by Rebecca York
She, on the other hand, was a mass of exposed, vulnerable nerves. If a trapdoor had opened in the floor under her feet, she would have been profoundly grateful. However, she stopped thinking about herself as she caught a better view of Zeke. Naked to the waist, tanned and muscular, he looked like Mr. July in the Hunk of the Month calendar. In fact, the effect couldn’t have been more blatantly masculine if he’d been buck naked. The broad expanse of his hair-covered chest drew her eyes like a magnet. Her fingers had vivid memories of touching that chest.
It didn’t help that she saw him taking in the way she looked in the lab coat. His piercing gaze made her skin prickle and her heart start to dance around inside her chest.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Kathryn swivel around and look at them, then quickly turn back to the table like a kid who’d walked into her parents’ room when they were having sex.
Before Elizabeth had time to react to Kathryn’s appraisal, Zeke was at her side shielding her from the view of the others in the room. His arm slipped around her shoulder and drew her against him. “Are you okay?” he asked in a low voice.
“No.” The syllable came out high and reedy. She wished she were anywhere else in the world.
His hand stroked her arm in a gesture she assumed was meant to be comforting. It made her feel both better and worse at the same time. Then she saw his eyes lower, and realized that she’d forgotten to hold her arm against her front, allowing the place with the missing button to gap open. The skin underneath had never been exposed in public, except when she’d worn a two-piece bathing suit when she was a teenager.
Zeke’s hand seemed to move in slow motion as he reached to touch that vulnerable patch of flesh just below her breasts.
A small gasp escaped from her lips, and a forest of goose bumps bloomed as the tip of his finger came in contact with her body.
“You need to close that gap.”
“I know,” she managed to say, just before his finger started moving inside the recess, delicately stroking, sending darts of sensation across her skin—darts that radiated upward to her breasts, and downward, as well. His touch made her forget about everything else but him. She closed her eyes and turned her face against his shoulder, struggling to catch her breath, as his lips brushed against the tender line at the edge of her hair.
When he nuzzled his face there, she turned automatically toward him, sighing.
She raised her hand, pressing it against his chest, her fingers combing through the hair. She could feel the rapid beating of his heart. It matched the throbbing rhythm of hers.
“Lizbeth.”
The raspy way he said her name drew her deeper into their web of intimacy. The focus of her attention became the hand on her hip, which slid downward, finding the bottom edge of the lab coat and reaching under so that he could caress her thigh.
She clung to Zeke as he moved, propelling them both toward the door, to some place in this building where they could be alone.
Then, at the other end of the room, Thorn said something she didn’t catch, and she remembered where they were and that a crowd of people was standing only a few yards away. A little exclamation welled in her throat.
Zeke’s hand jerked away from her leg. Straightening, he stood very still, staring down at her with a bemused expression.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered.
She drew in a ragged breath, trying to gather the shreds of her shattered composure.
“I’ve got a safety pin,” he added.
“What?” She tried to put the words into some kind of meaningful context.
“Somebody thought I might need one for these jeans.” He gestured toward the gap just below his navel where the waistband was too tight to snap. Reaching in the right front pocket of the pants, he pulled out a large pin and held it up for her inspection. “Hold still.”
She obeyed orders, her heart still pounding as he carefully inserted the sharp end through the fabric of her coat, pulling the gap together as he snapped the pin closed. Then his expression became businesslike. Turning, he looked toward the computer console, as if he’d come over to give her a guided tour of the experiment. “It won’t take much longer,” he said. “Thorn’s getting ready to make a scan.”
In fact, the equipment didn’t seem to be functioning quite the way Thorn expected, and it took him several more agonizing minutes before he began getting any readings.
Zeke stayed at Elizabeth’s side, and from time to time she was aware of the others glancing covertly at them. Lord, had someone turned around at the wrong time and seen what they were doing? At least no one was rude enough to stare openly. Standing rigid, Elizabeth tried to pretend that there was another glass wall in the room-one that separated her and Zeke from everybody else. Her nerves were jumping. “What’s taking so long?” she mumbled under her breath.
