Gypsy

by Carole Mortimer

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  SHE found Marilyn in the suite the other woman once used to share with Lyon, before they had gone their separate ways within the confines of their marriage. The other woman looked pale, moving restlessly about the room once she had let Shay inside.

  Shay watched her with puzzled eyes. ‘Is there anything wrong?’

  ‘Wrong?’ the other woman repeated sharply. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You seem upset,’ Shay shrugged, not wanting to get into an argument with Marilyn, just wanting to talk to her.

  ‘I’m perfectly well, thank you,’ Marilyn dismissed hardly. ‘Now what can I do for you?’

  ‘Tell me where Lyon is.’

  Irritation flickered in hard blue eyes. ‘Why do you want to know?’

  ‘Where is he, Marilyn?’ she demanded firmly.

  ‘I’ve already told the others, he’s in town,’ Marilyn snapped.

  ‘Could you be more precise?’

  ‘No!’

  Shay sighed. ‘Then do you have any idea when he will be back?’

  ‘None at all,’ the other woman answered scornfully.

  She should have known Marilyn wouldn’t be very helpful; she never had been in the past, Shay had no reason to suppose she would suddenly change now! ‘I’m sorry I bothered you,’ she said curtly.

  ‘Shay?’ Anxiety edged the other woman’s voice. ‘Why do you want to see him?’

  ‘It’s personal,’ she evaded. ‘And private.’

  ‘I see.’ Marilyn bristled resentfully.

  ‘I very much doubt it, Marilyn,’ the younger woman sighed wearily.

  ‘He was with me last night, you know,’ the other woman told her bitchily.

  ‘Yes, I do know.’ She met Marilyn’s gaze challengingly, sure that whatever had happened last night Lyon had not slept with this woman. Lyon loved her.

  Marilyn continued to look at her defiantly—and then she crumpled, her resentment gone, leaving only an emotionally-disturbed woman. ‘I love Lyon,’ she said brokenly.

  ‘Yes.’ Marilyn had confirmed what Shay already knew.

  ‘But I’m not in love with him,’ she added shakily. ‘I don’t think I ever was.’

  Shay frowned. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand?’

  ‘I love him too much to lie just so that I can hurt you. I don’t even dislike you, I just resent you because Lyon loves you in a way he never did me.’ The beautiful face was ravaged with emotion.

  ‘Marilyn—’

  ‘Listen to me, damn you!’ The older woman raised her voice. ‘Lyon did stay with me last night, but only because I asked him to, and not in the same bedroom.’ Her mouth twisted bitterly. ‘We haven’t shared a bed, even occasionally, since you.’

  Shay swallowed hard. ‘I’m sorry—’

  ‘Oh, believe me, so am I!’ Marilyn said self-derisively. ‘He’s the most fantastic lover I’ve ever known—or ever likely to know,’ she added regretfully.

  ‘Then why—’

  ‘Have affairs?’ Marilyn finished dryly. ‘Because I wasn’t enough for Lyon, couldn’t be what he wanted, or give him what he needed. And I don’t just mean children.’ Her voice was hard. ‘I didn’t fulfil him emotionally either. But you did. He would never have married you, but I think he would have stayed with you for the rest of his life. But you left him,’ she frowned. ‘I could never understand that when you obviously loved him so much.’

  Shay moistened dry lips. ‘Marilyn, I think there’s something you should know about six years ago, something that happened.’

  The other woman frowned at her grave tone. ‘Don’t tell me he used to beat you because I won’t believe it,’ she scorned. ‘He’s arrogant and strong, but he’s also the gentlest man I know.’

  Shay chewed on her bottom lip, not wanting to hurt this woman any more when she was obviously hurting so badly already. ‘Marilyn, I—I think you had better sit down,’ she advised gently.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I—’ She halted at the compassion in Shay’s face, sitting down abruptly. ‘Go ahead,’ she invited raggedly.

  Blue eyes darkened with pain and tears as Shay told Marilyn about the baby she had lost. She hadn’t wanted to hurt the other woman, but if she didn’t tell her, someone else would.

  ‘Oh God. It’s—I—It’s incredible!’ Marilyn finally gasped shakily. ‘I suppose there’s no doubt that it was Lyon’s—No,’ she dismissed woodenly, ‘it would have been Lyon’s baby; you never even looked at anyone else.’

