Dangerous Alliance

by Jane Corrie

  'Everything!' snapped Kent, and as a thought struck her, she turned accusing eyes on Tony. 'You could have warned me not to use his figures,' she said crossly. 'Why didn't you? You must have realised what I'd done when I finished it so early.'

  Getting up, Tony walked over to the dejected Kent and laid a brotherly arm across her shoulders. 'Yes,' he said quietly, 'I could have done. To be honest, I very nearly did, but Matt would have twigged it, and it wouldn't have helped the exercise.'

  Giving him another reproachful glance, she shrugged off his arm and walked over to her desk. 'That's all it was really, wasn't it?' she said dully. 'Just an exercise. If he hadn't told me he'd already sent a quote I would have believed the wretched job was non-existent.'

  Tony's low chuckle did nothing to soothe her ruffled feelings. 'That doesn't surprise me,' he said with amusement. 'But I know just how you feel. It's happened to me often enough.' He bent and picked up the list off the floor, and placed it on her desk. 'Told you to do it again, I suppose?' and added soothingly, 'Well, Uncle Tony will assist. Nothing was said about my not helping out with revision.'

  Slamming one small fist down on the desk, Kent replied vehemently, 'No! This is one job I do by myself. He can wait for it now; it's going to be done at my leisure. As it was an exercise, I might as well make the most of it! '

  'That's my girl! ' grinned Tony. 'Before we're through with you, there won't be one job on the site you can't handle—metaphorically speaking, of course.'

  Kent eyed him sourly. His enthusiasm left her cold. She had made up her mind to leave, and was only completing the job to show Matt King she could do it. It was the only possible way to get back at him.

  Propping her chin in her hands, she gazed unseeingly at the office wall. In her mind's eye she pictured the scene of his stiff approval of her effort, and that, she told herself, was when she would fling the news at him that she was leaving. Although it would be nice, she mused, to have another job to go to.

  'Hey! ' complained Tony. 'Wherever you've gone

  to, come back. You look positively broody! Are you hatching something?'

  Her eyes left the wall and focused on Tony; and without realising she had spoken her thoughts, she said sadly, 'I shall miss you, Tony.'

  Tony nodded, not quite sure what she was referring to, then the implication got through and he gave her a searching stare. 'Not thinking of chucking it in, are you?'

  Kent's low but firm, 'Yes,' made his eyebrows rise. His voice held an element of surprise in it as he asked, 'Because of this?' tapping the list with his forefinger.

  Kent shrugged offhandedly. 'Partly,' she said, 'but not entirely. It's the whole set-up, Tony. It's just not right for me.'

  'You mean you'd rather be doing the job you were trained for, do you? High finance, and all that jazz?' he asked somewhat indignantly.

  'No, it's not that,' Kent answered impatiently. 'I prefer to be out on location, it's more interesting, but I can't really see the point of going on with the whole exercise. I shall leave the firm after a year anyway, so it might as well be now, if you see what I mean ...' she finished lamely.

  'Leave the firm?' Tony muttered. 'But you're a partner! What do you intend to do? Be a sleeping partner?'

  Kent prayed she would not blush as she thought of the ring on her finger, and thanked providence

  that Matt was elsewhere. She could well imagine his interpretation of that query!

  'No,' she said quickly, 'I just want out.'

  Slowly shaking his head, Tony said, 'Now you have disappointed me. I would have backed you to see a thing through once you'd set your mind to it— Matt, too, come to that. He could have put you on the next flight back. We've an office of sorts in London, you could have been left twiddling your thumbs there.'

  Kent interrupted quickly, 'But he couldn't, not without cutting me out of my father's will. I had to do a year on location, starting as soon as my training was up.' She spread her hands out. 'So here I am.' Her brow darkened, 'But it didn't work out, that's all.'

  Tony frowned, 'But Matt could have ...' then was silent and whatever he was about to say, he evidently thought better of and held his tongue, adding quickly, 'Your father seemed to have been of the same opinion as Matt, that you had the makings of a working partner in you. Not,' he added meaningly, 'that they agreed all that often, because they didn't.'

