Ride the Tiger (22 page)

Achingly, she whispered, “It doesn't matter, Gib. None of it.”

He stared at her a long moment. “Sure it does.”

Dany shook her head. “Remember? We have only the present. No past. No future.”

The bleakness in her eyes scored his heart. She had given his own words back to him, and how terrible they sounded to him now—now that he'd admitted to himself—and to Tess—he loved Dany.

The bitter taste in his mouth remained. “I don't have much time. I've got to be back at the base by 2200, an hour from now.”

“Then let's share that hour together....”

* * *

The room at Hotel La Fleur was clean, but it wasn't quiet, Gib quickly discovered. The walls were paper thin, and Gib and Dany stood in the center of the room hearing echoes of laughter and talk on either side of them. Gib had his arm around Dany, but he felt the room, the sounds, cheapened what he felt for her.

Turning to her, resting his hands on her small shoulders, he met and held her upturned gaze. “This stinks,” he rasped, “let's get out of here.”

“No.” Dany placed her purse on the chair next to the double bed covered with a white cotton bedspread. She moved into Gib's arms and slid her hands up across his chest. “When I'm with you,” she quavered, “nothing else exists. The last time you made love with me, I heard nothing but your breathing, the beat of your heart—and I lost myself in you. It won't be any different this time, Gib.”

With a groan, Gib swept her hard against him.
God, I love you.
The words were nearly ripped from him. Gib compressed his lips and held Dany, feeling her warmth, feeling the beat of her magnificent, giving heart against him. “I'm sorry, Dany,” he said thickly, threading his fingers through her thick, heavy hair. “You deserve a hell of a lot better than this. You deserve the world as far as I'm concerned.”

She murmured his name reverently and closed her eyes as his fingers gently kneaded her temples. “You are my world...” If only for one hour. Dany no longer had pride where Gib was concerned. She loved him too much, and like a greedy thief, would steal every second that he gave her, because there could never be a future for them.

“G
ib, just what the hell were you trying to pull, taking Miss Villard over to the French embassy two months ago?” Colonel Parsons demanded testily.

Gib had just returned from Hue with his squadron. The two-month assignment was finally over, and no sooner had Gib arrived on base than Parsons sent a runner over to tell him to get to HQ pronto. He'd known something was up, and that it probably didn't bode well for him. He'd been right. Gib stood at ease in front of his superior's desk. “Sir, she's trying to save her plantation.”

“With your help,” Parsons ground out. “Well, it won't work!” He threw a set of orders across the desk and they tottered dangerously on the edge. “The French are out of the picture—finally! They threw up all kinds of delays and objections, and it's done nothing but put
us
behind on our construction schedule, damn it. Miss Villard has to move in two weeks. The seebee bulldozers need to start leveling trees. Now, you
convince
her to move, Gib. Do I make myself clear?”

Anguish seared Gib as he took the file folder and looked at the orders. All the proper authorizations were there and signed. Just as Dany had suspected, the deed to her land had been seized by the local ARVN authorities under the pretense of the escalating war.

“Everything's in order.” Parsons jabbed at the folder. “There's even a U.S. government bank voucher for eight hundred thousand dollars that Miss Villard can deposit at any bank in the world.” He glared at Gib. “She's damned lucky the U.S. government is willing to pay her anything, after what you tried to pull.”

Anger moved through Gib. “Sir, with all due respect, Miss Villard will not move off her land.”

“She will or else. The bulldozers will not be delayed, Major. Now you'd best convince her and fast!” Parsons pressed his lips into a tight line. “You've caused me a lot of trouble, and if I were you, Major, I wouldn't be pushing my luck right now. Fitness reports are due out in another month, and frankly, it won't go well for you if you continue to protect and defend the Villard transaction. Get your personal feelings out of it and do as you're ordered!”

Gib didn't give a damn about his career or the fitness report. Gripping the file, he said, “She won't move.”

With a hiss, Parsons rasped, “Major, do you want to be removed from this project?”

“Yes, I do, sir,” Gib shot back.

