Passion's Dream (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 1)

by Julie Shelton

  Swiftly dialing Everett Burke’s cell number, she was relieved when it picked up on the first ring.

  “Hello?”

  Holding the phone away from her ear, she stared at it in disbelief. “Daniel?” she asked cautiously. Not Uncle Everett. His partner, Daniel Rayburn.

  “Leah! Oh, thank God you called! Where the hell are you? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you since last night!”

  “Daniel, what’s wrong? Where’s Uncle Everett? Why are you answering his phone?” She glanced over at Clay, who was standing at attention, every sense instantly on alert.

  “That’s why I’ve been trying to contact you. Everett’s in the hospital. Richard Gordon attacked him! He’s had a massive heart attack!”

  Shock smashed into her, ripping the breath from her lungs. All the color drained from her face. “How—how—”

  Clay moved to her, taking the phone from her suddenly limp hand and disconnecting the speaker. “Mr. Rayburn, this is Clay Nighthorse. Yes, that’s right, Leah’s bodyguard. Please calm down, sir, and tell me what happened.” He was silent, listening as the distraught man recounted the details. Leah could hear Daniel’s voice rising and falling even though she couldn’t make out the words he was saying. “And what hospital is he in? Good. Thank you. Now listen carefully, please, Mr. Rayburn. Leah and I will be leaving within the next hour and flying to San Carlos airport just outside San Francisco. I will call you back with our estimated arrival time. Could you please arrange to have a car and driver waiting for us when we land? Very good. Thank you. I’ll be calling you shortly.”

  Clay hung up the phone and turned to look at Leah. Fuck! All the blood had drained from her face, leaving it a pasty white. Pocketing his phone, he took hold of her hands. “Jesus Christ, baby, your hands are like ice! C’mere.” Tugging her hands, he led her into the living room and over to one of the cushy leather sofas. “You’re going into shock, love. I want you to lie down right here on this sofa.” The entire time he was talking, he was also manipulating her pliant body down onto the sofa, placing a cushion under her feet to elevate them, covering her with the afghan folded on the back of the couch. “While I go up and pack for both of us.”

  He sat on the edge of the sofa by her side, one hand on the back, the other soothing the hair away from her face. Her eyes were unfocused, her face a ghastly, pasty gray and she was sweating. Yup. Definitely in shock. Never taking his eyes from Leah’s face, he grabbed the phone from his pocket and pressed a number. “Mark. I need you over here stat. We just heard Leah’s uncle had a heart attack. She’s in shock and I need to pack.” He hung up without even waiting for an answer and pressed another number. “Caleb, it’s Raven. I need one of you to fly Leah and me to San Francisco. Her uncle had a heart attack and is in critical condition.” He listened for a minute, then said, “Great. Thanks. We’ll be there in thirty.”

  Tossing the phone onto the coffee table, he resumed stroking the side of Leah’s face with the backs of his fingers. “It’s all right, love, he’s going to be all right.” As Mark strode into the room, Clay leaned down and gave Leah a brief kiss on her lips. Christ, even her lips were cold.

  He stood up and Mark took his place, lifting Leah’s wrist and checking her pulse. “Thready. Rapid. She’s in shock, all right. I’ll watch her while you go pack. You already arrange transport?”

  “Yeah, Simon is prepping the Gulfstream right now. He’ll leave as soon as we get there.” Quickly Clay filled Mark in on what had happened. “I’m gonna need you to drive us to the airport.”

  “No problem. Go. Don’t let me slow you down.” Mark waved him away with his hand. “Go. Pack. Your girl is in good hands.”

  With one last anxious glance at Leah, Clay turned and strode swiftly out of the living room. Mark could hear him running up the stairs. He glanced down at the pale woman lying so quietly on the sofa. Her eyelids fluttered and she opened them to see his hazel eyes smiling down at her. She frowned. “You’re not Clay.”

  He smiled. “Thank you for clearing that up. My mother will be very happy.” She tried to sit up, but his hand on her shoulder pushed her gently back down. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. Sort of…pummeled. Like I just went a couple of rounds with Muhammed Ali.”

  “Yeah, shock’ll do that to you.”

