The Fall of Lucas Kendrick (16 page)

Lucas’s only answer was a heavy sigh.

Kyle found Raven first, since the other woman had come out onto the terrace looking for her. They both sat on the low stone wall, far
enough from the house so that they couldn’t be overheard if they spoke in low voices, which they did.

“Zamara wants me?” Kyle asked.

“That’s what she said. She’s at the buffet at the moment, but we heard her ask two maids if they’d seen you. Think she wants to have it out with you?”

“About Martin? I don’t know. He said that she knew he intended to marry me.”

“Intended?” Raven lifted a flying brow. “Sounds like the man’s made up his mind.”

“Sickening, isn’t it?” Kyle shook her head. “I lightened it a bit when I told Luc, but Martin even tried blackmail. Threatened me with disinheritance.”

“Can he do that?”

“My father can, and he probably would.” She grinned faintly. “I just realized. If we find that stuff, and Martin is arrested, Father will certainly reexamine this perfect match of his. He might even be persuaded to see Luc in the light of savior of the family name. Scandal rubs
off, you know, especially if you stand too close to it.”

Raven smiled at her. “So, no more fairy tales?”

“The real thing,” Kyle said, “is a lot better.” She looked at the other woman, whom she felt so close to now. “Want to be my matron of honor?”

“I’d love to,” Raven said promptly.

“Good. Unfortunately we have to get through this weekend first. What’s this about you feeling a storm coming?”

“Rome. And since you’ve told me about his
intentions
, I’m feeling even more alarm. Were you supposed to be blind to Her Highness, by the way?”

“A mistress would be none of my concern, if you please.”

“Bastard,” Raven said without heat.

“Yes, medieval. He honestly didn’t know, though, that Zamara had some pretty permanent intentions of her own.”

Raven pursed her lips and gazed into space.
“First his apparent belief in this reincarnation business, which he openly admitted to last night after you left the room. Then his obvious sexual reaction to Her Highness, which is just a bit too excessive for him to reasonably believe she’s only a mistress. And then his intention to marry you, even if he has to use blackmail. I don’t like it. Not one bit.”

“Oh, listen to what Luc and I found out.” She quickly told Raven about the will and book, and about their deductions regarding Rome’s apparent desire to preserve his family treasures by using the stolen artwork.

And Raven didn’t like that, either. But before she could comment, Her Highness found them.

“Ah, Miss Griffon.” She looked pointedly at Raven. “If you will excuse us?”

Raven smiled gently. “I’ll stay. Surely you don’t mind?”

Zamara weighed her for a moment, then shrugged. “As you please. Perhaps, though, Miss Griffon would prefer to keep this discussion between herself and me.”

“Not at all,” Kyle said politely.

Black eyes flashed at them both. “Very well, then. My dear, you really should take your man and leave.”

Kyle studied her thoughtfully. “Oh? And why is that?”

Zamara laughed with careful lightness. “Because Martin has the absurd idea that he can persuade you to marry him. Nonsense, of course, but men are sometimes silly.”

Raven was gazing critically at the toes of her boots.

Kyle smiled faintly. “Yes, they are. Still, I wouldn’t worry if I were you. I don’t want Martin, and you certainly seem to have him in thrall.”

Raven coughed and looked even more intently at her boots.

Her voice growing even sweeter, Zamara said, “He is a very determined man, my dear, and determined men are dangerous once they’ve set their minds on something—or someone. And, for your information, Martin won’t
leave my bed until
I
say. Wife or mistress, I will control him.”

“Then why worry?” Kyle asked practically.

“I would prefer wife. With you gone, that’s what I’ll be.”

After a moment Kyle said, not without sympathy, “I could give him an heir. You couldn’t. Is that it?”

Zamara stiffened. There was a flash of something in her eyes and then, abruptly, she looked more natural than either of the two women had seen her before. “You’re right. I can’t have children.”

Kyle nodded. “I see. Well, you really don’t have to worry about me. I’m in love, Zamara. Martin could offer me the earth and it wouldn’t make any difference. Luc and I will be leaving first thing Monday morning. As planned.”

Zamara nodded suddenly. “Yes, I see. You really do love your man. It happens. I’ll trust you.”

