Scarlet Nights (Edilean 3)

Rams moved the pillow off his head and looked at her with curiosity. He’d never heard her use that tone before.

“Mike, you’ll be careful, won’t you? No, I mean it. Really careful.”

Rams sat up in bed and watched her more closely. There was enough light in the room that he could see tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

She held up her hand for him to stop talking. “I understand completely. Luke will do whatever I ask him to.”

“Luke will do what?” Ramsey asked.

Tess looked at her husband. “Would you please be quiet? This is important.”

Angrily, Rams flung back the covers, pulled on his trousers that were hanging over a chair, and opened the curtain to look at the mountains outside. Behind him, Tess kept talking.

“Yes, I think it’s in good condition, and besides me, only Luke knows about it. I’m sure he didn’t tell Joce. He was afraid she’d want to explore it, and he’s always thought it was too dangerous.” Pausing, Tess smiled. “Not yet, but Rams is working on it with enthusiasm and endurance. Yeah, the first one will be named Michael.”

In an instant, Ramsey’s anger left him and he stretched out on

the bed beside his wife. He didn’t like the way she’d told intimacies about them to her brother, but he did like that she’d said she planned to have children. They’d not talked about having kids, but he now realized he hadn’t done so in fear that she’d say she didn’t want any. Tess was a woman of very strong opinions. But once he was over his first pleasure at hearing that she did want children, Ramsey began to imagine a dozen of them, all with a name in some form of Michael: Michaela, Michalia, Mickey, Michelle—

“What an extraordinary call,” Tess said as she clicked off her phone.

“I draw the line at Mickey. No mice.”

Tess gave him a look of disgust. “Are you going to start on your jealousy again?”

“I’m not—” Rams began but stopped himself. “So why did your brother feel he had to call you in the middle of the night? Or is he playing James Bond in a country where it’s now teatime?”

“He just arrived in Edilean.”

Rams looked at her. “Your brother is in our hometown and you aren’t packed yet?”

“No, and I’m not going to. He wants us to go on an extended honeymoon—and stay away from home.”

“Not that I object, but why does he want us to do that?”

“It seems that my big brother has been sent to Edilean on a case.”

“But he—” Ramsey swallowed. Tess’s brother went undercover for big cases. Huge cases. He dealt in crimes that had international repercussions. He infiltrated gangs that were at war with each other—he’d been shot repeatedly.

Rams got off the bed and went to the closet.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going home; you’re staying here. If your brother’s been sent to Edilean, then something is very wrong.”

“If you go, I’ll follow you, and that will put my brother in danger. And Mike said that if I’m there I might become a target. Is that what you want?”

Turning, Ramsey looked at her. She wore no makeup or clothing, and she was so beautiful he could hardly stand upright. He still couldn’t believe that when he’d asked her to marry him just four weeks ago, she’d said yes. Three weeks later they’d been married in a private ceremony with only a dozen guests. And except that her brother hadn’t been able to be there, it was how they’d both wanted it. In fact, Tess had said, “If you think I’m going to make a fool of myself by wearing a hundred yards of white silk and having a bunch of women around me in pink dresses, then you’ve asked the wrong woman to marry you. Spend the money on a rock. I want a ring big enough to dance on.” He’d happily done just what she asked. And he’d added a pair of diamond earrings—all of which she was wearing now. Just the diamonds, her skin and hair.

“What’s going on in Edilean?” Rams asked. “Who is in danger?”

“You know Mike can’t tell me anything. His cases are top secret. If anyone found out, lives could be lost.”

Ramsey gave her a piercing look. As far as he could tell, her brother didn’t keep secrets from her.

Tess sighed. “Sara.”

Ramsey took a deep breath. “My cousin Sara? Sweet, dear Sara? It’s that bastard she wants to marry, isn’t it?”