“You’re going to hear it! And with your eyes open. Look at me, Tara!”
She did. She felt the warmth of his hand just below her breast. The power of his thigh cast over hers. The tension in his face, the vibrance of his eyes.
“Tara! Yes! I looked for you because of Jimmy. He’s my brother—”
“Stepbrother, I understand,” she interrupted blandly.
“Brother—we were raised together. God, what difference does it make? I loved him. I had to find him, for myself, for his mother. Is that such a horrible thing?”
“You seduced me—used me—to find him. You lied. God alone knows what you’re really thinking or feeling.”
“I’m trying to tell you! I do love you, Tara. I think it happened the first night we were together. Before we were together, even. Tara, forgive me! Maybe I was wrong, horribly wrong, to begin with, but that changed, and I couldn’t just tell you then, because—because there was someone else involved. His mother was desperate. I was at my wit’s end. If you’d turned away from me, I’d have lost her last chance. I’d have let Myrna down. In love or not,” he said very softly, “I owed it to Myrna, to my brother, to take no chances. Can’t you see? Please, Tara! Damn it, how can you believe that I don’t love you now?”
She kept staring at him. She didn’t know how. Then she grew desperate, because she was going to burst into tears at any moment.
“I’ve listened to you. Now let me go.”
He didn’t respond. She shoved at him in a fury, with an incredible burst of strength.
Still, if he hadn’t chosen to release her, she wouldn’t have been free.
“Tara—”
“Leave me alone. Just leave me alone.” She rose, turning on him, commanding, begging.
“You’ve got to believe me!” He stood, then walked toward her. He couldn’t come any closer. He just couldn’t.
A strangled sob escaped her. She rushed to the connecting door, ran through it and slammed it shut.
“Tara!”
His voice thundered after her, and she burst into tears as she slid the bolt into place.
CHAPTER 13
“Tara!”
His voice, rough, urgent, came to her through the door.
“My God, Tara, I’m not going to try to touch you or see you, but please, listen to me! I had no choice. If I’d tried to meet you with the truth, you wouldn’t have given me the time of day. Myrna—Jimmy’s mother—tried to reach you right after it all happened. But you had disappeared yourself. Galliard wouldn’t let anyone know where you were. Tara, I do love you. I’ve wanted to tell you, to explain. Can’t you see, it wasn’t just me involved! I believed in you, but no one knew anything about Tine Elliott. At first I couldn’t be certain.”
He lost control for a moment. Tara felt the door shudder as he slammed a fist against it. “Tara!”
She felt numb again. So miserable that she was numb. A dead thing, with no strength, no will.
“Don’t do this! Tara, Tine is still out there somewhere. You need me now. You—”
His words broke off with a sharp expletive. Distantly she heard the phone ringing in his room.
She knew when he left the door to answer it. She knew before he spoke when he returned.
“Open the door and come with me. That was the police. They think they have the man who attacked you yesterday.”
She clenched her teeth. She couldn’t go. She didn’t think she could even stay standing.
She didn’t recognize her own voice when she spoke. It was cold and hoarse. “I’m sure you’ll recognize him. And I’m sure anything that can be dragged out of the man can best be obtained by your dubious means.”
“Tara! This has to be done.”
“Go do it, then.”
She imagined that she could hear him breathing. She could even imagine the tension in his handsome features, the pulse ticking in his throat.
She did hear it when he inhaled sharply in decision. “I’ll leave Sam and a house detective outside your door. Don’t open it to anyone.”
She didn’t reply. She leaned her head wearily against the door.
“Tara!”
“I have no intention of opening my door.”
“When I get back, Tara, you’re damn well going to open it!” he promised her.
She heard him walk away. She closed her eyes, furious with herself, because silent tears streamed down her cheeks.
She didn’t know how much time passed before she went over to one of the beds and lay down, ridiculously tired. Facts kept passing through her mind, events, sights. Foolish. They only hurt worse.
