by Carol Caiton
"I take it Ethan's ready to have children?" she asked as they walked.
"One a year for the next seven years," Nina said, "with the possibility of compromise after five."
Rachel stared at her. She felt her mouth fall open and quickly closed it, pasting a polite smile on her face.
Nina burst out laughing. "Can you imagine? Seven children? In seven years?"
"No," Rachel said quite truthfully, "I really can't." She took a sip of her smoothie. Maybe Ethan had the same quirky sense of humor as Nina. He couldn't be serious.
"He's absolutely serious," Nina added. Then she laughed again. "I'd like three. I might even compromise and go for four. But I'd get their names mixed up if I had seven."
This time Rachel couldn't contain it. She laughed right along with her new friend.
* * *
"I'm glad you called," Ethan said, giving Michael an elbow to the arm. "It's good to see you."
"Yeah, same here." Michael looked up at the roller coaster the two of them had just ridden. Man, that was a rush. "I figured this was a good place for Rachel and Nina to get to know one another. It's not like you could run out of stuff to talk about."
"No, I guess not. So how have you been filling your time now that you're not active at RUSH anymore?"
Michael skirted around a woman in a wheelchair as he and Ethan moved with the crowd toward the souvenir shops. "You already know about the stuff I had going on the side."
"Yeah."
"Well I've been putting more time into that. What about you?"
"I just finished setting up a surveillance system for a company in Virginia. Nothing on the scale of RUSH, or as interesting. RUSH was a good operation to be part of."
"Yeah, it was," Michael agreed. "I don't think I woke up a single day and wished I didn't have to go to work." He grinned, a little bemused by the way things turned out. "Funny thing is, I don't miss it. It's almost like I was ready for something else but didn't know it. And when I first laid eyes on Rachel . . . ." He shrugged. "I guess she just set things in motion."
"I hear you. And now you're going to be a father. Damn, Michael."
"Yeah, I know."
But he turned his face away, pretending to look through the crowd for their wives.
"Well maybe Rachel will be a good influence on Nina."
"How do you mean?"
"Kids. I'm ready for kids. A houseful of them."
Michael laughed. "You're braver than I am. How's Nina's hand, by the way? Everything heal up okay?"
"It's fine. She's got full mobility again."
"Good. What about the trial? Will she have to testify against the assholes who flipped her car?"
"Mason's working on that. There's going to be media coverage and I don't want her face in the news."
"I don't blame you."
Nina had been attacked twice because of her connection to RUSH. Putting her face out there was just asking for more trouble.
"So how about you?" Michael asked. "Anything else lined up now that you're done in Virginia?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. I put in a bid and came up golden. The job's out west. Aerospace industry."
"Government?"
"Yes. It's a two-year contract."
"Nice." But Michael frowned. "I guess that mean you're gonna be moving out there."
Ethan nodded. "In a couple of months."
"Mmm. What about G?"
"G's going to keep her house in Longwood, but she's decided to come with us."
"Good." Michael nodded. "That's good."
He spotted Rachel and Nina in front of one of the souvenir stores, laughing like they were old friends, and pointed them out.
"I wonder what's so funny."
"Maybe they'll tell us."
* * *
Jill handed her driver's license to the security guard and watched him slide it through the scanner. Knowing what to expect helped, but RUSH was now in possession of her name, her fingerprints, her driver's license number, and her blood type. Giving out that much personal information made her uncomfortable, no matter that she trusted Mason and Michael.
But she was here to give Mason the key she had to Luke's house, and she couldn't deny she was curious. Both Rachel and Ali had been here, and Mason and Michael were shareholders. And Dalton Cooper, who had taken care of her simply because of her connection to the people he knew here, had protected her above and beyond. For goodness sake, he'd been willing to take on Nathan and he barely knew who she was.
"All set, Ms Oslund."
Sliding her driver's license back into her wallet, she wondered why the women who frequented RUSH were only interested in transient liaisons. If Mason, Michael, and Dalton were average examples of the men to be found here, then the women were missing out on an opportunity to find something much more rewarding.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
She was introduced to another guard, C. Kinnerly, who would take her on a guest's tour en route to the administrative building. She'd asked Mason if she could have a tour, knowing this would be her only visit to RUSH, and he'd made the arrangements.
Nearly two months had passed since the night Dalton had driven her home. She'd spoken with Mason the following day as he'd asked, but she'd neither seen nor heard from him since. Not that he had any reason to stay in touch with her. They hadn't known one another well, even while Luke was alive.
But she was leaving Orlando indefinitely. There was no need to mention the foolhardy night she'd spent with Nathan. There was no longer anything to explain, anyway. As far as Luke's family was concerned, she'd accepted a job in Key West in an effort to make a fresh start and that was certainly the truth. But chances were good she'd never see Mason or his mother again and she wanted this last opportunity to recapture the closeness to Luke through his family. Her memories were already starting to fade, and letting go frightened her. He hadn't been dead long enough to allow him to drift away. But their time together had been so brief, his image in her mind wasn't always clear. So she'd take this last chance to dwell on the likeness he shared with his brother. Then she'd visit his mother one more time and slip quietly out of their lives.
