Melanie laughed. “Do you think it would be possible for me to see him? If you don’t want me inside the compound, perhaps he could come out here.”
Kruger studied her for a moment longer, then said over his shoulder, “Open the gate.” He turned back to Melanie. “Follow me. I’ll try to help you find him.”
“Thanks,” Melanie said as she depressed the clutch, waiting for the guard to open the gate. Once Kruger had turned his vehicle around, she followed him into the heart of the compound.
It looked pretty much the way she remembered it. Long, sheet-metal buildings that served as bunkers. A cluster of smaller buildings that were used for the office, the infirmary and equipment storage. And in the distance, the constant drone of machinery as another hole was drilled hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface.
Kruger stopped in front of her and shouted something to a man wearing orange coveralls and a hard hat. The man gestured over his shoulder.
Kruger got out of his vehicle and approached Melanie’s. “I think you’ll find Angus in the mess hall.” He turned and pointed toward an open-sided tent near the infirmary. “I wouldn’t stay too long, if I were you. We don’t get many visitors out here. Not the kind who look like you, anyway. Some of the men are a little rough around the edges, so it’s best not to tempt fate.”
Melanie nodded. “I’ll make it quick. Just long enough to say hello.”
Kruger looked as if he wanted to say something else, but then changed his mind with a shrug. He strode back to his vehicle, climbed in and drove off without a backward glance.
Melanie parked and got out. The long tables and benches lined up beneath the mess tent were almost empty. She spotted Bond sitting alone at the far end, and as she walked toward him, he looked up suddenly, as if sensing her presence.
Shock flashed across his features.
“Hey, remember me?” she called out gaily.
He broke into a smile that, to his credit, seemed only a little strained. “Yes, of course. Melanie, isn’t it? The woman who took pity on me the other afternoon so I wouldn’t have to drink alone.” He rose as she neared his table. “What brings you all the way out here? And how in the world did you get past the guard at the gate?”
“Actually, I came to see you,” Melanie said. “And Mr. Kruger himself let me inside the compound.”
Bond gave her a skeptical look. “You drove all the way out here to see me? I must say, I’m deeply flattered. But you’ll forgive me if I have to ask why. Naturally, I’d like to think my charm, charisma and rugged good looks brought you out here, but, alas, I’m nothing if not a realist.”
“Well, then, you just might be surprised,” Melanie said with a smile. She liked the man. Whether he was her father or not, there was something about Angus Bond that had drawn her to him from the first. “I’m here because I’m getting bored with my own company. My Spanish leaves a lot to be desired, so I haven’t really met anyone in town. I kept hoping I’d run into you and I could buy you that drink I owe you. But when I didn’t, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I hope you don’t mind.”
As if suddenly realizing they were still standing, he motioned for her to sit, his expression all the while one of bemusement. “Well, I must say, all that sounds perfectly reasonable. And I accept your offer of a drink. How about later today? Say six o’clock? Same place we met last time?”
“That’d be great.”
“Good. Now that we have that issue out of the way, why don’t you tell me why you’re really here?”
Melanie’s smile faltered. “Am I that transparent?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Then I’d better come clean, hadn’t I.” She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “That man we saw in town the other day. The one you called Lassiter. What can you tell me about him?”
Bond frowned. “I can tell you the same thing I told you before. If I had a daughter, he’d be the last person on earth I’d want her to be alone with.”
“May I ask why you feel that way?” Melanie tried to keep her voice neutral, but the very mention of Lassiter’s name conjured up images she’d been trying to avoid all morning. His hard body against hers…his hands all over her…the way he moved when he—
“I can only assume your interest in him is because…you’re interested in him,” Bond said carefully. Something in his voice changed, but Melanie couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
She gave an awkward laugh. “Again, I’m transparent. Okay, I’ll admit it. My interest in him is purely superficial.”
Bond sighed. “Why is it that women are always drawn to men like him? Is it the danger? It must be, because I suspect you have a bit of the wild child in you, as well,” he accused. “I can see it in your eyes. You crave adventure and excitement, no matter the cost. And I also have a feeling that you are your own worst enemy.”
His assessment was so dead-on that it made Melanie uneasy. “Wow,” she tried to say lightly. “You figured all that out about me in the short time we’ve known one another?”
His gaze met hers. “It wasn’t difficult. We’re kindred spirits, I’m afraid. I knew it the moment I first saw you in town. That’s why I came over to your table. I think you felt it, too.”
Melanie’s pulse quickened at his tone, at the shadows of regret that were suddenly in his eyes. Like Lassiter, she had the strongest feeling that Bond was trying to tell her something, and she wanted to blurt, Just say it. Don’t leave me hanging.
He looked stricken. “Oh, dear. I hope I didn’t give you the wrong impression.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not trying to come on to you. Please don’t think that.”
Come on to her? That was the last thing she would have considered. “I don’t think that.”
“If anything, I feel…an avuncular connection to you.”
Melanie’s heart gave a painful jerk. “You…do?”
“Yes, of course. If I had a daughter, I imagine she’d be a lot like you.”
