She shook her head a little. “Won’t, not can’t. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t love you, Blaine. I won’t marry you.”
He was very still, his eyes cold again. “It’s him, isn’t it? That damned Kelsey. Who is he, Beth?”
Gently, she said, “That’s none of your business.”
Blaine got to his feet, his entire body stiff. “I’ll make it my business,” he said tightly, and turned away.
Elizabeth waited until he reached the steps, then said, “Blaine?”
He halted, looking back at her over his shoulder.
Her soft voice was underlaid with steel. “If something should happen to Kelsey, I’ll know where to look.”
He went white. “You think I’m capable of that?”
“I think you’re capable of just about anything.” She sat in the swing, idly moving it back and forth, and watched him drive away in a cloud of dust. And slowly, very, very slowly, she began to get angry.
Kelsey nearly stumbled over a large vacuum cleaner just inside the doorway of Derek’s room, and growled, “What the hell is that?”
“Now, what does it look like?”
“I’m not in the mood for games, Derek.”
The big blond man looked at his partner for a moment, then said softly, “No, I see you’re not. That, my friend, is a vacuum cleaner. It’s also my cover. I’m a salesman, remember?”
Kelsey grunted and lowered himself into the chair by the window, reaching into a paper bag he carried and producing a bottle. “Damned county’s dry,” he muttered. “I had to drive fifteen miles to get this.” He didn’t bother with a glass. Staring moodily at the vacuum, he asked, “Sell any of those?”
“Three, so far.”
“Any word from Raven?”
“No.”
Kelsey looked up to intercept a very thoughtful look from his partner, and warned, “Don’t lecture me.”
“I wouldn’t think of it,” Derek said politely. He sat down on his bed and reached for a package of cigarettes, saying in a mild tone, “One of my customers this morning happened to mention that she’d noticed several military uniforms out at Meditron when she picked her husband up one day.”
Kelsey, his training and experience too deep to be much influenced by his black mood, frowned and briefly related what Elizabeth had told him a couple of hours earlier.
Derek listened thoughtfully and said, “Think Mallory might have made his deal with the military?”
“Unless your customer confused security uniforms with military ones, it sounds like a good bet.”
“Unlikely. She’s an army brat.”
Kelsey nodded, his moody gaze returning to the bottle he held. “I don’t have much use for the military, but I can’t see them holding a twenty-three-year-old woman hostage.”
“A renegade, maybe?”
“Hell, who knows? From what Elizabeth said, it seems Mallory was furious and planning on taking the matter to the top. If some renegade soldier in charge of their doings at Meditron was going further than Mallory had agreed to … If that soldier was acting on his own authority with whatever it is … If Mallory threatened him openly, and he decided to get himself some leverage in the shape of Jo … Hell. Too many ifs. Too damned many ifs. We’re working in the dark.”
“Are you going to drink all of that?”
“I told you not to lecture me.”
“Who’s lecturing? I just asked a question.”
“Worried about your hide, partner? Don’t. I’ll come through when it counts, professional all the way.”
After a moment, Derek said quietly, “Low blow, friend.”
Kelsey swore, capped the bottle, and tossed it over to lie on the bed. “Yeah. Sorry. I can’t seem to keep my foot out of my mouth today.”
“Getting a little hard to see the boundaries?”
“Between professional and personal?” Kelsey shook his head. “Hard doesn’t cover it, friend. I lost sight of those boundaries long ago. If they ever existed.” He sighed roughly. “I’ve got to call Hagen.”
“We have nothing concrete to report.”
“Not that. Me. He’s got to replace me. I’m a drawback on this assignment, maybe even an active danger.” Kelsey’s voice was hard, remote.
Derek studied him from hooded eyes. “I see. She really got to you, didn’t she?”
