By then theyd passed the rainy Great Plains, hit a burst of late-afternoon sun and the first view of the mountains. Any other time, Maguire would have enjoyed the flight. Now, though, he was too restless to settle down, and kept getting up to check on the slight, blond woman in back.
Carolina didnt need him keeping vigil. Every time he checked, she was sleeping like a stone. He just couldnt seem to stop looking at her.
Spiriting her away-Maguire didnt like the kidnapping term-had been challenging, but not impossible. Money, of course, always effectively eliminated problems. He just normally did nothing impulsively. Hed been monitoring Carolinas life for the last two months, but he never expected she would ever have to know that-much less that hed have to suddenly and completely step in.
Its not as if he suddenly wanted this woman in his life.
Hed had absolutely no choice.
Mr. Cochran?
Maguire glanced up at the pilots voice. Problem?
A little turbulence coming. Id prefer you strap in.
Right. Maguire had flown too often with Henry to believe turbulence was the issue. Henry was worried about their passenger, and even more worried about what his employer was up to this time.
Ill be there in a minute, he said, yet still he lingered by Carolina.
Hed covered Carolina earlier with a silk sheet and lightweight blanket. She hadnt stirred in the hours since hed lifted her from the stretcher on the tarmac and carried her aboard.
He hadnt been the one to sedate her, was totally against drugging her at all, and hed had a rousing argument with the hospital doctor aboutwell, just about everything. Her medicines. Her treatment. What she needed. That Maguire had no business taking her off someplace without medical permission or involvement. All that blah blah blah.
But that was water over the dam at this point. He checked the straps, making sure she couldnt fall or be thrown, and then redraped the blanket up to her chin. She kept kicking off the cover. He didnt want her exposed to drafts.
That simplest, basic contact-his knuckles to her bare throat, nothing intimate about it in any way-sent a sharp streak of desire straight to his groin. The darned woman. There was absolutely nothing to explain that scissor stab of sexual awareness.
She was as ordinary as peaches and cream. Her features were more fun than attractive-a miniature ski jump for a nose, bitsy cheekbones, a mouth almost too small to kiss. Her hair was butter yellow, mixed with a little pale wheat, might be shoulder length-it was hard to tell; it was such a curly mess. He doubted the whole package could weigh a hundred and ten pounds, and he should know, since hed carried her up the planes steps. No butt or boobs that hed noticed.
Hed caught an unexpected glimpse of her bare feet, though. The toenails were painted a wild purple-a startling surprise.
Except for those wild toenails, she looked beyond vulnerable. Frail. As if a slap would beat her down.
Maguires father hadnt slapped her. At his death, Gerald Cochran had left her fifteen million dollars. What should have been an incredible gift had turned into an incredible burden-and there was precisely the problem. The doctors didnt get it. Lawyers certainly didnt get it. No one in Carolinas hard-working, middle-class family had any prayer of getting it.
That money could destroy her. Maguire knew it too well. In less than two months, it almost had.
Mr. Cochran.
Henry again. Maguire stood, catwalked up the aisle, past the leather seats and galley to the cockpit, and then strapped himself into the copilots chair.
Hed hired Henry four years ago. Henry was barely thirty, but he had an old mans face, bassett-hound eyes and forehead wrinkles of worry that were already set in. Maguire always figured Henry came out of the womb an old soul, probably never had a childhood, and for damn sure never stepped on a crack in the sidewalk. But those werent bad character traits for a pilot and man Friday. Henry had turned into one of the few people Maguire could trust.
Everything on track? Maguire asked easily.
Should be landing by eight. Washington time, of course. Weather patterns look good. Henry lived for flying, yet his expression was as somber as mud.
But. Maguire knew there was one coming.
Henry shot him a darting glance. Even for you, sir, this is a little unusual.
Yeah. I know.
Im not questioning you. You know that. Its just that this is so
Unusual, Maguire supplied, when it was obvious Henry couldnt think of another word to put out there.
Yeah. I know.
Im not questioning you. You know that. Its just that this is so
Unusual, Maguire supplied, when it was obvious Henry couldnt think of another word to put out there.
Yes. The lady there Henry shook his head. I just dont quite understand how were going to communicate with her if she cant hear.
Beats me. Well figure something out.
You dont think its slightly, say, illegal. To just take her out of that place without her permission?
She was having a breakdown, Henry. Because of what my father did. There was no conventional way to make this right. Theres no one in her regular life who has a clue what shes trying to cope with. You think I should have walked away?
