by Joyce
"Humph! Like that's the way to get well! When they send me home, then I'll get well."
"Don't be so stubborn!"
"Never mind! What about you? When are you coming home?"
"Soon, I hope. I don't know yet. But I'll call every day so you know I'm all right."
"You just remember what I told you and you'll be all right."
"I will."
"I love you, darlin'!"
"I love you, Lessie."
"Rae?” Dr. Salter took the phone back.
"Thanks, Doc. I'm glad you got the coverage to call down to Georgia. I'll give you the money back when I see you."
"I didn't do anything. I came to the hospital and there was a new phone waiting for me complete with national coverage. What a kick, huh?"
"Where'd it come from?” Rae asked suspiciously.
"Someone from the Solutions Corporation gave it to me. Said he flew it down special. Anyway, you have the number. I'm going to leave the phone with Lessie so you can talk to her when you like. Good luck down there. Be careful."
"I will, Doc, thanks."
Rae hung up the phone and deliberated about whether or not to change for dinner. She didn't want to make too big a deal of it but Steve was in a suit and tie. She changed her pants and sweater for a favorite dress of hers. It never wrinkled and the color was good on her. The peach tones added highlights to her face and made her hair look a shade lighter. Lessie said it harmonized with her aura.
She looked at her face in the mirror as she added a dash of lipstick and a little glow of soft color to her eyelids. She clipped on gold earrings that had belonged to her mother. She was excited about being with Steve. Despite everything. She felt like a teenager going out on her first date. It was just dinner. She forced herself to walk sedately downstairs. She was working for Steve. Not dating him.
She found the small dining room without any trouble. It was empty. Disappointment was thick in her throat as she took her seat at the table. Mrs. Hamilton bustled in with Michael following behind her. They brought two huge fresh vegetable and fruit plates, one in front of her and the other opposite her.
"Mr. Williams was called away on the phone for a moment but he'll be back,” Alabaster assured her briskly. “He says that you're to go on without him."
Rae nodded and sipped her ice water. She wanted to slap herself for caring if Steve was going to be there. So much for reminding yourself that you're not going to get involved with him. She never thought she was the kind of woman who couldn't live without a man in her life. Apparently she was wrong. She was like a silly schoolgirl anticipating him being there. No question. She was going to have to get out more when she got home.
The small room was quiet around her. A fire crackled in the hearth, making the room smell like pine. The golden light reflected off the dark, wood paneled walls. It was a very masculine room. A very private room. It seemed more like Steve than the rest of the house. Maybe Sharin hadn't made it that far with her decorating ideas. It wasn't as flamboyant or colorful. The table was intimate. The two chairs were big and upholstered in shades of cream and brown.
She took her glass of water and went to look at the paintings on the wall. One was Maxfield Parrish, the other Gainsborough. Eclectic but they went well with the muted ambiance of the room.
"I'm sorry. I haven't been in the office for a few days. Things get tangled up that way. How's your grandmother?” Steve walked to the side table and opened a panel in the wall.
She watched him pour whiskey into a cut crystal glass. “She's doing well. And thank you for sending the phone to Dr. Salter."
"There were three sales reps in the area. It wasn't a big deal."
"Maybe not to you, but I appreciate it. I'll give you the money for it."
Steve took a sip of his drink and looked up at her. “Come on, Rae. Look around. I don't think I'm going to miss it, do you?"
"That's not the idea. We have a working relationship."
"And sometimes employers give gifts. Please, consider it a gift."
"All right.” She relented with difficulty. “Thank you."
"I know it was a hardship for you to come here on such short notice. Especially under the circumstances.” He took a seat at the table opposite her. “This doesn't bother you, does it? I don't have to drink, if it does."
"It doesn't.” She glanced up from the golden liquid in his glass. “I choose to be sober. Could you really stop drinking that easily?"
"Not every drinker is an alcoholic."
"That's true. But some alcoholics start out as drinkers who drink when they're worried and happy and—"
"I'll be glad to get rid of it if it bothers you.” He said the words quietly but there was restrained temper in his tone.
"I've been there.” She returned with equal restraint. “I don't ever plan on going back again."
Rae felt awkward and uncomfortable as they started eating. The room was too quiet. She was too aware of being alone with him. Too aware of him. They were so different yet circumstances made them intimate with each other's lives. In real life, they would never have met. Yet here they were having dinner together.
"What did you drink?"
She swallowed hard on a piece of carrot and took a hasty drink of water to clear her throat. “Excuse me?"
"When you drank.” His gaze pinned her to the chair. “What did you drink?"
"Jack Daniels.” Like you.
"Ah, excellent choice. There's nothing like Jack to make you forget your problems."
"I've been dry for two years.” She wondered if this was leading somewhere.
"I wish I could say the same for Sharin.” He guided them down another path. “She's got a problem but she won't admit it."
Rae sipped her water. “She's the only one who can do it."
"I know. She's really gone off the deep end since Bryce—” His eyes darkened and he looked away. “Since Bryce has been gone. It's only been a few days but it seems like a lifetime."
Chapter Seven
Rae sympathized. “I've been through it with other people, it never gets any easier."