“Well, you're not going to be. I've had enough delay without having to explain to headquarters why I've had to assign a new liaison officer.” Parsons stood to signal the end of the discussion. “Now, get it done. You're off duty for the rest of the day. I'll schedule you for missions beginning tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir.” Gib came to attention and did an about-face. Anger warred with pain in him as he made his way back over to Operations. The morning sun was bright and hot, the humidity high, as always. Gib ignored the base activity, blotting out all sounds as he hurried to the squadron tent. Once inside, he went to his desk.

“Sergeant Masters, make a call over to Da Nang and see if you can track down my sister, Tess, will you?”

Masters looked up from the paperwork piled around him. “Major, she was just in here lookin' for you. She was expecting you to arrive from Hue and wanted to welcome you home. She was heading over to the O club to get some iced tea while she waited.”

Gib nodded. “Great...thanks.” He grabbed his dark green utility cap and threw it on his head. Maybe, with Tess's help, Dany might be persuaded to move. Maybe...

Gib found his sister sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of the Officers' club dining room drinking a glass of iced tea. When Tess looked up and saw him, she broke into a welcoming smile and stood up.

“There you are! Brother, are you hard to track down when you don't want to be found!” She threw her arms around Gib. “Welcome back!”

He gave her a bear hug and released her. “Thanks.”

Tess ran her fingers through her short red hair and sat back down. “You look upset, Gib. What's wrong?”

Gib sat opposite her. “I've got a real problem.” He folded his hands. “And I'm going to need your input, Tess.”

“Don't tell me,” Tess began, motioning to the file. “Dany's plantation?” she guessed.

It hurt to say it. “Yes. She has to move within two weeks. The military is going in with seebee bulldozers to level the place, regardless.”

“Damn,” Tess murmured. “Both Dany and I felt that the French embassy had effectively intervened, and that was why we hadn't heard anything more on the plan.” She reached over and gripped Gib's hand. “What can I do to help?”

How like his sister to volunteer. Her gray eyes were fraught with concern, mirroring the pain he felt for Dany. He patted her hand.

“I can use your help in finding a resettlement place for all of Dany's peasants. Now that you know her, you realize they're like family to her, Tess. The marines have just started up a pacification program and have certain hamlets earmarked for security against VC. The villages you work with are in that program. Do you think there's room in them to absorb, say, two hundred men, women and children from Dany's plantation? The regular resettlement camps are too much like prison camps. Dany would never go for that.”

Tess shrugged. “I wouldn't send my best enemy to one of those resettlement camps, Gib, so I don't blame Dany. Let me get on this right away. I'll talk to the village chieftains and see what I can finagle.”

“If you can swing this,” Gib told her grimly, “I think it might ease a lot of Dany's reasons for holding onto the plantation, before they have to literally drag her off the property.”

“It's a crying shame,” Tess protested. “They've got land all around her!”

“Money talks, and so does power. That's how this country operates,” Gib muttered unhappily. “When you know for sure about her people being transferred, would you drop by and see Dany?” Gib asked.

“You bet, big brother. Are you going over to tell her about this?”

He nodded glumly. “Yeah. Hell of a welcome home, isn't it? I had planned to call her, set up a dinner date tonight, give her the biggest bouquet of flowers I could find in Da Nang.... Now it's all down the drain.” Frustrated, Gib added, “I don't know how she'll react to this.”

“She's caught between a rock and a hard place,” Tess agreed. She rose. “Look, I'm going to get going. I'll drive back to Da Nang and get the paperwork started on helping Dany's people relocate.”

Gib stood and walked out with his sister. “Thanks, Tess.”

Outside, she waved goodbye to him. Depressed as never before, Gib moved back toward his squadron area. The heat was stifling, and so was the humidity. Gib's mind and heart swung forward to the meeting with Dany. How was she going to take this? Would she go to France? Stay here? And what would happen to their fragile, budding relationship? Suddenly, the world was crashing around Gib as never before. But for Dany, he knew, it was literally the end of her life here in Vietnam.

* * *

Gib met Ma Ling at the door to the plantation. The old woman didn't glare at him in spite of his uniform—a vast improvement. As he stepped in, he took off his utility cap.