“Thank you,” Kyle said gravely.

A glint of wicked humor shone in Zamara’s eyes. “There are ways of holding a man to your side, my dear. And since I’ll never have a daughter …” She leaned forward and whispered softly in a startled Kyle’s ear.

Raven, glancing sideways, saw her friend’s eyes widen.

Then, with a laugh and an almost automatic look of spite at Raven, Zamara swept into the house.

“Good heavens,” Kyle said faintly.

Raven was laughing, curious. “What?”

Kyle cleared her throat. “Umm … ask me again sometime, huh? I think I just found out why Martin goes into a daze when she touches him.”

“That’s one secret,” Raven said definitely, “I’m not about to let you keep to yourself.”

Kyle giggled. “Later, all right? I have to make sure it works first.” Then she burst out laughing in earnest.

“He could be here in a few hours,” Josh said neutrally.

Leaning back against the railing of the gazebo, Lucas frowned. “I know. I wonder if it’s necessary, though. We’re getting jumpy, maybe that’s all it is. We have to find that mask, the cache—or both. Nothing says there has to be trouble.”

“But if there is trouble? Kelsey’s damned good, we both know that. Zach would be insurance. We couldn’t risk coming in here with guns and walkie-talkies, so we really don’t
have
insurance. And if we’re going to search the house tonight, we may well need all the help we can get.”

“Guards patrol after the house is locked up,” Lucas noted.

“Yes. He’ll slip in before.”

Lucas sighed explosively. “I want it to be
over
. I want that bastard behind bars. The way he looks at Kyle isn’t normal. I could understand if he loved her, but I don’t think he feels
any emotion for her at all. He just—thinks. Cold-bloodedly.”

“Raven said something along those lines. It’s worrying her.”

“It’s worrying me too. Kyle made light of it, but I think he scared her out here a little while ago. He told her she’d marry him, then threatened her with disinheritance.”

Josh whistled softly. “Ruthless.”

“I’ll say.”

Calmly Josh said, “Her father won’t do that, you know.”

Lucas looked at him curiously. “Kyle thinks he will.”

Smiling a little, Josh said, “No. He’s of the old guard: Family first and damn everybody else. Disinherit his only child? Terrible scandal. He’d put a good face on it if she married the butler.”

Lucas grinned a little. “Well, she’s marrying me. One step
below
the butler.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Josh said. “You’re going to save his daughter from the consequences
of Rome’s folly. You might even get a smile out of him. Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

“Shall we go and find our ladies before they give in to their instincts and scratch Zamara’s eyes out?”

“I suppose it would be bad form to let them.”

“Not cricket at all.”

Kelsey sat back and put his binoculars aside. “Lot of meetings going on down there,” he reported into his microphone.

“Meetings between whom?” Hagen asked ominously.

“Kyle and Rome. Kyle and Luc. Josh and Luc. Raven and Kyle. Raven, Kyle, and Zamara.” He paused to reflect for a moment. “You know, they just don’t act like agents.” He put the earpiece back in place when the sputtering had subsided.

“Is anybody
working
?” Hagen asked.

“Beats the hell out of me. Luc reported in a
little while ago, nothing new. Except those fences. Mended, I’d say.”

There was a moment of silence, then Hagen grasped his meaning. “Kendrick and Miss Griffon?”

“Uh-huh. They have that look.”

Hagen sighed. “When does Kendrick check in again?”

“After lunch. We’re all right unless Rome wonders why there’s so much activity in the maze. I suppose he’ll put it down to young love, though.”

“Are they
planning
to work?”

“The plan is to search the house tonight. I don’t know, though, boss. It’s a pretty slim chance. Big house.”

“It’s all we’ve got. Build a fire under them.”

“They’ll do what they can. You know that.”

“Yes. Report in when you’ve talked to Kendrick again.”

“Aye, aye.”

Kelsey put the headset aside, then picked up
the binoculars again and looked at the house. He focused on an upper window, frowning.

Martin Rome was looking down on the terrace where Raven and Kyle sat talking.

Being a good host, Martin Rome had available numerous activities to save his guests from possible boredom. There were horses on the estate. Tennis. A heated pool. Even a small golf course.