If I had a daughter…
He was trying to tell her something.
Melanie had waited so long to hear him say it. She’d even dreamed about it on occasion. A nameless, faceless stranger coming to her in her sleep. His voice deep and rich and full of emotion. “I’m your father, Melanie. I’ve loved you all these years. I’ve never stopped loving you, and I’m proud that you’re my daughter.”
Well, she might as well continue to dream, Melanie told herself grimly. Because even if Angus Bond was her father, that didn’t mean he loved her. That didn’t mean he could be proud of the way she’d turned out.
“Are you all right?” he asked in concern. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine. It’s just…I get the feeling you’re trying to tell me something.”
The regret in his eyes deepened. “Yes, I guess I am.”
“What is it?” she asked anxiously. “Please tell me.”
He hesitated, his gaze slipping away from hers. “It’s about Jon Lassiter. You have to be careful with a man like that. He’s not to be taken lightly, Melanie, and he’s certainly not to be trusted.”
She tried to swallow back her disappointment. “You implied that before, but you’ve yet to tell me why.”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? You’re a young, beautiful woman traveling alone in a foreign country. If you go looking for trouble, I’m afraid you’re apt to find it. And maybe when and where you least expect it.”
LASSITER COULDN’T believe his eyes. What was she doing here? And how the hell had she gotten past the guard?
The obvious answer was that she’d phased herself through the fence, in broad daylight.
Melanie Stark was a lot of things, but stupid she wasn’t. Somehow she must have gained access to the compound in the conventional way or she wouldn’t be sitting right out in the open, chatting up Angus Bond as if the two of them were long-lost friends.
Which brought Lassiter back to his original question. Wh
at the hell was she doing there?
He watched her from a distance, his mind flashing back, in spite of himself, to the evening before. The way she’d kissed him. The way she’d touched him. The way, as they’d walked back to the hotel, she’d been ready to go at it all hot and heavy with only shadows to protect them from prying eyes.
It had been his idea to go back to her room. Melanie had been impatient with what she considered a waste of time, but they’d put it to good use. And by the time they’d gotten to the hotel…man. She’d been a firecracker. Completely uninhibited. A woman who wasn’t afraid to take a few risks. A lot of risks, actually.
She was a lot like him, Lassiter thought with a sudden frown. And that worried the hell out of him, because there was nothing more dangerous than a person who didn’t have anything to lose.
He started toward her, then turned when he heard someone behind him call out his name. He saw Martin Grace hurrying from the office toward him. As usual, the man’s demeanor was condescending and unpleasant, and Lassiter couldn’t help remembering what Bond had said about Kruger and his partner. Kruger might slit your throat in a fit of temper, but Martin Grace…I think he’d do it slowly. And I think he’d probably enjoy every minute of it.
“I heard we had a visitor,” Grace said, his gaze going past Lassiter to the table where Bond and Melanie still sat. “Get rid of her.”
“I was just about to take care of it,” Lassiter said.
Grace stared at Melanie for a moment longer, and before he finally turned away, Lassiter saw something disturbing in his eyes. It was a look he’d seen before, in the eyes of the Guatemalan prison guard whose job it had been to inflict torture on the prisoners. It was a job the man had relished.
“Escort her from the compound and make sure she doesn’t come back,” Grace barked. “Understand?”
Lassiter nodded. “She won’t come back.” He’d see to that.
ONCE THEY WERE out of range of the surveillance cameras, Lassiter pulled his vehicle to the side of the road and strode back to Melanie’s rented four-wheel drive. “What the hell do you think you’re doing coming out here dressed like that? Some of these guys have done some serious time, Melanie, for crimes you don’t even want to think about. Trust me, you do not want to be the object of their fantasies.”
His imperious tone immediately fired Melanie’s temper, even though the sight of him in his camouflage, demon-warrior pants and tight green T-shirt sent her pulse racing. He was certainly inspiring her fantasies. “You know why I came. Last night we talked about a connection between those men and my father, and the possibility that one of them could even be my father. I wanted to see if I recognized any of them.”
“Did you?” Lassiter still seemed distracted by the amount of leg showing through the slit in her skirt. He frowned, as if annoyed with himself for his lack of focus.
“I wouldn’t say recognized, exactly. But, Lassiter, I see what you mean about Angus Bond. I think he’s definitely trying to tell us something.”
“What did he say?”
“He said if he had a daughter, he imagined she’d be a lot like me. And that we were kindred spirits, which was what drew him to me in the first place. That can’t be a coincidence, can it? It’s not just some throwaway remark. He was trying to tell me something.”
“That he’s your father, you mean?”
“Maybe. Or at least…that he knows about my father. I don’t know.” She threaded her hair behind her ears. “Maybe I was just hearing what I wanted to hear. He could be nothing more than a harmless drunk who’s reaching out to me because he senses I’m a sympathetic listener.”
“Did he say anything else?”
She gave him a sidelong glance. “Actually, he warned me about you, Lassiter. He said I shouldn’t trust you.”
When he didn’t respond, Melanie said, “Well, aren’t you going to dispute it?”
