Capitol Offense (Texas Heroines in Peril) (12 page)

"That I loved you?"

Her heart soared.

"I didn't think I had to tell you. I shared
every day with you for twenty-six months. No two people could have
been closer."

"But, Mike, never did you tell me you loved
me. Never did you speak of our future. I never knew I was anything
more than a close friend—albeit one with whom you were physically
intimate." The very memory of making love with him sent her
heartbeat hammering.

He laughed. A bitter laugh. "I've chided
myself thousands of times since then for not telling you. But you
got in the way of my master plan. I wasn't supposed to fall in love
until I had five years of legal practice under my belt. I didn't
want wife and family getting in the way of my career. I tried to
ignore my emotions. It was stupid of me."

How could anyone facing the danger she was
in feel anything like bliss, but that is what very idea of marrying
him evoked.

It was funny that now in the total darkness
he could tell her things he could never say face to face.

"I thought it was hopeless," she continued.
"I was unhappy over our relationship, unhappy that it was going
nowhere at the time of our...our breakup. That was so foolish for
us to fight over Jim of all things. When you got transferred to
Houston, I thought that'd be a good time to try to forget about
you."

"And I thought I could forget about you," he
said, his voice low and gentle.

To hell with her pride. The only thing on
this earth that mattered now was Mike. Mike who was risking his
life for her. God, she loved him. Never had it ever been anyone but
Mike.

And she was going to show him how much.

She slipped from her bed and moved to him.
He scooted over to make room for her beside him as he drew her to
him. She nestled her face in the soft hair of his chest, basking in
the comfort of him, sliding her hands over his bare, muscled back.
His lips hungrily sought hers. His hands and mouth were gentle and
arousing.

He made love to her. Slow and tender and
agonizing in its intensity. When they finished, he held her close.
Like everything he'd done that night, it was a protective gesture.
He hadn't spoken his feelings. He showed them.

Before long, he drifted off to sleep, his
warm flesh melding with hers. She lay awake long afterward. She
scarcely thought of the danger they faced. Instead, she thought of
this man who lay so close to her, of how very much in love with him
she was. She drew in the musky, masculine scent of this most
beloved man, listened to his reassuring breathing, and stroked his
sinewy body.

Chapter 14

Lacy woke up to the thud of a door swiftly
closing. She sprang up in time to see Mike place a breakfast tray
on the dresser near the door. He turned and saw her.

She suddenly became conscious of her
nakedness and pulled up the sheets.

"My, but you slept well. It's almost eleven.
I've been up an hour already. I went down to the haberdashery and
picked up a new shirt and pants and something for you."

"Haberdashery? I didn't know anyone said
that nowadays." She grinned.

He shrugged. "I guess that does sound
corny." He peered at her, devilment in his dark eyes. "You gotta
remember my dad was very old when I was born. He always called
men's clothiers haberdasheries."

He pulled a baseball style cap from his
bag and handed it to her.

"Never let me say you aren't romantic," she
said dryly.

"It's to help disguise you." He took off his
shirt. "Here, put this on. I can't seem to concentrate on anything
when you're sitting there like that." He gave it to her, then
turned around to busy himself with the breakfast tray.

Seeing him without a shirt—lean and hard and
dark—made it hard for her to concentrate on anything except him.
She put the cap on, still letting the sheets cover up the lower
part of her body.

"This morning you're going to be served
breakfast in bed. It's just one of the little extras that come with
my services."

"You are so very dear," she said softly. Her
eyes dropped to the tray he was bringing. "What did you order?"

"Coffee. Orange juice. Bacon and eggs. And
toast. How does that suit her majesty?"

"Fantastic."

He sat beside her with the tray between
them. She poured coffee from the Pyrex decanter into her cup. He
devoured two eggs, four slices of bacon and one piece of toast in
less than five minutes.

"Have you thought any more about what we'll
do?" she asked.

"Yes, I think I've about got everything
worked out. Our biggest obstacle is transportation  how
we can get back to Austin without being caught. Chambers is bound
to have someone at the airports and bus stations, and he's probably
got someone checking all the car rental places in this part of the
state. Becky's car, of course, is absolutely out."

"That's a pretty bleak picture you're
painting."

He got up and put the tray on the dresser.
"I think I should be able to hot wire that car of Senator
Marshall's that was in his garage yesterday when you dumped Becky's
there. I'll first need to find out if he or a member of his family
plans on returning to San Antonio any time soon. I'll go find a
phone booth and call his Austin hotel with some phony story."

She could think of nothing but her
separation from Mike. "Why can't I go with you?"

"There's an outside chance of your being
recognized, even with a disguise." He came to sit on her bed and
gently traced the contours of her face with a single finger. She
inched closer to him until their lips met. She melted into him as
his arms closed around her.

Suddenly, he stood up. "First things first,
Lacy. We've got to get this mess straightened out before we can
count on being alive next week."

He walked to the dresser and picked up a
couple of magazines Lacy had not noticed before. "I got these for
you to read while I'm traipsing around today. See, I remembered
what an omnivorous reader you are." A wide smile flashed over his
face. "Just another of my little services."

She masked her disappointment. "I appreciate
you. How could I have ever let you out of my life?"

He walked back and lifted her chin, a slow
smile lighting his somber face. "When the maid comes, tell her you
just want towels. Don't let her in," he commanded. "And if you get
to feeling isolated, you can go out on the balcony as long as
you've got on a hat."

"Yes, sir,"

"I won't be more than a couple of hours," he
told her as he left.

