STOLEN HEARTS

by Michelle Martin

  "Oh, my darling," Luke said, but she wouldn't let him give her the comfort she longed for.

  "When Bert bought me back six years later, he turned my miserable life into a living hell. I wasn't a human being to him, I was a tool. He used me"—Tess shuddered—"in the most hideous ways, Luke. But he made a very bad mistake. He trained me too well. When he finally dumped me, I was almost eighteen and all I could think about was getting my pound of flesh back. But I needed money and connections, so I kept working, for a while.

  "That story I told you and Jane about turning myself in to WEB and working my time off with them? It was no story. It was the truth. And when I'd done my time, I told WEB about Bert. They were almost as eager as I was to see him behind bars. They gave me Blake Thornton and Diana Hunter, their best people, to help me nail him."

  "This whole thing has been a double cross?"

  Tess shook her head. "A double con. I'd been planning this job for years, Luke. I pulled strings Bert doesn't even know exist just to get him thrown out of South America, because I knew he'd eventually come back to his old hunting grounds and then I'd find some way of pulling a job with him, conning him when he thought we were conning some innocent mark, getting him to incriminate himself while under surveillance so he'd spend the next thousand years in jail. And you know what made all of that hard work worthwhile? Bert came to me!"

  The oxygen left Luke's lungs in a hiss.

  "And then, last night," Tess said, her voice tight with fury, "when I learned that Bert was the man who destroyed my life, a thousand years in jail just wasn't good enough anymore. An eye for an eye, a life for a life. He destroyed mine, I am going to destroy his."

  "How?" Luke asked tightly.

  "When he comes calling today, I'm going to teach him the life lesson he imparted to me during the seven years he owned me. He won't know if he's gonna live to see the next second, to draw another breath, to blink his eyes. That's not something a man like Bert can survive.

  "Tess," Luke said, openly worried now, "what are you planning?"

  With a smile, Tess took the automatic from her pocket and held it up admiringly. "Isn't it lovely? Small, but effective. I intend to show Bert just how effective."

  "Tess, no!" Luke cried, grasping her wrist, trying to pull the gun away with his other hand. But Tess wrenched free. "You can't sacrifice your life to claim his!"

  "Jail isn't good enough!" she shouted.

  "It was good enough for the Carswells—"

  "But this is the man who destroyed my life!"

  "And you've taken it back!" Luke said urgently, grasping her shoulders. "You've got your independence, your career, your grandmother, your heritage, and my love. You have your own life now, Tess, with people who love you. You can't throw that away."

  "You got to have your revenge on Margo Holloway. Why can't I have mine on Bert?"

  "I had Margo Holloway arrested and convicted for the crime she committed," Luke grimly replied. "At no time was my life or the life of anyone I cared for in danger. And you know what, Tess? Even though I got my revenge, it didn't change what she had done to me. It didn't change how I felt."

  "You don't understand," Tess said in a low voice. "This is all I've dreamed about, all I've lived for for over a decade."

  "Dreams change, lives change," Luke pleaded. "You set out to con Bert, to throw him in jail, and instead you ended up with a new life and a love that will cherish you the rest of your life. Let your WEB agents put Bert in jail. There's no need for you to risk your life by confronting the most dangerous man I've ever known."

  "There is every need," Tess growled.

  Luke stared down at her, anger tightening his face. "Does Jane mean nothing to you, after all? Does my love mean nothing?"

  "They mean everything to me!"

  "Then why in hell are you deliberately throwing them away?"

  "I'm not!"

  "My God, Tess, can't you see that you are? If you use that gun today, you'll be throwing away everything you've ever cared about. You'll be choosing death over life!"

  "I can't live a life of love and happiness if I haven't first gotten a little of my own back from Bert."

  "Yes you can. You are capable of soaring to the heights, if you choose."

  "Luke," Tess said wearily, feeling the walls going up between them and unable to stop any of it, "if you'd asked this of me yesterday or the day before, I'd have said yes without a second thought. But now I know that this is the man who ripped me away from everything safe, who killed my father, who scarred my mother and my grandmother. It is my duty to pay him back in kind."

