A World Without Secrets (39 page)

"Because there are people who would like to do me harm or would like to take things from me."

"Just like my father. He was never the aggressor but wouldn't run away either."

"And what about you?"

"I rely on strong men like you to protect me, but I have a tiny weapon I can use as a last resort. Of course, I can't show it to you in here." She giggled and added, "Perhaps later."

After we'd finished eating, Mia showed me to the lounge where a live band was performing. I asked her if she wanted to dance.

"Can you?"

"I've been known to dance from time to time."

"But how— I mean how do you dance with a cane?"

"My leg is almost healed. I'm still using the cane because I get a little muscle twinge at times and it's nice to have something to hold onto."

"Then let us dance and you can hold onto me."

"That's what I planned to do," I said with a smile.

We danced several times. She ordered another bottle of wine and we continued our small party until late into the evening, or perhaps I should say morning.

When I opened my eyes, nothing looked familiar. I was flat on my back, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling with unfocused eyes. I remembered eating dinner and dancing with Mia, but then things began to blur. And my head was throbbing like a high-speed pile driver. I tried to focus and the fog near the ceiling slowly cleared, but I still didn't recognize it. When I suddenly realized there was someone next to me, I turned to see who it was. It was Mia, and she was naked. I looked down at my own body and realized I was naked also. I began to experience one of those moments of regret I have when I've done something I shouldn't have. It's true I wasn't married. It was also true I wasn't engaged. In fact I hadn't even discussed the subject with Kathy. I also hadn't discussed the subject of children, as Billy had advised. But I cared deeply for Kathy and had remained true to her since we'd first begun dating. I believed she had been likewise. I had never used the gizmo to verify that, and wouldn't.

I was most confused by the depth of feeling I had developed for Mia. We'd had just one day together. How could I have fallen in love in one day? Well, that was a silly question. That was the way it had happened with Kathy. And now I found myself in love with two women— the only two women I believed I'd truly been in love with. I had no idea what I was going to do, other than head for the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face and relieve my bladder.

There wasn't any aspirin in sight in the bathroom, so after I relieved myself, I began to hydrate my body with glasses of cool water. According to one group of experts, alcohol was absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and traveled to the brain, where it collected and then slowly evaporated through the skull and scalp while we slept. The pain one felt from a hangover was the result of the brain actually shrinking slightly from the evaporation. I didn't know if that theory had ever been proven, but on those occasions where I'd had a bit too much to drink, hydrating as soon as I awoke in the morning seemed to have helped the best. In fact, during my college days, unless I was totally blitzed, I drank as much water as I could hold before I went to bed.

Mia was still sound asleep when I returned from the bathroom. I began to hunt for my shorts, but they were nowhere in sight, so I walked to the living room. I found them, my other clothes, and all of Mia's clothes just inside the suite door. I hoped we had made it into the suite before beginning our undressing, but I couldn't remember the event. I collected our clothes and laid them carefully on a couple of chairs.

After pulling on my shorts, I made a pot of coffee. The coffee maker only made one cup at a time, so after filling my cup from the tiny carafe, I started another pot brewing.

I was on my third cup when Mia, still naked, came from the bedroom. She came over to the comfortable chair where I had settled and sat down on my lap, then leaned against me and wrapped her long, slim arms around my neck and head.

"Good morning, my love," she said into my ear as she began kissing me on the side of my face and nibbling at my earlobe.

"Good morning. How do you feel?"

"Like I drank a little too much last night. But what a glorious night it was. I can't remember a better one."

"I wish I could remember this one. Everything after dinner is a blur."

"Then I'll have to refresh your memory. Come back to bed."

When a beautiful, naked woman crawled up on my lap, I had difficulty not becoming aroused. I was sure Mia knew the effect she was having on me. "Mia, would you tell me something?"

"Of course, my love."

"Why did you pick me on the ferry? There were a lot of men who seemed to be traveling alone."