Zeke’s arm tightened around her. “Hang in there,” he whispered.
She lifted the corners of her lips in a parody of a smile.
After an eternity, Thorn gestured toward the monitor and announced, “I’m reading something.” Elizabeth stood up straighter. Zeke gave a little tug on her arm. She wanted to stay where she was at the periphery of the action, but she knew that didn’t suit Zeke. And although she might be embarrassed by her attire, she was anxious to see what Thorn had discovered. So she let herself be guided a few steps closer.
She could feel tension mounting in the room, as Thorn typed in commands that made the image on the monitor screen fade to light green—all but the upper right-hand corner. He enlarged that portion of the picture, and Elizabeth drew in a quick breath as she realized what she was looking at. Glowing red like a stop sign, was the knife Sebastian had used to cut Zeke.
“The transmitter’s in there.” Thorn gestured toward the weapon. “Where did you get it?”
Zeke cursed. “It’s Sebastian’s. He attacked me with it. But it’s an early Greek artifact.”
Thorn typed in more commands, and the lights illuminating the table faded and snapped off. After checking the console readings, he strode around the glass barrier and reached for the knife. Zeke was only a step behind him. “Let me see it,” he growled.
Elizabeth stayed in the background, watching the little drama.
Thorn deferred, and Zeke snatched up the weapon. Turning it over in his hands, he examined the elaborate design on the hilt, then began to run his fingers over the figures. Now that he knew he was looking for something out of the ordinary, it didn’t take long to release a hidden catch near the bottom of the hilt. He made a low noise as the leering head of Hades moved aside, revealing a hidden compartment. With his fingernail, he pried out a small metallic disk, which he held up to the light. His face darkened and he uttered a heartfelt obscenity as his fingers closed around the disk.
“Don’t destroy it,” Thorn said quickly. “I want to study the design.”
“There’s a better reason for keeping it operational,” Jason said as he joined the other two men and held out his hand. “I want a volunteer who will take this thing to the vault at Randolph Electronics, but not by a direct route. Use the back roads, so it looks like Zeke and Elizabeth are on the run again. That should catch the attention of anyone monitoring the signal.” He turned to Zeke. “And before they find out we’re wise to the transponder, the two of you will be in a plane on the way to Mythos.”
“Maybe we should just take the damn thing and leave,” Zeke said, every word coming hard and distinct. “I’m causing a hell of a lot more trouble than I intended. We shouldn’t have come here in the first place.”
Thorn clapped him on the back. “I would have been insulted, if you hadn’t asked me for help.”
“But I’ve jeopardized your security,” Zeke said in a low voice.
“Sometimes things happen that are beyond your control,” Thorn said in an even voice. “Look at it in a positive light. I’ve had a chance to test this equipment under actual field conditions.”
Zeke met his eyes. After a few
seconds, he nodded.
At that moment, one of the technicians who had been absent during the proceedings stepped into the room and brushed rapidly past Elizabeth. He had a strained look on his face, and she wondered what new development he’d come to report. Nothing good, she judged from his expression.
“Jason,” he said, the urgency in his voice carrying across the lab so that everybody turned in his direction. “The man who crashed into the gate…you’re not going to believe this…but the electricity isn’t what killed him. He was already dead when his truck plowed into the fence.”
Chapter Eight
“Are you sure?” Jason demanded.
“Yes. It’s pretty obvious when you know what to look for. Whoever killed him tried to disguise the murder, but he was smothered—not electrocuted.”
“But that’s impossible. He was driving the truck,” Zeke objected.
“He looked like he was driving. Someone must have wedged his foot onto the accelerator and clamped his hands on the wheel.”
Zeke kept his arm around Elizabeth, but his head swiveled toward the parking lot at the front of the building. “Then taking the knife to the Randolph Electronics safe in Baltimore is an exercise in futility. Whoever pulled off that trick is already here.”
“Maybe they were. But not now,” the technician said. “I’ve already done a heat scan of the immediate area. The only warm bodies I’m reading in the woods are a herd of deer down by the creek, and some miscellaneous squirrels and birds.”
