“Yes, I can believe she would say that,” Maurice said with a touch of coldness in his voice. He looked at his daughter before moving his gaze to his wife. He then disjoined their hands. “There are some wives who trust their husbands. There are some wives who are so secure in their love and marriage, that nothing, not even what’s probably an innocent pose caught on camera, can destroy that security.”
Silence stretched out painfully across the table. Regina immediately regretted bringing up the article about Sterling Hamilton. All it had done was dredge up painful memories for her parents as to the reason they weren’t together.
“I have to go.”
“Go where?” Regina asked her father when he stood. He had been staying with her mother ever since news of the hostages had broken. Although he had spent his nights sleeping on the sofa, he’d still been here, close at hand, providing her mother with comfort and support.
“I’m going home, Gina, to my place. I’ve stayed around here long enough. With Trevor on his way home, things can get back to normal.”
Regina knew that to her father, getting back to normal meant once again putting distance between him and her mother. “But Daddy, I thought we’d all be here together when Trev got home, the three of us,” Regina explained, not wanting him to leave, and feeling she was the cause of him doing so.
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Maurice Grant said, placing his chair under the table. “Trevor will understand. When he gets here, tell him he knows where he can reach me. I’ll see you two later.” He turned and quickly walked out of the kitchen.
Regina looked at her mom and saw the sadness and pain etched in her face. She saw her shoulders slump at the sound of the front door clicking shut behind her father.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“No, Gina, don’t worry about it. Your father is right. Trevor will understand. And he was right about something else, too. Some wives do trust their husbands. And I will regret for the rest of my life that I was not one of them. I admire Sterling Hamilton’s wife for taking the position that she did.”
Regina watched as her mother stood and quietly left the room.
Trevor lay in bed in total darkness, looking up at the ceiling. He missed Corinthians already. Ashton just didn’t understand that things had to end the way they did between them. If he had known the whole story from the beginning, then he would know there was no other way for things to end.
What he had told Ashton had been the truth. Her love had never been his. When he had first laid eyes on her, he had been the wrong man. He had not been the man she had planned to seduce. Just like he had not been the man she had planned to give her virginity to. Again, he had been the wrong man.
He shifted positions in bed. With every fiber of his being, he ached to hold Corinthians in his arms once more. He ached to go to sleep with her beside him and to wake up with her in the mornings. And he ached to show her just how much she was loved. The only thing he had left were memories he would cherish forever.
Not being able to stay in bed any longer, Trevor got up and slipped into his jeans. He was about to pick up the phone to call downstairs to see if one of the restaurants in the hotel was still open when he heard the knock on his door.
His eyes narrowed. His late-night visitor could only be one person, and the last thing he wanted to hear was another Indian saying from Ashton. He went to the door and snatched it open. “Don’t you ever give up?”
Ashton laughed. “Not too often,” he drawled in an Oklahoma accent.
Trevor cocked his head and looked at Ashton. He had changed clothes. Gone were the military fatigues. Now he was dressed in a pair of well-worn jeans and a pullover shirt with a fringed cowboy vest over it. His hair was no longer secured in a ponytail, but hung loose around his shoulders. Even with the darkness of Ashton’s skin, tonight he looked more Indian. Trevor glanced down at Ashton’s feet. He even had on a pair of moccasins.
Trevor couldn’t help the one corner of his mouth that lifted slightly into a smile. “Going to a powwow?”
“I wish.” Although Ashton returned Trevor’s smile, his eyes couldn’t hide a host of painful childhood memories. And Trevor understood why. Ashton had once told him how hard it had been as a child to be torn between his Indian and his African American heritages. His summers had been spent with his father at the Cherokee nation in Oklahoma, and his school year had been spent with his mother’s parents in Washington, D.C. His grandparents had spent those nine months of the year trying to de-Indianize him. They had never come to accept their daughter’s marriage to an Indian, even though it had lasted less than a year thanks to their interference.
“What’s up?” Trevor asked, moving aside to let Ashton enter the room.
“Figured you wouldn’t be doing much sleeping tonight, so I thought we could use this time to talk. You mentioned something about having a bad feeling about this hostage thing. Would you care to enlighten me?” he asked, dropping down in the recliner in the room.
“I may as well,” Trevor said, taking a seat in the chair at the desk. “First of all, that terrorist who managed to track me and Corinthians down in the jungles spoke Portuguese. I was surprised by that, since the two men who tried to abduct Corinthians in São Paulo spoke Spanish. And I’ve—”
“Whoa, wait a minute. Back up. Are you saying two men tried abducting Miss Avery in São Paulo? Before the terrorists’ attack?”
“Yeah, the day before. She was in a McDonald’s at the time, and had gone to use the ladies’ room. I walked into the place just in time. Afterward, I thought it was just a case of an American tourist being set upon by a bunch of thieves, but now I’m sure that wasn’t the case.”
Ashton lifted a dark brow. “Why do you think that?”