  Shay wasn’t shocked, or even insulted that such a thought should have occurred to Marilyn; in fact, she had half expected it.

  ‘That was uncalled-for.’ Marilyn looked up at her ruefully, catching the humour in Shay’s eyes, giving a reluctant smile herself. ‘I’m sorry,’ she offered, ‘I’m just—dazed, I think.’ She shrugged incredulously. ‘And happy. For Lyon’s sake.’ She frowned. ‘But he seemed the same yesterday?’

  ‘Because he doesn’t know yet,’ Shay confirmed heavily.

  ‘Which is why you want to see him,’ realised Marilyn dryly.

  Shay felt she at least owed it to Lyon to be the one to tell him the truth. If he chose to throw her and Richard out of his life afterwards perhaps that would be best for all of them.

  ‘He—um—He’s doing something for me.’ Marilyn avoided looking at her directly. ‘But he should be back later. Lord, I’d like to see the look on his face when you tell him.’ She sounded awed. ‘It’s what he’s always wanted.’

  ‘Yes,’ Shay acknowledged flatly.

  ‘But it isn’t all he’s wanted,’ Marilyn hastened to tell her. ‘He wants a woman who will love him for himself, and not the Falconer name, who will spend time on him. I’m afraid when I married Lyon I wanted the Falconer name as much as I wanted him,’ she grimaced. ‘He knew that, of course, but he didn’t mind. And being a Falconer hasn’t done my career any harm at all.’

  ‘No woman should be expected to give up her career nowadays to devote all of her time to a man,’ Shay frowned. ‘It’s archaic!’

  Marilyn shook her head. ‘You misunderstood me. He didn’t want me to give it up, but he did think he should mean more to me than my career. He was right, of course, but I’ve always been very ambitious.’

  She nodded. ‘I’m sure that as Derrick is also a lawyer he’ll be more understanding about your career.’

  ‘Probably,’ the other woman bit out. ‘We—’ She glanced irritably at the door as Matthew knocked briefly before entering. ‘It’s usual to wait until you’re invited,’ she snapped.

  ‘You know, Marilyn,’ he drawled, ‘if you ever stopped being a shrew you just might become a nice person.’

  ‘The same goes for you being a bastard,’ she derided dryly. ‘Now would you mind explaining what you’re doing in here?’

  Hazel eyes hardened. ‘I don’t have to explain anything, Marilyn, I live here.’

  ‘You—’

  ‘It was a little rude of you to just burst in, Matthew,’ Shay cut in, seeing that the original query was going to be buried beneath the usual abuse these two generated when together. And without an audience Marilyn had been less brittle, less the bored cynic, and more a caring human being. It was a pity to see that quality disappear beneath her usual bitchiness.

  ‘Might I remind you that you’re a guest here too, Shay,’ he replied viciously.

  ‘Oh dear,’ Marilyn mused. ‘Who’s been rattling your cage, Matthew?’ she taunted.

  ‘Mind your own damned business!’ he snapped. ‘Shay, the police are downstairs waiting to see you,’ he told her hardly.

  ‘Police?’ Marilyn gasped, paling. ‘Nothing has happened to Lyon?’ she demanded anxiously.

  ‘It’s about your accident at Christmas,’ Matthew spoke to Shay, ignoring the other woman. ‘They want to talk to you about it again.’

  Two policemen had visited her in hospital the day after the accident. They had seemed faintly sceptical at the time, more or less implying that, in their own words, ‘it
was a party, drink flowing freely, you could have been mistaken in what happened’. Shay hadn’t expected to see them again, and her surprise must have shown in her face.

  ‘Patty and Lyon have managed to convince them that it wasn’t an accident after all,’ Matthew scowled.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Marilyn demanded to know.

  ‘Don’t you know?’ Matthew taunted.

  ‘Of course I don’t.’ Marilyn was angry now, tired of their game.

  ‘You stay here and explain to her, Matthew,’ Shay put in hastily, anxious to escape before this developed into a full-scale argument.

  ‘I’d rather come with you,’ he returned quickly.

  ‘And I want to know what’s going on,’ Marilyn insisted, her eyes hard.

  ‘Stay, Matthew,’ Shay encouraged. ‘After all, I have to go down and see the police.’ She hurried from the room before he could stop her, slowing her pace as she approached the lounge, apprehension and nervousness making her palms sweaty.

