Deadly Gift

by Heather Graham

  She asked him wistfully, “What will it be like, in America?”

  He paused, his fork halfway to his mouth, surprised to hear something that sounded suspiciously like anxiety in her tone.

  “You’ll love the O’Riley place. Sean’s grandfather built the house. He bought the land when you could still afford to buy on the coast. The house is on a hill, with a view of the sea that’s beautiful on a good day and even better on a stormy one. And you’ll love Bridey, Sean’s aunt. You’ll like Kat, too. She’s already home for Christmas…. You’ll have to take a tour of the mansions, which are amazing, especially when they’re all decked out for Christmas. Newport’s not as old as Dublin, but it’s still got a lot of history. You’ll enjoy your visit, I promise.” He shrugged, grinning. “Marni—she’s married to Cal, the other partner—can be a witch, but just ignore her. Kat and Bridey will adore you. And Bridey…well, she might have left Ireland, but as the saying goes, Ireland never left her.”

  She looked up at him, a slight shadow in her eyes and something vulnerable in her expression, but the look was quickly gone. “We should head out. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

  “Yes, you’re right.”

  They didn’t linger over their goodbyes. Mary gave Caer a huge hug, and Caer returned it warmly. Zach told himself he had to be mistaken. There was nothing suspicious about Caer Cavannaugh.

  Except…there was.

  They walked back to the hotel, where he ran upstairs to get her bags, then assured her that he would call a car and get her home safely.

  She told him not to bother, and when he insisted, she said, “I want to go back to the hospital and check on Sean.”

  “Then we’ll go together.”

  “That’s not necessary. You must be exhausted, and you said you have an associate there watching over him.”

  “Right. So you don’t need to go, either. But if you do, then I’ll go with you,” he said firmly, wondering why he felt so strongly about the subject.

  She stared at him in frustration.

  What was she afraid of? he wondered. What would he discover if he did take her home?

  Maybe she had come from poverty and didn’t want him knowing.

  Maybe, but she had to be doing all right now; the shopping bags she carried were from high-end stores.

  “To the hospital then,” she said.

  They were long past visiting hours, he assumed, but there were no questions asked. Caer merely said good evening to the guard on duty, who stared at her, smiled slowly, then watched without protest as they headed to the elevator.

  They passed the nurses’ station with equal ease and headed down the quiet hallway to Sean’s room. Just as they reached the door, an orderly stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, heavily muscled, and his face was rough-hewn and showed the signs of a hard life.

  “Flynn?” the man asked.

  “Travis?”

  “Aye.”

  Zach introduced Caer, but Will Travis smiled and said, “Of course. I’ve seen Miss Cavannaugh with Mr. O’Riley.”

  He took Caer’s hand and appeared loath to let it go. She was polite, but she retrieved her hand decisively.

  “A quiet evening?” Zach asked.

  “Oh, aye.” The man’s eyes lingered on Caer.

  “Was Mrs. O’Riley in?”

  “She was. Came about an hour and a half ago, and she was a bit distraught when I told her that I was a friend of your brother, and that I’d been instructed not to let Mr. O’Riley alone for a moment. She was all right in the end, though. Mr. O’Riley had his medication at ten, including a mild sedative, just to give him a good night’s rest. I’ve been watching ever since.”

  “It’s all right,” Caer said suddenly. “I’ll stay now.”

  “We’ll stay,” Zach corrected.

  Caer frowned. “But you’ve got your lovely hotel room, and you really need some rest.”

  “I can sleep anywhere,” he told her.

  “Now then, neither of you has to stay here,” Will Travis protested. “Aidan was a good friend to me when I needed him, and I’ve no problem being here for the night, as planned.”

  “Will, thank you. But we’ll both stay,” Zach said firmly.

  Travis, his eyes falling longingly on Caer again, said, “I’ll be near my cell through the night, then. If you need anything, just call me.”

  “Will do, thanks,” Zach assured him.

