Terms of Surrender

by Janet Dailey

  “I have no intention of taking it out on anyone but you,” Deke assured her with menacing calm.

  Angie would rather have faced the fury of his temper than this icy control. Her first priority, above her own defense, was to protect Marissa. She owed his sister that much—and more.

  “Before you say anything, Deke, I know what you’re probably thinking,” she began, “but Marissa didn’t know I was here. I followed her—”

  “Liar.” His low voice slashed her with contempt.

  Angie hesitated and tried again. “I swear she had no part in this.”

  “Do you really think I’d believe anything you say?” Deke taunted.

  “But—”

  “You persuaded my own sister to betray me,” he accused, and when Angie would have denied it, he didn’t give her a chance to speak. “Don’t try to convince me that you followed her here, because you won’t succeed. One of my men followed Marissa and Lindy today.” His statement splintered through her and his gaze narrowed on her startled expression with grim complacency. “You didn’t anticipate that, did you?”

  “No,” Angie admitted numbly.

  “You were already here waiting for Marissa when she arrived. My man spotted your car in the parking lot and checked the license plates.”

  “Then he called you,” she realized.

  “Yes.”

  “I only wanted to see Lindy—talk to her,” Angie tried to explain. “No harm was done.”

  His gaze swept her with freezing disgust.

  “No harm was done, is that right? You only persuaded my sister to meet you behind my back. I suppose Lindy has been told to keep this afternoon a secret from me—her own father!” On that blistering note, Angie started to avert her head, but Deke imprisoned her chin between his fingers, his grip hard and punishing. “My own blood! And you were arranging for them to lie to me! But no harm’s been done!”

  His bruising hold forced her head back. She couldn’t even get her mouth open to answer. Her fingers circled his sinewed wrist in mute protest. Angie could feel the violence deep within him and saw it in the tight curl of his lips. Deke abruptly released her and she began trembling in a delayed reaction to the brush with danger.

  “It isn’t going to do any good to threaten me, Deke.” Angie wouldn’t back down, regardless of his physical intimidation. “You’re not going to keep me away from Lindy.”

  For a long second, he merely looked at her. “Where are you staying?” When she hesitated, his mouth thinned. “Don’t bother to tell me Corpus Christi, because I already know better.”

  She didn’t bother to ask him how. “Here, in Goliad.” She gave him the name of the motel, knowing he’d find it sooner or later.

  “I’ll meet you there at seven this evening,” Deke stated.

  “You’ll meet me?” Angie couldn’t believe she’d heard him correctly.

  “Yes.” There was a deliberate pause. “That is, if you want to discuss your chances of seeing Lindy.”

  “I do,” she assured him with a rush. “Tonight, at seven.” Angie was dazed by his unexpected capitulation to talk to her about Lindy. It was a complete turnabout, totally out of character.

  “Good.” There was a glint in his eyes that she didn’t like as he turned and walked away. Deke seemed altogether too pleased.

  It made her uneasy, but Angie couldn’t throw away the chance that he was serious. It was possible that she’d managed to convince him she wasn’t going to give up. Maybe he was willing to negotiate some kind of agreement that would allow her visiting privileges.

  Angie was still trying to puzzle out his motives when she reached the parking lot. By that time, there was no sign of Deke and she was no closer to an answer than she’d been before.

  Chapter Six

  At five o’clock, Angie was back in her motel room. It was two hours before she had to meet Deke and she was still regarding it with a great deal of uncertainty. She went through the meager wardrobe she had along, trying to choose an outfit that would be casual yet give her some much-needed confidence. After much indecision, she laid out taupe slacks and a matching blazer jacket and draped a silk blouse of brown and gold paisley print on the chair. With that accomplished, Angie entered the bathroom to shower before changing.

  She was in the midst of toweling dry when she heard the knock on her door. Her wrist-watch was on the sink counter. It wasn’t even six o’clock yet. It couldn’t be Deke. Angie frowned and shrugged into her terrycloth beachrobe that doubled for a dressing gown, although it only reached to mid-thigh. She quickly tied a knot in the cloth belt around her waist.

