Lotus Blossom (9 page)

“I happen to come from a respectable family,” Lotus seethed as he pulled her from her seat to the aisle, then reached up into the overhead and took down her duffel bag.

“Let’s go, darling.” He urged her in front of him. When it looked like she would balk, he gestured to the people behind them. “Do you want to hold them up?”

“Ah . . . no.” Lotus reached for her duffel bag, but decided not to argue when he shook his head. “Where is your luggage?” she asked him as they walked along the portable corridor to the terminal.

“Haven’t any.” He ushered her out into the teeming human condition that was O’Hare Airport.

Lotus was struggling to get her ticket out of her purse. “Are you sure you’re going to the right gate? Ah, there’s an attendant, we’ll ask him. . . .” Lotus felt herself pulled back. Then her mouth dropped open as a golf cart vehicle pulled up to them, and Dash lifted her into the seat, then crowded in beside her. “But we don’t need this,” she hissed at Dash, then threw the driver a shaky smile when he stared at her. “Is it far to the . . . ?” Lotus began.

“Just get us to the area where we should catch our flight. You’ve been given your orders, haven’t you?” Dash interrupted, gesturing for the man to get moving.

“Yes, sir.”

“This is ridiculous.” Lotus tried to wriggle away from Dash but he kept her tight to his side. “We’re leaving the terminal! Why are we doing that?” Suspicion filled her mind. “You are not taking me back to Las Vegas.” She threw herself sideways trying to get away.

“For God’s sake, Lotus, hold still. Do you want to tip the cart? I am not taking you back to Las Vegas. I am taking you to New York, then we’ll go to Rochester.”

“I don’t want to go to New York.”

“I just have to pick up some papers and make some calls. We’ll be leaving for Rochester as soon as I do that.”

“I don’t want you with me. I have a single ticket. My brothers are picking me up . . .” she babbled.

“We’ll call them from my apartment and tell them we’ll be a little late. It won’t be more than two or three hours,” he declared.

“Kidnapping!” Lotus shouted.

“Stop that.” Dash leaned over and unthreaded her white knuckled hands. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.” His voice was soft. “Even though I felt like killing you at first.”

“I’m not reassured,” Lotus ventured watching the faces of people flashing past them, curiosity on their faces as they looked at them.

The long ride seemed to weave in and out of corridors and around corners. By the time the man reached his destination Lotus was lost.

Dash helped her out of the cart and threw a bill at the man.

“That would feed me for a week,” Lotus muttered, pulling at his hand on her arm.

“Would it, darling?” Dash answered her absently as they went along a narrower hall, then out a door, where plane engines were revving up.

“It’s so noisy . . . and windy. Why are we here?” Lotus raised her voice as Dash bent his head to listen.

He pointed downward to a sleek Lear jet on the field. Then preceded her down the steep steps to the tarmac, his hand reaching up to guide her behind him. “That’s our plane.”

Lotus dug in her heels and shook her head. “Can’t be!” she shouted, fumbling for her ticket again. “I’m sure Petras wouldn’t book me on a little plane. I don’t fly on little planes,” she tried to explain as Dash kept a tight hold on her and urged her forward. “I like the bigger ones better,” she shouted. Was he really kidnapping her? She tried to break free. He wasn’t the type to use torture even if he did know about the file, was he?
Oh, Lord,
she moaned to herself.
What’s going to happen ?

“Not to worry, darling. Come on.” Dash watched the play of emotions over her face as she hesitated on the last step. It was like a hand squeezing his heart to see panic and fear war with determination. Her face was like a book! He could read every expression. When her eyes flitted to him again, he pulled her close to him and spoke against her ear to blot out the cacophony around them. “I will never hurt you, no matter what else happens between us.”

“Then let me go.” Lotus mouthed the words, her insides churning with delight and horror because he was with her.

He shook his head as he leaned back from her. Then, with his arm around her small waist, he led her to the plane.

Lotus tried to hear what he said to the man in gray coveralls who spoke to him, but most of Dash’s words were carried away by the gusts of wind that buffeted them, or they were drowned in the noise of the engines. Lotus was glad Dash was holding her, but at the same time she had the feeling she should be running down the airstrip after the Japan Airlines plane that was just taxiing for takeoff on the other side of the field.