Walking with C. Kinnerly, she passed through a short corridor, then stepped outside and into a jungle-like, tropical otherworld.
Stopping in her tracks, she waited for her brain to catch up with the sudden change. It was stunning. A canopy of green hung overhead while flowering magnolia blossoms wafted the air with their sultry, hypnotic fragrance. Birds sang in the trees, and water trickled gently over a fountain of rocks while graduating tiers of flowers and shrubbery bordered the walkway.
Her security escort gave her a minute to absorb everything and she decided he was probably accustomed to such a reaction. She breathed in the gardenia-scented air, allowed the ambience to settle in, and in just seconds, the sadness she carried segued into relaxed pleasure.
Smiling at the guard, she started forward. Smaller, quiet walkways branched off the main path, only to get lost from sight as they curved into the jungle toward some mysterious destination. Stretching her neck to follow one as far as she could, she then found herself turning in a circle to see what she'd missed along the way.
"This is our residential complex," the guard explained, and she saw bulky swaths of red bougainvillea overflowing a tall stucco wall. She peered inside the wrought-iron gate and found yet another winding path through the jungle.
He continued to talk as they walked. He explained the linking system, the lengthy amount of time required to fill out an application for membership, and mentioned various classes and amenities as though he'd been trained to give a good sales pitch. And maybe he had.
"You can't see much from here," he said as they walked beside a low, rambling stream of water through stones. "But the training center resembles a Mediterranean castle. One of the turrets is just visible if you look over there."
He pointed toward the upper portion of a rounded exterior wall and its circular tiled peak. Sh
e stopped for a minute to shield her eyes from the sun and took a look. The training center. Maybe that was where—
"Jill?"
Dropping her arm, she lowered her gaze to find the man she'd just been thinking about approach from another path. Dressed entirely in black from his T-shirt to jeans and boots, the color was a near match to his hair and was utterly sexy on him.
Smiling, thoroughly happy to meet up with him, she started forward.
"Dalton, it's good to see you." She held out both hands and he took them. "How are you?"
"Fine. Just fine. And you?"
"The same. It's so nice to see you."
He released her hands and raised a brow. "Well I'm surprised to see you here. And since I'm pretty sure you're not thinking about joining, I take it you're visiting Mason."
"And taking a tour. Can you walk with us?"
"Sure can. I had a cancellation so I'm free for a while." He turned to the guard. "How's it going, Chuck?"
"Good, Dalton. You want me to hang back?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Actually," Jill said, "I'm glad we ran into each other. It gives me another chance to thank you for taking care of a perfect stranger."
He harrumphed. "I didn't know you were a stranger at the time. I thought you were your sister."
She smiled up at him. "How did you know, just now, that I wasn't Rachel?"
"Because I've seen how possessive Michael is. He'd no more let your sister walk around RUSH by herself than cut off his legs."
Jill laughed. "You're right." A breeze blew her hair forward and she caught it loosely, holding it as they walked. "I guess it was confusing when I didn't recognize you at Seven."
"That's an understatement. And it was just as confusing to watch you dance, bumping asses with some guy . . . . The last time I worked with your sister, she bit into her bottom lip till it bled down her chin."
Jill remembered the cuts and looked up at him. "Why didn't you stop?"
"I didn't know it." He shrugged. "I was standing behind her and her head was down."
She drew an image in her mind of him running his hands over Rachel's body.
"On your left," he said, interrupting her thoughts, "is RUSH's version of an upscale hotel, but overnight guests aren't permitted."
Puzzled, she frowned.
"It has somewhere around three hundred rooms, each one outfitted to accommodate specific fantasy scenario."
Not sure how to respond to that, she looked over at the brass plate mounted on a stucco column. Carnelian Jade. "I don't suppose you could arrange for me to get a peek at one or two of those rooms, could you?"
He stopped walking, so she did too.
"Well, I guess that depends."
"On what?"
"On you, darlin'."
Darlin'?
She narrowed her eyes and gave him a teasing grin. "Are you coming on to me by chance?" Not that she believed—
"I sure am."
She stared. And blinked. "I don't understand."
Dalton burst out laughing.
She swatted his arm playfully and laughed along with him. "Stop it. That's not what I meant."
"I don't know . . . it sounded pretty definitive to me."
"What I meant—" She stopped, feeling a rush of color to her face. "I mean . . . ." She caught herself, flustered.
"Oh, honey, now you've got me intrigued."
Shaking her head, she—
Froze.
She stared at the man on the path leading from the Carnelian Jade. Beside him, a gorgeous brunette laughed at something he said. He slid his hand to the small of her back and leaned in to tell her something else. And the closer they came, the more difficult it was to breathe.
Then Nathan looked up.
Jill's breath grabbed tight in her chest. Immediately, he zeroed in on her. She saw the shock in his expression. Then the anger. She couldn't hear his voice, but the vicious curse on his lips was clear.
She glanced again at the building behind him, with its three hundred bedrooms designed to indulge the sexual fantasies of its occupants, and every bit of color that flooded her face a moment ago leeched out so quickly, she swayed.
