“Go away,” she whispered.
“I can’t.”
She forced a shaky laugh. “Because it’s your job.”
“Partly. Because it’s my job. Because your family is in trouble and I want to help. Because I held you in my arms and … I wanted you.”
She felt an odd, warm shiver somewhere deep inside her, and a part of her recognized that this man, this stranger, possessed a kind of charm she had never before encountered. Charm and something else, something she felt to be honest, and yet frantically mistrusted. Something … caring.
He rose to his feet then, and pulled her gently up. “You need to think, I know,” he said quietly. “Think about everything, Elizabeth, but one thing especially. I can help you. I swear to you, I can help.”
“With your trusty sword?”
He smiled a little. “That, and a few other little tricks. I know you’re afraid for your sister, afraid that if you do anything at all, tell anyone, it’ll just be worse for her. But you’re wrong. The most important thing to me is making sure she’s safe as quickly as possible. Then I’ll worry about what Meditron is up to. Do you understand that, Elizabeth?”
Inconsequentially, she said, “Everybody calls me Beth.”
“I know.”
She gazed up at him and, after a moment, nodded. “All right. I’ll think about it.”
He hesitated, then slipped his arms around her and drew her slowly toward him. “And think about this,” he murmured as his head bent toward hers.
Elizabeth could have pulled away; he gave her the time and his hold on her was gentle. But she knew she wouldn’t, even as her arms slid up around his neck, even as her body swayed toward his helplessly. She knew she wouldn’t. And when his mouth covered hers, she felt more than heard the faint sound in the back of her throat.
And trapped somewhere in her mind was the incredulous thought that she was twenty-six years old and hardly unkissed; why had she never felt these feelings before?
She could feel her heart pounding through every square inch of her flesh, feel the blood rushing through her veins with a new heat. Her body was molding itself to his in an unconsciously seeking, hungry movement, the hard response of his body a strangely intimate shock that weakened her legs. And she could feel him moving against her now, subtle movements that inflamed all her senses and trapped yet another faint sound in the back of her throat.
His hair was like silk, she thought dimly, threading her fingers through it compulsively. And his body was so large and hard, his arms so strong as they held her. Her breasts were aching. She wanted him to touch them with his hands, his lips. She pressed even closer to him, no room left for shock at the wildness of what she was feeling.
Kelsey made a rough sound, his arms tightening, his lips slanting suddenly across hers to deepen the kiss. He was fast losing control and knew it, knew if he didn’t stop this soon he wouldn’t be able to. He hadn’t been prepared for her instant response … or his own. Blindly, caught up in something beyond his experience, he kissed her as if that alone was an act of possession. And when his lips left hers at last with a wrenching effort, it was only so that he could explore the soft skin of her throat.
“Elizabeth,” he muttered hoarsely, aching. The sound of his own voice, the sound of her name, helped him to regain some control over raging desire. This was not the time or the place, and his mind forced his body to remember that. Gradually, slowly, his embrace became less fierce, and he cradled the back of her head with one hand so that her face rested against the hollow of his neck.
She was boneless against him, trembling slightly, and he could feel her warm breath coming quickly against his skin. And he barely heard her quiet, husky voice over the pounding of his own heart.
“What are you … that you can do this to me?”
Kelsey pressed his lips briefly to her forehead, then rubbed his cheek against her hair. “What are you,” he repeated roughly, “that you can do this to me?”
Elizabeth drew back slowly, looking up at him with eyes that were dazed and wondering. “I—I don’t—”
He stopped her words with a gentle finger over her lips. “Just think about it, Elizabeth. Think about all of it.” The last thing on earth he wanted was to leave her, but he had to. He turned away and moved slowly to the steps, then paused for a last long look at her. “I’ll be back,” he promised.
She stared after him for long moments, then went into the house, her steps guided by habit, not thought. She found Meg standing just inside, smiling derisively.
“Necking on the front porch—at your age! My, Beth, how very grown up of you!”
Elizabeth looked at her for a moment. “Have you done your homework?” she asked more or less by rote.
“I didn’t have any. And it’s Friday anyway. Beth, what’s got into you? Or do we both know the answer to that?”
Elizabeth stiffened, and she had never felt the ten years between them more than at that moment. Very quietly, she said, “I can hardly control your language or manners when you’re out of my sight, Meg, but you will remember both inside this house. In future, keep remarks like that to yourself.”
Meg’s eyes flashed. “So I’m in the wrong again? It’s fine for you to criticize my boyfriends and look at them like they were dirt under your feet, but I’m not allowed to say a word when my prim big sister is out on the front porch practically laying down for some man she hardly knows—”
“Meg!” The worst of it was, Elizabeth reflected unhappily, she could hardly argue the point. And another voice saved her just then from having to respond.
“Why you rotten little cat!” Ami exploded, descending the remaining stairs to glare at Meg. “You’re just furious because a really terrific man kissed Beth instead of you! Kelsey makes those creatures you hang out with look like the pathetic animals they are, and you know it. You can’t stand it, can you, Meg? It drives you crazy. You only flirt with Blaine—who’s old enough to be your father—because it’s Beth he wants, and you wiggle around in front of his brother because you know she can’t stand him.”