I wouldnt presume to say, sir.
Well, I didnt have that option. I couldnt walk away. There was no one else who could make this right. This upended my life, too, you know, not just hers. He sighed. Try to relax, Henry. If I get taken off to prison, Ill make sure youre not implicated.
That wasnt my concern, sir.
Once you get a serious nights rest, I want you to fly back to South Bend. I have a list of things you need to do. Were going to set up a communication base so her friends and family have an email address for her, a cell phone just for those communications. Ill deal personally with any and all lawyers. But her place is going to need some maintenance. Shell be with me for several weeks-
Several weeks? Harry tugged at his button-down collar.
Maximum. Im hoping no more than two weeks, but we could have to extend it to three. Which is why I need you to get back to her place as soon as youve rested up from this flight. Nothing huge to do, just details. See if she has plants to water, empty her fridge of perishables. Call me with a list of personal items in her medicine cabinet, cosmetics, medicines, that kind of thing. Put her heating at a nominal temperature-sixty. Like that.
No problem.
I dont know what mail shell have come in. If there are bills, I want you to pick them up, route them to me. Personal mail, forward. Catalogs or junk, just heap up. This is too much to be telling you off the cuff. Ill give you a list when youre ready.
You dont need me at the lodge with you?
I could. But when she wakes up, first thing shes going to freak about is all the personal life shes left hanging. So we have to take care of that, number one. Beyond those obvious life details, I wont know more than that until she wakes up and starts talking.
Sir?
Henry. Quit doing that careful sir thing. Whatevers bothering you, just get it off your chest before you drive me nuts.
Yes, sir. What if she wakes up and wants to go home? What if she doesnt want to stay with you?
Henry.
Yes, sir?
Of course she wont want to stay with me. She doesnt know me from Adam. But its my problem to build her trust. To make this work. Not yours.
Yes, sir.
Maguire sighed. Whats the but now, Henry?
Its just shes young. And very, well, pretty. Very pretty.
Henry.
Yes, sir?
Have I ever struck you as the kind of man whod take advantage of a wounded woman?
No, sir.
Have you noticed that I have any lack of attractive women in my life?
No, sir.
And heres the punch line, Henry. I kidnapped her. That means I have the power over the situation. And that means theres no way Id touch a hair on her head. Got it?
Yes, sir.
If I were burning in hell, Henry. If she begged me. If she were my last chance to have sex in my entire life. Some things are plain wrong, and the line here is crystal clear. While shes under my care, she couldnt be safer.
Got it, sir.
Now, are there any more questions, or can I go back and catch an hour of shut-eye?
Absolutely no questions, sir.
About every three months or so, Henry revealed a sense of humor. Otherwise it was like having an old-fashioned aunt around, always underfoot, worrying whether he had an umbrella in the rain, whether hed eaten, whether he was hot or cold or tired. Damn good employee. But exhausting sometimes.
Maguire headed back, grabbed a blanket from an overhead bin and dropped into the oversize lounge chair closest to her. He considered turning on the tube, or switching on his computer, or opening his briefcase. Instead, he found himself staring at Carolina again.
Everything about her was soft. Skin. Hair. Mouth. There wasnt a single hint of toughness in her.
He could well believe shed risked her life to save his little brother, even though Tommy was a relative stranger to her. He could well believe she wouldnt think, before leaping in, to help someone else.
He couldnt imagine her being tough enough, resilient enough, to handle the pressure that had been heaped on her in the last two months. Shed never had the training for it, the upbringing that could have prepared her.
His father, so typically, had impulsively left her a gift that was supposed to be generous and wonderful. It would never have occurred to Gerald that hed thrown a young woman into the deep end with no life raft in sight.
Maguire had to be the life raft.
There was no one else.
And that meant exactly what hed told Henry. It didnt matter, about her soft skin, or that silky blond hair. It didnt matter that those small, perfect lips challenged a man to want to take them, to mold them, to see exactly what kind of passion might be awakened there. She was a sweet woman. A giver. Those were the facts Maguire already knew.
But whether there was more under that surface, he had to find out. Without touching her. Without harming her in any way.
No matter what it cost him.
Chapter Two
Carolina opened sleepy eyes and abruptly frowned. Youd think she had a wild love life, considering how many strange beds shed woken up in lately.
Waking up in strange beds was kind of interesting, but waking up feeling drunk-drugged was getting mighty old.