“Because we ran into those same two men the night we escaped into the jungle. We hid from them in the dense underbrush. And although they spoke in rapid, clipped Spanish, I was able to keep up with most of their conversation. One of them told the other that someone named Santini would not like having to tell someone named Monty that they had literally screwed up again, and that someone else had gotten to the woman before they did. At the time, I thought they were part of the terrorist group, but now I’m not all that certain about that. I’ve never known any Spanish-speaking terrorist and any Portuguese-speaking terrorist to join forces on anything. In fact, you know as well as I that they usually oppose each other.”
Ashton nodded. “And you’re sure one of those Spanish-speaking men mentioned the name Monty?”
“I’m positive.”
Ashton stood and began pacing the room. A prickle of unease flowed through Trevor’s body as he watched him. “Is there something you need to tell me, Ashton?”
Ashton stopped his pacing and looked over at Trevor. “What you’ve just told me has raised my suspicion of who may have been behind the taking of those American hostages.”
A deep frown covered Trevor’s face. “Who?”
Ashton took a long, weary breath. “The CIA has been watching someone for the past six months. And although they haven’t been able to come up with strong, concrete evidence, it’s believed that this very wealthy individual is behind the recent increase in illegal contraband coming into South America. And you’re right about the Spanish-speaking South Americans and the Portuguese-speaking South American terrorists not being able to work together; however, enough money can make anyone do just about anything.”
“Who is this person?” Trevor asked again. He wanted a name. He wanted to know the identity of the person who had placed his and Corinthians’s life in danger for four days.
“I want a name, Ashton,” Trevor said upon sensing Ashton’s reluctance to give him one. “And don’t try pulling that military security stuff on me. Don’t forget I’ve been there and I’ve done that. After all I’ve been through, I think I deserve a name.”
Ashton stared long and hard at the man whom he considered a very close friend; a man who had
once risked his life saving his. “The man is Armond Thetas. Known as Monty to his friends.”
Trevor immediately went into shock. “Armond Thetas?” Nothing in his voice even hinted at the deep rage he felt, just the shock. If the CIA had Thetas under suspicion, there was a good reason for it. “And you think he’s behind the attack?”
“Yes, we have our suspicions although we can’t prove it right now.”
“What makes you think he’s involved?”
“The CIA had an inside informer who worked inside Thetas’ villa. He kept the CIA pretty much informed as to Thetas’ activities, which seemed to be operating more than an oil company in South America. Large amounts of money were withdrawn from his bank account just weeks before a huge weapon shipment found its way to South America undetected. The last time the CIA heard from their informer, he warned them about something big going down, but didn’t give any specifics. We think the kidnapping of the American hostages could be it, but we aren’t absolutely sure.”
Trevor nodded. “What about the informer? Wasn’t he able to—”
“No,” Ashton cut in. “He had to be pulled out of there immediately. Somehow Thetas found out someone from the inside was a traitor. Plans were in motion to find out who he was and to have him eliminated.” He stuck his hands into his pockets and met Trevor’s gaze. “You may as well know that Drake was the informer.”
Trevor flinched and sucked in his breath. Drake Warren was a good friend of theirs and a former member of the Force Recon where they had fondly tagged him “Sir Drake.” Now he worked for the CIA doing various things for the American government. They were things Trevor didn’t even want to think about and knew better than to ask about. No doubt Drake was taking chances he shouldn’t be taking. Their friend lived dangerously on the edge. As far as Drake was concerned, his life had pretty much ended when the woman he loved was murdered by a group of revolutionaries out to overthrow the Haitian government nearly three years ago.
“Where’s Drake now?”
“Who knows, man. The CIA forced him to take time off to rest, but you know Sir Drake. The word rest is not in his vocabulary.”
Trevor nodded. He then returned his thoughts to Armond Thetas. The man had been in Rio de Janeiro with them, attending the summit. He had also been the one to personally invite him and Corinthians to the dinner party that night at the hotel and then to his villa for rest and relaxation in Buzios the next day. As Trevor thought further, he remembered that Thetas had left the dinner party early claiming an emergency had come up. How convenient. A dark frown covered Trevor’s face when he remembered how Thetas had looked at Corinthians that night when she had first entered the ballroom for dinner. Like the other men present, he had been entranced by her beauty.
Trevor’s fingers tightened around the pen he had picked up off the desk. If Corinthians had been taken as a hostage, and with her being the only female geologist in the group—and a desirable one at that—he had a gut feeling she would not have returned unharmed. He thanked God that he had gotten her out in time.
“So what’s the CIA’s next move regarding Thetas?” Trevor asked.
“Right now, they’re being cautious. The information Drake provided proves he’s into something illegal, but we have nothing to tie him to the hostages yet. As you know, Thetas left the hotel early that night, but our man who followed him said he went straight home and stayed there all night after receiving word that his young son of five had taken ill.”
“He has a son that young?”
“Yes, from one of his mistresses. I understand he had several. He loves women just as much as he loves money.”
Trevor didn’t doubt that. “But there’s one thing that still puzzles me, Ashton. Why did someone try to abduct Corinthians the day before the terrorist attack? Had they been successful in their attempt, I doubt that same group would have been stupid enough to turn around the next night and kidnap other hostages. It just doesn’t make sense. And there’s something else you should know.”
