The Secret Father

Lindy shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she said. The more she tried to figure out the relationship between her sister and this man, the more mystified she became.

‘See you later,’ Hope said, linking her arm through Lloyd’s as a group of technicians went past. It was almost as if, Lindy thought, her bewilderment deepening, she wanted them to think that she and Lloyd were an item. It made no sense.

She shook her head in frustration and sensed Sam’s silent regard. ‘Do you know what’s going on?’ she demanded.

‘Leave me out of this,’ he said, holding up his hands. ‘Hold up a minute, Will!’ He waved towards the burly figure of Will Gibson, the director of photography. Lindy had already been introduced to the multi-Oscar-winning technician. ‘We need to discuss that helicopter shot of Hope on the rocks tomorrow. You’ve met Rosalind?’

‘Met her! I’ve fallen passionately in love with the lady.’ Will Gibson worked hard to maintain his hell-raising image, but Lindy thought that underneath he was probably rather nice.

‘I meet his two criteria of desirability,’ Lindy said calmly. Both men were looking at her. ‘I’ve a pulse and I’m female. So I’ve tried not to be too overcome by the honour.’

‘Old son,’ Will said, with a delighted chuckle, ‘this one’s not stupid.’

Sam shot her a glance, his eyes meshing with hers for a long, silent moment. ‘I’d noticed,’ he drawled. ‘Can you find your way back?’ he said doubtfully. ‘I’ll be tied up here for another couple of hours.’

It was the first time all day he’d looked at her in a less than impersonal manner and, to her dismay, Lindy felt her body react forcibly to the fact.

‘I’ve an excellent sense of direction,’ she assured him crisply. At least her voice wasn’t fluttering as feebly as her pulse rate. Years of practice at sounding cool and in control in the midst of confusion stood her in good stead.

Sam raised one eyebrow sceptically, but didn’t make an issue of the matter as she climbed into Hope’s car.

‘I take it you’ve put in your order for a rough sea tomorrow?’ Will said. ‘Are you with us?’ he asked as his director’s attention remained focused on the dust cloud thrown up by the retreating vehicle’s wheels.

Sam turned his head and gave the older man a grim glare that cut short any further shrewd and probably lewd comments Will had been about to make.

‘The meteorological guys are promising us a low tomorrow and some hefty winds,’ he replied. ‘Not bad enough to keep the helicopter grounded, but enough to give us a bleak, stormy backdrop. The sea should look like a black devil’s cauldron. I want the shot to cut from Hope to me disposing of the body, and end with Hope just an indistinguishable speck on the rock. There’s no escape, danger on all sides. I want everyone to feel her isolation.’

Will’s beady eyes took on a gleam of professional interest, but Sam didn’t notice.

‘She’s doomed,’ he intoned.

‘You’ve got it in one.’ Sam felt an intense surge of irritation that Rosalind kept disrupting his flow of thoughts. Why did she keep intruding? He was beginning to suspect that treating her impersonally all day hadn’t really achieved his purpose. In fact, his self-imposed restraint had only managed to draw attention to her. He had given her a hard ride today and she’d risen to the challenge damned well, he decided with admiration.

He gave himself a mental shake and concentrated on what Will was saying. On the whole, the elements were a lot more predictable than his own emotions just now!

The sunken Jacuzzi could have happily housed a soccer team. Alone, Lindy lay back and studied the seascape spread before her. She’d opened the sliding doors to let the distant sound of the waves into the room. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the soothing murmur and let the tension ease its way from her spine.

She tried to banish all thoughts of Sam from her mind, but this was difficult to achieve. Impossible to achieve, to be totally accurate. She had to settle for cursing the fates that had brought her into his orbit. The hot water was bliss, though, and she lazily rubbed with her toes the area on her calf where she’d been bitten by mosquitoes. Extending her leg from the water, she regarded the reddened area with a frown.

‘You could do with something on those. There’s some antihistamine cream in the bathroom.’

Lindy let out a startled shriek. ‘How long have you been there?’ she asked, after she’d thrashed about inelegantly in the water in a most undignified manner. ‘How dare you sneak up on me?’ she continued accusingly.