abbey and I know firsthand just how effective that jackass is as a guard."
The wail of several sirens interrupted the confrontation. Within moments a caravan of police cars screeched to a halt on the quayside road, and the local police poured onto the pier.
They all spent the next three hours at police headquarters explaining things. Nathan Sumner and his men were charged with kidnapping and attempted murder but, because they were in Mexican territory, the espionage charges had to be handled through the state department.
It was almost dawn when the tired group left the San Cristobal police station. By the time they reached the beach house on Rincon Island, Abigail's earlier elation and high spirits had dissipated. In their place was a gnawing worry and apprehension.
Since entering the police station David had been quiet and distant. He barely looked at her, and he spoke to her only when forced to. Abigail could almost feel him withdrawing.
As they trailed into the living room of the beach house, Erin stretched. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed," she said over a huge yawn. A chorus of muttered good-nights followed, and the two couples drifted away to their respective bedrooms, leaving Abigail and David standing alone in awkward silence.
Abigail shifted from one foot to the other. She stared down at her toes, poking out of the shredded stockings, suddenly conscious of what a fright she must look in the bedraggled gown with her hair all wild and tangled and what was left of her glamorous makeup smudged.
"Well, uh... good night, Abbey," David said.
Her head snapped up as he took a step toward the left wing. Panic streaked through her, and before she thought, she blurted, "Aren't you going to sleep with me?" Immediately hot color flooded her face, and she could have bitten off her tongue.
Sighing, David turned back. "Look, Abbey, I've been thinking about... well... about us, and... I think it would be best if we ended it now."
Excruciating pain stabbed Abigail's heart. Her chin wobbled, but she fought to control it. "I see."
"No. I don't think you do," David said with gruff tenderness. He stepped close and cupped her face.
Battling the terrible ache in her chest and the need to cry, Abigail stared at the ruffled front of his formal shirt.
"I care about you, Abbey—more than you know—but I just don't see us having a future together."
"I understand. You don't have to—"
"Abbey, listen to me. I'm a jaded, worn-out ex-agent. I've had my fill of adventure and excitement—more than enough to last me a lifetime. If I didn't know that before, this little episode has driven the fact home. I'm ready to settle down to a quiet, ordinary life."
She looked up then, a spark of hope in her eyes, but his next words doused it. "You, on the other hand, are just beginning to try your wings." She opened her mouth to argue, but he placed his forefinger across her lips, silencing her. "Abbey, honey, in the short time we've been together, I've watched you change from a frightened little mouse who jumped at her own shadow to a vibrant, self-assured woman. Don't you see? You're just now ready to experience life. To explore the possibilities. You deserve the chance to have a little fun, to have a taste of excitement and adventure."
With a sigh, he rubbed her chin with his thumb and gazed at her with longing and regret. "No matter what we feel, our lives just don't mesh, Abbey. We've reached different turning points. We have different needs."
Gathering her pride around her like a cloak, Abigail gave him a wavering smile. "I hadn't thought of it that way, but of course, you're probably right," she said in a stilted voice. "And as you said, the wisest thing would be to part now, before either of us gets hurt."
She stepped back, away from his touch, desperate to end the painful conversation before her brave front collapsed and she made a complete fool of herself. "Well, I guess there's nothing left to say. Except... good night." Turning away, she started for the right wing on shaky legs.
"Abbey, are you all right?"
She stopped, got control of her wobbly chin, and looked back over her shoulder. Her throat ached as though she'd swallowed an apple whole, but she managed a quiet, "I'm fine," and marched on without looking back.
In the room they had shared the night before she locked the door, then collapsed onto the bed and pulled a pillow over her head to muffle the cries that spilled forth like water through a broken dam. Oh, God, she loved him so.
The sobs tore from her, long, agonizing sounds straight from her soul. She cried over her foolish hopefulness. She cried over the loss of her dreams. Most of all, she cried over the future that stretched out endless and lonely, for Abigail knew that she would never love again." Not as she loved David.
What she had felt for Ted all those years ago was paltry by comparison to what she felt for David. He had made her feel, for the first time in her life, like a real woman—a vibrant, exciting, desirable woman. David, with his rough edges, his blunt manner, his tender heart and chivalrous soul, had freed her spirit, and in doing so, had captured her heart.
Of course, she didn't believe a word of his explanation, but even that had made her love him all the more. He had warned her in the beginning that their love affair might not last and that he wasn't sure he was the marrying kind. He wasn't obligated to give her any reasons for ending things between them.