“I need to see Dany right away,” he told her.

“She is out back. I will get her.”

Gib waited impatiently in the drawing room, surrounded by the hundreds of pictures of Dany's parents. He turned when he heard her bare feet brushing against the wooden floor.

“Gib!” Dany cried, and she raced forward, her arms opened to him.

He tried to smile, but failed. Dany was in her normal work attire, black cotton pajamas and a tan overblouse. Her bare feet were stained with dried red mud. Whispering her name, he took her full weight as she entered the circle of his arms.

He crushed her hard against him. Just the warm feeling of Dany pressed to his body eased his anguish, the loneliness of the last two months. He felt her lift her head, and blindly sought and found her ripe, warm mouth. With a groan, he captured it, tasted her. The fragrance of the sun, the jungle, her own feminine scent entered his flared nostrils as he hungrily possessed her mouth.

Finally, both of them breaking unsteadily, Dany pulled back slightly from Gib, remaining within his embrace. Dazed by the power of his kiss—and her overwhelming need of him—she moved her hands up his bare arms.

“Why are you here in uniform?” she asked unsteadily. “I thought we agreed to meet in Da Nang?” How badly she wanted to tell him of her love. The last two months had been pure hell—and adding to her loneliness, she'd had the flu for a week, throwing up every day.

Grimly, Gib led Dany over to the sofa and sat down with her. “I'm sorry, honey.” He gripped her hands, absorbing her beauty. He looked at her with concern. Dany had obviously lost some weight. It showed in the stretch of skin across her high cheekbones. “I'm here on official business, Dany.” He took a deep breath and told her, “Colonel Parsons ordered me to tell you that you've got two weeks to move out before they claim your property. I'm sorry.”

“
No!
They can't do this to me!” Dany cried hoarsely. She leaped to her feet and went to the center of the drawing room, tense and trembling.

Gib stood helplessly. “Honey, we've lost the fight on this. The French embassy tried their best, but failed. It's all over, Dany.”

Clenching her fists, she stood rigid, staring at Gib. He was suffering no less than she. “I won't move.”

“They'll come in here and raze your home, Dany,” he pleaded. “Don't let them destroy the things you want saved. Take this two weeks and pack. I'll help you. I'll do anything I can to make it easier for you. Tess is checking on ways to get your families new and secure homes in one of the hamlets she works with.”

Tears stung Dany's eyes. She didn't know whether to scream, cry or pound her fists against the walls. Gib's return was truly bittersweet. How badly she'd wanted to see him, love him, be in his arms and know the beauty of his feelings for her. “I won't leave, Gib. I have rifles. I'll shoot the first marine that thinks he can take my land, my home, from me!”

“Listen to me,” Gib whispered tautly, moving over to her and gripping her gently by the shoulders. “The least you can do is get your people out of here then. If you want to make a stand, I can't stop you, Dany. But for God's sakes, don't put those families at risk when you do it. Let Tess help you get them moved.”

He was right, Dany realized with a terrible, sinking feeling. Turning away from him, she gripped the back of the chair, her fingers digging into the silk fabric. “I won't endanger them,” she rattled. “Send Tess over, then.” A lump wedged in her throat, her voice turning hoarse. “I swear, Gib, I'll make a stand. No one is going to drive me off this land. My blood is in the soil. My whole life is here.”

Gib started across the room and halted when he saw a middle-aged Vietnamese man slip away from the doorway. Torn between going after him to find out why he was eavesdropping, and taking care of Dany, Gib remained where he was. Perhaps it was Dany's foreman. Or was it a VC spy disguised as one of her laborers? Dany swore that her people were loyal to her, but too often Gib had found traitors in the closest of families. People would sell information either for money or for political beliefs. Or worse, because the VC held members of their family as hostages and threatened to kill them if information wasn't delivered.

He dropped his hands gently onto Dany's slumped shoulders. Taking her full weight against him, Gib pressed a kiss to her hair. “God, I'm sorry this is happening, Dany. You don't deserve this, none of it.”