"When I saw you sitting alone down at the end of the room, I thought you looked just as lonely as I was feeling. As I got closer, I also saw that you were a big, strong man like my papa. I hoped we could enjoy some conversation without sex getting in the way. Usually, when I first talk to a man, he immediately begins making plans to get me into bed or to see if he can separate me from my money. You were different. You were interesting, and you made me laugh. You never once made a— what do you Americans call it?— a pass. The longer we talked, the more comfortable I felt talking with you. It was the most wonderful crossing I've ever had."

"I reminded you of your father?"

Mia laughed. "My father was fifty-six when he and mama died, so you certainly didn't remind me of him in appearance. It was— your strength, your look of someone who is confident of his own abilities and doesn't have to constantly prove it to others. An analyst, who I happened to meet at a party last year, told me that if my father were alive today, I would be having a sexual relationship with him. But he couldn't be more wrong. I loved my papa, and he loved me, but never in that way. Yes, you remind me of my papa. But as I got to know you, I realized that while you are like papa in some ways, you are very different in others. Papa was a hard man because he'd had a hard life, and he sometimes forgot to be gentle. In you I see strength but also gentleness. It's a wonderful combination, and one that I rarely find. Now come back to bed, my darling."

Despite my confusion about my feelings toward both Kathy and Mia, I let Mia drag me back to bed. Actually, I wasn't all that hard to drag. She had already reignited passion in me when she climbed onto my lap.

I stayed with Mia for the rest of the day, and we had the hotel send up food so we didn't have to go out or hardly even leave the bedroom. At one point she asked about the injury to my leg. I told her the whole story about the shootout in Paris and the one on the ferry. She accepted it far better than I believed Kathy would. I supposed it was her upbringing.

After I finished my story, she told me hers. When her parents died, she had inherited a shipping company started by her great-grandfather. Her grandfather had taken the small shipping company that served ports on the Aegean Sea and expanded it into a shipping company that served the entire Mediterranean. Then her father had expanded the company to serve ports all over the Atlantic Ocean.

"My papa wanted a son who would take over the company and take it worldwide, but I was an only child, so he tried to teach me the business. But I lack the skill to run such a large company, so I leave it to others. I'm not the forceful personality type."

"I'm amazed that you travel alone without a bodyguard. You would seem to be a prime candidate for kidnapping and ransom."

"I'm normally
surrounded
by bodyguards. Sometimes I feel smothered. I was at a party in London two nights ago, and my date left me alone to go make advances to another girl."

I interrupted her to say, "The idiot."

Mia smiled widely, kissed me, then laid her head on my chest. "Anyway, I was sitting there, wanting to be somewhere else— anywhere else. And I didn't even want my bodyguards around me, so I slipped out a back way. It was quite late, and nothing was open, so I took a taxi to the Liverpool Street Station. Once there, I decided to go to Amsterdam on the morning ferry."

"But you said your clothes had been sent on ahead."

"I made that up because I was embarrassed about what I'd done. I'd never run away like that before. Since I stay here all the time, I keep several trunks in storage. I called and had them bring my trunks up and prepare the suite for me. After I arrived I called my bodyguards and told them what I'd done and where I was. They arrived this morning. I had a text message on my phone when I awoke. I told them I was fine and not to disturb me."

"Where are they?"

"Another suite here in the hotel. There will probably be one of them outside my door when you leave— next week."

"Next week?"

"Hopefully," she said with a smile.

It was my turn to smile and kiss her. "I would like nothing better than to spend my life making love with you, but I have work to do."

"Do you mean that?"

"Yes, I have to wrap up the case I'm working on."

"No, not that. I mean the other part."

I thought about what I'd said and how my witty response might have been misconstrued. "Making love to you has been divine."

"No, I mean the part about spending your life with me?"

That was what I was afraid she might be thinking. "I think it's a little early for such decisions. We just met yesterday."