“Hurry, darling. Daydream later.” Dash laughed down at her, seeing the bemused look on her face. She was plotting something, but it wouldn’t do her any good. She wasn’t getting away from him! Annoyed with himself at the emptiness he had felt when her landlady had told him she was packed and gone from her room, he resented the unfamiliar possessiveness he felt about her.

He kept his hands at her waist as he helped her up the steep steel steps that led into the plane, then he followed her and signaled that the hatch be shut. “Do you like it?” He watched her stare around the plush interior, her mouth slightly parted.

“I’ve never been inside an airplane that has paneling and a living room with tables and chairs.” Lotus’s smile trembled across her face. “Do I get to meet the pilot too?”

“You’re looking at him, darling.” Dash took her hand, ignoring her gasp and led her to the cockpit. “Buckle in, love.” When she paused to stare at the instrument panel, he pushed her gently into the copilot’s seat and buckled her himself.

Then he sat down, twisted the handle over his head, affixed the headphones, and contacted the tower. He smiled at her while he waited for instructions, leaning over to squeeze her knee. “Relax, angel. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I’ve been flying for years and I even checked out on the big planes.”

“Better for me to take one of those,” Lotus muttered, adjusting the headset, her stomach fluttering. Then she was silent as a voice crackled over the headphones. She only caught every other word, but Dash seemed to have no trouble in understanding what was said.

They were moving! Lotus sucked in an excited breath as she watched the nose of the plane steer along the white line, then follow a marker to get in line behind a much larger commercial jet.

“It’s not too backed up, for O’Hare, so we’ll be in the air before you know it,” Dash assured her.

“Yes,” Lotus hoped, trepidation giving way to excitement as they taxied out onto the takeoff area. “We’re next.”

“Yes.” Dash laughed, not able to believe the joy that filled him because she was excited about the takeoff. “Here we go.” Dash forgot she was beside him for a moment as he pushed in the throttle and felt the sleek machine quiver with power.

They scampered down the runway, the engines roaring to lift off in a fury of grace and speed.

“My goodness, we almost went straight up,” Lotus said and laughed. “That was wonderful.” It was crazy! She was with Dash, a man who could cause her and her family a great deal of trouble, but she had never been happier.

“I’ll teach you how to fly, my dove. You’d be a very good pilot, I’m sure. You are a very steady lady.” Lotus couldn’t hold back her grin as they climbed through the cloud level, Dash making some notations on a pad, then barking once into the headphone.

“Are we on course now?” she asked. Her anger and irritation with him were fast dissipating. She couldn’t quell the happiness that being with him brought.

“Pretty much,” he said. We’ll be changing our heading a few times, but we’re on course, copilot.” Lotus laughed out loud, then stared at him as his mouth opened a little. “What is it?” she asked. “You look surprised.”

“You have a very sweet laugh. It runs up and down my spine like your fingers did last night, love.” “Now, listen”—Lotus struggled to keep the blood from filling her face—“if you’re trying to embarrass me . . .”

“I’m not. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable in any way, but you might as well get used to the idea of being with me . . . because that’s the way it’s going to be.”

“Last night . .  Lotus cleared her throat.

“Was wonderful and it will be repeated often, before and after you marry me,” Dash said.

“You don’t force people to marry you anymore. That went out with the tyrannosaurus Rex,” Lotus sputtered.

“There will be no rough stuff, China Doll, but you will marry me.  . .”

“You don’t know me. I don’t know you.” Lotus cast around in her mind for some way to tell him what she had done. There was no easy way. “I’ve done some things I’m not proud of—”

“So have I,” Dash interrupted.

“Let me finish,” Lotus said, wondering just how angry he would get with her. He wouldn’t throw her out of the plane! Or would he? “I broke into your office,” she blurted.

Dash looked her way. He inhaled. “So! You did do it,” he exhaled. “I told my security people they were crazy, but they pinpointed you. Hans told me the same thing.”

“He doesn’t like me,” Lotus whispered.

“He doesn’t trust women. He thinks they’re trouble.” Dash ran a hand through his hair. “I’m inclined to agree with him.”

“Now you had better let me go. You could turn around and take me back to O’Hare,” Lotus suggested.

“Why the hell did you break into my office, and who taught you to use a burglar’s tool, then wipe off the file?” Dash snarled.

“Ah, I can’t tell you,” Lotus hedged.

