Double Dealing (25 page)

There was silence, and then Gabriel opened his eyes and
stared at the younger man. “The same way Kirby will be able to tell. The
numbers are too far off to be anywhere near plausible.”

Eric grimaced. “Oh.”

Gabriel’s glance swung to Samantha. She shrugged. “I don’t
know plausible-sounding figures for pumps. That’s not my field of expertise.”

“If you’re going to get into industrial espionage in a big
way, you’d better be a bit more thorough in your research, don’t you think?”
Gabriel asked with a savage cool that unnerved her. “Your casual, offhand ways aren’t
going to assure you a very lucrative career in that field, honey. People like
Jackson Kirby play for keeps. And they tend to put a premium on accuracy.”

Samantha chewed anxiously on her lower lip, aware of just
how angry Gabriel really was.

“Don’t take it out on Sam,” Eric urged bleakly. “She’s not
involved in this. If you knew her at all, you’d know this mess is hardly her
style.”

“I know her well enough to know that, while s-she might not
have gotten into something like this on her own, s-she s-s-sure as hell could
be hauled into it by a conniving half brother who convinced her do it s-she had
to for his sake!”

The heavy stammer was ample evidence of his rising temper,
Samantha thought, but that didn’t keep her from taking fierce exception to the
implication that she was easily manipulated. “For heaven’s sake, I can think for
myself! I was trying to help Eric get out of a mess, not into a career in
industrial espionage! If you want to hear the whole story, why don’t you stop
telling us how dumb we are and let us tell you what really happened!”

“Excellent idea. Talk. Eric first.”

Under that penetrating gaze Eric sighed and began his story
from the beginning. Samantha felt a wave of sympathy for her brother as he
bluntly told Gabriel the entire truth. Eric was humiliated and chagrined, and Gabriel
didn’t make it any easier for him. But to give her half brother credit, he didn’t
try to gloss over any of the facts. He told the tale in a straightforward
manner, and when he had finished, Gabriel’s first question astounded Samantha.

“Why did you change your mind?”

“About selling Thorndyke secrets?” Eric shrugged. “Ask
Samantha. She understands.”

When Gabriel’s probing eyes moved to her tense, still face,
Samantha, too, lifted a shoulder in a resigned shrug. “It would have been like
betraying Dad. As soon as Eric realized that, he couldn’t go through with it.
No matter how nasty Vic Junior was to him.”

“Dad built that company from scratch,” Eric explained softly.
“I’m his son. As soon as I’d gotten over my rage at Vic’s high-handed
treatment, I realized I couldn’t go through with the deal with Kirby.”

“But by then it was too late,” Gabriel concluded flatly.

Samantha and Eric sat silent, The reality of that statement
was eloquent enough. But Gabriel’s next words brought Samantha’s head up in
shock.

“They’ll be back, you know,” he said almost
conversationally. But the hard, unrelenting lines of his face were not casual
at all.

“Those two bastards who broke in here tonight?” Eric
clarified uneasily. “But if I can give Kirby something that looks like what he
wants…”

Gabriel shook his head wearily. “You can’t give him something
‘close’ to what he wants. It’s got to be the real thing. Buying and selling
this stuff is how he makes his living. If he starts selling unreliable
information, he’ll be out of business just as fast as Samantha would if she
started giving her clients false data.”

Samantha winced. “I hadn’t realized how similar my profession
was to Mr. Kirby’s!”

Gabriel took another sip of the brandy. “Information, legal
or illegal, is the name of the business game. It’s why even little one-man
business operations are buying computers. It’s why conglomerates employ armies
of people who do nothing but correlate financial and statistical data. Based on
information of one kind or another, people like Drew Buchanan gamble millions
of dollars in development projects. And it’s because of certain information you
acquired that you’re going to try and take advantage of his move.”

Samantha frowned, shifting uneasily under Eric’s questioning
look. “It’s business, Eric. I’ll explain later. I told you Gabriel and I were
business associates, remember?”

Eric arched one brow. “Given the fact that he just saved
both of us from God knows what at the hands of Tony and friend, I’d say he’s
something more than a business associate.”