Kelsey wasn’t a man who confided easily in others. And what could he have said anyway? That he was just barely able to function around Elizabeth, that he couldn’t keep his eyes off her or his hands to himself? That he was desperately afraid she was right to fear his intrusion into her life, and that something inside him was shaking under a threat he had never felt before? That he wanted her until it required a wrenching physical effort to fight it, until he could only just manage to force himself to think and act professionally?
“She got to me,” he said.
“You’ve been fifteen years in this business,” Derek said. “You won’t lose that.”
“I am losing it. My instincts are colored by her. How can I be sure now? How do I know if a possibility feels right, or if I just want it to for her sake?”
“I’ll risk it.”
Kelsey shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Give it another day,” Derek urged quietly. “You know damn well you’ll go crazy if you pull out now, wondering what’s happening, if she and her sisters are all right. Give yourself a little time away from her. We’ll check out Meditron tonight, see if we can get close enough to find out what’s going on.”
Kelsey hesitated, but he knew his partner was right. He would go crazy, not knowing. “All right,” he said finally, heavily. “But for God’s sake, keep an eye on me; make sure I don’t do something stupid!”
“Gotcha,” Derek murmured.
When his partner had left to try and get a few hours’ sleep before their planned postmidnight activities, Derek stretched out on the bed and lit a cigarette, frowning. No one had ever accused him of being either cautious or particularly concerned about possible dangers; the sobriquet of “Outlaw Derek” was one he was fully aware of, and often amused by.
He had earned that name with a long series of seemingly reckless actions, and it was for that reason that he understood Kelsey very well even though they’d never worked together before.
His understanding was also due to Raven.
Happily married now and ostensibly out of the business, Raven nonetheless kept an unobtrusive but concerned eye on her ex-partner. She had somehow—Derek hadn’t asked how—learned that he would be working with Kelsey, and had quietly arranged a brief meeting. Raven didn’t tell tales out of school, but she had worked with Kelsey longer than anyone else, and she had explained a few things to Derek.
And, since one’s life often depended upon understanding and trust of one’s partner, and since Derek wasn’t quite so reckless as he seemed, he had listened carefully.
Derek was troubled now, but not because Kelsey doubted his own instincts. He was troubled by something Raven had told him. “He’s a chameleon, Derek, and a totally unconscious one. He’ll fit himself into any situation instantly without even thinking about it. The problem is, the real Kelsey has a hell of a lot of bitterness and pain trapped under all those roles. And one day, it’s going to come out.”
Derek knew the reasons, as well as they could be known. He knew about Kelsey’s father, and about others lost in fifteen years of a dangerous business. And today, he had for the first time caught a glimpse of that darkness in Kelsey. The man was torn, hurting, and something between him and Elizabeth Conner had intensified that pain.
It wasn’t Derek’s business, God knew, except that it obviously affected this assignment. And since he liked Kelsey, he wasn’t at all willing to stand by silently and watch the man tear himself apart if there was any way of stopping it.
But, was there anything he could do?
They were short on time and long on problems, and if Elizabeth Conner was the average intelligent woman, she wouldn’t trust Kel
sey very far; she had every right to be wary about the entire business.
Derek hesitated, debated silently for a moment, then sighed and reached for the phone.
“Any luck?” Kelsey kept his voice low as he reached his partner; they had both spent the past hour slowly moving around the fenced perimeter of Meditron, taking care to stay out of range of the cameras.
Derek, dressed like Kelsey in dark clothing, shook his head. “Nothing. They work three shifts; all the buildings are lighted. There’s no way to tell from out here if any one building is holding something it shouldn’t.”
They stood in the shadows of trees that completely encircled the fenced compound; there were some thirty feet between the trees and the fence all the way around the perimeter. There were several floodlights placed strategically about the six buildings, numerous cars in the parking lots, and the usual industrial noise escaping whenever a door was opened.
A normal industrial plant to all appearances. Except that security was unusually heavy, in the form of an electrified fence, perimeter cameras, two pairs of very alert patrolling guards complete with leashed and very alert dogs, and three armed guards standing watch inside what looked very much like a bulletproof gatehouse.