"And she blames me, of course. If I didn't have Bryce at the office. Or if I didn't have anything to offer someone who wanted to harm her. The list goes on."
"You've managed to keep going better than most."
"Not really. We're just good at keeping up appearances around here. It's what we do all the time.” There was a lingering trace of bitterness in his voice.
"I wish I could offer something more.” She touched her napkin to keep from touching him. The urge to touch and be touched was almost overpowering.
He sat forward, searching her face. “You said you had something to ask me?"
"Bryce's kidnapping plays out like a few others the FBI are handling. It's what your experts tell you."
"Yes. What's your point? I brought you in because I don't agree with my experts and they weren't getting anywhere."
"Then you don't agree that she was kidnapped by a competitor?” Rae lowered her own awareness to let herself feel the flare in his. “What about the demands that were made?"
"No. I don't agree. Even with the demands."
"But they pertain to Solutions.” She pushed him. “Why don't you think it's possible?"
"Do the facts lean that way for you, Rae? You aren't an FBI agent now. I have a feeling you never shared that group mentality. What does your instinct tell you?"
"My instinct tells me that it's personal. That it's someone close to you. But the facts—"
"To hell with the facts,” he said, getting out of his chair.
"But you didn't like the idea that it could be someone close to you either. You can't have it both ways."
"I don't know.” Irritation edged his voice. “I create software. At least I did. Now I sit in an office and decide what to do with a company that has a bigger budget than most governments. I probably have some enemies. But I don't think you have to look for them among my friends. I don't know anything about corporate es
pionage. I just want Bryce back."
Electric current sparked between them. Rae moved back to avoid being zapped. Emotion always heightened psychic ability. Unfortunately, it also clouded judgment on how to use it.
Steve threw down his napkin. “It's all right. I didn't expect anything more from you."
"For what it's worth, I agree with you that it's not corporate. I could be wrong. Despite my gift, I have been wrong. I want you to realize that before we go on."
He reached out his hand and held hers securely, like he was determined to ignore the static shock between them. “And you could be right. I read your cases, Rae. There were times when you disagreed with the facts and you were right."
She shifted uncomfortably, trying to contain the random images that flew between them. Her skin was sensitized to his touch. Her heightened senses picked up everything about him. The curve of his lips. The angle of his eyebrows. Her mouth caressing his throat. Her fingers tangled in his hair. Stroking down his hard belly, her lips pressed against his hot flesh. “I want to give Bryce every chance to survive."
"Don't lose your confidence now. I need you. Bryce needs you.” His finger stroked absently against hers.
Rae stood up abruptly, severing their link. “I'd like to see Bryce's room."
"Okay. I'll take you up there."
"I'm here to find Bryce.” She said the words out loud in a defiant voice. Are you reminding him or yourself?
"You wouldn't be here now if you weren't."
"Now?” Rae wasn't a prude. She didn't have a problem with her own sexuality. Normally. But this wasn't a normal circumstance. Nothing that happened between them was normal. “I wouldn't be here at all."
"Stop fighting me.” He got to his feet and slid his arm around her. “If we met any other way, it would be the same. This is a bad time and the wrong place. But I know what I feel when I look at you. When I touch you."
Rae was breathing heavily. This time the link was stronger. She was trapped between two different raptures. The one of his physical touch seared her. But the vision of their entwined bodies engulfed her. His hand slid up her arm. Her eyes were captured by the intensity of his gaze. He pressed her close to him. They fit snugly against each other, hip-to-hip, breast-to-breast.
"What I don't know,” he said softly, his mouth close to hers, “is what you feel."
Her mouth shaped itself for his kiss by the time his lips found hers. She anticipated it, was excited by it. She relished the deep heat that coursed through her body at the thought. Only a word would break the spell he wove between them. Only a moment or a careless cough. Rae stopped thinking and kept very still.
Steve touched her lips with his finger. She closed her eyes and let her mouth part slightly at his touch. She tickled his finger with the tip of her tongue. It was the most natural thing for his mouth to graze hers then return for a longer, deeper taste. His tongue caressed hers, asking, cajoling, persuading, until hers joined his intimate dance. Their mouths were tightly fused, slanted hungrily across each other.
Rae pressed closer. His arms came tightly around her. His kisses created a hum inside of her. Pictures flashed across her eyes. Emotions flowed from him to her, illuminating a moving river of feeling. She touched him and shards of light cascaded around her senses. It was like she'd been dead inside and he suddenly brought her back to life.
The kisses grew deeper, hotter. He drew her into him as he touched her. She pressed closer, wanting more. She couldn't get enough no matter how she slanted her mouth to fit her lips to his. He gave her more as she asked for it with her body but each time, the hunger grew.
His hand touched the ripe tip of her breast and she broke away from him, panting and staring at him with wild eyes. She could see the damage she did to his shirt where she pulled it out and unfastened a few of the buttons without realizing it. Without realizing it. That was the frightening part.
Mrs. Hamilton knocked at the door. “Telephone, sir. It's them finally."
"The kidnapers.” Steve was breathing hard. “Come with me."