  "Tess, if you do this, then Bert wins. He will have destroyed your life and this time you will have helped him. Don't do this, please."

  Tess looked sadly up at Luke. "In the beginning," she said softly, "there was Bert."

  He stared down at her a moment and then roughly pushed her away. "I won't be a party to this stupidity and this blindness and this death wish. You want to confront Bert? Fine! You want to put a bullet in him? More power to you! But I'm not going to stick around to watch you destroy everything I care about. I'm not going to watch you throw everything away, including me. I'm not going to watch you devastate Jane just to get back at Bert. I'll send you a card once a year to whatever penitentiary they toss you in."

  Luke threw open the front door and stormed outside, slamming the door so hard it sounded like a rifle shot.

  Tess felt like a fighter pilot suddenly ejecting out of an alternative universe. Had that been her choosing a living death over life? Had that been her turning her back on everything she had ever wanted and loved most in this world? Had that been her driving Luke away? Had Bert finally succeeded in making her as ruthless as he? Had she deliberately lowered herself into his pool of slime? Had there been an ounce of sense in any of her arguments with Luke?

  "No!" she yelled, diving for the front door. She ran out onto the front drive. "Luke!" she shouted.

  But she was too late. His Jaguar had already spun around the last curve in the driveway and careened through the Cushman gate.

  "Oh God," Tess groaned, "he's going to get himself killed before I can even apologize to him!"

  She stood staring at the faraway gate for several minutes and then, with a troubled sigh, walked slowly back into the house. She stopped in the Grand Hall, unsure what to do first. Jane … her grandmother was waiting for her in the dining room. They had so much to say to each other. She gazed longingly at the hall leading to the dining room, then, with another sigh, began to trudge upstairs. She would finish what she had begun, tie up the loose ends, and then embark on her new life, hoping past hope that Luke would finally cool off and come back so she could grovel at his feet and beg his forgiveness.

  Wearily she pushed open the door to her bedroom—her bedroom—and sat down on her bed. She stared at the phone for a moment, then gave herself a shake, picked up the receiver, and began to dial.

  "Hey, Diana," she said when the car phone was picked up on the first ring.

  There was a pause. "Don't you mean Gladys?"

  "Not anymore. I have been contemplating my life, doing deep intestinal soul-searching and I have reached the conclusion that I am an idiot."

  "What?"

  "Terminally stupid. So, I've decided to change the plan. I don't need to risk everything I've got, including my life, on a piece of revenge. So, go ahead and arrest Bert now. You've got everything you need."

  Again there was a pause. "I'd be happy to oblige you, love, but we've lost him."

  "You what?" Tess shrieked.

  "He found the tracker. I don't know how, but he found it. He's ditched the Lincoln, he's ditched the apartment. He's runnin' wild, Tess. Better keep low to the ground for a few hours. We'll get him."

  "How will you get him?" Tess demanded.

  "We figure he made us and he's going to try to get out of the country. Blake's heading to JFK. I'm off to LaGuardia. Leroy Baldwin—"

  "Baldwin?"

  "He's on
his way to Newark. He's also got his agents out searching. We'll get Bert. Just keep your head low."

  The line went dead in Tess's hand. Keep her head low? There wasn't a hole deep enough or a rock large enough to hide under to escape Bert if he was on your trail, and Tess had no doubt that if Bert had made Blake and Diana, he'd made her, too. Her life wasn't worth a glass emerald as long as he was free. Blake and Diana and Leroy Baldwin, they were good, they were fabulous, but Bert when cornered was the most dangerous animal on earth. He knew how to hide, he knew how to keep his freedom, he knew how to exact his revenge.

  The question was, would he take out his revenge just on her, or on Jane and Luke as well? It would be like him, oh so like him, to make her twist on the knife watching what he did to her loved ones before he took her life, too. Tess buried her head in her hands.