“I think—” Kelsey began, then broke off abruptly as he felt a sudden itch between his shoulder blades. He had come to respect and pay attention to that sensation over the years, since it usually heralded trouble.
“Over there,” Derek murmured, pointing toward a point in the trees about fifty yards away from them. “We’ve got company.”
“I’ll go.”
“Yes,” Derek said. “I think you’d better.”
Alerted by something in that mild voice, Kelsey looked harder at the distant movement, then swore violently and vanished into the trees.
Derek made himself comfortable on the ground, leaning back against the trunk of a tree and thoughtfully studying Meditron. But his mind wandered a bit.
It seemed that Kelsey wouldn’t find it easy after all to get some time away from Elizabeth Conner.
Not if the lady had anything to say about it.
FIVE
“WHAT THE HELL are you doing here?”
Elizabeth nearly jumped out of her skin, even though the furious demand was whispered. She was dragged quickly back into the trees before she could respond, and even though the iron grip on her arm wasn’t especially painful, she struggled. “Let go of me!” she whispered fiercely.
“No!” he snapped softly, continuing to drag her unwilling body until they were almost at the main road. His battered car was parked in the shelter of the trees, and he opened the back door and pushed her unceremoniously inside, climbing in after her too quickly for her to escape.
Elizabeth had taken just about all she was going to take. Her anger had grown all day, until she had finally decided she would be out of her mind if she just sat around any longer and waited for either Blaine or Kelsey to do something to free her sister. Until she had reached Meditron and seen the formidable barriers she would have to cross, she had not fully realized the imprudence of her action; she had simply acted because she had grown very tired of doing nothing.
Now she stared at Kelsey in the dimness of the car’s interior and felt like a fool. It just made her madder. “Let go of me!” she whispered fiercely again.
Kelsey cursed violently. “Do you have any idea how close you came to getting yourself electrocuted—if not shot?” His voice was hard and hoarse.
She went still, and swallowed with difficulty. “I wouldn’t have touched the fence; I saw the signs.”
“What did you plan to do? Walk up to the gate and demand to see your sister?”
“I don’t know!” She began struggling again. “Damn you, I just wanted to do something! You and Blaine just talk and talk—neither of you will do anything—and Jo’s being held in there somewhere.”
“I’m trying to do something,” Kelsey told her harshly. “Dammit, Elizabeth, let me do my job!”
“It isn’t a job to me!” she cried softly. “It’s my sister!”
He tried to get a grip on his temper. “I know,” he said in a quieter voice. “I know that. But you have to give us time and plenty of room to work.”
She laughed, the sound almost a sob. “You? The Lone Ranger? Where’s Tonto?”
“Back there keeping an eye on the place,” he growled.
“And waiting! I’m tired of waiting, tired of expecting somebody to do something! I’m somebody! Dammit, let go of my arm.”
Kelsey cursed, then jerked her body against him, both his arms enclosing her powerfully. “Shut up,” he said thickly. “Stop doing this to me. Oh, lord, Elizabeth.”
She had opened her mouth to voice an instant protest, but the searing heat of his kiss trapped the sound somewhere in the back of her throat. Her fingers, curled into angry fists against his broad chest, straightened themselves slowly as her arms crept up around his neck.
A wave of dizziness swept over her and she could feel the flush heating her skin. In a split second, anger had become something else, and she was powerless to fight it.
The kiss was wild, hot, frantic. She could feel his arms pulling her closer, holding her tighter, and one of her hands locked in his thick hair while the other stroked the side of his face compulsively. A pulse in his temple throbbed violently beneath her fingertips, and she felt the shudder of his big body echoing her own tremors. His tongue stroked hers and his mouth was hard, demanding, taking something from her that she fought desperately not to give up.
