A Midsummer Night's Romp (29 page)

Gunner straightened up to face his brother, who had a particularly long-suffering look on his face. “What have you done now?” Elliott asked. His glance moved on to where Lorina stood. “Ah. I see. At least this time you've managed to keep your clothing on.”

“They have, but that's probably because of my presence,” Daria said, coming forward quickly. “I really need the loo. If you'll excuse me—” She dashed off with her hand over her mouth.

Lorina took an unfortunately good look at Daria and made an odd
guh
sound, looking a bit green about the gills.

With one eye on Lorina, Gunner took his brother aside and quickly filled him in on the happenings of the evening.

“You were drugged?” Elliott asked in stark astonishment. “Are you sure?”

“Am I sure that we didn't just suddenly fall asleep in the middle of uncovering what looked to be an unprecedented cache of silver and gold jewelry and coins? Yes, I'm certain we were drugged.”

“How did you get here?” Elliott looked around them in search of an obvious vehicle.

“I have no idea, but I suspect via one of the wheelbarrows used by the diggers. Everyone is off at dinner, and since this barn isn't visible to the tents, I suspect someone simply wheeled us down from the temple and dumped us here. It would only take a few minutes.”

“True,” Elliott agreed, frowning at where Lorina weaved her way over to the door.

Gunner immediately went to her, and supported her with an arm. “I'd like a doctor to see Lorina. She seems a bit woozy.”

Elliott made no protests; he simply took charge of the people gathered around the door and sent them on various tasks. In no time, Gunner had tucked an only mildly protesting Lorina into his bed, and was waiting outside the room while the family doctor examined her inside.

For the first time in his life, fear clutched at him, and he was not enjoying the experience. Lorina had become more and more woozy, dropping off to sleep in the middle of sentences. What if the drug had seriously harmed her? He'd just found her, dammit—he didn't want to lose her now.

He leaned against the wall across from the door to his bedroom, his palms sweating as he gave in to his fears. She could be ill, gravely ill, and what could he do about
it? Nothing! Dammit, why hadn't he stopped her from drinking that tea? If he got her through this, he would take far better care of her in the future.

No more playboy ways for him. Not just for Cressy's sake—it was himself he was thinking about now. He didn't want to live a life that did not include Lorina in it, and just the thought that she could even now be fighting for her life . . . “Dammit!” he exploded, and took a step forward to fling open the door and demand the doctor do whatever it took to save Lorina.

“Is the doctor done?” Cressy trotted down the hall, her face twisted with worry. “Are you guys all right?”

“I'm fine. It's Lorina I'm worried about. The doctor is in with her now.” It took a heroic effort, but Gunner managed to not charge into the room, instead returning to leaning against the wall outside the door.

“She looked pretty sleepy at the barn. Is the doctor going to give her something to wake her up?” Cressy asked, pacing nervously up and down the hallway. “How come you aren't sleepy like she was? Who would drug you guys? I just don't get it!”

“Lorina will be fine,” Gunner said, making an effort to chase all the dire thoughts from his head. He sagged tiredly against the wall, suddenly so overwhelmed that it was a struggle to remain upright. He wanted so badly to crawl into bed next to Lorina, to hold her and keep her safe from the world, but there were things he had to do, and he had to do them now, before too much time passed. “I spilled some of my tea, so I didn't drink as much tea as she did. And I'm not sure there's anything to get.”

“You didn't say who drugged you,” Cressy said suspiciously, stopping in front of him. “You know, don't you?”

He rubbed his jaw. He needed a shave and a hot shower, and about three straight days of sleep. But most of all, he needed Lorina hale and hearty. If they got through
this, then he'd make sure that things were different. He'd make sure she understood that he had changed, and was a better man. The sort of man who deserved her. “I have an idea, yes. The problem is, I don't know the reason for it.”

“I thought someone drugged you to take the treasure.”

“Possibly. Possibly there was another motive.”