  Oh God, she couldn't think! What should she do? Should she get out now? She had a few hiding places of her own, and if she was gone perhaps Luke and Jane would be safe. But if she left and Bert did come here, then Jane and Luke would be in absolute danger.

  She couldn't let that happen. She would stay. She would stay and become Jane's watchdog. She was done running. Done hiding for her own purposes. She would stay and take care of Jane, if she needed it. She owed her grandmother that much, and so much more. Blake and Diana would catch up with Bert sooner than later. He'd never make it out of the country. The WEB agents were too good. She was overreacting, and badly, and it was time to retrench. There was no reason to alarm Jane, at least not now. She'd had more than a lifetime of worries. Bert would cover his own skin first, then seek revenge. There were days yet to be safe.

  She walked downstairs, needling herself for being such a ninny and for causing Luke so much pain by starting that stupid argument in the first place, and vowing that if he didn't come back in the next hour, she would go after him and crawl on broken root beer bottles if that's what it took to get him back.

  She was just crossing the Grand Hall when she heard the doorbell ring. "It's okay, Hodgkins," she called to the butler who was hovering near the staircase, "I've got it."

  Her only thought was that Luke had cooled down much sooner than expected and come back. She ran to the door and pulled it open, ready to throw herself into his arms and never let him let him go.

  "You're busted, babe."

  * * *

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  « ^ »

  Tess's knees nearly gave out on her. Clutching the white door, she stared up at Bert disguised as Max Weinstein, feeling all of the blood drain out of her body. It was replaced by every survival instinct he'd ever pounded into her.

  "Bert!" she hissed. "Quit fooling around and get into character. Hodgkins is standing ten feet away! Max!" she cried in a joyful voice. "What are you doing here so early? Come on in."

  He hesitated just a moment before walking into the Hall, the benign Max Weinstein expression firmly in place. "A … matter has come up, Tess, that I felt I must discuss with you in person. I hope I'm not intruding."

  She could see the wheels turning in his brain. Did she know he'd made her, or didn't she? If she didn't, it would be so satisfying for him to lure her in for a little while before springing his trap.

  "Hey, no problem," Tess said. "Mi casa grande es su casa grande."

  She intended to keep him wondering just as long as she could. She needed enough time to get Jane out of the house. After that, it didn't really matter what went down. Survival at any cost no longer held any allure. The first priority was her grandmother's safety and Jane was not safe when Bert was within a hundred miles of her. Thank God Luke had already left the house.

  "Hodgkins, get some brandy for Dr. Weinstein, would you? I think we'll go into the library. Oh! But first I really must just have a word with Jane … I mean, my grandmother. Luke and I had the most awful fight and I think it upset her. Just a second, Max."

  She walked, without any sign of urgency, down the hall to the dining room.

  Jane was seated at the dining table, sipping a cup of tea. Jane Cushman. Her grandmother.

  "Hi," Tess said, her voice shaky in spite of herself.

  "Hello, yourself," Jane said, her pale blue eyes warm and loving.

  For one desperate moment, Tess wanted to throw herself into her grandmother's arms and weep. Ruthlessly she forced her emotions back behind their wall and smiled at Jane. "I'm sorry I gave you such a scare last night."

  "That's all right, dear. I gave you a bit of a scare myself."

  Tess made herself laugh and made it sound genuine. "You've got that right. I know we have so much to talk over, but I need a favor first."

  "Certainly, my dear. What is it?"

  Tess's expression was wry. "I'm afraid I started a totally stupid fight with Luke. He was right and I wouldn't let myself admit it and now he's stormed off and I'm so afraid he won't come back."

  "That must have been some fight," Jane commented.

  "It was awful. I know I'm the last person in the world he wants to see right now, but I do so want to apologize and make things up. Do you think you could find him and tell him? He'd believe you. I'm not so sure he'd believe me just now."

  "Don't worry about Luke, Tess. He adores you. He'll cool off sooner than later and come back—"

  "But I can't wait!" Tess said, wringing her hands. "Bert is coming soon and I've got to know everything's all right between Luke and me or I just won't be able to finish what I started. Do you know where he might have gone? Could you go to him?"