Rae followed him across the house to the study, a big room filled from floor to ceiling with books and software. She waited while he switched on the speakerphone, taking a chair near the smoked glass desk.
"Are you there, Mr. Williams?” The voice was unreal on the other end of the line.
"I'm here,” Steve replied tautly.
Rae fought to control the tendrils of sexuality that held her. It was so much more than his touch or his kiss. He was already inside of her. His awareness stroked her senses, soothed her fears. The visions were so strong, so real.
She had to focus. She could see the strain it caused for Steve to listen to Bryce's kidnapers and not be able to act against them.
"You're doing a good job with the company.” It was hard to describe the voice as male or female. It was purposely muffled and electronically altered in some way.
A well-known voice. Rae grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and wrote down her thoughts. It enhanced her theory that it was someone Steve knew well. No one would go through both processes unless he or she was really afraid of being recognized.
"I want Bryce back. I'm tired of your games.” Steve's voice was firm even though Rae knew he'd end up doing whatever they wanted. The kidnappers knew that, too.
"And you'll get her back as soon as it's all over."
"What now?"
"We want you to sell half of your stock in Solutions."
"Why?"
"It's the best way of being sure you won't be able to recover from this. You have the abilities of a cat to bounce back from hard times, Mr. Williams."
"All right. What do you want me to do with the money?"
"We're not hard hearted,” the voice assured him sarcastically. “You can keep half the money. Give the rest to charity. Make it big! But you can't keep the company."
This crystallized the events for Rae. It wasn't a corporate vendetta. It was a personal one. The we part of the message suggested that there was more than one of them. That stood to reason. Whoever was primarily responsible probably hired help. The voice on the phone was authoritative. This was the ringmaster of the circus.
"I want to talk to Bryce.” Anger darkened Steve's handsome face. “I won't do another thing you ask without talking to Bryce. And it damn well better be a real conversation, not just something you recorded for me."
"Of course."
There was a shuffling sound on the other end of the line. Whispered words of a threat to a little girl who wanted to know that someone still loved her and was trying to bring her home.
"Uncle Steve?” Her voice floated out over the speakerphone.
"Bryce, honey.” Steve's jaw clenched as he fought to control his emotions. “Are you all right?"
"I'm okay. I miss you."
"Bryce, I'm going to get you home! Don't give up! I'm going to get you home."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"No heroics, Mr. Williams,” the voice cautioned. “We don't want to hurt her."
They could both hear Bryce crying softly, calling for him. Rae's heart went out to both the child and the man. She forced herself to stay clear-headed and unemotional. She listened intently to the rest of the noises that made up the background. Impressions filled her. She had to separate the important ones from the ones that didn't matter.
"No heroics,” Steve finally said out loud. “I'll sell off those shares. Give me a schedule for getting Bryce back."
"Good. We'll contact you tomorrow. Take care."
The line went dead. Steve switched off the speakerphone and sank into the chair behind the desk. “Now we know. They won't hurt Bryce as long as I slowly dismantle the company. Everything I've worked for against everything I love."
Rae kept her emotional distance. “Is your phone being monitored?"
"Yes. It has been from the beginning. They always call from a cell phone. They can't make the trace."
The door burst open. Sh
arin swept into the room, glaring at Rae as she entered.
"What's she doing here? I thought Bryce's life was more important to you than that!"
Steve cleared his throat and sat back in his chair. “Rae and I are close, Sharin. You might as well get used to her being around."
"Close? How can you think of something so obscene at a time like this? You don't have a heart, Steve! You have a stone where your heart should be! You're busy boffing her while these people are threatening to kill your brother's only child! You can replace anything or anyone, can't you? That's what having money and power has done to you!"
"Go away, Sharin. This wasn't any different from the other calls. I talked to Bryce. She's alive. They won't let me have her back."
"What exactly did they say? You wouldn't have shut David out of this! You can't shut me out! I want to know!"
There was something there between them briefly. It tantalized the air with possibilities and hung like a predator, waiting to release its venom. The moment passed and nothing came of it. It didn't dissipate. It simply backed away. David. Sharin. Steve.
Rae was curious about the moment between them. What was it? Was there something that they wouldn't say in front of her? It was in the tone of Sharin's voice. It made her sense that there was something wrong besides the kidnapping. It was there every time they mentioned David's name.
"They want me to sell half of my shares in Solutions. They want me to keep half the money and give the rest to charity."
Sharin shook her head and her blond ringlets danced. “I don't understand why they want to ruin you! Why don't they just kill you and leave Bryce and me alone?"
"I guess they're not in their right minds, Sharin, otherwise, they'd want money."
Sharin folded her arms across her chest and paced the room. “Why not shut down the whole thing now? That must be what they want in the long run."
"Only a strip at a time.” Steve ignored her frantic insults. “I'm supposed to suffer."
"What about the rest of us? We're suffering, Bryce and me! What about us? We haven't done anything to deserve this! You were the one who had to build up the company, no matter what the cost. You ruined our lives to be king of the hill! You ruined David's life. Are you going to let his daughter die for it, too?"