After dressing, she plopped on the bed and
thumbed through the magazines, but her mind wandered. Since Mike
had rescued her the night before, she no longer felt the burdensome
weight of their dangerous situation. It was as if he had completely
shouldered her load, leaving her in his protective care. She
resented it none. Letting Mike Talamino take care of her was what
she had wanted all her life. The deadly threat Jim Chambers posed
for her did not cross her mind. Instead, she worried about Mike 's
feeling for her. Did he truly love her? Would he want to take care
of her for the rest of her life?

Then, she wondered if the two of them would
be alive next week.

Now, she wanted to think of something more
pleasant.

Mike. Always it would be Mike. It was
foolish, she told herself, to sit there worrying over whether Mike
loved her when death loomed so near. She earnestly tried to find an
article in the magazine which might help her escape from her
thoughts. She wasn't interested in the fashion advertisements
today, although she usually was. She wanted to become absorbed in
something remote. Ironically, an article on new trends in day care
centers attracted her. Her first impulse was that she had to clip
the story for her files. Then she remembered she would never again
use those files.

She read the story, nevertheless, and it
brought her back to the consciousness of her shaky existence by
reminding her of the would be day care center in
Schneiderburg.

She put the magazine down and vowed the
children of Schneiderburg would get their day care center.

Worrying about Mike was taking its toll on
her nerves. She decided to take his advice and gaze over the gala
town from her balcony perch. She walked to the French windows and
opened one before she remembered that she was not wearing a hat.
She went back in and put it on, returning to the balcony.

Lacy sat hypnotized over the Alamo City.
Everywhere she looked she saw happiness and love. There must have
been loners in the thick masses below her, but these she did not
notice. As she had the night before, she noted with interest
hundreds of young servicemen, their arms tucked around their girls,
broad smiles covering their faces. More of the same smiling faces
on those riverboats crammed with tourists.

A large family caught her eye. She knew it
must be a family, for the children were stair steps of one another.
The proud Hispanic parents each carried a baby. Lacy counted six
children. Although their clothes were ill fit and unstylish, they
were clean. And as children the world over do, they were exploding
with excitement over what was obviously a very special family
outing. The young mother kept rebuking the two oldest boys for
stepping dangerously close to the river's edge.

The images below only made her more
conscious of how alone she was without this man who had been gone
less than two hours. She looked at her watch. It was two. He would
be back soon, she thought. She went back into the room to put on
her makeup to look her best for his return.

Afterwards, she waited. Two thirty. Three
o'clock. Three thirty came and still no Mike. The maid had come and
gone without seeing Lacy's face, leaving only towels at Lacy's
request.

Lacy started to worry. He'd been gone three
hours already. She tried again to get interested in the slick pages
of the magazine, but couldn't. Her hands were shaking. Then it was
four and still no word from him.

When five came and she had not heard from
him, she was not just edgy; she was terrified. He had said he
wouldn't be more than a couple of hours, and already it had been
four and a half. A dreadful suspicion kept pushing its way into her
thoughts. She fought it, but it kept creeping back, telling her Jim
Chambers had learned where she ditched the car, and he had laid a
trap for Mike at Senator Marshall's house. Agony and sheer terror
nearly paralyzed her.

Chapter 15

Several times she lifted
the phone receiver only to put it back down, quickly realizing that
no one could help.
One way or another,
I'll hear something
, she thought
anxiously.

What she heard was the entry card slipping
into their hotel room door. She caught her breath.

And saw Mike stroll into the room.

She ran and hurled herself into him. "I've
been insane with worry."

He set his hands firmly on her shoulders.
"Everything's okay. Let's sit down, and I'll tell you what
happened."

He had called Senator Marshall's office, he
told her, explaining that he was calling from the San Antonio
Chamber of Commerce. He told the senator the chamber was initiating
a series of banquets honoring public officials. The first, which
they hoped he could attend as the honored guest, would be the
coming Saturday, followed by another in four weeks. He asked the
senator which of the dates would be more satisfactory. The senator
replied that he was snowed under with committee hearings through
the current week and would not be able to get back to San Antonio
that early, and his family was spending the coming weekend in
Mexico.

"All right!" Lacy exclaimed.

"Then I went to his house so I could get the
car. Unfortunately, as soon as I had snuck into the garage through
the back door, I heard someone pull up in the driveway. It was the
yard man. It took him three hours to do the front and back
yards."

She ran her hand along his cheek. "You're
here now."

"By the way, I want you to put this in your
purse." From a grocery sack he had brought he held up an electric
hand drill. "If it won't fit, we'll get you a bigger purse. We may
not be able to get into McNally's files tonight without that little
gem. Someday, I hope to give thanks to Senator Marshall."

Lacy examined it. "If I leave out a few
things, I think I can fit it in my purse."

He nodded. "While you spent the afternoon
reading in a nice, air-conditioned hotel room, I lurked in a dark
pantry which smelled of stale crackers."

"I was terrified all afternoon," she chided.
"I imagined all sorts of terrible things had happened to you." The
scolding tone of her voice gave way to softness. "I'm glad you're
back in one piece." She wished she weren't so transparent. He knew
exactly how she felt, yet he erected a barrier to his own
feelings.

"We've got plans to make before we embark
on..." He stopped short.

He had started to say something more but
held it back. He was worried, Lacy knew, about what lay ahead that
evening. She also knew that he wouldn't tell her his fears.

"First," he continued, "let's get a good
meal. We can face anything with a good meal under our belts. I'll
order dinner from room service, and we'll sit on the balcony."

"Food is not the world's cure all. I
believe if you were a condemned man your last request would be for
some of Mama's ravioli."

He laughed. "You remembered." He took a menu
out of the bureau drawer and scanned it. "Looks like I'll have to
settle for lobster." He handed the menu to Lacy. "What would you
like?"

Lacy waved off the menu. "I'll have whatever
you're having."

"And wouldn't a bottle of Pinot Grigio go
well with it?"