“That’s enough.” Elizabeth had control of herself again. And when she looked at Meg’s furious white face, she regretted that Ami had been so frank. “Meg—”
But Meg had whirled away, rushing up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door violently.
“Sorry,” Ami said gruffly. “I know you don’t like for me to do that. But she makes me so mad.”
“I know, sweetie.” Elizabeth wanted to crawl into bed and pull the covers up over her head. She sighed, then smiled at her youngest sister. “Thank you for cleaning the kitchen. I should have thanked Meg.”
Dryly, Ami said, “That’s all right; she didn’t do anything. I fed Lobo too, and the horses.” She looked at Elizabeth searchingly, then said, “I like Kelsey.”
“I know you do.”
“You—like him too, don’t you?”
With absolutely no idea of how to answer that, Elizabeth found another smile somewhere. “I’m a little tired, sweetie, so I think I’ll turn in early. You should too if you’re going to ride Minnow over to Susan’s house in the morning.”
“Okay.” Then, offhandedly, she asked, “Is Kelsey coming tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. I’ll lock up down here.”
Ami nodded. “Good night, Beth.”
“ ’Night, honey.”
Without thinking, Elizabeth checked doors and windows, let Lobo out for a last run, and then went up to bed. She showered and changed for sleep in the same unthinking manner, and it was only when she lay between cool sheets that she could no longer avoid her thoughts and feelings.
Especially her feelings.
Why? Why had that stranger affected her so powerfully? She had never in her life lost control like that! Not like that … She turned restlessly in the bed, stingingly aware of the heavy, aching tautness of her breasts, the dull ache somewhere near the pit of her belly. She remembered his hands on her, his lips against her skin, and the very
memory prompted a hot flush she knew was very real.
She was just confused, she tried to convince herself. Yes, confused, that was all. Blaine had been bombarding her for weeks now, and his practiced seduction had merely taught her senses, awakened them.
You didn’t feel anything with him. Nothing at all.
It was true—unless she cared to count a certain revulsion. There had certainly been no positive response. Blaine had managed a few kisses and touched her often, yet her only emotions had been disgust and aversion, especially in recent days. And as for her senses, her body had remained unaffected by him. Coldly unaffected.
But Kelsey … Kelsey. Was that his first name or last? Who was he? What was he? Could she trust him as he wanted to be trusted? Did she dare?
He was so kind with Ami, so gentle and comforting, speaking to her as an equal and a friend. Blandly undisturbed by Meg’s rudeness. Polite, but steel-strong with Blaine. And with her he’d been disconcertingly perceptive. Quietly insistent. Confident that he could help her. Sensitive of her weary state of mind. His strong arms so warm and comforting … then so passionate … so wildly passionate.
He seemed a dozen men. A dozen baffling, fascinating, charming men.
Dear heaven, what should she believe? Was he using her in order to find out about Meditron? Could a man be so convincing that his body shook with desire? Could he pretend such an intensity of feeling that it had hoarsened his voice and swelled his body against her?
Don’t think about that, she told herself fiercely, aware that the mental images stirred her senses to life again. Don’t think about it!
What should she do?
She was still going over it all in her mind when sleep tugged at her unexpectedly, and she gave in gratefully. But there was little comfort in her dreams, even though she was blessedly unaware that she tossed and turned all night while her subconscious and her body remembered.
Kelsey automatically checked his motel room, his mind only half on the procedure until he found the electronic bug poorly hidden in a lampshade. He looked at it for a moment, then turned on his television set, his professional instincts mildly disgusted by the poor placement of the listening device. Dumb, he thought, to put it so near the television set.
He stood thoughtfully for a moment, then checked the parking lot out front with wary eyes from behind a curtain before leaving his room quietly. He moved with the silence of a predatory animal along the concrete walkway and around the side to the row of rooms at right angles to the front. He knocked softly at one of the doors and waited.
The door opened a moment later, revealing a very large blond man with serenely expressionless dark eyes and a hard, handsome face. The man stepped back to allow Kelsey to enter the room, then closed the door behind him and went to stretch out lazily on the bed. “Room’s clear,” he said softly.
“Mine’s not,” Kelsey said in response, taking the chair by the window.
“I’m not surprised.” The blond man looked faintly amused. “Two members of the local constabulary tossed it a couple of hours ago. You didn’t leave anything in there to furrow their law-abiding brows, did you?”
“No.” Kelsey stretched out his long legs and contemplated them somewhat grimly.
The blond man lit a cigarette, his hooded eyes watching his guest. “Then,” he suggested mildly, “I assume you did something to catch their attention? They didn’t search or bug my room, so we can take it they don’t generally do things like that to their occasional visitors.”
Kelsey lifted his gaze to the other’s face. “You don’t have to try and be so damned subtle, Derek. Just ask.”
Derek smiled a little. “Okay. Whose nose did you put out of joint while you were supposed to be unobtrusive?”
“Mallory’s.”
After a moment of silence during which he blew a smoke ring and studied it critically, Derek said in a placid voice, “I assume you had a reason.”