The truth was he did not love her. But despite his rough exterior, David was a gentle man. He had offered the explanation to let her down easy and allow her to save face.
Abigail cried until she was thoroughly spent and there were no tears left. Still curled in a ball, she lay on her side and gazed at the far wall. She had no right to be upset, she told herself. Hadn't she known from the beginning that this was merely a brief interlude that could not possibly last? She'd told him that she would settle for what she could have, and that was what she would do. No matter how much it hurt.
Chapter Fifteen
David's sisters lit into him that afternoon the instant he showed his face. He'd been so miserable and sick at heart at the thought of losing Abigail, he'd managed only a few hours sleep all day. He walked into the living room with dark circles under his eyes, a knot in his stomach and a giant ache where his heart should be, and came face-to-face with two irate woman.
"Well, it's about time you woke up," Erin declared with her hands on her hips.
"Something wrong?" He glanced at his brothers-in-law, who sat sprawled in the whicker chairs, but Sam merely shrugged, and Max spread his hands wide.
"You bet something's wrong. What did you do to Abbey?"
"What?"
"Abbey just told us that she's leaving today on the last ferry," Elise explained. "She's in her room getting ready."
The pain in David's chest sharpened. He experienced a strong urge to march into Abbey's room and tell her that she wasn't going anywhere—ever—but he squelched it. He was doing the right thing in letting her go. The right thing for her, at any rate, and that was what mattered. He'd been telling himself the same thing all day, but it didn't make the pain any less.
Carefully keeping his face impassive, he sauntered into the kitchen and poured himself a mug of coffee. "There's no reason for her to take the ferry to Alhaja Verde. I'll take her back on the Freewind.''
"She shouldn't be going at all," Erin declared. "Now, I want to know what happened between you two. And don't give me any of that tight-lipped silence, either, David Blaine. I'm going to pester you until you tell me, so you might as well give up."
"And if she doesn't, I will," Elise declared.
David aimed a sour look at Max and Sam. "Can't you control these two?''
"Nope," Max conceded with a cheerful grin.
"You were never able to," Sam drawled. "Why expect miracles from us? "
"Out with it, David," Erin ordered, tapping her sandaled foot on the wood floor. Elise sat on the arm of the sofa, swinging he leg, her arms crossed beneath her breasts.
"Oh, all right. If you must know, I told her that I thought we should end things between us."
"Oh, David, why?" Elise wailed.
"Why, you pigheaded idiot! Any fool could see that you're in love with her. What on earth did you do that for?"
Knowing they would not rest until they'd gotten the whole «tory, David explained. When he had finished, his sisters stared at him as though he'd taken leave of his senses;
"That's it? You're throwing over the love of your life for a flimsy reason like that?"
"Dammit, Erin. It's not a flimsy reason. And I never said that I loved her," David retorted.
"But you do, don'^you?"
David glared, and she raised her eyebrows imperiously.
"Don't you?"
"All right, dammit! Yes, I love her. There, are you satisfied? But it still wouldn't be right for me to marry her."
"You want to know what I think?" Erin asked.
"No! I don't."
"I think this business about her needing to spread her wings is just a smoke screen. I think you're just plain old scared of making a commitment. You've played the footloose bachelor so long the thought of hearth and home and family scares the hell out of you. Doesn't it, you big, tough ex-G-man?"
"Just butt out, Erin. Okay?" David slammed his coffee mug down on the counter and stomped toward the door. "I need a cigarette. If anyone wants me I'll be on the Freewind. And you can tell Abbey I'll be ready to shove off anytime she is."
"Well!" Erin huffed, watching him through the windows as he stomped across the deck and disappeared down the steps. "Butt out, indeed. Ha! Fat chance." She tugged her sister off the sofa. "Come on, Elise. If we put our heads together we can come up with an answer to this problem."
"Whoa. Wait a minute, sweetheart," Max cautioned. "You're not really going to interfere are you?"
"Don't be silly, darling. Of course we are."
For the trip home Abigail put on the floral sundress with the coordinating jade jacket. She had just placed the rest of her meager wardrobe into the shopping bag Elise had given her when the twins tapped on her door.
"David told us what he did," Erin said, getting right to the point. "Well, Elise and I aren't going to just sit back and let that pigheaded brother of ours ruin both his life and yours."
"Oh, no, please, you mustn't interfere. Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I don't want to put David on the spot. He can't help it if he doesn't love me."
"Doesn't love you!" Erin hooted. "That idiot is so in love with you, he can't see straight—much less think straight."