  As she crossed to the door, there was a second knock. She paused not opening it. A sense of caution made her ask, “Who is it?”

  “Angie? It’s me, Ted.” The intervening walls and door partially muffled his voice but she still recognized it.

  “Ted.” Angle opened the door to stare at him in disbelief, surprise halting her smile in mid-curve.

  The jacket of his dark business suit was draped behind one shoulder, suspended by the hook of one finger. His other hand rested against the door frame, giving the impression that it was propping him up. The striped tie was unknotted and hanging loose down his front, the top buttons of his white shirt unfastened. A lazy smile softened his square-jawed face.

  “If the moutain won’t come to Mohammed—” he said and left the rest unfinished.

  “I can’t believe it! What are you doing here?” Angie automatically opened the door to admit him as Ted reached down to pick up his briefcase and a small weekender bag sitting outside the door. “Why didn’t you let me know you were coming?”

  “I wanted to surprise you.” He walked into her room and Angie gave the door a push to shut it, not bothering to see if it latched and locked automatically.

  “Surprise isn’t the word for it,” she insisted.

  “And here I thought you were wearing that fetching little outfit just for me,” Ted grinned with an appreciative glance at the brevity of the robe and its plunging neckline.

  “I just got out of the shower.” But she made sure the front of her robe snuggly overlapped.

  “Then it’s a pity I didn’t arrive five minutes sooner,” he teased.

  “I wouldn’t have let you in,” Angie retorted, then realized, “you still haven’t told me what you’re doing here?”

  “It’s a combination of business and pleasure—with emphasis on the pleasure.” He tossed his jacket on the bed and caught hold of her shoulders. “I was sitting in Houston with the whole weekend ahead of me and my favorite girl out of town. All of a sudden it came to me—why should both of us be lonely when we can be together? And here I am. Are you glad to see me?”

  “Of course.” But Angie knew very well it was the promise of companionship that interested her, even if Ted had less platonic intentions.

  When he tilted his head toward hers, she lifted her mouth to his kiss. Its pressure was firm, seeking more of a response than she gave. Before it became demanding, Angie eluded it, pushing away with a smile to soften her rejection of his advances. For once, Ted didn’t protest.

  “I can be patient awhile longer,” he smiled, a possessive light darkening his hazel eyes. “Now that you’ve told me about your child, I know you can be swept away by desire.”

  “Don’t... be too sure,” Angie murmured, because she knew the truth had become almost the exact opposite.

  Ted eyed her for a curious second, then changed the direction of their conversation. “Speaking of your little girl, how are things going here?”

  “Maybe not too bad. I saw her today,” she told him, unaware of the radiance that entered her expression. “Marissa—that’s Deke’s sister—brought Lindy to the presidio. We spent the afternoon together.”

  “Did you have permission to do that from your ex-husband?” Ted frowned. “I thought he had forbidden you to see her.”

  “He had,” she admitted.

  “But his sister brought her anyway? That sounds li
ke she’s on your side,” he concluded.

  “I think so, but I doubt if it will help.” Angie sighed and chewed at the inside of her lower lip. “Deke found out. I’m meeting him tonight at seven to talk about Lindy. That’s why I said maybe things aren’t so bad.”

  “But you’re not sure?” Ted eyed her curiously.

  “With Deke? No, I’m never sure,” she answered quite forcefully. Deke was very much an unknown quantity.

  “Is he still in love with you?”

  “Deke? He despises me.” Angie knew that much for certain.

  “Since you’re meeting him tonight, I think it’s a good thing I’m here,” Ted stated. “It’s sensible to have your legal counsel present during any discussions of this nature.”

  “You’re right.” She’d be glad for his support, although she guessed that Deke wouldn’t welcome Ted’s presence. “Did you have a chance to talk to your friend—the attorney who specializes in custody cases?”

  “Yes. That was the business purpose of my trip here,” Ted smiled. “And it makes it deductible.”

  “What did he say?” That’s what Angie wanted to know.