  Kent was still wondering what Tony had been about to say, but the mention of Matt's relationship with her father put it out of her mind. 'What did Matt have against my father?' she asked suddenly.

  Giving her a surprised look, Tony replied, 'Now what's put that into your mind? Do you think he's evening up a few old scores on you, because he's not

  soft-pedalling with you? He's not insulting your intelligence, either. That work he gave you would have kept me occupied for several hours. We're out on location, remember, miles from anywhere. It's different when we work in the cities, or reasonably near them; then it's just a case of picking the phone up and getting information in a matter of minutes. Apart from the fact that we'd have a full quota of staff and the work would go through the proper channels.'

  He smiled at her. 'You know, you'll find it hard to believe right now, but if you stick it, the time will come when you'll look at a set of plans and be able to quote a price for the whole show. Matt can, and so can I. New projects, of course, need careful study, and that's where you and I come in. Matt can't be expected to be in two places at once, and he's got to be able to rely on our figures if, say, he's in Australia, and we're in London. If he's riding you hard, it's because he knows you can do it. He wouldn't bother otherwise. So forget all about chucking it in, that's a coward's way out.'

  Kent heard him out, but she was not being side-tracked.

  'You haven't answered my question,' she said quietly.

  Tony sighed. had a feeling we were going to get back to that.' He shot her a quick look and half grinned. 'There are times when I can see your father in you.'

  Kent's head acknowledged the truth of this as she silently nodded. 'Matt could, too,' she said, and waited.

  'And so the sparks fly,' remarked Tony. 'Well, they would; and they certainly did when Matt and your father were in partnership—both brilliant men, and both liking their own way. At the start, your father won the rounds hands down, but it didn't take long for Matt to reverse the decisions. He was the go-ahead one of the two of them. Your father was the cautious one, but there was no stopping Matt, not after he threatened to pull out.'

  Kent sensed that they had at last got to the core of the matter, and was vaguely surprised to find that whatever it was, she was on Matt's side. Perhaps because she had a long-standing grudge against her father, herself.

  Tony continued: 'If your father hadn't had to retire when he did, I don't honestly think Matt would still be with the company. Your dad was inclined to the view that Matt's loyalty belonged exclusively to Stainer Construction, having taken him on straight out of college. Not that Matt would have been looking for work, he had enough qualifications behind him to walk into any job. It was just that your father was in the right place at the right time.'

  He selected a cigarette from his case, lighting it, he drew deeply on it, then expelled the smoke slowly, and went on, 'As I've said, it wasn't an easy

  partnership, and after the Californian business, it got decidedly stickier.'

  Kent pushed an ashtray towards him, and murmuring his thanks, he said abruptly, `If there's a skeleton in the cupboard, I guess that was it,' he gave her a lopsided grin. 'And it's no dark secret, either, so don't go imagining things. Matt was approached by his old college tutor to submit plans for a fancy bridge they wanted erecting in one of the local beauty spots. It was one of the plums that turn up rarely in one's career, and would have given Matt a flying start up the ladder of recognition, but the old man could see Matt taking off, as it were, and leaving Stainer's high and dry, although,' he said slowly, 'he knew Matt well enough by then to know he'd do no such thing. It wasn
't as if anyone was out to lure him away from the firm. It was purely for exhibition purposes, but Matt's name would have been made, and that was enough for your father. Matt had signed a contract with the firm, and he used that to veto the scheme.'

  Kent almost sighed; in a way she could understand both points of view. Her father had not been a believer in instant success, he had been of the view that one worked from the bottom to the top for what they earned. She also had to admit that it might well have been a case of professional jealousy. Although brilliant, he had had to fight every inch of the way to gain recognition.

  She was also able to feel Matt's disappointment

  and frustration at that time; but there would have been nothing he would have been able to do about it. Her father would have found some clause in the contract to strengthen his case.