"Oh, no, you're wrong. He couldn't possibly..." Abigail bit her bottom lip and looked back and forth between the two women. "Do... do you really think so?"
"Yes, we do," Ease said, and hope soared in Abigail's heart. "He's just being his usual overprotective self, is all. We simply have to do something to bring him to his senses."
"Elise and I have come up with a plan, and Travis has agreed to help. Now here's what we'll do..."
"Have you seen Abbey?" David asked the four people sitting on the deck an hour later. "I'd like to get going before it gets too late."
Erin took a sip of her lemonade and looked at her sister. Elise smiled. "She went for a walk on the beach with Travis."
David's eyebrows shot downward. "With Travis! What the hell is she doing with Travis?" Shading his eyes, he looked down the beach. A hundred yards or so away, two figures stood close together, deep in conversation. "Why the devil did you let her go with Travis? Abbey is vulnerable right now, and you both know his reputation with women."
"Oh, relax, David," Erin said. "There's no romance brewing between those two. They went for a stroll to discuss business. Abbey is talking to Travis about becoming a government agent."
"What!" David whirled around, his eyes wild. "You're kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding."
Erin shrugged. "All I know is she said she wanted to become an agent."
"Over my dead body!"
He swung around and galloped down the steps. The group on the deck did not move until he reached the bottom and stormed away down the beach. "Quick! Where did you hide the binoculars?" Erin demanded as she and her sister scrambled off the loungers.
"Over there behind the flowerpots."
"Good Lord! Don't tell me you're going to spy on them?"
"Of course we are." Snatching up the field glasses, Erin ignored her husband and hurried over to the rail with her twin and focused on David's striding figure.
"Can you see him clearly?"
"Oh, yeah. And hot damn, is he ever mad. I can almost see smoke coming out of his ears."
"Let me look," Elise begged, doing an excited jig. "Come on, Erin, don't hog the glasses. Give me a turn."
Max looked at Sam. Both men shook their heads and heaved beleaguered sighs.
***
"Uh-oh. Get set. Here he comes," Travis warned in a low murmur. "No! No, don't turn around. Remember what I told you—stay calm and play it cool. And follow my lead."
"All right. Oh, Travis, I'm so nervous. Do you really think this will work?"
"Honey, from the look on my cousin's face I'd say it was a lead pipe cinch. He looks angry enough to chew nails. Brace yourself now, he's almost here."
"Travis! What the devil is going on here?" David roared.
"Hi ya, Cuz. Hey, you're just in time to help. Abbey was ju
st talking to me about becoming an agent."
"Then it's true. I didn't believe it when Erin first told me." He glared at Travis. "And just what the hell do you think you're doing, encouraging her in this madness? And as for you," he raged, turning on Abigail. "You can just get this crazy idea right out of your head. You are not joining the Bureau! Do you hear me? It's out of the question!"
Abigail was elated by his reaction. Excitement and hope skittered through her, and her nerves began to flutter, but somehow she managed a guileless smile. "Why, David, why are you so upset? I'm just following your advice. After all, you did say that I needed excitement and adventure in my life," she said reasonably, which to her delight, incensed him even more. "Working as an agent seems to me the perfect way to do that."
"You are not joining the FBI," David reiterated between gritted teeth.
"Hey, no problem, Cuz. I'm not going to help her get in the Bureau," Travis assured him. "Shoot. After the way Abbey handled herself with Sumner and his bunch, I figure she's more suited to be CIA. When I get back to D.C., I'm going to set up a meeting for her with Charley Higgins's superiors."
David looked ready to explode. He stared at his cousin, speechless. His jaw bulged. His nostrils whitened. His throat worked. Then he blew.
"Like hell you will!" he roared. "My woman is not joining that bunch of spooks over at Langley!"
Startled by the bellowed ultimatum, Abigail jumped and let but a little squeak. The next breath she let out another as David hoisted her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and stalked back toward the house with long, angry strides.
Dangling over his shoulder Abigail raised her head and looked back at Travis. A huge grin split his handsome face, and he lifted his fist in a thumbs-up sign.
All the blood rushed to Abigail's head. She bounced with every jarring step, her French braid hanging down and whipping against David's jean-covered rump. She quickly discovered that viewing the world upside down while being jostled did unpleasant things to her tummy.
"David, I—"
"Shut up, Legs," he snapped. "I'll deal with you at the house."
The jostling grew worse when he pounded up the steps. On the deck he stomped past Elise and Erin without a word.