“Well, for god's sake, Gunner!” Cressy all but jumped with excitement. “Uncle Elliott and that TV guy know the guy who took the jewelry you dug up. That's got to be the one who drugged you, right?”

Gunner straightened up at that. “What man who stole the jewelry?”

“The one who Uncle Elliott found with the jewelry,” Cressy said impatiently. “That is, the jewelry was found in his trailer. You know, the head guy who Lorina was pretending she really liked.”

He gave his daughter a piercing look. She met it with eyes that were bright with intelligence. Damn, he'd forgotten for a moment just how perceptive she really was. “They found the jewelry in Thompson's caravan?”

“That's what Uncle Elliott said a couple of minutes ago. He wants to call the police, but Roger is insisting that they wait until he can talk to the head of the studio. Uncle Elliott said he'll wait until you go down to talk to them, but after that, he'll get the police in. I just hope Lorina is all right. Can I be your best man? Only I'd be a best woman, obvs. Or do you want Uncle Elliott to be best man? Can you have two? I wouldn't mind sharing with him.”

“I believe most women tend to go for bridesmaid,” he answered, rubbing his head and willing the massive headache away. Why was the doctor taking so long? Should he call for a helicopter to airlift Lorina to the nearest hospital?

“I'm not most women,” Cressy said, whomping him on the arm. “I want to be your best woman.”

Distracted from his dark thoughts, he smiled and
pulled her into a hug, kissing her on her head. “You
are
my best woman.”

“And Lorina,” she said, giving him a fierce hug. “She's best, too.”

“Yes, she is.” He released her to search her face. “If we did get married—yes, you can be my best man. Or one of them, because I would like Elliott for that position as well—if Lorina and I did get married, would you be happy? You like her, yes?”

“Of course I'd be happy. She's cool, and she likes Gran, and she's deep, you know? I like deep.”

“I like deep, too,” he said, relieved that his marriage would pose no issues with Cressy. He wondered how he could ever consider Lorina without the thought of marrying her, and decided that wasn't important. What
was
important was getting Lorina on board with the idea.

The doctor emerged from the room at that point, a woman in her sixties who was semiretired, but who still oversaw the health care of the Ainslie family. “Your friend is fine,” Dr. Magnus said before Gunner could ask. “I've taken blood and urine samples from her, and I'd like to get the same from you as well, but I suspect you are correct and that you've both ingested some form of benzodiazepines. I've given her a little stimulant to help combat the effects of the drug, so she's feeling much better. Now, let me take a look at you.”

“I don't need an exam. I had less of the drugged tea than Lorina. Is there any reason I can't go in and see her?” Dammit, why was the doctor getting in his way when there was a woman to cherish?

“None,” the doctor said, flicking a penlight across his eyes, and
tsk
ing to herself. “She may have moments of sleepiness, though. I urge you both to get some rest, actually. You'll feel better for it.”

“Is there anything we should do for her?” he asked,
relief filling him at the knowledge that Lorina wouldn't be taken from him.

“Nothing at all other than to make sure she stays hydrated. And you both might wish to go light on food for a day or so until the drug leaves your bodies. You look a bit pale—I suspect your stomach is queasy, yes?”

“Just a bit—not too much,” he admitted.

“Where is the third patient?”

“Elliott will be able to tell you that.” He told Cressy to fetch her uncle, thanked the doctor, and, with no patience left, entered his room.

Lorina sat on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands. She looked up as he entered, and gave him a wan smile. “Got a clean bill of health. How about you?”

Dear god, she was beautiful. Her smile lit up not just the room but all the dark corners of his soul. How could he ever have imagined life without her?

“The same.” He sat next to her and was pleased when she scooted over to snuggle up with him. He thought of telling her of his feelings right then and there, but he wanted to give her time to get used to the idea that he intended for her to be around for more than just a short period of time. “You know, the thought of being alone with you here in this room has been uppermost on my mind for the last few days, but I'm afraid that if I tried anything right now, I'd be doomed to disappoint.”