  He didn’t know why the hell he was so obsessed about staying if Caer was there. He had left the hospital easily enough before, trusting in Aidan’s assurance that Will Travis was the real deal and damned good at what he did.

  There was a recliner in the room, and he insisted that Caer take it. He opted for a more conventional chair, but leaned it back against the far wall. The darkness in the room, the muted light from the hall and the hum of the heating system seemed to wrap him like a blanket. He tried to keep his eyes open, but he couldn’t help it. He drifted. He slept lightly, though, knowing that he would be aware and awake if something out of the ordinary happened.

  He wasn’t sure about Caer, he thought just as sleep overcame him. He had a feeling that her hypnotic blue eyes remained open in the shadows.

  It seemed to Bridey that she was dreaming more than ever these days, and that her dreams were in brilliant color, so real, like those high-definition movies Sean liked to rent.

  It was near dawn, and she knew she was asleep, just as she knew that it was just around noon in Ireland. Sean would be on his way back, and this evening he would be home. Zach would be with him, and somehow, she knew, he would set things to right.

  She knew all this as she slept and, in her dreams, returned to the sweeping hills and quiet dells of the Irish countryside.

  It was all so real. That grass beneath her feet, dew-damp and delicious. And the air…There was such a sweetness to it. She was running through the grass, and she was young and beautiful again.

  She could see the cottage ahead of her again, and the man in front of the cottage.

  Eddie.

  She ran toward him, anxious, worried.

  And yet, as she neared him, she slowed.

  Because the creases formed by time, wind and wear seemed to be fading from his face as she knew they had faded from her own. He had been like a son to her, just as Sean had been. She’d never had her own children, nor even a husband, but Sean was her blood, and Eddie had become family, as well. Like Sean, he was passionate in his pursuit of history and its treasures—real treasures, like gold coins and long-lost gems, and the treasures that came with knowledge and discovery. She’d loved sailing with her boys, as she called them. Fools, in a way, both of them, daring to go out when the wind howled and storms threatened. But they loved the sea, maybe more than either had ever loved a woman, though Sean had married twice, while Eddie had never settled for one.

  “Bridey!” Eddie waved to her as he spoke.

  But he wasn’t Eddie as he’d been of late but the lad she had once known, with a twinkle in his eyes and a love of life. The lad who had brought her flowers on Mother’s Day and never forgotten to honor her when St. Pat’s Day rolled around.

  She kept going, running through the grass, but he seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

  “Eddie!” she called with distress.

  “You can’t come yet, not all the way, Bridey. But I’ll be waiting,” he told her.

  “Eddie, you have to help us. We can’t find you,” she told him.

  He stared back at her, perplexed. “I can’t help you. There’s too much I don’t know, that I didn’t figure out. I wish I could help you, but I can’t. I love you, Bridey.”

  “Eddie, lad, we love you, too.”

  “Bridey, go back now, go on back. I’ll be here. I’ll be waiting.”

  Eddie faded. No, he didn’t fade. He’d been there, then he simply…wasn’t. The cottage, too, was gone, and the sweet, rich scent of the grass that had ridden on the air.

  The damp grass was gone from
beneath her feet, and there was something hard in its place.

  She was shrouded in the pale yellow light of the moon. Her old bones ached, as she felt a chill sweep through her.

  Startled, she realized that she was fully awake, and that she had risen in her sleep and walked over to the window. The cold of winter was on the pane she touched as she looked out to the sea.

  To the bay.

  Where Eddie had gone.

  Once again she knew the truth. Knew for a certainty that Eddie was dead.

  Fear gripped her. Fear for Sean.

  Her old heart fluttered. She couldn’t lose Sean, too. She couldn’t lose both her boys. It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be the natural way of things, though fate was often wickedly cruel as one generation made way for the next.

  Her heart beat hard again. By tonight. By tonight they would be home, and somehow, everything would all be right.

  As she stood there, it felt as if a darkness descended again, as if shadow wings beat down around her. It should have been a frightening sensation, she thought, but it wasn’t. She felt stronger.