Dalton reached out and steadied her with a hand around her upper arm. "Who is that guy?" he murmured beside her ear.
She watched Nathan drop his arm from around the brunette. There was no avoiding him so she stood there with Dalton and waited. "He's . . . a friend of the family," she was able to say, but the explanation felt like sawdust in her mouth.
"Seems to me he wants to be more than a friend of the family."
She squared her shoulders and took a shallow breath. "Yes," she said, "I thought so too."
Then there was no time to say anything else. She forced a smile as the couple approached.
"Hello, Nathan."
"What are you doing here, Jill?"
How dare he ask that.
Ignoring him, she held onto her smile and turned to the brunette. "I'm Jill," she said, holding out her hand. "I'm friends with Nathan's sister."
"Ah," the girl said, as though being Ali's friend explained a multitude of things. "I'm Melissa. Nathan and I were just . . . ." She fluttered her fingers toward the Carnelian Jade.
Jill interrupted. "It's nice to meet you, Melissa." She absolutely did not want to hear anything about what she and Nathan were just doing. "I'm here as a visitor. Do you know Dalton?" She stepped to the side to include him in the conversation.
"I've seen you around," Melissa extended a manicured hand, "but no, we haven't met."
Dalton kept his fingers wrapped around her arm while reaching out to shake hands with the brunette. He merely nodded at Nathan, whose eyes were narrowed on her arm.
Surprising herself, Jill was able to converse for a few seconds as though nothing in the world was wrong. But the undercurrents emanating from Nathan were so powerful, she ended the meeting as soon as politely possible.
"We'd better be going," she said. "It was nice to meet you, Melissa. Nathan."
She turned to face Dalton. "What's that building over there?" She pointed toward a clearing where brief, rolling lawns led toward a wide stone staircase and the building in question. Her stomach felt slightly sick.
"That's our new shopping mall," Dalton answered, picking up on her cue.
"RUSH has a shopping mall? What do they sell there?"
His eyes roamed over her face. Then he steered her across the wide walkway, away from Nathan and Melissa. "The mall is made up of specialty stores. A few sell women's lingerie. Another sells risqué art. And there's an unconventional bookstore called Left Pages."
She tried to laugh but it came out all wrong.
He guided her over to one of the smaller offshooting paths she'd wanted to explore. Then he signaled something to the security guard and turned her onto the narrow walkway. "Let's go sit down."
* * *
Inside Security Central an alarm beeped.
"We've got a spike," the guard monitoring one of the systems called out unnecessarily. "A guest. Oslund. Jill."
Oslund?
The name wasn't unknown. How many times had Jeremiah run a search on that name for Michael? But that had been Rachel Oslund—now Rachel Vassek.
"Location?" he asked.
"Main path. Outside the Carnelian Jade."
Another alarm beeped, signaling a second spike, this one causing a startled frown on the guard's face. "Second spike is a client. Male. Brosig. Nathan."
He recognized that name as well. "Location?"
"He's . . . approaching the main path from the Carnelian Jade."
"Who's assigned to Oslund?"
"Kinnerly."
"Let's talk to him."
Jeremiah sat down at a hub station and pulled up an aerial view, then zoomed in on the location in question. Five human blips appeared, then came into focus. One of them, surprisingly, was Dalton.
"Kinnerly says the situation is charged but stable. Backup not required."
On another monitor Jeremiah pulled up Jill Oslund's guest information and stared at the image of Michael Vassek's wife. A twin?
Thirty seconds later, the figure on the screen that was Jill Oslund began walking away, accompanied by Dalton, Kinnerly following behind.
Brosig's stress levels spiked higher.
Oslund's were still high enough to cause concern and Jeremiah followed her progress with Dalton toward one of the alcoves reserved for linked couples.
Another alarm sounded, indicating unauthorized access. Dalton wasn't linked to anyone, let alone to a guest on the premises.
Kinnerly's image took up a post outside the alcove and right on cue, he called in. "I gave Dalton the go-ahead," he said. "It was the nearest place for her to sit down."
Jeremiah kept an eye on Oslund's levels. Nearly a full minute passed before the first alarm shut off.
Surprisingly, those of the male, Nathan Brosig, didn't return to normal at all. The beep that indicated his rising stress levels didn't stop until he drove off property.
* * *
Nathan's a member of RUSH.
Nathan's a member of RUSH.
The words played over and over in Jill's mind. She should have realized it two months ago when Dalton drove her home. Nathan had known who he was. She remembered that now. Why hadn't she put two and two together back then and realized it?
Because she wasn't thinking clearly two months ago.
"Better?" Dalton asked.
He'd led her into a small, private alcove of sorts and guided her onto a long concrete bench. Holes had been drilled into each of the four corners and a vague part of her mind wondered why.
"So," Dalton, said, "will you tell me what that was all about?"
God, she didn't want to tell him anything at all. But Dalton deserved more than closed silence. Every time she saw him, the man was coming to her rescue for one reason or another. So she drew a shaky breath and said, "Rachel and I have been friends with Nathan's sister since we were little girls. He—Nathan—has watched over us . . . well, always. But recently he expressed a different sort of interest. A more personal interest. In me."