Lucas, Kyle, Josh, and Raven went riding, deciding that they might as well go on being a foursome. Several other guests went along, which prevented private discussions.

Lunch was a drawn-out affair with all guests attending, and it was well into the afternoon before Lucas and Kyle could slip away to the maze again for their check-in with Kelsey.

What he had to tell them sent them back to the house in a sober frame of mind. They found a private moment to report to Josh and Raven, sobering them as well.

“He couldn’t have heard anything,” Kyle mused as the four of them stood alone in the trophy room.

Raven bit a knuckle thoughtfully. “Maybe he didn’t have to. Just seeing us with Her Highness may have unsettled him. We have to assume so, anyway, and be on guard.”

Josh looked at Lucas and raised a quizzical brow. “Zach?”

“I think so. Just in case.”

Raven laughed softly. “Good. I’m curious to see if Teddy comes along.”

Lucas sighed as the other two went to use the phone in their bedroom. “Just as well, I suppose. When this gang gets together, things usually happen.”

Taking advantage of the moments alone, Kyle slid her arms around his waist. “What’s this about Teddy coming along?”

“Zach will try to keep her out of this,” Lucas explained. “He doesn’t want her in his kind of jungle.”

Kyle thought about that. “You mean because of the danger?”

“Yes. Zach was born to it. Danger, I mean. And it’s against his very nature to allow someone he loves to follow the same trails. He’s probably pacing like a caged cat right now because he isn’t here watching over Josh. And me.”

“Will Teddy come along?”

“Oh, yes.”

Curiously she said, “You sound certain.”

“I am. Teddy is the only person I’ve ever known who can make Zach act against his own nature anytime she wants. Josh can do it sometimes—but not all the time.”

She smiled up at him. “You’re all very close, aren’t you?”

“Well, we’ve been together for years, and in some pretty sticky situations from time to time.” He thought about their relationships, realizing that Kyle wanted to understand, and trying to frame a good explanation. “I guess Josh is our—pivot. And not because he’s the
boss. He knows things about all of us that he keeps to himself. For instance, I know he hasn’t told anyone but Raven about that favor he did for me ten years ago.”

“He helped you through that time, didn’t he?”

Lucas brushed a strand of hair back from her face, his fingers lingering to touch her cheek. “Yes, he did. He didn’t ask questions, but he listened when I got drunk one night.” He grinned a little. “He even got drunk along with me. Now that’s friendship.”

Kyle smiled up at him. “I’m glad he was there for you.”

“So am I. If he hadn’t steadied me then, God knows what I would have done.” Lucas drew a deep breath. “And now I’ve got you, love.”

“You certainly have,” she murmured.

K
YLE MANAGED TO
study the Rome family book several times during the day, disappointed not to find some clue as to where Rome might have hidden the artwork. She found plenty of information, most of it slanted to show the family in a good light no matter what; she found the Rome crest, which was an elaborately ornate
R
set within a series of double-lined boxes; she even found a motto, or rather a little jingle that one of Martin’s ancestors must have penned and had included in the book.

But nothing about a hidden room or vault.

It was important to Kyle that Lucas’s work here be completed successfully. She believed it was the last remnant of the past that needed to be settled.

But by the time for dinner came that night, they still had come no closer to having any idea where to look. Lucas slipped out to the maze to report a final time to Kelsey that they had no choice but to search tonight, returning to tell the others that Zach and his new wife had indeed arrived. Between them they had decided where best to slip the new arrivals into the house and when.

All they needed was a sleeping household.

The party dragged on. Kyle was at first relieved that Zamara had redoubled her efforts to keep Rome ensnared, staying with him constantly and keeping her hands off other women’s men. But as the night wore on, she began to be uneasy. And she wasn’t the only one.

“Look at him,” Raven murmured at one
point. “His eyes are glassy. She’s got him right on the edge.”

“But on the edge of what?” Lucas responded softly. He drew Kyle a bit nearer to his side, worried because that glassy stare occasionally wandered in her direction.

Josh was studying the older man across the room, and his expression was a bit grim. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. I think it’d be best for all concerned if we get this job wrapped up tonight.”

“You won’t get an argument from me.” Luc checked his watch. “Midnight. The party’s breaking up quickly. Zach and Teddy should be waiting.”