“I thought so.” Kelsey didn’t elaborate; instead he said, “He was quick, I’ll grant that. And now we know the local boys are definitely in his pocket. How’d they get into my room, by the way? The manager?”
“Nothing so obvious. They picked the lock. I happened to be near your room while they tossed it; they didn’t say anything of value. Then one of them went to the office, where he checked the register. A ‘routine check,’ he told the manager.”
Kelsey grunted. “The cops in that patrol car you distracted from me earlier probably got my tag number. And if they didn’t, one of the others soon will. They’ll find out everything matches.”
Derek blew another smoke ring and contemplated it. “Um. Think our local boy might have national connections?”
“You mean intelligence connections? It doesn’t have that feel, does it?”
“No. It feels like a case of local boy makes good and pleases the community by pouring money into his hometown. Got to know where that money’s coming from, though. Whatever he’s selling can’t have a local market, I’d bet.”
“I’d be willing to cover that bet.” Kelsey looked even more grim. “He’s playing some nasty games too. That call the FBI got. I’ve found the girl. Fourteen, and worried sick.”
“Her sister’s missing?”
“Looks that way. And the setup’s perfect for strong-arm pressure.” Hardly aware that his voice had grown savage, and that Derek’s eyes had narrowed slightly, Kelsey went on. “Four sisters living away from the town, orphaned years ago, and trying to make a go of it alone. The oldest not out of her twenties. Elizabeth doesn’t dare ask for help because that bastard’s threatening her, two younger sisters at home to take care of and one of them a rebel with more temper than sense.”
“Elizabeth?”
“Conner. Ami’s the one who called, and Meg’s the troublemaker. Mallory showed up; Ami says he’s been after Elizabeth since she left school, and now he’s holding some threat to Jo over her head and trying seduction. One look, and you know he’s a shark. He sure as hell didn’t waste any time in having his boys check me out.”
After a moment, Derek said softly, “You’ve found out a great deal, it seems.”
Kelsey scowled at him. “I told you not to be subtle. I hate that.”
Derek laughed almost soundlessly. “All right. Let me see if I understand the situation. You found—heaven only knows how—the girl who alerted us. You also found her older sister Elizabeth, who seems to have knocked you pretty well off your feet. Aside from the fact that one of her sisters seems to be missing and possibly held as hostage against her good behavior, she’s also being forced to cope with the dastardly attentions of Mallory, whom you would dearly love to throttle. Right so far?”
“Not throttle. Tear apart.”
“Uh-huh. And because of these various and sundry things, your attention has shifted somewhat from Meditron. To be blunt, you don’t give a damn what they’re up to out there. Your priorities have changed. First, you intend to restore the missing sister to her family, thereby removing Mallory’s lever against Elizabeth. Second, if at all possible disarranging Mallory’s face somewhere along the way. And third, you want to find out what’s going on at Meditron, so that you can hopefully lock Mallory away for the duration of his natural life.”
“Anybody ever tell you that you talk real good?”
“Constantly. Is my summation fairly accurate?”
“On the nose.”
“Um. You going to tell the boss all this?”
“Are you out of your mind?” Kelsey demanded with polite incredulity.
“It was just a thought. He signs the checks, after all.”
Kelsey had a brief suggestion as to what Hagen could do with his paychecks which, after consideration, Derek observed to be anatomically impossible.
“So it is,” Kelsey agreed. He stared at Derek.
Derek stared back.
“Well?”
Derek shrugged. “It’s your show. Where do we start?”
THREE
“RAVEN,
MY FAVORITE partner and dear old friend, how are you?”
After a moment, her voice reached him mildly through the long distance connection. “Why, I’m fine, Kelsey. And you?”
“Top of my form, love, top of my form. How’s Josh and that commando crew of his?”
“Flourishing.” There might have been a trace of amusement in her voice, but for the most part it remained placid. “Rafferty and Sarah have a little boy, did you hear? His name’s Patrick. Zach and Teddy are well and obviously happy. Lucas and Kyle are fine. And Josh and I are just dandy. It’s spring in New York, and the Mets will do great this year if they can straighten out their pitching staff. Does that cover it?”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Um, Raven—”
“Spit it out, Kelsey.” She was definitely amused now. “You never were much on small talk.”
He sighed. “Uh-huh. Look, friend, I need a favor.”
“You’ve got it.”
“I haven’t told you what it is yet!”
“Since when did that matter?”
Kelsey smiled a little. “All right. Thanks. What I really need at this point is information, and quickly. I need everything you can find on a town called Pinnacle, a company named Meditron, and a man named Blaine Mallory. All are connected.”
“Anything in particular you’re looking for?” Her voice was brisk and businesslike now.
“The usual stuff. Hints of shady dealings, more money than there should be, investigations on the state or federal level. You know the drill. I’ve done some basic research, but there are a few cloudy areas I didn’t have time to probe; see what you can dig up. Oh, and I need the blueprints and a recent floor plan of Meditron, from the ground up.”
“Got it.” A bit dryly, she added, “Should I ask why you aren’t going through official channels for this?”