Lazy Days (38 page)

Rainey’s mouth felt like cotton, her head ached,
and the contents of her stomach threatened to erupt like a volcano. Underneath
all the discomfort, however, she had a nagging sense of
something
not
being right. Impressions gradually stuck together like a jigsaw puzzle: a black
SUV, their Hummer careening around a corner, Roth rolling from the car, whiskey
burning her throat, Roth carrying her upstairs and Roth’s lips on hers. Her
eyes shot open.
"Oh, no…no…no."
Surely it had been a
nightmare.

She rolled her eyes around the room. Her clothes
lay on a chair. She touched her body and heaved a sigh of relief when she felt
her camisole and slip.

A bold knock sounded at her door. She moaned and
huddled further under the covers. The door opened and Roth entered.

"Good morning, Sunshine; time to get
up."

Rainey tried to speak, but only an
unintelligible croak came out.

Roth stood over her holding a glass. "Here,
drink this. You’ll feel better."

"What…is it?" she rasped.

"It's my own special concoction—doesn’t
taste
too
bad." He set the drink on the nightstand and began gently
pulling her up, squishing pillows under her head and shoulders

"Ouch. My head is splitting."

"Trust me. You’ll feel better after you
drink this."

"How do I know you’re not trying to poison
me?" Her attempt at a joke fell flat.

"Maybe because I possibly saved your life
yesterday."

"You’re no fun."

Roth held the drink to her lips and forced her
to sip the nasty brew.

"That’s disgusting!"

"Yeah? Well, have another sip." He
held the drink to her mouth again."

"Please, take it away," she begged after
a big gulp.

Roth set the drink on her nightstand and sat at
the foot of her bed, watching her.

Rainey closed her eyes and willed her stomach
not to explode. After a few minutes, he asked, "Feeling better?"

On the brink of dozing, his question brought her
back to reality. She shifted under the covers and felt the sheet slip to her
waist. Quickly pulling it back up, she realized that, indeed, she did feel
better. She opened her eyes and blinked.

"I thought so," he said.

"You can leave now."

"First, we have things to discuss."

"What could we possibly have to talk about?
You’re the hero; the man of the hour. Everyone’s in love with you. I do thank
you for what you did? Now, can we go on with our lives?"

"Oh, we’re going to go on…just not in the
same way."

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Do you remember I told you it was time for
a vacation?"

"No way!" Rainey jammed her hands on
either side of her head to stop the ripple of pain her shout had released.

"Yep. It’s all set. We depart tonight. You
only need to pack one suitcase of casual clothing. We’re leaving at
seven." Roth stood.

Rainey sat straight up and the sheet fell away
again. She said, "Absolutely not! I am not leaving. I have my work to
finish. You and my father are not going to bulldoze me into leaving. I refuse
-"

"I’ll be back at seven, Rainey."

Rainey jumped out of the bed as Roth opened the
door.
"I am not leaving,"
she shouted.

* * *

Roth secured his backpack in preparation for
their trip. He longed for the cover of night so he could shift and release his
pent-up frustration. He would run the forest as a gazelle and then climb the
rocks as a mountain lion. He would soar into the wind… He sighed. The woman was
a royal pain-in-the-ass.

Damn, but he wished he hadn't lost his tail on
the SUV. He'd followed it to downtown Portland, but when the vehicle had driven
into an underground parking garage, he'd been forced to dive from his high elevation
and change into a smaller, but slower bird. By the time he'd flown into the
garage, the car had disappeared. After searching row after row of vehicles, it
became clear that the SUV had escaped through another exit.

His written report of the incident had played on
the belief that he'd shot out the tires of the tailing vehicle. People tended
to believe what they imagined. Although he'd gotten the license plate number, a
search had tracked it to a wrecked vehicle in a junkyard. Further investigation
was pending.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding Rainey's
safety, Roth had felt compelled to offer a plan to Hank. It had taken some
persuasion, but he'd finally convinced him that Rainey needed to be transported
far away. Not only because someone was following her, but because she had
reached an impasse in her research. She needed a change, and her staff needed a
break from her.
Hell
,
he
needed a break from her!