Jason nodded. “Glad to hear it. But we’re still going to break up this particular party.” He turned to Zeke, “I’m sorry, there won’t be time for the kind of intelligence on Mythos you requested”
“Understood,” Zeke clipped out.
Jason gestured toward the clothes on the table. “You’d better get dressed, while I arrange some transportation.”
Feeling shell-shocked, Elizabeth retrieved her clothing. A few minutes ago she’d been mortified by her lack of attire. She’d gotten so caught up in the discussion about Sebastian, she’d forgotten all about what she was wearing. In the bathroom, she dressed as quickly as possible. As she caught herself staring critically into the mirror and patting her hair back into place, she grimaced. Her coiffeur was the last thing she needed to worry about.
When she emerged, the hall was full of people bound on various missions. Some were carrying portable files toward the back of the building. Others had laptop computers and boxes of floppy disks.
Kathryn, who must have been waiting for her to reappear, stepped out of a nearby doorway.
“It looks like you’re evacuating the facility,” Elizabeth said.
“Temporarily. Until we get a better handle on the situation.”
“We’re causing a lot of trouble,” Elizabeth echoed Zeke’s assessment. “If I’d known about the transponder, I never would have suggested to Zeke that we ask for your help.”
Kathryn squeezed her shoulder. “It’s not as bad as you think. The guys here get tired of routine real fast. They like functioning in crisis mode, and you’ve given them an excuse for action.”
Elizabeth made a low sound, but she knew these men well enough to realize that Kathryn was speaking the truth.
A beating noise from high above made them both glance up. “Helicopters?” she questioned.
“Yes,” Kathryn confirmed. “Jason is moving us out by air—to make it harder for anyone to follow, in case the killer is waiting down the road.”
“Where are we going?”
“Luckily, we’ve already set up a transfer at the municipal airfield in Frederick County. You’re on the first chopper.” She gestured toward the back door.
When Elizabeth stepped outside, she discovered there was a landing pad several hundred feet from the rear of the building. Zeke was waiting for her, still looking grim. She wanted to tell him nobody blamed him for the invasion of the compound. She suspected he wouldn’t believe her. What’s more, it was impossible to talk above the noise. All she could do was give his hand a quick squeeze.
They lifted off almost at once, and Elizabeth had a nervous moment as the ground receded. She gripped Zeke’s arm, then tried to sit back and pretend the ride was some kind of unique sight-seeing trip. But relaxation was out of the question.
Zeke’s features were stony. She knew he was upset about the knife. Had it made him think about abandoning her again? She shivered, knowing there was nothing she could do if he made the decision to go to Mythos alone.
Probably it was only a short direct flight to their destination, but the pilot headed toward Baltimore before circling back toward his intended destination. A half hour after they’d taken off, they landed at a rural airfield.
As she followed Zeke toward a hangar, a small plane with two rear jet engines approached the runway and came in for a landing.
“That’s your transportation to Greece,” Jason told her, stuffing a portable phone in his pocket and gesturing toward the sleek craft that streaked down the runway. “A Gulf Stream II. It can make Athens without refueling. Steve Claiborne is going to fly you there.”
“Um,” was all Elizabeth managed to say, wishing she could stop in one place long enough for her emotions to catch up with her body. Jason gave her a pat on the shoulder, then hurried to speak with Zeke. “I’m still trying to get a line on that communications equipment you requested. Unfortunately, it’s out in the field, and it could take several hours to get here.”
Zeke nodded and looked at his watch before resuming his course toward the hangar. Inside, near the service desk in the hangar, a small man in a gray business suit was standing, looking expectantly toward them. He was only a little taller than Elizabeth, but she guessed he outweighed her by fifty pounds. His wispy gray hair formed a wreath on the top of his balding head, and his gray eyes followed her and Zeke with interest as they approached the counter. He didn’t look like a reservations clerk.
Kathryn came trotting from behind them. “I’d like to introduce you to Wesley J. Brenner,” she said. “He’s the justice of the peace who’s going to marry you.”