  'Matt didn't fight against the odds,' continued Tony. 'He had enough sense to see he couldn't win. Things sort of quietened down around the office after that. Nothing was said, but it was pretty plain that Matt would pull out after that contract expired; and that was when he was offered the partnership. He could have flung it back in the old man's face. It says a lot for him that he didn't.'

  He gave Kent a quizzical look. 'So you see, young Kent, it's all in the past, and hardly a reason for the vendetta you think he's running. Besides, you can't hold a man like that down, he's made the grade now —admittedly, a few years later than he would have done, but that's all water under the bridge now.'

  Kent wasn't so sure about that; she still had that indefinable feeling that Matt's antagonism was personal, and like him, she felt unable to fight against the odds building up around her, but she said nothing. Tony would not understand. She was grateful to him, however, for telling her the truth. 'Thank you, Tony,' she said, impulsively laying a hand on his arm. 'For that, I'll accept your kind offer of help on my rejected calculations.'

  His hand closed over hers and he gave it a squeeze. 'Right! Let's get to it, then.'

  'When you've finished giving my partner consolation,' snapped the harsh voice of Matt as he stood in the doorway of the office glaring at them, 'I would appreciate the benefit of your wise counselling on a little job of mine.'

  Tony grinned at the sarcastic jibe, and not a bit put out, murmured, 'Can't have all work and no play, you know.' He looked back at Matt, whose eyes now rested on Kent's flushed face. 'Talking of play,' he said, 'have you told Kent of our proposed outing in a fortnight? She could do with some diversion.'

  Kent watched Matt's lips thin as he replied gratingly, 'Nothing's settled yet. Time enough when it is,' and turned abruptly on his heel leaving Kent looking at Tony.

  An irate, 'Are you coming?' made Tony make for the door, giving Kent a comical grimace before he too disappeared from sight.

  She sighed and started the revision of her figures, but as she worked, her mind was not entirely on the project. She couldn't help wondering about the outing Tony had mentioned, and where it was supposed to be. As she recalled Matt's curt reply to Tony's question, her own lips thinned. Whatever it was, it must have been discussed some time ago, and he had not said a word to her about it. What had he hoped to do, just go off and leave her in the care of some watchdog at the plant? He was quite capable of doing just that! She wondered whether Tony was getting the sharp edge of his tongue at that very moment for mentioning the outing.

  The ring slipped on her finger, its looseness making it turn of its own accord at each movement of her hands. She stared at it; that of course would make a difference, she mused. It counted for nothing on the site, apart from giving her a certain protection, but it would be a different story, say, in a social gathering. Especially if it meant staying over the weekend. Her cheeks flushed at the thought. Yes, it could be decidedly awkward for both of them.

  She sighed. No wonder Matt hadn't mentioned the outing. He was probably trying to work out ways and means round it, terrified she would take advantage of the situation. She frowned as the thought suddenly struck her that the positions were somewhat reversed now. It was she who was on the defensive, not Matt.

  Remembering the scene in the foreman's office after Jack had left, Kent knew it had been the turning point in their relationship. She also had an uncomfortable feeling that she was treading a tightrope, and there was no net to catch her if she fell.

  It wasn't so much what he had said, but his actions, and the way he had held her in that crushing hold. Even now, she could still feel his hard body tight against her, and not only that, she could sense the feel of the hunter in him, steadily and irrevocably bearing down on his prey.

  Kent gave an involuntary shudder. She was not easily frightened, but some sixth sense warned her

  she would soon have to go to earth, or face the consequences. Tony had almost lulled her into

  of the position, but now she was alerted again. She had to go !

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE letter arrived a week later, and Kent had subconsciously been expecting it.

  It was addressed to 'Mrs K. Stainer-King' and had been sent to the site. Matt had brought it back with him late the previous evening, and had left it beside her place at table the following morning.