She laughed, and kissed his jaw. “That goes for both of us. I'd really like nothing more than to strip you naked and rub myself all over you, but not right now. Not until I feel like I wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of it.”

“Which is a good thing considering Elliott will be here in a few minutes.”

“Why?”

“I asked him to come. Evidently he discovered that Thompson had the few pieces we uncovered.”

Lorina gaped at him. “No!”

He nodded. “I'm afraid so. We were both quite wrong in our estimation of him.”

“Not once, but twice,” Lorina said with a wry twist of her lips. “Only the first time we were in the wrong, and now . . . Gunner, this just seems so convenient.”

“Doesn't it?”

She slid a look at him from the corner of her eye. “You don't think he drugged us and stole the jewelry?”

“No, I do not.”

“Neither do I.” She made a quick gesture of defiance. “Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't like the man. No matter what that test says, I know he is guilty of infecting Sandy, and for that, he should rot in hell. But even considering all that, he doesn't strike me as a thief, not of archaeological artifacts, no matter what Daria says.”

She stopped abruptly, then sucked in a large amount of air and turned to him, grasping his arm in a hard grip. “Gunner, that's it! That's what's been bothering me! Man alive, I can't believe I missed it!”

“Missed what?”

“The name on the report, on Paul's report. Do you still have it?”

“I think so.” He went through his pockets and pulled out the folded sheet of paper. “I was planning on writing my part of our apology on the back of it.”

“Look,” she said, smoothing it out over his leg. “The name of the lab.”

“Analysis performed by: Hollingberry Laboratories,”
he read. “What of it?”

“Hollingberry is Daria's surname. And she said when I first met her that her husband ran a lab that did medical tests. That's got to be more than a coincidence.”

Gunner thought for a minute. “That would explain a lot.”

“Does it? Like what? Speak to me in words of few syllables, since my brain is evidently made of molasses.”

He squeezed her and wondered what he'd done in a past life to have landed Lorina in this one. It must have been something hellaciously wonderful. “We both agree that Daria's suggestion that Thompson drugged us in order to steal the treasure is very unlikely.”

“Very.”

“The question of how he knew that we were digging isn't really answered by Daria saying she'd seen us heading out to the temple. There was already a trench there, so why would more digging there send him into a panic that resulted in his drugging our tea?”

“Good point. Someone had to have been watching us to know we found the treasure,” Lorina said slowly, enlightenment dawning in her eyes. “And he was going to the mayor's dinner. So how did he know? He couldn't. Which means . . .” Her eyes opened wide.

He nodded. “The rest of the crew was at the mayor's dinner. There was no one around but Daria and Thompson, and he was to leave shortly after we met with him. I can't help but wonder if there's a reason why Daria would want Thompson out of the picture.”

“There is,” Lorina said, sitting up straight and turning to him. “She wants his job. She's very bitter over the board of the Claud-Marie company picking him over her. If she set him up for drugging us and stealing the treasure, then she'd be a shoo-in for his job. But . . .” She gnawed for a second on her lower lip. “That doesn't explain the coincidence of the lab situation.”

“That's been bothering me as well.” He glanced at his watch. “Elliott should be here in a few minutes. Are you up to talking with him, or do you want to rest? Perhaps you should rest. You've been through a lot.”

She pinched his arm. “Stop mother-henning me.”

“I can't help myself. I feel responsible for the situation.”

The look she gave him was one of genuine confusion. “Why?”

He didn't want to admit the truth, not sure how she'd take it, but if he wanted to have a future with her, he had to be honest about his feelings. “Because I should have watched over you better.”

She pulled back, giving him an odd look. “Watched over me? Like . . . stalking?”

“No, of course not.” He was silent a moment, unsure of how she'd take his intentions. “I . . . oh, to hell with it. I want to take care of you, Lorina. It would give me the greatest pleasure to ensure that your life was one of happiness and pleasure, and lots of romping in bed with me. There. I've said it. If you're going to yell at me for challenging you as a strong, independent woman, you'd best do it now before Elliott gets here.”