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you put those pictures up for bid?"
"I just asked around, that's all."
"Asked around! Are you crazy? By now, word is out that we've got something
hot. How long do you think it'll take for everyone and his brother to move in on
us? We've probably led 'em right to her."
"You're missing the point, Hattie. With the pictures I've got, I can retire." That
double-chinned grin split his face again. "As a multimillionaire."
Hattie took a long, hard drag on her cigarette, then blew the smoke out in
steady white streams from her nose. "No, you're missing the point, Sammy. Those
pictures are mine. And if they should find their way to another paper, I have a few
photos of my own that your sweet little wife might be interested in seeing. Took
'em back in January. A hotel outside of London."
The light of greed in Sam's eyes extinguished, and that sickly green pallor
returned. "You wouldn't."
'"Course not." She might be getting old, but she hadn't forgotten the
importance of good management techniques. "I wouldn't do a thing like that to
my partner, now … would I?"
7
« ^ »
"LET'S HEAD FOR DALLAS. The woman who raised me—Nanny, I used to call her—
told me it's a wonderful place. She has family there. I wonder if they'd still
remember me? I met some of her grandchildren at Christmas one year…" She
must have realized he was only partially listening to this American princess he'd
been calling "Claire," the one who stubbornly insisted on trusting him. She fell
silent, then asked, "Is something wrong?"
He didn't want to worry her, but he saw no way around it. "It's possible that
we're being followed."
"Followed!" She whipped around in her seat to look behind them. "Here, in the
sand dunes?"
Tyce nodded grimly and gazed through the rearview mirror as he drove down
the sandy path between the dunes. He understood the doubt in her voice. They
seemed to be very much alone.
"I don't see anyone," she ventured, both anxious and hopeful.
"That helicopter back there, over the water."
"The helicopter? Oh!" She breathed a sigh of relief. "That's only one of those
tourist rides. I saw a couple of them when we first got here, and believe me, I
almost hit the floor to hide, but then I realized what they were. Hadn't you
noticed them flying up and down the beach yesterday?"
Yesterday. Had it only been yesterday? Their day on the beach seemed a
lifetime ago. She'd been masquerading as an ordinary vacationer, and though he'd
known she wasn't, he'd taken her playacting a little too seriously. He wished the
truth hadn't come out in the open. It sat between them like an unscalable wall, at
least for him. "Yeah, I noticed the copters yesterday. This one could be a tourist
ride, and the passengers could be looking through binoculars at the panoramic
view … but I don't like the way it circled back around to us."
Like a candle snuffed out, the relief vanished from her face, and she looked
skyward through her passenger window.
Tyce silently cursed himself for the hundredth time in the short few days he'd
been with her. He should have spotted the copter sooner. He'd been too caught up
in her to pay much attention to the sky around them. Subconsciously he must
have noticed, though, because a feeling of unease had grown in the pit of his
stomach. By the time he'd ushered her to the car, he'd known something wasn't
quite right, and had searched around him for a clue to his unease.
"The helicopter is following us!" she cried as he steered the car onto the paved
highway. "It's paparazzi … isn't it?"
It wasn't really a question. She knew as well as he did. "I believe so."
She shut her eyes and leaned her head back. "They found me again. We can't
shake them, can we?" Her voice shook with disappointment. "The whole
elaborate plan, the risk, all for nothing. It's over."
"Hey, it's not over. We'll lose 'em."
"No, we won't." Her eyes opened, and they were glazed with a hunted look. "I
can't get away from them."
"Claire." He reached an arm around her and pulled her to him. She was his
"Claire" right now, the woman he'd held and kissed last night, not the heiress on
the television screen. He wished he could stop the car to hold her closer. "Don't
throw in the towel yet," he said against her temple. "They're too far away to do
anything right now, and we're going to lose them."
She shook her head. "They're everywhere." In a tight whisper, she added, "Even
when I close my eyes, I see them." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]