“What?”
“Corinthians told me she got detained for hours at the airport by Customs when she entered Brazil. Even after all you’ve told me, I still have a bad feeling about this one. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think we were dealing with two different groups here.”
Ashton nodded, following Trevor’s line of thinking. “As soon as I get back to the embassy, I’m going to check further into some things, like that incident in McDonald’s and what happened at Customs. At least you’ve provided us with another name. I’m curious as to who Santini is. I’ll pass his name on to the CIA for them to check out. I’ll keep you informed if I hear anything.” He smiled. “I have some leave time coming up. I just might come to Texas and pay you a visit in a few weeks.”
Trevor shook his head. He knew if Ashton had plans to come to Texas, the main reason was not to see him, but to see Netherland Brooms.
Netherland, called Nettie by her friends, was the owner of Sisters, a popular restaurant and hangout in Houston. Ashton and Netherland had met a few years ago when Ashton had paid him a visit. He had taken him to dinner at Sisters and had introduced them.
“Yeah, you do that,” Trevor said, smiling. “And before you ask, the answer is yes, Nettie is still single. But I thought she made it clear to you that she doesn’t date military men.”
A slow grin appeared under Ashton’s eyes. “Then I guess I’ll have to work at changing her mind about that, won’t I?”
Trevor shrugged. Even with Ashton’s art of persuasion, he had a feeling Nettie would not budge. But he would let Ashton find that out for himself.
“Oh, by the way, I think you might want this back,” Ashton said.
Trevor took the ring Ashton handed him and returned it to his finger. “Thanks, for everything.”
“Don’t mention it. You would have done the same for me. In fact, you already have.” Ashton looked down at his watch. “It’s almost morning. We may as well go someplace and grab breakfast. I’m returning to South America in a few hours. When will your flight leave for Texas?”
“Not soon enough,” was Trevor’s reply as he grabbed his jacket off the table and followed Ashton out of the door.
Deep in the recesses of her sleep-induced mind, Corinthians faintly heard her mother calling her name. She frowned. Why was her mother out here in the jungle with her and Trevor? The last thing she wanted was her mother to find her naked in Trevor’s arms, and especially not before he made love to her again. “No, go away. I want Trevor,” she mumbled still deep in sleep.
“Corinthians, sweetheart, I’m here, and I’m going to take care of you.”
“Trevor,” was Corinthians’s reply. She said the name in such a way that Maudlin Avery could not help but lift a brow.
“Corinthians, wake up, honey. You’re having a dream,” she whispered softly in her daughter’s ear. The last time Corinthians had slept this hard had been after working herself into a state of total exhaustion on that special project at Remington Oil a little more than a year ago. She had come home for two weeks to get some much-needed rest, sleeping twelve hours straight her first day home.
Maudlin Avery had always been concerned Corinthians was working too hard and that she didn’t have much of a social life. She and her husband were yet to meet any man she dated unless it was someone Joshua managed to fix her up with. Heaven help them if she ever became seriously involved with anyone Joshua considered suitable. Suitable to Joshua meant just the opposite to them. She wanted her daughter to be the object of some man’s deep affection and undying love, and not a way for him to advance his career or social status.
Maudlin Avery brought her thoughts back to the present when her daughter let out a deep, guttural moan. She frowned, wondering just what kind of dream Corinthians was having. “Corinthians, wake up,” she said, shaking her awake.
Corinthians snatched her eyes open although they were still groggy from sleep. She tried focusing her gaze on the figure of the person leaning over her.
“Mom!” she squeaked when her focus became clearer. She suddenly sat up in bed and glanced around the room.
“Mom? What are you doing here? Where am I?” she asked as she tried to clear sleep from her brain.
“You’re at a hotel in Key West, Florida. The military brought you here after you were rescued from the jungles of South America.”
“But how? When? I don’t remember anything,” Corinthians said flustered. “The last thing I remember is getting on that plane and going to sleep in Trevor’s—”
She suddenly stopped talking midsentence and quickly glanced around the room. Had Corinthians taken the time to notice, she would have felt, like her mother saw, the look of sheer panic in her face. And she would have heard, like her mother did, the frantic tone of her voice when she asked, “Where’s Trevor?”
Chapter 20
“Mr. Grant isn’t here, Corinthians.”
“What do you mean he isn’t here?”
To Maudlin Avery’s surprise, her fiercely independent daughter seemed quite upset to discover that Trevor Grant was not there. Corinthians had never been one to get worked up over a man. Her daughter’s new attitude stunned her. Four days in the jungle could not have changed her that much, could it? But the look on Corinthians’s face clearly showed she was not a happy camper.
Evidently Nathan had not told her everything she needed to know about Trevor Grant. The only thing he had told her was that the man had actually made Joshua’s knees shake. She inwardly smiled at that. Any man who could put Joshua in his place was worth checking out. Now it seemed she needed to check Mr. Grant out for other reasons, as well.
“Mom, where is he?”
Corinthians’s question interrupted Maudlin Avery’s thoughts. “I assume you’re still asking about Trevor Grant?”
Fire and Desire (Arabesque) Page 19