  She looked up at him. “My uncle—Clay said—”

  “Your uncle is in good hands,” Mark said soothingly. “And Clay is upstairs throwing things into a suitcase. Simon Rafferty is going to fly you to San Francisco, where you will immediately be driven to the hospital where your uncle is. He’s doing fine,” he added quickly, anticipating her next question. “He had emergency quintuple bypass surgery last night and is now resting comfortably and the doctors are cautiously optimistic.”

  “Okay.”

  Mark put the back of his hand to her forehead. No longer cold. No longer clammy. She was coming around nicely.

  “Now you’re the doctor,” she said with a grin. “Got anything for a rash?”

  They were both laughing when Clay came back into the room.

  “I can see you’re feeling better,” he said, putting a suitcase down at the door and striding over to the sofa. Leaning over the back of the sofa, he gave her a sideways kiss across her mouth. “C’mon, baby, we’ve got to go. Mark’s going to drive us to the airport.”

  Leah sat up, throwing off the afghan that was covering her. Swinging her legs around, she stood up and immediately sat back down. “Whoa. Dizzy.”

  “It’s okay, baby, I’ve got you,” Clay said, coming around the end of the sofa and scooping her up into his arms. Mark grabbed the suitcase and the three of them walked quickly to the kitchen door, where Mitch, Ray, Al, and Rusty were waiting on the back porch. Rusty and Mitch jumped up from the rocking chairs they’d been sitting on.

  “She okay?” Mitch asked, real concern on his face.

  “She’s fine,” Clay said, not stopping, “but we’re in a hurry. Mark will fill you in when he gets back.”

  They followed him down the stairs over to the BMW, hovering around anxiously while he deposited Leah in the back seat and went around to get in next to her.

  “Anything we can do to help?” Rusty asked, running his hand up and down the back of his head.

  “Just go to the meeting tonight and give everyone a copy of Richard Gordon’s photo,” Clay ordered before closing the door. “I’ll call you after we land.” The car leaped forward with a squeal of tires on the asphalt driveway as Mark Austin punched the accelerator. Clay turned in his seat and lifted Leah sideways into his lap, pulling her against him and buckling them both in. He curved his arms around her. With a sigh, she leaned against him and let him hold her, taking comfort in his strength and solidity.

  It took them less than ten minutes to get to the airport. Mark drove them directly up to a waiting Gulfstream V airplane waiting on the tarmac. A man stood waiting by the lowered staircase. Leah slid off of Clay’s lap to exit through the passenger door and that’s when she remembered that she had a plug up her ass and that her thigh and calf muscles were stiffening up from the ride on Hercules. “Oof.” It was an unintentional cry.

  Clay’s reaction was instantaneous. “What is it, baby, what’s the matter?”

  “Nothing.” She shook her head. “Just a little stiff.” She met his eyes. “From using all those muscles I didn’t know I had.”

  “Sorry, baby. I was planning on a session in the hot tub and a full-body massage. Looks like they’re both out.” He shrugged. “You know, best-laid plans and all that.”

  “Yeah.” She smiled. “I’m told mice have the same problem.”

  “Raven. Doctor Stanhope.” The pilot approached them and held out his hand to Leah, which she took before actually looking at him. “Caleb?” she asked, startled.

  The man chuckled. “No, I’m Simon Rafferty, Caleb’s brother.

  “Are you twins?”

  “Actually, we’re triplets. We have another
brother, Ash.” He took her arm and walked her to the bottom of the stairs.

  She went up each step slowly, stiffly, using the hand rail to pull herself up, groaning at every exertion.

  “Are you all right, Dr. Stanhope?” Simon Rafferty asked in concern.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” she assured him. “And please call me Leah. All I have to do is keep moving. Aaahhhh!” She stopped, huffing out a breath. “Or…keep very still.”

  Laughing, Clay once again swept her up in his arms. “We went horseback riding,” he explained over his shoulder as he carried her into the plane. “She’s a little stiff.”