  Eddie was dead, but someone out there was listening to her prayers, and Sean would be home by tonight.

  Zach didn’t know how long he drifted—maybe an hour or two. He woke, senses sharp, eyes flying open. He didn’t move, though; he waited silently, trying to discern the source of his sudden alarm.

  There was someone in the room. Someone besides Sean and Caer, and somehow he knew the intruder was not a nurse or a hospital employee. Whoever it was had entered quietly, and apparently hadn’t noticed him or Caer.

  The intruder—attacker?—wore a coat, but there was something odd about it, a strange glint of light emanating from it. He—she?—also had on a strangely shaped hat.

  For a moment, pure adrenaline shot through Zach, and he was ready to tackle the figure.

  But then he paused, not sure whether to be furious, embarrassed or alarmed.

  “Sean? Honey?” the newcomer said.

  Amanda.

  She swept open the coat.

  Beneath it, she was wearing only flimsy panties and a bra adorned with tiny Christmas lights, which explained the glow, and the strange hat proved to be a Santa cap.

  Amanda, still oblivious to everyone but Sean, shimmied seductively. “Hey, baby. Amanda is here to make it all better.”

  She let the coat drop all the way to the floor.

  The panties were a thong. Her buttocks reflected blinking red and green lights.

  “Amanda?” Sean said groggily, waking from a deep sleep.

  Zach rose, clearing his throat, just as a light came on.

  Amanda jumped, then looked around, eyes wide. She stared at Zach, but she didn’t scream, only smiled slowly. Then her gaze moved around the room and focused on Caer, who had risen to turn on the overhead lights. The flirtatious look she had given Zach turned into something ugly.

  Because, Zach thought fleetingly, even fully dressed, with her hair tousled and her eyes sleepy, Caer’s far more seductive than you’ll ever be, blinking nipples, Santa hat and all.

  He dismissed the thought and focused on the situation.

  Amanda was angry. “What in God’s name are you doing in my husband’s room, in the middle of the night?” she asked Caer accusingly.

  “I’m his nurse,” Caer reminded her. “And in case you’ve forgotten, your husband’s doctors said that he isn’t to have any excitement—and until he’s released, their orders are the law.”

  Amanda spun and stared at Zach, but she still didn’t reach for her coat. Her expression softened. She clearly liked men in general and didn’t like other women.

  “Zach, you know I’m the best medicine in the world for him,” she said.

  “Amanda,” he said, trying to keep his eyes steady on hers. It wasn’t easy. She did have magnificent breasts.

  Sean had bought them for her as a wedding present, and there was no way to deny it: they were distracting when blinking.

  “Amanda, you heard his nur—doctor’s orders.”

  “Oh, pooh,” Amanda said with a pout.

  There was a flurry of activity in the hallway, and then one of the nurses on night duty and Will Travis—still dressed as an orderly and having obviously ignored Zach’s instructions to go home—strode in.

  The nurse gasped.

  Will Travis laughed.

  “I never!” the nurse said. She was a large, boxy woman, and indignation was clear on her features.

  “I’ll bet that’s true,” Amanda muttered nastily.

  “Amanda, my love, put on your coat, please,” Sean said from the bed. He seemed fully awake and aware, despite the mild sedative he had been given.

  “Oh. Oh, dear,” Amanda said sarcastically. She stooped smoothly to retrieve her coat.

  “Mrs. O’Riley, we’ll not have such behavior in this hospital,” the night nurse said firmly. “Ye’ve disturbed Mr. O’Riley, and he needs his sleep if he’s to be leaving in the morning.”

  “Fine,” Amanda said with a huff. She looked at Sean, and he looked back with a glimmer of humor in his eyes.

  “Sorry, dear,” he said, clearly amused.

  “You’ll have to leave,” the nurse insisted to Amanda.

  “Me? I’m his wife,” Amanda protested.

  “And ye canna be trusted,” the nurse said.