  She needn’t have worried, the same two policemen only came to tell her they were now treating their investigation seriously, and did she remember anything else about the night in question. As she didn’t, it seemed to her to be a wasted trip for them.

  Matthew frowned a few minutes later when he came into the room to find that Shay was alone. ‘Have they gone?’ He sounded incredulous.

  She grimaced. ‘I’m afraid so.’

  ‘Hardly worth the damned effort,’ he scowled.

  ‘At least they believe us now,’ she shrugged.

  ‘They could have telephoned and told us that,’ Matthew growled.

  ‘Yes.’ Shay looked at him worriedly; he certainly no longer seemed to be the happily engaged man of last night. ‘Who has been rattling your cage, Matthew?’ she prompted gently.

  He glanced at her with resentment. ‘What makes you think anyone has?’ he challenged.

  ‘Well, I realise this is the way you usually are,’ she taunted, ‘but I thought now that you’re going to be married—’

  ‘I’m not,’ he rasped.

  Purple eyes widened with dismay. ‘Matthew, I thought we had settled the question of your ridiculous pride yesterday—’

  ‘We did,’ he agreed harshly. ‘But we forgot to “settle the matter" of Patty’s job.’

  ‘Career,’ Shay put in instantly.

  Matthew gave her a scathing look. ‘What’s the matter with women nowadays?’ he said disgustedly. ‘Why do they have constantly to prove they’re as good as men—if not better!’

  ‘They don’t,’ she teased him. ‘But that isn’t to say we aren’t entitled to a career.’

  ‘Patty risks her life—’

  ‘We all do, every morning, after we get out of bed!’

  ‘This isn’t funny, Shay,’ he bit out coldly. ‘Patty has just told me that she intends carrying on with her job after we’re married.’

  ‘And why not? You don’t intend starting a family straight away, do you?’

  He gave her an impatient look as she deliberately misunderstood. ‘I can’t let her do it, Shay,’ he said in a tormented voice. ‘If anything should happen to her …!’

  ‘Matthew,’ she spoke gently, ‘just because Patty loves you and wants to marry you doesn’t mean she belongs to you body and soul, that your wishes instantly become her own. She’s twenty-eight years old,’ Shay reasoned. ‘Besides loving you and being your wife she has plans and dreams of her own. Would you give up your career for her?’

  ‘If I had to, yes!’ he glared.

  Shay sighed. ‘You can say that because you know you’ll never have to!’

  He flushed at the truth of that. ‘Shay, her job is dangerous!’

  ‘And if the two of you talked maybe you could compromise. Is not being with her, married to her, going to stop you worrying about her, going to stop you loving her?’ she challenged.

  ‘No. But—’

  ‘No buts, Matthew,’ she told him firmly. ‘You have to talk to Patty, not just decide you can’t marry her because you risk being hurt if something did happen to her. Another fault of the Falconer men,’ she derided. ‘You’re all too arrogant.’

  ‘And we seem to fall in love with women that are too damned stubborn and independent for their own good!’ he rasped.

  She smiled. ‘But you love us anyway.’

  ‘Yes,’ he acknowledged heavily.

  ‘You will talk to Patty before making any firm decision?’ she prompted.

  ‘I—I’ll talk to her,’ he nodded. ‘Now tell me what you were doing with Marilyn; I thought she was your least favourite person?’

  ‘She was,’ Shay agreed. ‘But I think you’re misjudging her, Matthew. She really does care for Lyon.’

  ‘Not enough to make him happy,’ Matthew scowled.

  Shay sighed at his implacability where Marilyn was concerned. She would once have had to agree with him about Marilyn’s hardness, now she wasn’t so sure. ‘I told her about Lyon,’ she revealed.

  ‘That was brave of you.’ He sounded slightly surprised that she had dared to speak to the other woman about such a potentially explosive subject.

  ‘I wanted her to tell me where Lyon is,’ she shrugged. ‘She naturally wanted to know why I was interested.’

  ‘He’s doing her dirty work for her,’ Matthew scowled. ‘As usual. How did she take the news about Lyon?’

  ‘Very well,’ Shay nodded. ‘Matthew, you were a bit hard on her earlier.’

  ‘I’m still not certain she isn’t involved in these “accidents" we all keep having. After all, she’s still a Falconer, and nothing has happened to her.’

  That was true, and yet she somehow no longer felt in the least suspicious of the other woman. The police were now taking seriously all the other near-fatal accidents that had befallen the family the last year, and Shay was still convinced Marilyn would never knowingly hurt Lyon.