Before Samantha could reply to the obvious, Gabriel was
interrupting coolly. “We got lucky tonight. I trust both of you realize that?
We’re not likely to get that lucky again. Kirby’s people only expected to find
you and Samantha here this evening. Next time they’ll be prepared.”

“I wish you’d stop talking about a next time!” Samantha stirred
restlessly, aware of a gathering sensation of helplessness.

Gabriel’s temper snapped unexpectedly. “You think you can
make ‘next time’ go away by pretending it won’t happen? Hasn’t it sunk in yet
that Jackson Kirby plays hardball? He’ll make an example out of Eric if your
brother doesn’t produce what he promised to produce! God knows what he’ll do to
you just because you happen to be in the vicinity!”

“How do you know so much about Jackson Kirby?” she flung
back, frightened.

“Word of his sort gets around. You don’t think Eric conjured
him up out of thin air, do you? There are enough rumors and gossip about the
man to lead people in your brother’s situation to him.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do now? Let Eric sell out? Is
that the only way to call Kirby off?” she snapped furiously. Desperation was
fueling her temper. My God, she thought. What if Gabriel hadn’t been here
tonight? What will happen the next time?

“That’s one way,” Gabriel agreed evenly.

Eric looked stricken. “I can’t!”

“You should have thought of that before you contacted him!”

Samantha jumped in quickly. “What do you mean that’s ‘one’
way? Is there another? Can we buy him off?”

Gabriel’s mouth crooked briefly in acknowledgment of the
idea. “That’s not a bad thought, really. Unfortunately, I don’t think it would
work in this case. He knows he’s got Eric under his thumb now. Even if you bought
Kirby off this time, he’s the kind who might very well decide to look Eric up
again in the future. And next time he’d have a little blackmail to use against him
in order to gain his cooperation. He would have proof, you see, that Eric had
paid him off the first time.”

Samantha stared at him, her mouth going dry. “You seem to
have a fairly good idea of how people like Kirby work.”

He met her eyes, the hazel gaze cold and unreflective. “I
do.

She sat very still, clutching the lapels of her yellow robe,
and knew she wasn’t going to ask just how Gabriel came to know so much about
Jackson Kirby and his ilk. There were times, Samantha thought in a flash of
realization, when Gabriel Sinclair could be a little frightening. Every time
she thought she had this man under control and well in hand, he did something
disturbing and unsettling.

A week ago she would have said that Gabriel Sinclair was the
last man on earth capable of truly surprising her. How was it possible that
such a predictable, organized, methodical person as Gabriel kept taking her
unawares?

“All right, Gabe,” Eric interposed softly. “It’s obvious you’ve
got some idea of how to handle this mess.

What do you suggest we do?”

“I can think of only one practical, foolproof approach,” Gabriel
told him slowly, as if the idea in his head was not a pleasant one, even if it
was workable. “I don’t have the power to call Jackson Kirby off. But I know someone
who does.”

Samantha’s eyes went very wide. With sudden intuition she
knew exactly who he meant. “Emil Fortune?” she breathed.

“Who’s Fortune?” Eric demanded.

The other two ignored him. Gabriel made a small, flat
gesture with his left hand, leaning his head back again on the cushion as he
stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. Samantha wished violently that she could
read his mind. What was he thinking? Was he afraid of Fortune? Or afraid the
friendship between them wasn’t strong enough to ask this kind of favor? What
was wrong? She knew an impulse to comfort Gabriel and didn’t have the vaguest
notion why she should feel that way. What was wrong in Gabriel’s mind about
enlisting his friend’s assistance? It seemed like an eminently reasonable idea
to her.

“Damn it, who’s Fortune?” Eric asked again.

“Someone who will know how to get Kirby off your back. He’s
a friend of mine,” Gabriel concluded quietly.

“No kidding!” Eric looked intrigued. “You must know some
interesting people!”

“A man doesn’t always have a choice in his friendships.” Gabriel
set down the empty brandy glass and looked at Samantha. “Why don’t the two of
you go back to bed?”

It wasn’t a suggestion; it was an order, and Samantha’s instinct
was to protest it. “Gabriel, I’m not a child to be sent to my room while the
grown-ups conduct business. You’re going to call Fortune tonight, aren’t you?”

