The Fall of Lucas Kendrick (18 page)

Then he stiffened. “Something’s going on down there,” he reported softly into the microphone.

“What is it?” Hagen asked.

“Don’t know. Somebody moving—damn this angle!” He adjusted the binoculars and leaned a bit sideways. “It’s Kyle. She’s searching the gazebo.”

“What?”

“Wait a minute. I can just barely see her. That’s what she’s doing, though.” He caught a glimpse of something else then, a small, darkly
shining object in the hand of someone else in the center of the maze.

Swearing, Kelsey reached for the walkie-talkie.

“Looking for something, my dear?”

Kyle turned slowly, holding her face expressionless with effort. The first thing she saw was a wicked black revolver held in a steady hand. Martin Rome’s hand. And when she looked at his face as he stepped up into the gazebo, she felt cold clear through to her bones.

His face was still, calm. But there was a faint twitch at the corner of his right eye, and the eyes themselves were unnaturally brilliant. Mocking.

“I—I dropped a ring,” she said finally.

“I’ll buy you another,” he told her soothingly.

Very conscious of the weight of her automatic at the small of her back, Kyle made no attempt to reach for it. It was her ace, all she had, and a last resort.

“I don’t want a ring from you, Martin. I don’t want anything at all from you.” She was trying desperately to keep her voice even and calm.

“Since we’re going to be married,” he told her in that same ominously soft tone, “I’ll show you my secret. As the mother of my son, it’ll be your right.”

Kyle swallowed hard. “Martin, why do you have a gun? You’re frightening me.”

“I’m sorry, my dear, but I really can’t allow your lover to steal my treasures. That is what he’s after, you know. He was searching in the house. You weren’t with him, of course. I knew you wouldn’t be. I knew you’d be here. This is where the newest of my treasures belongs. I’ll keep you here for a while, and then he’ll go away.”

“No,” she said softly. “He won’t.”

“Of course he will. Then you and I will be married, and you shall provide me with an heir. My nephew Phillip is no good, I’ve realized that; he doesn’t deserve to have my treasures. But our son will.”

“Marry Zamara,” Kyle urged, stalling for time.

“She’s barren,” Rome told her. His jaw tightened. “Pity. I would have married her otherwise. She is descended from my people in a sense. But I was able to obtain her medical history and so discovered the truth. She really should have told me herself. I can’t approve of deception.”

Chilled, Kyle wondered how to reason with a madman.

He looked at her seriously. “I will make you happy, my dear, I assure you.”

“What of Zamara?” Kyle whispered.

His jaw tightened again. “She will go.”

Kyle didn’t dare push that; she could see the tug of war in his face, the awful conflict. Steadily she said, “I’m going to marry Luc, Martin.”

“He won’t be able to find you,” Rome said reasonably. His free hand reached into the pocket of his jacket and produced a key. Stepping to one side, he reached out and inserted
the key into the ornate
R
on one of the columns; Kyle had found that keyhole only a moment before he had first spoken.

Pinned in place by the brilliant dark eyes that never left her, by the gun that never wavered, Kyle was helpless.

Rome turned the key, and instantly there was a soft grinding noise. The entire gazebo moved, sliding smoothly to one side. “My grandfather had it constructed,” he told her pleasantly. “I’ve updated the wiring, of course, years ago. It’s a perfect place to store my treasures, isn’t it, my dear?”

Kyle looked down at the step of the gazebo, which now led to more steps and a dark cavity in the ground. “I’m not going down there,” she said tightly.

Rome smiled. “You will, you know. Or shall I go into the house and kill your lover?”

“Rome!”

Instinctively Kyle threw herself to one side, even as Rome whirled and fired his gun. The blast was hideously loud, followed instantly by
the distant barking of the guard dogs and, seconds later, by another shot.

Rome, teetering on the brink of the steps, clasped his wounded hand with a cry as his gun clattered to the floor of the gazebo. Losing his balance, he pitched forward, down the steps and into the darkness.

Lucas, his face white, vaulted over the low railing of the gazebo and gathered Kyle into his arms. “Are you all right?” he asked in a rasping voice.

Kyle was aware of other voices, of running feet and the shouting of the guards, but her entire attention was only for him. “I’m fine,” she whispered. Then, lifting her face from his throat, she stared at him fiercely. “What took you so long?”