  “Sam was reluctant to venture an opinion until he’d had a chance to examine the legal documents relating to your divorce and custody of the child. You do have copies, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but—not with me. They’re in a safety deposit box at the bank along with my birth certificate and some other papers,” Angie explained.

  “In Houston?”

  “Yes,” she nodded.

  “I thought that would be the case.” Ted picked up his briefcase and set it on the bed, snapping the latches to open it. “I brought a power of attorney form for you to sign, giving me the right to remove the papers from the safety deposit box. That will save you a trip to Houston.”

  Ted sat on the edge of the bed and went through the business folders in the case until he found the one containing the document. Taking it out, he closed the lid of the briefcase and laid the paper on it. He offered Angie the ballpoint pen from his shirt pocket.

  Using his briefcase for a hard surface to write on, Angie perched on the edge of the bed and signed her name in the signature blank, then returned the pen to Ted. He put the pen into his pocket and replaced the document in his briefcase.

  “Is your little girl as beautiful as you are?” he asked.

  “I’m too prejudiced,” Angie laughed and stayed seated on the bed, facing Ted. “She does have blond hair, but her eyes are gray.” Suddenly she was very serious. “Do I have a chance of obtaining visiting rights?”

  “There is always a chance, but we simply aren’t going to know how good it is until we have studied the final decrees,” Ted explained without raising false hopes. “We’ll pursue every possibility, Angie. I promise you that.”

  “Since my parents died, I’ve never had anyone who really cared about me—no one I could turn to when I was in trouble who was willing to help. I was always a burden—an inconvenience to my relatives—somebody else’s problem that had been dumped in their lap—until now.” She laid her hand against his smoothly shaven cheek in a warm caress. His presence proved his offer of help hadn’t been an idle one, spoken and forgotten. “I’ve always liked you, Ted. Now I know why.”

  He covered her hand with his, holding it and turning his head to kiss the inner palm. His hazel eyes were bright and possessive in their study of her face.

  “I’ve needed you almost from the moment we met, Angie. I’ve been waiting a long time for you to need me,” he declared huskily. “You never seemed vulnerable. You were always so independent, self-contained, and in control of yourself and your life.”

  “It might have seemed that way.” Angie didn’t try to withdraw her hand, letting him hold it against his face.

  But Ted wasn’t content with that innocent caress and reached out, placing a hand at the back of her waist to pull her to him. Angie didn’t resist his firmly gentle invitation to embrace on the edge of the bed. As they leaned toward each other, Ted paused, his face mere inches from hers.

  “I never guessed that you were a woman with a past,” he murmured and closed the space between them.

  The ardency of his kiss was a pleasant experience. Angie enjoyed it, but the feeling of detachment remained. It didn’t move her as it did him. Her arms circled him, trained to respond as her lips were, but the fires inside her remained banked, no force invading to flame them out of control.

  So her mind went on thinking calmly while his mouth hungrily tasted her lips. A woman with a past—she had never thought of herself in those terms. She had kept her secret because “divorced with a child” would have been a red flag waved at every single man she met—and some who weren’t single. Her looks alone had drawn sufficent advances—advances that wouldn’t have been so easily or quickly turned aside if they had known about her past.

  When Ted released her mouth, his lips sought the curve of her neck. His moist nibbles sent tiny shivers over her skin, but none that rocked her. Angie curled a hand into the fine hair at the back of his head, tipping her own head to one side and allowing him freer access to her sensitive throat. His roaming hands arched her closer until she appeared to be straining toward him. Her eyes were half-closed in absent introspection.

  A single knock at the door opened them. Her eyes widened as the door swung open from the impetus of that single knock. It hadn’t latched when she’d pushed it shut! A cold wave raced through her when Angie saw Deke framed in the doorway. His gray eyes blazed at the sight of her on the bed, locked in a seemingly passionate embrace with a strange man. With his back to the door, Ted was aroused to the state where he was aware of nothing but the woman in his arms.