“Go to bed, Samantha,” he repeated softly.

“Come on, Sam. I’m zonked and you must be, too.” Eric took
charge, getting to his feet and reaching down to prod his sister to hers. “Let’s
do as the man says, okay? He’s got a right to give a few orders after what he went
through for us tonight.”

Samantha started to dig in her heels, but something about
the unyielding expression in Gabriel’s eyes convinced her to allow Eric to lead
her toward the staircase. But she knew in her bones she shouldn’t be leaving
her dark angel alone like this. She should be staying down here while he made
the phone call. Samantha wasn’t certain why she should feel that way, but she
did. And there was another aspect to the situation. Damned if she would let
Gabriel relegate her to the role of useless female. He needed her, whether he
was willing to admit it or not.

Beside her Eric suddenly stumbled over a small object on the
carpet. “What the hell … ?” He bent down and scooped up the tiny paring
knife. “It’s got blood on it! Where did this come from?”

“From the same place that frying pan came from,” Samantha muttered,
indicating the cast-iron skillet which lay on the floor beside the stairs. “The
kitchen. You’d be astonished, Eric, at how many useful things there are in a
plain old kitchen!”

Behind her Gabriel growled, “You used that little knife on
that man? Good God, woman! What did you think you were doing?” She heard the
sharp disapproval in his words and tossed a deliberately goading glance back
over her shoulder.

“Actually, I don’t think I did too badly for someone who’s
not very good in the kitchen!”

Gabriel felt the unwilling gleam of amusement and admiration
which threatened momentarily to light his eyes. “Samantha, honey, you may have
more domestic talents than people give you credit for,” he drawled.

He watched her ascend the stairs, noting the proud tilt of
her tousled head and the way the old bathrobe pulled pleasantly taut around her
well-shaped rear. Part
amazon
, part businesswoman,
part soft, clinging female. He realized he was beginning to feel precariously in
possession of the soft female because of her response to him in bed. He also
felt tentatively in control of the businesswoman because of the financial arrangement
between them. But what chance did he have of controlling the
amazon
? That fierce loyalty and feminine strength which was
so much a part of her was not going to be a simple matter to claim. He consoled
himself once more with the memory of how she had run to him first instead of
her brother after the battle that evening.

Then, with a sigh, he reached into the back pocket of his
slacks and removed the wallet which had somehow stayed in place during the
excitement. Somewhere, buried behind his credit cards was a little slip of
paper with Emil Fortune’s phone number on it. It wasn’t a number he had called
frequently enough to have memorized.

And he’d never called it with the intention of asking the
man on the other end to repay a favor. Was this how his father had gotten in so
deep? Was this how it all started? Friendships which led to favors which led to
disaster?

Even as he dialed, Gabriel acknowledged the simple truth.
Only for Samantha would he do this. The woman was well and truly in his blood
now. Which left wide open the question of who was really controlling whom, he
thought grimly.

There was silence from the top of the stairs as the phone
started to ring on the other end of the line. Gabriel leaned back in the
oversized chair, his legs stretched out in front of him, and tried to think how
he would handle the coming conversation. Somehow, all he could really think
about was his father…

It was a while before Emil Fortune came on the line. Patiently
Gabriel explained to the sleepy voice which originally answered that it was
important Emil be told who was calling. After several minutes of resistance, it
must have become apparent to the other person that Gabriel was not going to
give up and that the cool, polite request to speak to Emil Fortune would be
repeated endlessly until it was satisfied.

“Gabe, my friend. What’s wrong?” Fortune’s soft query was
straight to the point.

“I need a favor, Emil. A big one,” Gabriel said with a calm
that surprised him.

There was a pause on the other end. And then, “You mean you
need a favor repaid, Gabe. I am the one who owes you, remember? You have only
to ask. Even if I did not feel in your debt, you are my friend, and the same
condition would apply. You have only to ask.”

Gabriel massaged the bridge of his nose in a slow, tired
gesture. “Emil, this is rather complicated.”

“I had the feeling it might be or there would be no need to
call at this hour of the night, would there?” Emil Fortune said gently.