Equally fierce, he said, “Next time, dammit, tell me what you’re planning to do!”

A sudden gurgle of laughter escaped her, and Kyle threw her arms around his neck. “Next time,” she promised serenely.

The sun was well up. Kept from the maze by federal marshals, Martin Rome’s guests milled around in the house, confused and curious. Inside the maze, more marshals made trips into and out of the vault, carrying priceless gems, paintings, and other artwork out so that they could be inventoried.

A rotund little man supervised the activity, pausing for only a moment to tell Zach and Teddy, “You aren’t here.”

“Of course not,” Zach said calmly.

Hagen nodded, then looked somewhat sternly at the other four, who were relaxing in the gazebo. “We’re going to have to discuss the statements you give,” he said.

Lazily Josh asked, “What’s to discuss? We’re just guests here. Rome, maddened by jealousy, decided to kidnap Kyle at gunpoint. Luc missed his fiancée, came looking, and was just in time to stop Rome. He’s licensed to carry a concealed weapon. Mind you, we have no earthly
idea why Rome kept all these paintings and things under his gazebo. But it’s a good thing Luc got here before Rome could lock Kyle in with them.”

Hagen looked at him narrowly for a moment, then nodded. “And you’ll so testify?”

“Luc will, of course. And Kyle. The rest of us have nothing to say. We were just drawn out here by the commotion.”

“Excellent.” Hagen went back to his supervising, looking like a gleeful cherub.

“Josh—”

“It’s time for you to go public, Luc. With the investigative staff you’ve built over the years, there really isn’t a need for you to stay behind the scenes.”

Politely Lucas said, “And I suppose it never occurred to you that by testifying I’ll make headlines? Headlines that Kyle’s father will no doubt read?”

Josh frowned. “No, that never occurred to me.”

Lucas said something rude.

Kyle chuckled. “I love it.” She looked at her future husband with a smile. “And that shot of yours was really something—hitting his gun hand!”

“Nerves of steel,” Josh murmured.

Lucas glared at him. “My nerves were shot to hell and gone, and you know it! It was a lucky shot, that’s all.” He listened to their laughter with a pained look, then beckoned Kelsey over.

“You want something, hero?”

“Kelsey, we’ve all had a long night. Don’t push it.”

Grinning, Kelsey said, “Right. Did you want to tell me something else?”

“The mask.”

“It isn’t with this stuff.”

“I know.” Finding himself the focus of startled eyes, Lucas added somewhat bitterly, “We’ve been staring at the damned thing ever since we got here.”

“Where is it?” Kyle asked.

“Come on and I’ll show you.” Lucas led the way from the maze, holding Kyle’s hand firmly.
They were followed by Josh and Raven, Zach and Teddy, and Kelsey and Hagen.

“I love a parade,” Kelsey murmured to himself.

Once past the milling crowd of guests, Lucas went into the trophy room, halting before a wall with a display of numerous African tribal masks.

Looking up at the wall, Kyle asked incredulously, “You mean he hung it on the
wall
right out in front of everybody?”

“Why not? None of us caught it.”

“You did,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but only at the last minute. After you left me last night, I started wondering about the mask. It was a symbol of power, so it stood to reason Rome would keep it nearby—and
it
was something he’d certainly want to look at. It wasn’t likely he would have put it with the stuff he meant to keep totally hidden. So it had to be here.”

“Which is it?” Josh asked.

Zach, the only one of them who had seen a
picture of the mask, gestured. “Try the one in the middle.”

Lucas lifted it down, and all of them saw. The mask had been covered with a dark adhesive material to closely match its fellows, but the back shone pure gold.

K
YLE STOOD GAZING
out at the Pacific Ocean, smiling to herself. She loved this place. The house perched on its Oregon cliff as if it belonged there, and it was a wonderful place to spend a honeymoon. She looked down at the golden band on her finger, and her smile became even happier.

Strong arms slipped around her from behind, and Lucas rested his chin atop his wife’s head. “It’s still early,” he murmured. “I thought you
would have gone back to sleep after I went to answer the phone.”

“What did Josh have to say?” she asked.

Lucas chuckled. “Nothing, really. He just said it wouldn’t be right if our honeymoon wasn’t interrupted by something. Rafferty and Sarah are the only ones who’ve managed so far to be left completely alone.”