She didn’t know if she’d dozed or if she had just lain there partially asleep. She became slowly aware of a tapping at her door, slow and hesitant at first, then growing louder and more urgent.
Keyed up and suddenly aware that she had every right to be frightened, she leaped from the bed and stared at the door. Silly—Rafe had said that Sam and a house detective would be there. If he had said so, it would be the truth.
But she walked to the door carefully. “Sam?”
“No, no, Señorita Hill. It is the maid. Por favor, I must come in.”
Tara frowned. It was definitely a woman’s voice. And most probably the maid. But she had to be sure.
She bit her lower lip, then hurried to the door connecting her room to Rafe’s. She unbolted the door on her side and tried to open it, only to pause, baffled, to realize that it was now locked from the other side. She couldn’t slip into his room to peek out into the hallway to see who stood at her door.
Where was Sam?
She went back to the door. “I don’t need any maid service right now,” she said.
There was a pause outside, then a whisper reached her, a whisper that she recognized.
“Tara, please! It’s me. Jimmy Saunders.”
“Jimmy!” she exclaimed. Could she be wrong? No, no, she recognized his voice! The moment he had begun to speak, she had known that it was him.
“Tara, I can’t stay out here in the hallway!”
She fumbled with the lock, then threw open the door. For a moment, terror struck her. She might have made a mistake. He was in a hotel uniform, and his hair looked darker than before; he was standing next to a beautiful Venezuelan woman, with a room service table between them.
And he was sporting a rich, full handlebar mustache.
“Jimmy?”
She backed away. But he started laughing good-naturedly even as he stepped into the room with the nervous-looking woman.
“It’s me! It’s me!” He ripped off the mustache—crying out a little at the sudden pain, then grimacing and stretching out his arms. With a glad little gasp she hugged him. He returned the hug and softly closed the door behind him.
“What are you doing? Where have you been?” Tara demanded. Then she lightly batted him on the shoulder. “Now that I can see that you’re alive and well, I could strangle you! No one believed me! Why didn’t you contact the authorities? Why didn’t you—what the hell was going on that night?”
“Shh!” he warned her. Then he smiled and pulled the pretty woman forward. “This is Tanya. After the fracas was over, I apparently managed to pull myself to her doorstep. Tara, I nearly died. I never would have intentionally deserted you. But I didn’t know who I was—and Tanya was frightened. She knew that something had gone wrong with the authorities and that I had been involved. She nursed me herself.” He gave the woman a warm smile with so much tenderness in it that Tara felt a new wave of anguish sweep through her.
“Tanya, Tara. Tara, Tanya. I would have died without her,” he said very softly.
Tanya, who didn’t seem to understand what had been said, did understand the love in his voice. She blushed and offered Tara a shy smile.
Tara smiled wistfully at them both, then gave herself a little shake. “Jimmy, what are you doing here now? Like this? Why didn’t you just call me? Why—”
“Sit down. And keep your voice down. The walls a
round here may well have ears,” he told her.
She looked skeptical, but sat obediently. Jimmy paced before her while he spoke. “I started a new life here, Tara.” He laughed. “I learned to blow glass! But that’s beside the point. About three weeks ago, I saw in the newspapers that Galliard was doing another showing in Caracas. There was a picture of you on the front page. When I saw it, I suddenly remembered everything.”
“So why didn’t you call someone, Jimmy? Why—?”
He smiled patiently. “I’m going to go back further in time,” he explained ruefully. “My family is into gems. Shipping and gems. That led us into antiquities. You know, financing expeditions for various museums, that type of thing. Anyway, I had gone to Mexico as a guest of the government to work at a Mayan site. We dug up some fabulous things!”
“The mask!” Tara interrupted.
“Precisely. Anyway, a number of things were stolen one night. They disappeared quite cleanly. We assumed they would take a nice circuitous trip through South America before appearing in some private collection somewhere in the world. But we did have a bit of a clue—the authorities had been investigating Tine Elliott. I had followed him here, and snooping around, I found his little cache up in the mountains. I took the mask as proof of what he’d been up to. I planned to go to the authorities, but then I met you, and from what I had learned of the man, I was afraid for you. I waited, and then you called me, and, well, you know the rest. Except that I came here like this today because I don’t want Tine Elliott to know that I’ve found you again, or that you’ve found me. I know he’s back, Tara. He wants two things: you and the mask.”