But he was taking it, stealing it with a force beyond anything she’d ever known, and she could hear the silent scream of protest from somewhere deep inside her. Then that inner voice was silenced by the power of him, and she melted against him bonelessly with an anguished moan.
Her breasts were swelling against his chest, aching; her lips throbbed from the hungry, demanding pressure of his. She wanted to be closer to him, naked against him, wanted to feel his hands and lips on her body. She wanted him with an intensity that shook her to her soul.
She wasn’t even aware of her tears.
But Kelsey was. He didn’t know, even then, if he could stop. His need for her tortured him, knotting the muscles of his belly, aching in him with a pain he had never known before. But her tears hurt him more, the salt of them burning him, and he drew back at last with a rasping breath.
“Don’t,” he ordered, harsh, pained. His hands were shaking, but he gently brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Don’t do that. I can’t take it.”
She was staring at him in the dimness, lips parted, eyes gleaming darkly. “What?” she whispered, still unaware of the wetness of her tears.
“Cry. Don’t cry. God, Elizabeth.”
She drew a shaky breath. “Something broke,” she said huskily, her voice puzzled. “I don’t know what it was.”
He groaned and drew her back into his arms, just holding her this time. She could feel his heart thundering, his chest moving as though he had run some terrible race. One of her hands rested on his flat stomach, and she could feel the knotted tension there; his entire body was taut, rock-hard.
The heavy material of his black sweatshirt frustrated her; she wanted to feel his flesh, and her fingers probed compulsively to search out the hard ridges of muscle.
Kelsey caught her hand tightly in one of his. “Don’t do that,” he said roughly.
She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, hardly aware of the gesture. “I want to.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” His voice was as hard as his body. The pain of his desire made him sweat and shake, and holding her was almost more than he could stand. But there was that tremor of warning inside him again, the sensation that something at the very core of him was swaying unsteadily on its foundations.
“I do know what I’m doing.” And she did. He had been right; she did belong to him. On some deep level, in some part of herself she hadn’t even known existed, he had already taken h
er. The force of him, the irresistible power he had channeled into that starkly intimate kiss had blasted through the barriers her rational mind had tried to erect. She knew now; that was why she had cried.
She lifted her head and looked up at him, wishing there was more light so she could see him clearly. “I know what I’m saying. And I know what broke.”
“Elizabeth—”
“Me. I broke. So I guess I do want that scrapbook full of memories after all.”
He was very still for a timeless moment, then cursed under his breath and got out of the car jerkily. He stood leaning against the side of the vehicle, silent and stiff.
She got out of the car more slowly, standing by the open door and gazing at him. “Just do me a favor, huh?” Her voice was soft, casual. “Don’t send me any roses with the Dear Jane letter, okay? I hate to see roses cut.” He wasn’t looking at her, and she couldn’t read his expression.
“You don’t think much of me, do you?” he asked flatly.
Elizabeth stepped toward him. “You’re wrong, you know,” she told him. “So wrong. It’s just that I know you won’t be able to stay for long.”
“Because I don’t fit.” His voice was remote.
“Is it so simple? No. But it would take more than any woman to hold you, Kelsey.”
He drew a deep breath, but it didn’t ease the tight pain in his chest, or stop the shaking inside him. “Forget it,” he said in a hard tone that didn’t quite hide the strain. “I don’t want a sacrificial victim, Elizabeth. You think I could stand being with you knowing you were just waiting for me to walk out because you were looking at endings? No. No, I won’t do it.”
“If that’s the way I made it sound, then I’m sorry.” Her voice was still quiet, reflective. “You said yourself you’d be in my bed before the weekend was over.”
“Because you belong to me.” He couldn’t stop the words.
“I know.”
Kelsey turned toward her jerkily. “Then why the hell are you talking like this?” he demanded.
She reached up to touch his face lightly, feeling his jaw tighten. “I belong to you. But you don’t belong to me.” Her hand fell to her side. “I left my car across the road. I’ll go home now. And let you do your job.”