He hesitated for so long that she began to get nervous. “Lassiter?”
His gaze slid away. “Maybe he has a point.”
Melanie didn’t like the sound of that. She recognized a weasel answer when she heard one. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re trying to tell me something?”
“No, it’s not that—”
“Because if you’re trying to tell me what I think you are,” she cut in, “I’m going to be damned pissed. You were the one who said last night that we should start trusting each other. And now you’re blowing me off?”
“I’m not blowing you off.”
“Well, it sounds that way to me. You got me into bed. You got what you wanted, and now, suddenly, I’m not supposed to trust you?” She hit her palm against the steering wheel. “I don’t believe this.”
“It’s not that way,” he insisted.
“Then what way is it? Why has everything suddenly changed because we had sex?”
“Because it has,” he said angrily. “Because you scare the hell out of me.”
That took her aback for a moment. “Why? Why would someone like you be afraid of me?”
“Because I’m afraid of what I might be willing to do to have you.”
The way he looked at her made Melanie’s insides quiver. She let her head fall back against the seat as she stared up at him through hooded eyes. “You don’t have to do anything to have me. I proved that last night, didn’t I?”
“Last night only confirmed what I’ve been afraid of all along.” Lassiter’s voice was heavy with dread, raw with hunger. “Once I’ve had you, I won’t be able to get enough of you.”
He curled a hand around her ankle and slid it slowly up her leg. When he was under her skirt, Melanie put her hand over his, but not to stop him…
Chapter Twelve
“What do you mean, she’s gone?”
“Ella se ha ido. Alguien vino y se la llevó lejos.”
“Took her away where?” Melanie demanded.
The nurse shrugged as she efficiently went about the business of putting fresh linens on Angel’s bed. “I don’t know, señorita. You need to talk to the doctor.”
“Is he in?”
The nurse cast an anxious glance over her shoulder. She was a young woman Melanie had never met before. “You can try his office.”
“Thanks, I will.” Melanie whirled and strode out the door and across the hallway to Dr. Wilder’s office. She knocked once, then opened the door and stepped inside. Blanca, seated behind the desk, glanced up with a frown.
“Where’s Dr. Wilder?” Melanie asked.
“He’s not here.”
“I can see that. Where is he?”
Blanca made no effort to hide her disdain. “Not that it’s any of your business, but he had to go to San Cristóbal for a few days.”
Melanie crossed to the desk. “Does he know about Angel?”
“What about her?”
“One of the nurses told me that someone came and got her this morning. I want to know who it was and where they took her.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Blanca said coldly. “Angel’s welfare doesn’t concern you any longer.”
Melanie planted her hands on the desk. “If you don’t tell me where Angel is right this second, I swear to God, I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” Blanca rose to her feet and tossed back her hair. “Go ahead. Make all the threats you want. But if you think I’m afraid of you, you are very much mistaken.”
Melanie’s smile was cool even though her blood boiled with rage. “You should be afraid of me. If anything happens to Angel, you should be very afraid.”
“Why don’t you just go away?” Blanca said through clenched teeth. “You don’t belong here. There’s no reason for you to stay now.”
Melanie straightened, her gaze searching Blanca’s features. “Is that why you got rid of Angel? So you could get rid of me, too?”
“Angel went home to her family. You should be happy about that.”
“It was Angel’s family who came and got her?”
Blanca shr
ugged. “She will be taken to them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” When the woman didn’t answer, Melanie said, “Oh, my God. It wasn’t her family, was it. Someone else took her.” A cold, dark fear washed over her. “Who took her, Blanca? Who did you let her go away with?”
Blanca lifted her chin in defiance. “He was a government official. He had the correct papers—”
“A government official?” Melanie repeated in disbelief. “How would a government official even know about Angel?”
Guilt flashed in the woman’s eyes before she quickly glanced away. “There’s nothing you can do about it now. Angel is gone. So why don’t you just leave us in peace? No one wants you here.”
Melanie leaned forward, once again flattening her palms on the desk. “You mean you don’t want me here. What are you so afraid of? That I’ll turn you in for treating rebel soldiers?” At Blanca’s startled look, Melanie said, “That’s right. I know all about it. And you know what? I don’t care. I admire Dr. Wilder for not allowing politics to get in the way of his medicine. But when he finds out what you’ve done—”
“He won’t find out.”
Melanie’s gaze narrowed. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”
“Oh, I’m sure. I’m very sure.” Blanca’s dark eyes glittered dangerously. “Because if you tell him, you’ll never see Angel again.”
BY THE TIME Melanie arrived at the café late that afternoon, Angus Bond was already waiting for her. He had a table near the street and waved cheerily to her as she walked by. Minutes later, she joined him on the patio.
He rose as she approached and then when they were both seated, he motioned for the waitress. He ordered his usual gin and tonic, and Melanie asked for a pineapple juice.
“Is everything all right?” he asked worriedly as the drinks were placed before them. “You seem a little distracted.”
Melanie toyed with her glass. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about a patient at the clinic.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
His Mysterious Ways Page 13