“I don’t believe this,” she murmured. “Why wait for two years to try to—”
“Tara, that mask is made of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Millions of dollars’ worth, even on the black market.”
She shook her head. “But he had money!”
“Not enough, apparently,” Jimmy said. “Tara, he has to be caught this time—before he hurts anyone else. That’s why I had to lie low. For your safety, and for Tanya’s.”
She stared at him, still incredulous. She was so glad to see him alive that she wanted to kiss and hug him again—except that she didn’t want Tanya to get the wrong impression.
She started suddenly. He didn’t know! He didn’t know about Rafe! And despite her bitterness, she acknowledged Rafe’s right to know as quickly as possible that his brother was alive.
She smiled at Jimmy. “We may have a clue. Your brother is at the police station right now, trying to identify a man who attacked me yesterday. He must be associated with Tine.”
“What? Rafe is here?”
The gladness on his face and the pleasure in his voice touched her heart. He also sounded relieved—as if he had infinite faith that big brother could handle anything—and a little amazed.
“Yes,” Tara murmured. “He’s here. Or, rather, he’s at the police station.”
“You know each other?” Jimmy demanded.
Tara’s mouth twisted in a wry smile. “You didn’t read enough newspapers. We were supposedly engaged.”
“Supposedly?”
“Long story. Anyway, that’s over. Now that you’ve appeared!”
Jimmy was frowning. “You were attacked? I can’t believe that Rafe would leave you alone after something like that.”
“I’m not alone. Sam is out in the hallway. And a detective.”
Jimmy shook his head. He and Tanya glanced at each other; then he shook his head at Tara again. “No one is out there.”
“But I’m sure they are! Sam—”
Jimmy laughed with little humor. “Tara! I grew up with old Sam. Trust me. I’d know if he was out there!”
“Maybe—”
“Let’s not worry about the maybes,” Jimmy said worriedly. “Let’s get to the police station as quickly as possible. Tanya—” He paused, and switched to Spanish to talk to the beautiful Venezuelan. She nodded; Jimmy explained the exchange to Tara.
“She’s going to call the police. They’ll send a car for us, I’m sure.”
“The phone is right over here—” Tara broke off. As soon as she had said the word “phone,” the thing starting ringing as if on cue.
“Maybe that’s Rafe right now,” she murmured.
Smiling a little too eagerly, she pounced on the receiver, speaking into it breathlessly. “Hello?”
“Hello, Tara. Have you missed me?”
It wasn’t Rafe. Her heart seemed to skip a beat, then slam against her chest.
“Don’t hang up, Tara. Speak to me, love. I promise you’ll be very sorry if you don’t.”
Seconds ticked by in which she couldn’t talk. She could just hear him breathing on the other end, and she knew that he was laughing.
“What do you want, Tine?”
She stressed his name, looking anxiously toward Jimmy, raising a hand when he would have rushed over.
“A couple of things, sweetie. I want the mask. And I want you. For the time being, at least. I watched you yesterday. Nice. Old George put on a real good show.”
She sat down on the bed, afraid that she would fall. He had been able to watch her, all that time.
“They’re going to arrest you, Tine. And put you in jail for years and years. You could even be charged with murder, Tine. Your blond friend was killed, remember?”
“She wasn’t murdered; she just got in the way of a bullet. Her destiny, it would seem,” he said pleasantly. “But nobody’s going to get me, Tara. Know why? Because you’re going to leave there. Right now. You’re going to go down to the lobby, and you’ll see a man who you’re going to greet like a long-lost friend.”
“You’re crazy! I’m going to hang up and call the police immediately.”
“No, you’re not. You’re going to bring Saunders and his pretty little girlfriend and come downstairs.”