Finally, after convincing her father to allow
for her relocation, he'd then had to convince him of the destination. It hadn’t
been easy, but reasoning finally put Hank on the same page as Roth. She needed
to be in a place that would allow her to absorb new ideas. She was stuck in a
paradigm. She also needed a place that would challenge her not only mentally,
but physically. Physical challenge would help release some of her anger at
being forced from her work and home. More importantly, however, the location
Roth had selected would be the last place expected by would-be kidnappers.
Being a pampered heiress, it stood to reason her nemesis would expect her to be
under lock and key in a fortress.

Roth grinned. He was taking Rainey to the cradle
of civilization, a place of challenge: Egypt. And only the two of them were
going.

* * *

Rainey stormed into her father’s study.

"Hello, Rainey. I’ve been expecting you.
How do you feel?"

"I am not leaving, Father. You cannot make
me and
he
cannot make me!"

"It’s nice to see you too, daughter."

"Don’t try to change the subject. I am not
leaving my lab."

"Your lab has been shut down."

"What! You wouldn’t dare. We’re on the
verge of a breakthrough that humanity has never seen. Closing the lab would be
unconscionable. What about
-"

"The lab is closed, Rainey. Your staff is
on extended paid leave."

"
He
did this, didn’t he! I’ll never
forgive you, Father." She stormed from the room.

At precisely seven that evening, Roth knocked on
her door. When she didn’t answer, he used his key. She sat stoically in her
chair; an immovable force. Roth glanced around the room.

"Where’s your suitcase?"

"I am not going."

"I thought you’d be stubborn. But, not to
worry, we can always buy what you need. Now Rainey, we can do this the easy way
or the hard way. It’s your choice. I can carry you downstairs, or you can walk
there and keep your dignity."

"You cannot make me."

"That’s where you’re dead wrong. And
speaking of dead, if you don’t change your
modes operandi
, you may
become just that."

Roth approached her with determination evident
in every step. When she refused to acknowledge him, he reached down and lifted
her bodily over his shoulder. On his way out the door, he grabbed her purse.

Rainey squealed and beat his back with her
fists. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, her father, the
household staff, and the guards had rushed to watch her theatrics. In her
upside down position, she looked at her father’s anguished face and repeated
what she had told him earlier, "I’ll never forgive you!"

Her father mouthed the words, "I love you,
Rainey," and handed a briefcase to Johnson. Johnson rushed to the terrace
doors, flung them open, and followed Roth to a helicopter, its blades rotating
slowly. Roth handed Rainey to one of the pilots, grabbed the briefcase from
Johnson, and clapped him on the back in a farewell gesture before jumping into
the cabin. The door shut, the blades picked up speed, and the copter slowly
rose into a darkening sky.

Fastened into her seat belt by Roth as the
copter rose, she said, "I hate you."

His only response was a tightening of his jaw.

They flew for a long time and Rainey watched
occasional twinkling lights brave the night. The helicopter finally banked and
began its descent. The runway lights of a small airport glittered like jewelry.

"Where are we?"

"We’re landing at a desert airport. There’s
a Lear waiting for us."

"Where are we going?"

"You’ll find out soon enough."

"Humph. "What was in the briefcase my
father handed over?"

"All your necessary documents: passport,
birth certificate, money
-"

"Are you telling me we’re leaving the
United States?"
she
shouted.

Roth barely nodded. The interior lights of the
cab cast eerie shadows across his face."

"I will
not
leave the United
States!"

"Rainey, when are you going to realize that
you have no say in this? Your safety is my mission and I don't intend to fail.
Got it?"