  One look at the writing gave her the identity of the sender, and she put it to one side and started her breakfast. When Matt joined her, she had reached the coffee stage, and she answered his laconic, 'Good morning,' with the same amount of warmth in her voice, wondering why he bothered with the conventional greeting.

  A pile of correspondence lay beside his place, and she watched him begin his meal and start opening his mail. The sharp tang of the after-shave he used drifted towards her as she sat surreptitiously studying him.

  There was something different about him that morning and her glance rested on his plain tan silk shirt—that was it, of course. He had discarded his beloved checks; in fact, she mused, he looked as if

  he had dressed for a day of leisure rather than a day of work.

  She remembered the outing Tony had mentioned and had since not referred to, having no doubt been threatened by Matt, and wondered whether he had decided to take early leave.

  According to what Tony had said, the outing was due this weekend, but still Matt had said nothing. Having worked out the possible implications of such a happening, Kent was not all that bothered, although she would have dearly loved a change of scene.

  At that precise moment, Matt looked up suddenly and caught her off guard studying him. In her confusion she hastily picked up the letter from Jack and opened it. Her brows raised slightly as she read the short but very explicit missive, asking her to make good her promise to finance his proposed venture. He told her that he had relied on her help and had suitable premises already lined up. In other words, he was demanding compensation.

  Quickly folding the letter, she putt back in the envelope and poured herself another cup of coffee. So much for his love, she thought bitterly.

  `Who was the letter from?' queried Matt.

  Kent started and stared at him for a moment or so. Why was he interested? 'Only a friend,' she answered airily, adding hastily, 'Do you want some more coffee?'

  He nodded, but continued to give her that cool

  stare of his. 'What friend?' he asked persistently.

  Almost upsetting the coffee, Kent found herself getting angry. 'Just a friend,' she repeated. 'I do have friends, you know,' she added coldly.

  His eyes narrowed. 'It wouldn't be from Jack, would it?' he said softly.

  Her annoyed flush betrayed her. Was he ramming home the cryptic remarks he'd made after Jack's departure? She didn't see why he should be disappointed. 'As a matter of fact,' she said crisply, `it is. As you so rightly presumed, I can get him back at any time of my choosing!'

  Glaring at him, she thrust the letter in the breast pocket of her blouse and made an attempt to sweep past him regally. It never occurred to her that he would stop her, and her eyes opened in surprised indignation when he casually extended his arm and caught her wris
t, swinging her round to face him.

  'I'd kinda like to see that letter,' he drawled, making it sound more an order than a request.

  'It's personal and private! ' choked Kent furiously.

  'Are you going to give it to me, or am I going to take it?' he said silkily.

  Kent was having trouble with her breathing and believing the scene was actually taking place. It reminded her of that first confrontation with him; part of her understood that it was his way of protecting her. He'd said he would look out for her as her father had wanted. As if she couldn't handle a dozen

  Jacks! She could, and she wanted no help from Matt King!

  Meeting her stormy eyes, Matt held his hand out imperatively. 'The letter—wife,' he said adamantly.

  An electric shock went through her as she continued to stare at him defiantly. How dared he call her that! Again the feeling she had felt once before crept over her, leaving her weak and exhausted and feeling like the stag at bay waiting for the inevitable. It was sheer panic that made her cry out, `I'm not your wife! The description fits me as much as this ring does! '

  So saying, she wildly waved her hand in front of him showing him how loose the ring was.

  The diversion she had been hoping for came when he caught hold of her hand and inspected the ring. One square finger carefully probed the distance between the finger and the ring. 'I didn't realise it was that loose,' he drawled. `I'll have to get you another one.'

  Panic gave way to, puzzlement as her eyes probed the blue ones that seemed to look into her very soul, and at that moment in time Kent lost her heart to Matt King. The knowledge came so suddenly and was so devastating that the blood pounded in her veins and she came close to fainting. She did not even see or feel him take the letter from her pocket, and her bemused eyes watched him as he read the letter, then refolding it, he placed it in his own