  ‘You’re wrong, Matthew,’ she dismissed.

  ‘I wish I could be as sure.’

  ‘I think you should go and talk to Patty straight away,’ she told him firmly. ‘She’s probably very upset.’

  ‘I doubt it,’ Matthew drawled. ‘I hadn’t gotten around to telling her yet that the wedding was off!’

  ‘Oh, Matthew!’ she hugged him, laughing softly. ‘Male chauvinists are very out of date nowadays,’ she chided.

  ‘Tell that to Lyon,’ he taunted. ‘On second thoughts, don’t bother,’ he said dryly. ‘He’s always given in to exactly what you want.’

  ‘He accepts my writing now, yes,’ she acknowledged guardedly, knowing the necklace he had given her symbolised that.

  ‘He would accept it if you decided to jump off the top of the Eiffel Tower wearing a parachute!’ Matthew smiled wryly.

  ‘Matthew—’

  ‘Go and see Patty, right?’ he mocked. ‘Okay, I’ll go,’ he sighed.

  With Richard fed and asleep once more, and no knowledge of when Lyon would return, Shay wandered through to his suite. After only a few weeks he had made his stamp upon the rooms: what had once just been a comfortable guest-room now as much Lyon as the suite he had occupied most of the last twenty-five years.

  She idly picked up the book from the coffee-table, the only thing out of place in the tidy room, left lying open, as if Lyon had left in a hurry. Her brows raised as she looked at the front of the book and saw it was one of her own, Scarlet Lover. What on earth—!

  Shay turned to the pages that had so interested Lyon, frowning as she quickly read them. She couldn’t see what—Her heart seemed to stop beating as she read the answer to the riddle of who was trying to harm them in her very own book! She had to find Marilyn, and quickly!

  Marilyn was soaking in the bath, and she didn’t look overjoyed at the interruption as Shay burst into the room, sinking below the bubbled surface. ‘Really, Shay,’ she drawled. ‘I would have had more privacy if I’d stayed in London!’

  Shay didn’t have the time to worry about the other woman’s modesty. ‘Lyon
,’ she said breathlessly. ‘What is he doing for you in London?’

  ‘I don’t think that’s any of your—’

  ‘Marilyn!’ she interrupted harshly. ‘This is very important.’

  Marilyn looked no less stubborn. ‘It’s personal,’ she snapped.

  ‘Marilyn, someone is going to get killed if you don’t tell me right now where Lyon is!’ She was becoming desperate, knew there was no time to lose, not if Lyon were where she thought he was. Oh Lyon, you fool!

  ‘Don’t be hysterical, Shay,’ the other woman scorned. ‘You surely aren’t encouraging this ridiculous idea Matthew has that someone is deliberately out to hurt the family?’

  ‘I don’t think it is ridiculous.’ Even less so now! ‘And neither do the police.’

  Marilyn paled. ‘They don’t?’

  ‘No. Now tell me where Lyon is?’

  She swallowed hard. ‘I broke off my engagement to Derrick yesterday,’ she revealed stiffly. ‘He didn’t take it very well. Lyon has gone to reason with him.’

  It was worse than she had thought! ‘Tell me Derrick’s address!’ she demanded.

  ‘Not until you explain what all this is about,’ Marilyn told her stubbornly. ‘Why is it so desperate that you find Lyon now?’

  ‘You either tell me the address,’ Shay told her menacingly, too worried to mince her words, ‘or be arrested as an accomplice to murder.’

  ‘Shay, you can’t be serious!’ she protested indignantly.

  ‘Very,’ she assured her tensely. ‘Now tell me!’

  ‘All right.’ The other woman sounded flustered as she did so. ‘I’ll come with you,’ she decided. ‘I can take you straight there,’ she explained as Shay seemed about to protest.

  ‘All right,’ Shay accepted impatiently, seeing the logic in that. ‘But hurry up. I’m leaving in a few minutes, with you or without you.’

  She couldn’t find Patty or Matthew anywhere in the house, but she eventually found her grandfather and Neil in the library, Neil once again dozing in a chair.

  ‘Have you seen Matthew or Patty?’ she demanded without preamble.

  Her grandfather looked surprised by her aggressive tone. ‘They went out for a drive; I think they had something they needed to talk about in private. Shay, what is it?’ He frowned his concern at how pale she was.