"It's not too early for me, dearest. You are exactly the kind of man I've been looking for and haven't come close to finding— until now. I was beginning to think that such a man didn't exist. That I was being a foolish little girl for even hoping I would find my— Prince Charming. And now I have."

I knew I'd have to be careful with what I said next. I believed Mia was at a fragile moment. She had probably started down that road when the bastard she was with at the party two days ago chose to hit on another woman after coming to the party with Mia. If I said the wrong thing I could completely shatter her ego, but I wasn't ready to make a lifelong commitment to her. And I couldn't forget that Kathy was probably looking for a commitment from me as well. I had openly professed my love for both women, and I meant it. As I tried to choose my words, all I could think about was the serious error I had made when I agreed to go to dinner with Mia while we were still on the ferry.

"Mia, you're an incredible, smart, beautiful, and sexy woman. The time we've spent together, since that first moment on the ferry, has been wonderful…"

"Oh my God," she said as she pushed herself up off my chest. "There's another woman, isn't there? I should have known that someone so wonderful would be— taken. Why aren't you wearing a ring so women will know? Or is that why you don't wear one?"

"I don't wear a ring because I'm not married."

"Engaged?"

"Never, yet."

"So that's it. You're afraid of commitment?"

"No, not really."

"Then you don't love me?"

"Yes, I do. I mean…"

"That it's too soon for a commitment?"

"As I said, we just met
yesterday
. It's too early to decide about the rest of our lives."

Mia relaxed and laid back down with her head on my chest. "Not for me, sweetheart. I've never felt this way before about anyone. When I'm with you, I hear the angels singing."

I had no answer for that. The only way I could respond was with a similar statement of bliss, so I decided not to answer. We just laid there like that for a while in complete silence. Then Mia got amorous again and began kissing my chest and lightly rubbing her hands over my body. My body began to respond without my conscious consent, so I had absolutely no choice but to join in.

After another night of wild and spectacular sex, I was even more exhausted when morning arrived than I had been at midnight, despite having just gotten several hours' sleep. Billy's story of his first night with his Wall Street gal came to mind, and I had a new appreciation for what he'd experienced. I thought I'd been in good shape when I met Mia, but perhaps different muscles are used during sex. I knew that if I kept this up for a couple of weeks, I would either be a superman, or dead.

Mia was sleeping soundly when I awoke, so I used the time to my best advantage. I took the gizmo into the bathroom and used it to check the location of the artwork. While
my
hotel suite might have hidden cameras, I didn't think the Dutch police or Interpol would have gone to that length in a hotel suite where Mia was staying.

I was delighted to learn the artwork had finally been moved. No longer in the rear of a van, it was in a dark place that appeared to be a rental storage location. All of the pieces were still together. I maneuvered the window until it was outside the space and I could identify the storage locker number, then pulled way back and got the address off the building. Finally, a road sign told me the artwork was now in Zurich. The extra work had been necessary because my laptop with the GPS software was in my suite at the Pulitzer.

I was tired of being shot at, so there would be no more trips or stakeouts. I was going to prepare my final report and wrap up the case. The museum officials and the insurance company would know the location of the stolen artwork before the police, so there could be no attempts by government officials to take credit for the recovery. Thanks to the gizmo, I knew all the facts. I would just have to present them in such a way as to make everyone believe I was a genius, and it was all the result of excellent sleuthing. And if they didn't believe that, it didn't matter. The recovery fee was for the recovery of the artwork, not for building a robbery case for the police. They had ways of getting confessions without my help.

With the gizmo back in its dilapidated box, I finished my business in the bathroom. I would have liked to go back to bed for eight more hours' sleep, but I didn't really think I'd get it. Mia was insatiable and would probably be awake soon. I decided to make some coffee and relax while I could. I suspected it was going to be a difficult scene when I was ready to leave the suite, but I knew I couldn't just sneak out, as tempting as that might be at the moment.