  “Dear, we’re leaving in a matter of hours,” Sean reminded her. Zach noticed that the older man still looked amused, and even a little bit proud. Well, he was in his seventies, with a beautiful young wife. He deserved to puff himself up a bit. “Zach, Amanda was just trying to cheer me up, but I think it would be better if I got some more sleep right now. Will you see her back to the hotel for me?”

  Zach glanced at Caer, and she looked back at him steadily. She would be here, and Will Travis had remained on duty. He bowed to Sean’s will and turned to Amanda.

  “Come on, Amanda, let’s get you back to the hotel. We all have to be up early, anyway.”

  She nodded grudgingly, then smiled at her husband. “Tomorrow night we’ll be back home, sweetie,” she said.

  “Where you’ll have to practice a bit of restraint for a while, as well,” Caer told her firmly.

  Amanda flushed furiously as Caer went on, “You’d be risking his life. Haven’t you understood that?”

  Amanda at last had the grace to appear abashed.

  “I only want to help Sean get better,” she announced indignantly. She stared at them all defiantly for a moment, then moved to the bed and kissed Sean tenderly on the forehead. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight for a moment.

  Then he released her. “Get on back to the hotel,” he told her.

  “Yes, darling,” she said, and straightened with great dignity.

  Unfortunately, the effect was ruined by the blinking lights that continued to shine from beneath her coat. She started for the door but stopped when Sean said, “Amanda?”

  “Yes?”

  “Your chest is still lighting up like a neon sign,” he informed her wryly.

  “Oh!” For the first time she actually had the grace to look embarrassed.

  She dug into her coat and found whatever little gizmo turned the lights out. Then she tossed the freshly coiffed length of her platinum blond hair from away from her face and proceeded out of the room.

  Zach followed her, glancing back at Caer. She offered him a small smile that she couldn’t quite conceal, and yet there was something grave in her eyes, and he knew that they were both wondering if Amanda had come out of love for her husband or…

  If she understood the gravity of the stress the illness had put on Sean’s heart, and had come offering what she knew might well be a death sentence.

  6

  Amanda sat next to Sean for the flight home, and Zach was next to Caer.

  She had told him that she had never flown before, and judging by her nervousness, that was certainly no lie.

  She was tense and embarrassed, but he
couldn’t help being aware of the subtle scent of her perfume. When his arms brushed against hers, he felt her warmth and something deeper, her unique vitality and vibrancy, like pure fire. He moved quickly away, feeling ridiculous for being so entranced by a woman he couldn’t help being suspicious of. The thought haunted him constantly, like an otherworldly warning never to accept the obvious, and not to fall too deeply beneath the spell of those cobalt eyes and the lilt in her tone. It was odd, because as much as he sensed that there was something she wasn’t telling him, when he watched her with Sean, she seemed absolutely genuine.

  As they waited to take off, the flight attendant came by with champagne, orange juice and mimosas. Caer started digging in her purse for money, so he reached over and touched her on the arm to get her attention. “It’s all right. It’s free in first class.”

  She put away her money, thanked the flight attendant and took a mimosa, then sat back and sank into her thoughts.

  Maybe she was worried about dealing with Amanda, he thought.

  In his entire life, Sean had never been anything but courteous to those around him, even when he was working to develop the small, struggling business he’d inherited into the successful concern it was now.

  For Amanda, life had been a bit different. Sean had worked for the money he had. Amanda had married into it. He knew that she considered herself superior to the hired help, and in her mind, that’s all Caer was. Amanda had made it clear that she didn’t see any need to bring Caer back to the States with them, but Sean disagreed. And when Sean had decided on something, not even Amanda could dissuade him.

  She knew that. She had tested her limits early in their marriage and finally learned them.

  Zach just hoped she stopped glaring at Caer and didn’t spend her time thinking up ways to make her stay in the U.S. a misery.

  As the plane sped down the runway, he saw Caer grip the armrests so hard that her knuckles were white.

  He reached over, placing his hand on hers. “We’re just getting up to the speed we need for takeoff,” he told her.

  “Thank you,” she said softly, but he could tell that she was still nervous.