“No,” Mike said. “Wherever I take her, they’ll follow.”
“Couldn’t you hide her?”
“For the rest of her life?” Mike said angrily. “If you want to help, figure out what she has that people are willing to kill to get.”
“Greg—”
“If he marries her and she dies, he’ll inherit whatever it is that she has. Sara’s coming; I have to go. Fax what you have to Luke and think hard. And take care of Tess.”
“I will. She—” Rams didn’t say any more because Mike had hung up.
“Wow!” Sara said as she looked at Mike sitting on the iron chair. “You don’t look well at all. Is Tess all right? Is the baby—?” She broke off at his look, then sat down across from him. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing,” he managed to say, his eyes searching her face. He had no doubt that the Vandlos had killed the man Sara was to marry. Then Stefan had shown up in town, and as Captain Erickson had said, Vandlo had use
d his “big-city razzle-dazzle” to woo a girl whose heart had been broken. It couldn’t have been difficult, Mike thought. Sara still had no idea why the man she loved had dropped her, and Mike had seen enough of Edilean to know that the pity from everyone would have been enough to drive her mad. The Vandlos specialized in people, especially women, who were in pain.
“Mike,” Sara said softly, “you’re beginning to scare me.”
His mind was racing. There was only one way to protect Sara and that was to take the focus off of her and put it on him. “Does Edilean have a mayor?”
“Yes, but what does that—?”
“Who is it?”
“Actually, it’s my mother. She—”
Mike stood up. “Sara, I—” He didn’t know what to say. “You have to trust me. Understand?”
“Sure. You’re Tess’s brother and—”
“No! Trust me! You have to know that I have your best interests in mind.”
“Now I am frightened. Please tell me what’s upset you so much.”
“I don’t have time now, but I’ll tell you everything as soon as I can.” As he hurried toward his car, he stopped and turned back. Sara was standing by the little table and looking after him in puzzlement—with fear in her eyes.
Turning, he went back to her, took her in his arms, and kissed her. It was a quick, hard kiss, and for a moment he held her so tightly she couldn’t breathe. He put both hands on the side of her head, his nose to hers. “Trust me,” he whispered. “You must trust me with your life.”
He pulled away from her and smiled. “Put on something pretty,” he said, then he ran to his car and quickly drove away.
Sara wasn’t surprised when her cell rang less than a minute later. It was Joce.
“What in the world was that all about? I saw you guys out the window. I thought you two weren’t … you know.”
“We aren’t, haven’t,” Sara said. “And I have no idea what’s going on.”
“Want to come in and talk about it?”
“Yeah, sure, but … No,” Sara said. “I think I’m going to take a long bath and use some of that super expensive shampoo and conditioner you gave me for my birthday.”
“Now I’m intrigued. What did Mike say to cause this reaction?”
“It wasn’t what he said but how he said it. I have to go.”
“Keep me informed,” Joce said and hung up.
Four hours later when Mike returned, Sara was clean and fresh, wearing a dress of white eyelet, and nervously looking through a magazine she’d already read.