“Why not?” Dash quizzed, making her shiver. “Stop that. I damn well told you that you had nothing to fear from me.”

“You’re giving a very good imitation of King Kong right at the moment,” Lotus shot back, inhaling a shaky breath.

“Well, what the hell did you think I’d do after you tell me a thing like that? It’s a shock!” It frosted him that he was so shaken. She seemed so perfect! He hated finding out that she could be underhanded. “Tell me.”

“No. I don’t think so. Some of the things are really no business of yours . . . and . . . and I have to find out something by myself. ...”

“Lotus!” he roared, making her cringe against her seat belt. “Tell me.”

“I can’t!” she shouted back, feeling tears sting her eyes.

He shot a look at her, then reached out and grasped one of her clenched fists. “Is it money you want? I have plenty ...”

“No,” she fired back at him, stung that he could think she was after his money. “No, not one penny,” she gulped, trying to wrest her hand free of him to no avail.

He stared at her, checking the controls all the while. “Then let me tell you what my security people have surmised.” He looked over at her, snapping his teeth together when she became white. “That, one, you’re a compulsive gambler, looking for money. Two, that you’re a spy from another gambling conglomerate. Wait, let me finish.” He put his hand over on her knee again. “Three, that you have a record with us”—he paused only a millisecond when he felt her flinch under his fingers—“and fourth, that you have some weird idea of getting your hands on a system we might have.”

“No, no, nothing like that,” she told him looking out the window.
Never, never will I tell you, Dash. It’s my family, my uncle who is on the block, and I won’t do anything to hurt him. Besides, you will still want to collect on the gambling debt that bears my uncle’s name. . . .
She bit her lip and reached down without thinking to pat the carryall at her side.

Dash was watching her face out of the corner of his eyes, his hands flicking over the instrument in automatic check. He saw her hand go down and pat the bag in a protective way. “Would you like to go back and lie down for a while?”

She jumped and stared at him for a moment, the hard planes of his face seeming to reach out for her. “Ah, no, I like being up here.”

For long minutes they flew in silence, the throbbing of the engines mixing with the guitar cadence coming from the stereo system. When Dash pressed a switch, unbuckled himself, and rose to his feet, Lotus looked at him in alarm. “Where are you going?”

“Just to use the bathroom. Not to worry. It’s on automatic pilot and we’re in a light traffic area. I’ll bring us some food when I return.”

Lotus nodded, her smile fleeting, her gaze returning to the vista out in front of the plane.

Dash watched her for a few minutes, then went to the aft cabin, pausing there and watching the doorway he had just closed between the cockpit and the cabin. Then he pressed a button and the desk opened to a console that included a phone. He dialed and waited. “Yeah. It’s me. How did it go? So hold them. I’ll call you from New York, and we can arrange to have a phone meeting on the computer.” He looked over his shoulder at the cockpit door again. “Have you found anything out about an L. Sinclair. Right. Yeah.” He took a deep breath, then drummed his fingers on the console. “Don’t read me the entire file, just run the facts by me.” Dash listened for a few minutes. “Does he have a daughter? No. Wrong name. All right, keep digging. Save your breath, Hans, and do what I told you. Right. I’ll call from the apartment.” Dash replaced the receiver, then pressed the switch to hide the console once more in the desk. He stood there staring at the paneled wall, feeling his face crease in concentration.
Damn you, Lotus. You’re putting me through an obstacle course, baby, but I will find out what's going on.

He walked back toward the cockpit, coming to the small but well-stocked galley. He put two ham and cheese sandwiches in the microwave, then pushed the coffee button and took two cartons of milk and two apples out of the small refrigerator. He pushed open the door and let it close behind him. He saw the relief flash across her face when she saw him. “Miss me?”

“Maybe. I’m not much of a pilot,” she said. She should be furious with him, yet she felt safe and comforted because he was beside her.
No doubt he’ll turn me over to the authorities in New York and I’ll need a lawyer,
she thought. She looked over at him as he sat down, fastened his seat belt, adjusted the headset, then took the plane off automatic. The slight dip of the engine didn’t bother her. She felt secure with Dash. Why couldn’t I have loved anyone else like this? Why didn’t I love Jeremy like this? Thinking of him made her decision to tell him that they couldn’t date anymore even more definite. She didn’t want to take up his time and spoil his chance for a life with someone who would love him.