“That’s why he called?”

“That’s why. Remember I told you we interrupted his honeymoon because of that problem on Kadeira? I really think he’s getting even for that.”

Kyle laughed.

He smiled at the sound. “Do you feel better now that Rome will be getting the treatment he needs?”

“Much better. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, especially when Her Highness breezed past him while the paramedics were working on his hand.”

“You mean her parting words?”

“Well,” Kyle said fairly, “ ‘Ciao, baby’ seemed just a little coldhearted.”

“I’ll say.” Luc reflected. “It’s a good thing the marshals weren’t won over by her tricks. She might not have been involved with the theft of that artwork, but she sure as hell encouraged Rome to get that mask.”

“Thinking it would help bind him to her,” Kyle agreed. “It backfired on her, though. She had him so convinced he was descended from a great and ancient line of rulers that he decided to preserve his ‘treasures’ and family name no matter what the cost. And he’d become so paranoid about protecting those treasures that she was losing all control over him.”

“Did you hear what she screamed at the marshals before they dragged her out?” Luc asked.

“Saying that she’d tried to persuade Martin not to get the artwork? Yes, I heard. Interesting language, huh? She was probably telling the truth. As far as she was concerned, Martin was wealthy enough; she wasn’t worried about future generations. And keeping the artwork on
his estate probably shook her even more. She knew very well the search was on for that stuff and likely knew he was under suspicion.”

“I’d say she had good instincts,” Lucas agreed gravely.

Her smile widened. “Well, anyway, it was nice of Martin to break down and confess so we wouldn’t have to stick around for the trial and testify. Our statements made a big enough splash in the newspapers.”

“Big enough for your father to notice, anyway. Did I hear him apologize to you at the wedding?”

“You did. Surprisingly enough.”

Lucas turned her around gently and gazed down at her. He heard, in her steady voice, the sound of a child who had wanted affection so desperately for so many years—and had received none at all. “Give it time, love. Maybe they’ll never change. But maybe they will.”

Kyle slipped her arms up around his neck, smiling. “I know. It isn’t so important to me
now, Luc. You’ve given me so much more than I ever expected.”

“I love you,” he murmured, kissing her with tenderness and a slowly building need.

Somewhere between the window and the bed, their robes fell away, and golden morning sunlight followed them warmly.

Feeling so incredibly loved and wanted, Kyle smiled at her man. Her lips parted beneath his, turquoise eyes only half open, beautifully dreamy as they looked into his own. The need to touch him was a constant one, and she obeyed her needs willingly. Her hands molded his shoulders, traced his spine slowly, feathered along his ribs. One silken leg moved slowly to brush his hip in a smooth, tingling caress.

He lifted his head at last, breathing harshly, their gazes locked in a rising fire. He felt one of her hands slide over his chest, the other along his ribs. Her lips were swollen, beautifully red and trembling, her breasts lifting and falling quickly with her shallow breaths. She was looking at him, he realized, moved, as if he
were everything she had ever wanted out of life, everything she had ever dreamed of.

And no fantasies of godlike men were reflected in her beautiful eyes this time. No glittering gold dust. No shaky pedestal. Just a deep and enduring love for the man she had chosen.

He knew then that he would have gone through those ten numbing years again if he could have been promised the look in her eyes now. Everything—the pain and self-doubt, the bitterness and anger, the loneliness—every ragged emotion he had felt in a decade was worth this.

“Luc, I love you.”

The feelings inside him were almost too much to bear, fierce and sharp and wild. And as much as his heart felt, his desire drove his body. He willed control, finding it a struggle as always but needing to luxuriate in this because he could never get enough of her, because he loved her and needed her so much. His hands moved to shape rounded flesh, his mouth surrounding the hard, throbbing tip of her breast.
Her soft whimper of pleasure sharply increased his own, but Lucas found a thread of control and hung on fiercely.

He traced the valley between her breasts with his lips, moving slowly downward over the quivering flesh of her stomach. His tongue dipped hotly into her navel, and he felt a stronger quiver shake her, heard a faint sound from her. He slid his hands along her slender legs, rubbing slowly over the satiny skin, fascinated by the feeling of her warm body, finally moving back up along her hips and under them. He kissed the sensitive hollows above each leg.