Elizabeth blinked. “Oh, uh…Nice to meet you…” she mumbled, feeling like a tongue-tied idiot.
“Likewise, I’m sure,” Mr. Brenner replied.
He and Zeke shook hands stiffly, and Elizabeth wondered if Zeke had forgotten about the requisite ceremony. He looked like a man who’d been struck by the reality with the force of a car crashing into a concrete wall. Tension knotted the muscles in Elizabeth’s neck as she waited to hear him say he’d changed his mind
“I assume a civil ceremony will be satisfactory,” Brenner said, giving Zeke another chance to back out.
Elizabeth steadied herself against the edge of the counter as long seconds stretched out.
“Yes,” Zeke asserted hoarsely, and Elizabeth felt some of her terrible tension ease.
Before she could catch her breath, Kathryn drew her aside. “I had to make some decisions before you arrived at Whispering Pines,” she murmured. “I called Erin and found out your dress size. There are several here you can pick from. And flowers.”
Elizabeth blinked, trying to switch gears again. “I…I wasn’t expecting anything like that…” Her voice trailed off.
“The ceremony will mean more to the two of you this way,” Kathryn whispered.
“Yes,” Elizabeth agreed in a daze. limply she allowed Kathryn to lead her to the other side of the large building. To her amazement, a square tent with a peaked roof had been set up near the back wall. When she stepped inside, she left the impersonal world of the small commercial airport behind. There was AstroTurf on the floor, a bower of flowers massed all around the walls, and about twenty-five chairs arranged in rows, with an aisle down the center.
“My Lord, what’s all this?” Elizabeth gasped.
“I guess you could call it a portable wedding chapel. Cam Randolph can arrange anything—when two of his best friends are getting married,” Kathryn replied. “He was making phone call
s while we were dealing with—uh—Sebastian.” She looked a little flustered. “Sorry I mentioned him. Come on, you have to change.”
Still in a daze, Elizabeth followed her escort to another tent set up behind the first. It was outfitted as a dressing room, with a makeup table, a full-length mirror and a rack of gowns. Drifting over to them, Elizabeth began to inspect the assortment. Some were white, others were pastel, in all lengths and a variety of styles. One, in particular, made her exclaim in appreciation. It was off-white lace fitted high under the bodice, with a long, flowing skirt.
“You like that one?” Kathryn asked.
“It’s beautiful,” Elizabeth answered, with a catch in her voice.
“Then let’s try it on,” Kathryn suggested, pulling the curtain that served as a door. This was a dream, and she’d wake up before it was over, Elizabeth thought as she shucked off her jeans and shirt and let Kathryn help her into the dress. It fit perfectly, she decided, as she inspected her image in the mirror, except that the hem was a bit high. “There are sandals over with the shoes. Just wear them instead of heels,” Kathryn suggested. “Nobody will know.” Turning, she took a veil from a hanger. At the crown was a circle of flowers attached to a curved comb.
Tears glistened in Elizabeth’s eyes as she adjusted the veil on her head and gaped at the transformed woman in the mirror. “I don’t know what to say,” she murmured.
“If you don’t like it, we can take off the veil. Or try one of the other dresses.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “That’s not…not what I mean,” she said in a quavering voice. “I feel like I’ve stepped into wonderland or something…Is this real?” she whispered.
“As real as you want it to be,” Kathryn answered.
Elizabeth tried to read her face. She seemed serious. Was it really possible to make dreams come true, if you wanted them enough?
“You look lovely,” Kathryn told her. “But why don’t you put on a little makeup. That will be the icing on the cake.”
Nodding, Elizabeth sat down at the dressing table and looked through the assortment of cosmetics. They were the brand she used, and in the right color. Her friends must have been working like demons, she thought, as she picked up a container of eye shadow. Tears clouded her vision again, and she had to wait several moments before she could get hold of herself. Zeke had agreed to the ceremony, she reminded herself. Surely that meant something. But what would everybody think if the marriage were annulled when the bride and groom got back from Mythos?