  “You mean like water is a little wet?” Leah snarked. “Or the Eiffel Tower is a little tall? The sun is a little warm? Like—”

  “Okay, okay,” Clay chuckled, setting her down in a large, comfortable armchair. “We get it. You’ve made your point. As soon as we get to the hotel tonight, I’ll give you a full body massage. I promise that will make you feel better.”

  “We don’t need to stay at a hotel,” she protested. “We can stay at my place.”

  “Not safe.”

  “Well, can we at least go by my condo? I would really like to get some more clothes to wear. I only packed for a short stay in Palm Beach.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Clay agreed. “But we’re definitely not staying there. I’ve already made reservations at the Ritz-Carlton—under an assumed name. Oh, by the way, you are Mrs. Julian Dane.”

  She looked up at him. “You really think that’s necessary?”

  “Trust me, sweetheart. When you hear what Daniel told me, you’ll think it’s very necessary, too. Buckle in. I’m gonna sit in the cockpit with Simon during takeoff. Will you be all right here by yourself?”

  “Of course. I love flying.”

  “Good. I’ll be back as soon as we’re airborne.”

  She fastened her seat belt and relaxed into her seat as the jet taxied to the end of the runway and made a U-turn. The engine whine became louder. Then, like a stone shot out of a slingshot, it accelerated in one smooth burst of power, finally tilting upward as it left the ground. Shortly after the jet leveled off, Clay came back into the cabin, stopping first in the small galley to get a bottle of water and a bottle of acetaminophen. “Here, baby.” He handed her the bottle of water and tipped two tablets into her upheld palm. “This will help until I can give you your massage.” He watched while she took the medication. “I just called Daniel to give him our arrival time and to check on your uncle. He’s still in ICU, but they expect to be moving him to a private suite a bit later, probably while we’re airborne. In the meantime, he’s resting comfortably.”

  “What happened to him? Why did he have a heart attack?”

  “Two words. Richard. Gordon.” Clay sat down in a chair facing her. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, holding out his hands. She placed hers in them. He was pleased to note that they were no longer cold. And the color had returned to her cheeks. “Your uncle and Daniel were having dinner last night at one of their favorite restaurants, when your ex-husband approached. At first he pretended to be remorseful over the way he had treated you and begged Everett to tell him where you were so he could make amends. When Everett refused, Gordon got angry and started demanding to know where you were. Still hoping to fob him off, Everett finally admitted that you were in Palm Beach, and that’s when Gordon lost it. He grabbed Everett by the lapels and yanked him up out of his seat, calling him a—I believe ‘fucking liar’ is the way Daniel phrased it. Gordon knew that you weren’t in Palm Beach, because the guy he’d hired to be your ‘date’ had told him you were gone. The house was empty. Richard shook your uncle violently, threatening to kill him if he didn’t tell him where you were.

  “At this point, a phalanx of waiters rushed over to the table. Two of them pulled Richard off of your uncle, who, by this time was holding his chest and gasping for breath. The maître d’ had already called 9-1-1. By the time the cops and paramedics arrived, Burke had collapsed on the floor, unconscious. They whisked him off to UCSF hospital. Unfortunately, in all the chaos Richard managed to get away and hasn’t been found since.”

  Leah just stared at him, listening in mounting horror to his stark narrative. “Uncle Everett, is he—?”

  “He’s going to be fine,” Clay said reassuringly. “He’ll have a long recovery period, but he’s going to be just fine.”

  “I need to see him.”

  “I know. A car and driver will meet us at the airport and take us straight to the hospital. Daniel Rayburn will be waiting for us. He’s staying with your uncle in the hospital room.”

  Her eyes widened as a thought hit her. “It was Richard!”

  “I just told you it was.”

  “No, no, I mean, it was Richard behind my phone call yesterday morning, you know, the one setting up my ‘date’.” Her face crumpled. ‘Oh, God, Clay, if you hadn’t gotten me out of there, no telling what would have happened to me. I could’ve been kidnapped! Or killed!”

  “But you weren’t.” He slid off his chair to kneel beside hers. “And you won’t be. I’ll keep you safe, baby, I promise. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

  She put her hand on his cheek. ‘You saved my life,” she whispered.

  He just smiled. “Only because I’m a selfish bastard. I plan to keep you around for a long, long, time.”