She couldn’t restrain her gasp. How could he possibly know that Jimmy was here?
She heard him chuckle. Anger swept through her, along with the fear. “You’re still out of your mind, Tine. Why the hell would I do a thing like that?”
“Why indeed?” he mocked her. “I’ll tell you why. I just couldn’t seem to reach you, Tara. Tyler was there, every damned place you were. But he’s gone now. What did you do, have a blowout with him, too, sweets? All the better. I still have this little yen, you know? I always was the possessive sort.”
“The criminal sort, you mean. You should be shot, Tine. But that’s not my concern. I’ll never come to you.”
“I think you will. You see, Tara, you were nicely, safely guarded. Forewarned, after those fools messed up yesterday. I had to rethink my plans.”
“What are you talking about?”
“An old friend of mine. A certain lovely little redhead. She’s sitting here with me right now. So pretty, so young. And if you don’t do exactly what I say, I’m afraid that I’ll have to kill her. Ashley will die, and it will be all your fault, darling.”
Tara sank all the way to the floor, the blood draining from her face. Jimmy came rushing toward her, ready to grasp the phone. Life came back to her even as desperate tears rushed to her eyes. She shook her head vehemently, holding the receiver tightly.
“Got you on that one, didn’t I, love?” Tine inquired lightly.
“I don’t believe that you have Ashley!” she cried.
“Oh, but I do. It was easy. She stepped into the hallway all alone. She was at the door, Tara, just about to open it. And we simply put this little cloth over her face and she was as docile as a lamb. The annoyance was getting rid of the old man. And the detective. Quietly, of course. You want to talk to her?”
Tara didn’t answer, because Ashley was already on the phone, her voice definitely scared, but her words full of bravado.
“Tara, don’t you dare do a thing he says! Go to the police right away! He—”
Tara closed her eyes, because Ashley broke off with a small scream, and Tine got back
on the phone.
“Don’t call the police, Tara. If I see so much as a hint of the police, I’ll shoot her. Maybe I’ll take out both her kneecaps first. I can’t tell you how bad that hurts, baby. Nothing, no tricks. You and Saunders and his little tramp do exactly as I say. Go downstairs now. Come to me, baby. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Jimmy tried to snatch the phone again. Tara covered the mouthpiece, shaking her head, tears in her eyes.
“He has Ashley. He says he’ll kill her if we don’t come right now. I know that he has her; I heard her. I heard her...scream.”
Despite her protests, Jimmy wrenched the phone from her. “Elliott, you idiot. My brother is here, you know. He’ll tear up half the country to find her!”
Tara didn’t hear Tine’s answer, but she could tell when the phone went dead in Jimmy’s hand, because he stared at it for a minute and then hung up.
“What?” she whispered.
“He, uh, he, he expects to get in contact with Rafe. I imagine he wants to make a trade. Us for the mask.”
“But Rafe doesn’t have the mask.”
“But I do. I had it when I stumbled into Tanya’s doorway, and it’s still there. Hidden.”
Tanya said something to Jimmy. Tara came to her feet. “How did he see everything? What has he done with Sam? And Ashley!”
“We’d better go,” Jimmy said.
“There has to be something we can do. Something that won’t jeopardize Ashley’s life.”
“I think there is. Where’s your purse? I can leave a note in it for Rafe. Unobtrusive, in case Tine sends someone in here to check after we’re gone, but it’s a place I’m willing to bet Rafe will think to look.”
“Couldn’t we call—”
“I wouldn’t trust that phone. Hurry, get me a paper and a pen.”
“But what are you going to say?”
“I’ve got a pretty good idea of where we’re going. You forget—I stole the mask from him.”
Tara gave Jimmy her handbag, paper and a pen. He scribbled a note and placed it inside the purse. Tanya remained quietly at his side. She must be frightened, Tara thought. But the other woman remained silent and poised. Tara decided that she was going to do the same. She couldn’t do anything less. Of all people, Ashley didn’t deserve to be in this mess.
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