  Recovering from the initial shock, Angie tried to push away from Ted but his arms tightened to hold her there. “It’s Deke,” she protested frantically, conscious that he was crossing the threshold.

  Something of her panic must have communicated itself to Ted, because he relaxed his hold and sent a dazed glance over his shoulder. By then, Deke was striding toward the bed, a wild fury raging in his look. It sobered Ted in an instant, even as it deprived Angie of her voice. Ted let her go and started to rise to confront the man who had invaded their privacy—not instantly making the connection that this was her ex-husband.

  “Hey! What do you—” Ted never had an opportunity to finish his challenge as Deke buried a fist in his stomach, doubling him over.

  All of it was happening too fast for Angie to react. As Ted bent over, the breath driven out of him, Deke grabbed him by the shoulders and heaved him into the corner. Only the chair with her clothes on it prevented Ted from being shoved head-first into the wall. He crashed into it and fell sideways against the wall.

  With a whispered outcry of concern, Angie darted from the bed to go to Ted’s aid. But Deke was in her way and she realized that he intended to finish the beating he started. She hurled herself at Deke, throwing her arms around him. Ted was already half-senseless, unable to defend himself.

  “Stop it, Deke!” she screamed her panic, clutching at him when he tried to push her away. “You’ll kill him!”

  For a split second, Angie thought she was going to be tossed aside. His hands had already taken much of her weight, then the violence of his gaze locked with the terror of hers. She sensed the power struggle within Deke, warring to bring his rage under control. Watching him withdraw into himself and harden was nearly as awesome as his fury. It had passed and Angie sagged weakly in his hold, briefly relieved.

  Behind her, there was movement. She twisted her head to look over her shoulder as Ted groped to stand up, shaking his head in an effort to clear it. Except for being dazed, he appeared unharmed. Deke’s hold on her relaxed, her flesh tingling where his hands had gripped her so brutually, but she wasn’t released. Ted lifted his head to glare at Deke. Outrage darkened Ted’s expression.

  “I’ll have you arrested for assault,” Ted charged. “Angie, call the police.”

  “No,
” she whispered, but neither man took any notice of her protest.

  Deke released her and swung away, his long stride carrying him to the telephone by the bed. Angie thought he was going to rip it out of the wall. He picked it up, volatile anger simmering beneath every move, and thrust the receiver toward Ted.

  “Go ahead and call the police,” Deke challenged with cold disdain for the threat. “It will be my word against yours. I don’t know who the hell you are, mister, but you’re in my territory. And my word carries a helluva lot more weight than yours!”

  Angie was caught literally and figuratively in the middle, not knowing which way to turn. She divided her glances between the two men, but Ted was the logical one to listen to reason. She directed her first appeal to him.

  “Ted, this is Lindy’s father. Deke Black-wood.” After she had identified him by name and saw Ted draw back in reappraisal of the situation, Angie turned to Deke. “Ted Sullivan is a friend of mine from Houston.”

  “I did have the impression you knew him.” There was a faint ring of sarcasm in Deke’s reply as he pivoted to roughly shove the telephone back on its place on the bed’s night table.

  “I also happen to be Angie’s attorney,” Ted snapped.

  Deke’s gaze ran sharply between the two of them, harsh and condemning. “I suppose you were ’conferring’ with your client when I came to the door,” he taunted. “I’m surprised you didn’t make a mockery of all this by referring to Angie as ’Miss Hall,’ considering the ’intimate conference’ I interrupted. Your ’seduction strategy’ will have to be postponed.” Deke reached, grabbing Ted’s suit jacket from the bed and throwing it at him.

  Angie paled, realizing how damning it looked—Ted with his jacket and his shirt half-unbuttoned and herself naked under the short robe. Even more damning was Ted’s suitcase sitting on the floor by her bed.

  “Get your coat on and get out!” Deke ordered.

  “He just arrived a few minutes ago,” Angie tried to explain.

  “You don’t have any right to order me out of this room!” Ted defied him. His hands were throttling the jacket Deke had thrown at him as though Ted wished it was Deke’s throat.