  “Clay, I’m serious.”

  “So am I, Leah. So am I. Believe me, I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”

  She bit her lip. He covered her hand on his cheek with his hand. “C’mon, love, we’ve got a five-hour flight ahead of us and you look done in. This airplane has a bedroom. Why don’t we go lie down and I’ll go ahead and give you that massage I promised. Then I’ll just hold you. With any luck, you’ll fall asleep before I’m even done with the massage.”

  “Okay,” she said, after a long pause. “But I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep.”

  * * * *

  She was still awake when the plane landed a little over five hours later. The car was waiting for them, as promised, and thirty minutes after arriving in San Francisco, they were in an elevator at UCSF hospital, on their way up to the private suite Everett Burke now occupied, having been released from ICU a few hours before. Leah hadn’t spoken a single word since the airplane had landed. Nor had she sought Clay’s comforting touch. She seemed remote, isolated, as if she were afraid she’d lose control and break down completely.

  As the elevator door opened, Daniel Rayburn stepped forward to greet them. He and Clay managed to greet each other with a handshake before Leah threw herself into Rayburn’s arms and dissolved into tears. While Clay watched Everett Burke’s partner trying to comfort and reassure Leah, he used the opportunity to study the dapper little man.

  Daniel Rayburn was probably in his early forties, just under six feet tall and physically fit, with brown hair and a brown mustache. His eyes were gray and filled with love for the woman he was holding in his arms, his partner’s niece. He looked up at Clay. “She get any sleep?”

  Clay shook his head.

  “She eat?”

  “She’s standing right here,” Leah sniffled, wiping her eyes and pushing herself out of Daniel’s arms. “She can hear every word you’re saying.” She moved to Clay and let him pull her against his side. “And she wants to see her uncle.”

  Everett Burke was lying in a hospital bed with an IV in the back of his hand and an oxygen cannula in his nose. A plastic bag around a quarter full of yellow liquid lay beside his left thigh. Electrodes pasted to his chest linked him to the steadily-beeping machine that was monitoring his heart. Leah walked over to him and gently took the hand without the IV line attached to it, fresh tears streaming silently down her cheeks. For the first time since she’d known him, Everett Burke looked every one of his sixty-three years. The blue of his veins stood out against the pallor of his skin and his features looked sunken. He looked…old. And frail. Her hand flew
to her mouth, trying to suppress her sobs. Without success. They tore from her throat as she leaned over the railing and placed a kiss on his forehead. It was cool and dry against her lips.

  Then Clay had his arms around her and he and Daniel were leading her over to a small sitting area in the suite. Clay pulled her down into his lap and held her, stroking her arm. She sat quietly, only the occasional, hiccupping sob racking her body, while Daniel told them everything Richard had said and done during the confrontation that had led to her uncle’s heart attack. When he had finished, Clay kissed Leah’s cheek and looked steadily at Daniel Rayburn. “I wanna run something by you,” he said. “You and I both know that Richard Gordon will stop at nothing to find out where Leah is. And when he does, he’s going to try to kill her.” Both men ignored Leah’s sudden, sharp intake of breath. “Until then, Everett Burke is also in danger. I propose we move him to another hospital. One where he’ll be completely safe.”

  “And where would that be?” Rayburn asked cynically. “On the moon?”

  “No.” Clay hesitated, wanting to reassure the man, without telling him exactly where he wanted to take Burke. “Virginia.”

  “Virginia!” Rayburn stiffened. “The other side of the country? Absolutely not!”

  “Just hear me out, okay? The hospital I want to take him to is small, but it’s an excellent facility and it’s only around thirty miles from my ranch. The head of the cardiology department is a friend of mine, a former SEAL teammate. The police chief is my former CO. The man I occasionally work for was his XO, and more than a dozen former teammates live in the town where I live. As long as Burke’s there, I can arrange to have men watching him around the clock. As soon as he’s released he’ll come stay at the ranch with us until he’s fully recovered. Or until Gordon is caught and brought to justice. You’re welcome to come, too, of course. We have plenty of room at the house for both of you”

  Daniel Rayburn thought for a long moment, then said, “Will you give me a while to think about it?”