  Jane's blue eyes were twinkling with amusement at this display of the youthful pangs of love. "I have an idea where he might be," she said, standing up. "I'll go see if I can assuage his temper long enough to forgive you."

  "Oh, thank you, Grandmother!" Tess cried and allowed herself to throw herself into Jane's arms and hug her tightly. It might be the only chance she'd ever have.

  "We'll be back in half an hour, you mark my words."

  "You're an angel," Tess said, kissing Jane on her cheek. She took Jane's hand in hers and began leading her to the breezeway connected to the garage. "Tell Luke I love him more than anything in my life, except you, of course. And tell him I think he's absolutely right and I'll do exactly as he says."

  "Now don't go docile on me, Tess."

  Tess chuckled. "It's just this once. He was right, you see."

  "I'm glad to see the Cushman pride hasn't blinded you to the truth of a matter," Jane said, parting her cheek.

  "Oh no," Tess said, opening the door to the garage. "I've also got the Cushman wits about me. They'll keep me in line, never you fear."

  She watched Jane get into a Mercedes sedan and begin driving down the long estate road before she resolutely turned and headed back to the house, to the library … and Bert. She passed Hodgkins in the hall.

  "Oh, Hodgkins," she said, stopping him. "My grandmother has just gone out on an errand and she asked me to ask you to begin an immediate inventory of the wine cellar, for the wedding you know."

  "My records have never come in question, Miss," Hodgkins intoned.

  "Of course not, Hodgkins," Tess said soothingly. "Grandmother is just a trifle excited about all of the wedding plans, and the dinner party and the ball must have made serious inroads on our stock. Let's just humor her, shall we?"

  "Certainly, Miss Cushman," Hodgkins said with an icy bow. He turned with a glacial expression and began to walk toward the wine cellar.

  "Oh, and tell the maids that Dr. Weinstein and I will be in the library and don't want to be disturbed for any reason," she called after him.

  "Certainly, Miss."

  When he was gone, she picked up the phone in the Grand Hall and hurriedly punched in Diana's number.

  "Hello?"

  "Bert's here."

  Tess hung up and took a deep breath. She'd done everything she could to protect the people in this house, her house. Now it was time to see if she could survive Bert's rage long enough for Diana and Blake to come to the rescue.

 
Her hand closed around the small automatic in her pocket. She had never used a gun in her life and was no fast draw. Bert, however, was always armed and very used to firing a gun.

  She offered up a silent prayer and strode into the library, closing the door behind her. Bert was leaning against the Louis Quinze desk at the far end of the library. An empty brandy snifter sat beside him.

  "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded before Bert could say a word. "You're not supposed to be here until two. I haven't signed the papers yet. I don't have power of attorney, nothing has been transferred into my name. Nothing is set, nothing is safe, until I sign those papers!"

  Bert studied her a moment. "Something came up that I felt I must discuss with you."

  Tess swore with a perfect show of exasperation. "Are the cops onto us?"

  "Not the locals, only WEB."

  "WEB?" Tess shrieked. "We've got to get out of here! Screw the papers and the empire, let's go!"

  She watched suspicion and uncertainty war in Bert's cold gray eyes. Had WEB been tailing him on its own account? Was Tess merely caught in the middle? Or had she organized it all? Where was safety and where was danger in this room with only two inhabitants?

  * * *

  Jane had driven ten miles when she suddenly remembered the high-tech revolution. She laughed at herself. She must be getting old after all. She pulled her Mercedes over to the side of the road, turned on her hazard lights, picked up her car phone, and dialed Luke's car phone number.

  He didn't answer until the third ring.

  "What?" he growled in an excellent imitation of a wounded grizzly bear.

  "Luke, dear, wherever you are, pull off to the side of the road and stop your car."

  "Why?"

  "Because I want to talk to you."

  "I don't—"

  "Do it, or I sic Regina on you."

  Muttering decidedly uncomplimentary imprecations, Luke barked at her, "All right, I've stopped. Now what the hell is it?"