Tell Me Your Secrets...

“It was when I kissed you the first time on the bluff, I knew that you weren’t Cameron, and in the garden last night, I confirmed it. You see, I never kissed Cameron quite that way before, and I never wanted to do this to her.”

He entered me in one fast plunge, filling me so completely I cried out.

“I don’t want to stop doing this to you, Brooke.” He withdrew and pushed into me again. And again. True to his word, he didn’t stop for a very long time.

WHEN I COULD FINALLY breathe and think again, I found that Sloan and I were lying side-by-side, tucked together like spoons, and as much as I knew I should, I didn’t want to move. This was why forbidden fruit was forbidden, I reminded myself—the addiction factor.

“We’ll have to tell James,” Sloan finally said.

“No.” I wiggled around to face him. “We can’t. Not yet. If we do, I’ll have to stop impersonating Cameron, and having amnesia gives me the perfect excuse to ask a lot of questions.”

He studied me. “Questions about what?”

“About who was around on the day Cameron disappeared.” I swallowed hard. “And about who might benefit if she doesn’t come back.”

“Because you have a ‘feeling’ she was the victim of foul play?”

He was frowning, and I could still hear skepticism in his tone. So I drew in a deep breath and told him about the anonymous phone call I’d received.

When I was finished, he continued to study me with that I-can-see-right-through-you look of his.

“Cameron is an heiress,” I said. “You were quick enough to jump to the conclusion that I came here masquerading as her to get her money. What happens if she never comes back and your marriage can’t take place? What will James do with the estate then?”

“I don’t know. But I imagine he’ll do a variation of what he intended to do before Cameron and I agreed to marry. In his current will he leaves Cameron the estate and the land, but all of the decisions about running the ranch and the business, including any sale of the land, is placed under the control of a board of directors, a group handpicked by James. He’s been pretty closemouthed about whom he’s selected, but my guess is that Doc Carter would be on it, perhaps Rachel Lakewood and Jack Boland. They are all close friends of James and very like-minded. James would like to have control of this place even from the grave.”

“But he was going to give that up and turn the place over to you and Cameron if you marry because…?”

Sloan gave me a wry smile. “My guess is that Cameron gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. She’d marry someone he’d approve of with the ability to run the ranch just as well as his hand-selected board, and he’d have at least the hope of grandchildren. That’s just a guess on my part, but she’d know what kind of a carrot to dangle in front of her father. Of course, it could have been that the marriage part was James’s idea. A carrot he dangled in front of Cameron’s nose—marry someone I approve of and I’ll leave you both everything.”

“And Cameron chose you?”

“Perhaps. It could have been James’s idea. He didn’t want me to leave five years ago, and he knows how much I love this place. He also knew what to dangle in front of me to get me to come back.”

I swallowed hard again. I didn’t like putting my growing suspicion into words. “And if something has happened to Cameron, who would James leave the place to then? Beatrice and Austin with the board making all the decisions?”

“Probably. I hadn’t given it any thought.” His frown deepened. “But that would be a good guess, and I don’t like where this is going.”

“I don’t, either. Who might know James’s backup plan? Who would he confide in?”

“Doc Carter,” Sloan said without hesitation. “He and James have been close since they were kids. James trusts him.”

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone yet who I really am, not until we know more about what might have happened to Cameron.”

“And if something has happened to Cameron, your impersonation of her puts you in danger. I don’t—”

I stopped him by putting my fingers against his lips. “Just until tomorrow. I’ll have to let James know who I really am before the wedding.”

For a moment, he hesitated. “On one condition.”

“What?”

“We’ll ask questions together. I don’t want you wandering off with any of them alone. Whoever went through your things and left that message on your cell phone was at the hacienda last night.”

“I agree and I promise.”

He drew me into his arms and just held me. “Don’t forget that there’s at least one other person who hasn’t been fooled by you.”

“The person who sent me the anonymous letter.” In spite of the warmth of Sloan’s body, I felt a little chill move through me.

“Yeah,” Sloan said. “Someone is playing a very deep game here. The question is who?”

SOON. SOON. SOON. The shadow waited in the shade of the trees, repeating the word over and over again until it became a chant. A promise. A prayer.

The mistakes of the past could be corrected. One could always achieve what one wanted with patience. And persistence. One didn’t have to be second best. That perception could be corrected—with time.

She would be here very soon. She always came here. So predictable. That’s what had made it so easy the last time.

And there would be no mistakes this time. Rage rose like a bitter-tasting bile and was quickly repressed. There was no need for anger or self-recrimination. Never again. Not when a mistake could be so easily remedied.

The shadow ran a hand over the weapon. The gun, a sleek Winchester, would ensure that this time the end would be final.

Soon.

15

“WE’RE TAKING A TOUR of the ranch in that?” I’d stopped short the moment I saw the shiny red plane on a short runway behind the stables.

“Yeah. Isn’t she a honey?”

To me, the plane looked small, very small, like a shiny red kid’s toy. And it had propellers. Sloan strode quickly toward it, and I had to double my pace to keep up. I glanced down at my breeches. “I thought we’d be riding.”

Sloan climbed up on one of the wings, and held out a hand to me. “It’s a big ranch, and believe me, this little beauty will be a lot easier on your seat than if we did the tour on horseback.”

I let him help me up and I took a skeptical look into the tiny cockpit. “Where will the pilot sit?”

He laughed then. “I’m the pilot.”

I turned to stare at him. “You fly?”

“James taught me when I was in my teens. Want to see my license?”

I could see the excitement in his eyes, and I realized that the little red plane was a toy. Sloan’s toy.

“Don’t tell me you have a secret fear of flying.”

“Of course not.” But I preferred my planes to be jumbo jets. Or at least jumbo period.

He opened the door, and I climbed over the pilot’s seat and into the passenger’s. “You’re the one who insisted that we take the tour.”

He had me there. I’d convinced him that if we didn’t, someone might suspect something. And James wouldn’t be pleased if Sloan didn’t show me the ranch. There were bound to be questions, and since I’d already blown my cover with Sloan, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t do the same with anyone else.

I buckled myself in, then gripped the edge of my seat hard.

“You are afraid of flying,” Sloan said, and this time I heard the concern in his voice.

“No. Really. I have a slight aversion to heights, but it’s never affected me in a plane. And I do want to see the ranch.”

He sent me a smile as he turned on the engine. “I’ll try not to fly too high. Just relax.”

Whatever anxiety I’d been experiencing faded as the nose of the plane rose into the bright late-morning sky. The only clouds I could see were far away in the direction of the Pacific. So I wasn’t prepared when a tricky patch of crosscurrents sent the little plane rocking. My heart shot to my throat and I dug my fingers into the edge of my seat.

“Easy,” Sloan said. “I’ve got it handled.”

I could see that he did, and I gradually blew out the breath I was holding.

I glanced at him. He was comfortable at the controls. It occurred to me then that he was a man who would be competent at any job he took on. I thought of the way he’d calmed Saturn on the bluff when we’d first met. Even if he didn’t come out on top in a fight or a competition, he wouldn’t stay down long. Hadn’t that competence and determination been a big part of what had attracted me to him from the get-go?

I forced my hands to release their grip on the seat. “I’m sorry that I’m such a coward.”

The look he shot me held surprise. “You’re not. Coming here to take your sister’s place because you’re sure that something’s happened to her—that takes a kind of courage that few people would have.”

His compliment warmed me and had my heart doing a little flutter. No, I thought. I was not going to go there. Heart flutters were out. It was bad enough that I had this uncontrollable chemistry with a man who belonged to my sister. I was not going to even think of letting my heart get in the mix.