The helicopter touched down and the high-pitched
whirl of the blades lowered in volume. While the pilot exited the helicopter
and came around to open the cab door, Roth unfastened Rainey’s seatbelt.
Jerking away from him, she allowed the pilot to help her alight. Roth jumped
from the helicopter and grasped her upper arm, guiding her across the tarmac to
the waiting jet, its engines revving.

Rainey considered wrenching free from Roth and
then running toward a small dimly lit building, but even as the impulse raced
through her mind, she knew the attempt would prove futile. She ascended the
stairs into the Lear. Falling into a seat like an angry schoolgirl, she jerked
her face away from him when he leaned over to pull the seatbelt across her
chest.

* * *

Roth moved his gaze from staring at emptiness
outside the porthole, to Rainey seated across from him. She'd tilted her seat
back and her head lolled to one side. Her deep breathing evidenced her
exhaustion. He studied her face. In sleep, she looked young, innocent, and
vulnerable; unlike the hellcat that had fought him earlier. He sighed and
looked back out the porthole. The black night called to his animal instincts.
To distract the desire of his body to shapeshift, he thought about their
destination in Egypt.

Located two hundred miles southwest of Cairo,
the town of Bawiti in the oasis of Bahariya made him quirk a smile. He
remembered a previous assignment as a camel with a Bedouin tribe. He had been
sent to make sure a young man named Tahnoon
Kahlifa arrived for his nuptials. The Thirteen
co-Princes had believed the marriage of Tahnoon to a girl he had been espoused
to since childhood, would prove favorable to the human condition. However, the
young man hadn't wanted to marry, and when he’d attempted to turn his camel
around, Roth had steadfastly stayed on the path. The tenacity of the camel had
unnerved the young bridegroom so much so that he’d decided his marriage was the
will of Allah. Later, Roth had learned from the co-Princes that the marriage
had turned out well.

He glanced at Rainey again, and then allowed
himself to drift into sleep. A bank in the plane's direction roused him. He
opened his eyes to a lovely pink glow rising in the eastern sky—and Rainey
shooting arrows at him with her eyes.

"Good morning to you, too, Sunshine."

She looked away and stood. When she started to
step into the aisle, he moved his leg to block her exit. She looked back at him
and said acidly, "Do you think I’m going to commandeer the plane? I’m
going to the bathroom."

He moved his leg. "I just wanted to hear
your sweet voice."

Rainey jerked past him and stalked down the
aisle.

The pilot spoke over the speaker. "We’ll
begin our descent in fifteen minutes to refuel."

* * *

Rainey watched out the porthole as the plane
taxied to a hangar on the outskirts of a huge bustling airport. Having been to
the "Big Apple" many times, she recognized New York International. A
uniformed gentleman stood outside the hangar. When the plane braked, airport
workers pushed moveable stairs into place and others began attaching a
refueling hose. The official mounted the stairs and the pilot handed him
paperwork. Roth handed him their passports. The man studied the documents,
looked at Roth intently, and then glanced down the aisle at Rainey. Rainey
wanted to scream that she had been kidnapped, but wisdom made her hold her
tongue. If she made a raucous, no doubt she and Roth would be hauled into
custody, which would cause an international event and fodder for the tabloids.
No, she would bide her time until circumstances were ripe for an escape.

The official nodded at her, handed the passports
back to Roth, and exited the plane. After refueling, they were airborne again.
Their flight path took them over a vast ocean until late afternoon. When the
plane descended over a large city, Rainey recognized it as being London.
Another official greeted their plane and approved their passports and
paperwork. Within the hour they were back in the air. London gave way to
smaller cities and then rolling countryside. After that, mountains and forests
gave way to blue seas, and eventually desert. The pilot instructed them to
fasten their seatbelts. With the plane's final descent at sunset, Rainey caught
sight of something that made her breath hitch—the Great Pyramid of Egypt!
Suffused in golden rays, a sinking sun bid goodnight to possibly the most
recognized structure on earth. She glanced sharply at Roth and saw a small tug
quirking the corners of his mouth. He was enjoying this.