No Risk Refused

He watched Banes walk to the far end of the terrace before he took the call on his cell.

Whatever he said into the phone was muffled by distance. Cam stepped onto the terrace and, using potted trees for cover, edged as close as he could before he dropped down to his knees behind one of them. Luckily Banes was facing in the other direction. If the man turned his way the plant might not offer enough of a shield.

“…told you…I had to talk to her,” Banes said.

Cam couldn’t make out what the person on the other side of the call was saying. But he could catch the tone. Anger. And he had a lot to say. Cam counted ten good beats before Banes cut the person off.

“I’m going to marry Rexie Maitland.” Banes’s voice was soft but there was anger there, too.

Banes paced to the far end of the terrace, out of earshot. When he reached the low wall of stones he propped one foot on the top of a flat rock and rested his forearm on his knee.

The stance had recognition streaming through Cam. He was looking at one of the men who’d been at the pond earlier. He would have bet good money on it.

Moving slowly, he began to inch his way back toward the doors to the parlor so that he could be in position when Banes returned to the office.

* * *

ADAIR WATCHED THROUGH the open terrace doors as Lawrence Banes lifted his foot to rest it on one of the flat stones bordering the terrace. The instant he placed his forearm on his thigh, his stance and the tension in his body triggered the blurred image that she recalled seeing earlier through that tiny gap in the waterfall. The longer she looked, the more convinced she became that the man she’d seen talking to Nathan MacDonald by the pond had been Lawrence Banes.

How were the two men connected? And why had they been in the woods?

When Lawrence took his foot down, she backed away toward her desk. Shooting a quick glance at the French doors that connected to the main parlor, she was almost sure she saw the shadow of someone through the curtains. So Cam was eavesdropping.

“Sorry about that, Ms. MacPherson.” Banes returned to his chair and placed his cell phone on the edge of her desk. He ran a hand through his hair. His smile seemed a bit thinner, his face more tired. “What were we saying?”

“Rexie says that you and her father are involved in some kind of business merger and that the marriage is connected to that,” Adair said.

Banes’s eyes narrowed. “Win and I are going to sign a partnership agreement right after the ceremony. It’s not a secret, but I’m not sure exactly why you’ve brought it up.”

“You seem to be concerned about what Rexie and I talked about this morning. She told me that the deal between you and her father is one of the reasons she’s determined to go forward with the wedding.”

“Ah,” Banes said, relaxing a little. “That sounds like Rexie. She always wants to please her parents. Which is why I wonder how she ever got herself mixed up with the Montana cowboy. But—” Banes raised his hands and spread his fingers “—you know how women are.…”

“I do.” Adair managed to keep her smile sweet. “But Rexie’s first marriage, a mistake or not, was for love. And neither she nor you has mentioned love as one of the reasons for your upcoming marriage.”

“Of course I love her,” Banes said, his tone a bit hurt. “I was under the impression she loved me. I knew she had concerns about marrying again so soon, and when she read about this place and insisted on having the wedding here I championed her cause. I knew the legend would set her mind at rest.”

Adair said nothing.

“I’d expect that you’d be grateful for that, that you’d want this wedding tomorrow just as much as I do. You have a lot riding on it.”

“I do.” She kept her voice pleasant. “I’m the last person in the world who wants Rexie to call off the wedding. What I don’t understand is what you want me to do that I haven’t already done.”

Lawrence Banes drew in a deep breath and seemed to collect himself. “Sorry. It’s just that this wedding means a lot to me. Rexie means a lot to me. Bunny’s call upset me because I don’t think it’s good for Rexie to be thinking about her first marriage. You have no idea how long it took to get her past the divorce papers. She’s in a very fragile state. Moving on is the best thing that can happen to her. Once the wedding takes place everything will be fine—for all of us.”

In spite of her growing doubts about that, Adair kept her smile bright. “I want you to know that I’m going to do everything possible to make sure that the wedding goes very smoothly on Saturday.”

“Good.”

As Adair rose, Banes unfolded himself from his chair and glanced at his watch. “I have a pressing appointment. But now that we understand each other, I’m going to leave the matter entirely in your hands.”

Adair waited only until Lawrence Banes exited out onto the terrace doors before she circled her desk to follow him. She was only halfway there when Cam stepped into the room.

“I’m almost positive that my nervous about-to-be bridegroom was one of the men we saw at the pond,” she said in a low tone.

He smiled at her. “You’ve got good eyes. And I’m in total agreement.”

“But what was he doing there?”

“Very good question. I could go after him and ask him.”

Adair saw the reckless gleam flash into his eyes. “Or?”

“We could follow him and see who his pressing appointment is with. Knowledge is power.”

“Much better idea. Give me time to tell Aunt Vi.”

11

IT TOOK ADAIR three minutes to give Aunt Vi the condensed version of what had happened while Cam alerted Wes Pinter, who was still trimming hedges, that they were leaving. Cam was behind the wheel of his sporty black convertible with the motor running when she slipped into the passenger seat.

“Buckle up,” he said. But he didn’t wait for her to finish the task before he sent the car flying forward. She clicked the belt in place and clutched the edge of the seat as he floored the gas pedal. By the time they reached the end of the drive and hit the graveled road that twisted away from the castle, the speedometer read fifty and rising.

“Banes has quite a head start,” she managed to say as they squealed around the first curve.

“Maybe not so much. Wes Pinter says my car has been the only one parked in the drive since your Mr. MacDonald left.”

“So Banes didn’t park near the castle, and he lost some time walking to his—” She broke off to suck in a breath as he twisted the car sharply into the next curve.

When the road straightened again he shot her a grin. “Hopefully he has an ego car with less maneuverability.”

“Ego car?”

“You know, a sleek, dark colored sedan that shouts, ‘I’m successful,’ and sucks on a curve like this one.”

As he negotiated the next curve, Adair’s heart was racing almost as fast as the engine.

“You’re good at this,” she said.

“CIA training.”

As the road leveled for a stretch, she managed to take her eyes away from it and she fastened her attention on Cam. His hands were so sure on the wheel, just as sure and competent as they’d been on her. And he was grinning. She should be scared out of her mind but she wanted to grin, too. “Is this why you went into the CIA? For the excitement? The car chases?” she asked.

“Partly. I love my mom and my brothers, but they’re so different. Duncan and my mom are addicted to burying themselves in books and research, although Duncan does get out in the field when his team is working a case. In fact, right now he’s in Montana on a big case—tracking a serial killer. Reid loves the straight and narrow. He’s totally focused on climbing to the top rung of his job at the Secret Service. I like the variety of the CIA and the fact that I don’t always have to follow the rules.”

She’d known that Cam was someone who wouldn’t be bound by rules the first time she’d ever looked into those twilight-blue eyes. She’d always been attracted to that part of him. Even though she liked rules, relied on them and believed there had to be a reward for following them.

As they crested the hill and shot down the other side, gravel spewed and pinged. Adair held tight and laughed as Cam twisted the car around the next curve. To hell with the rules.

“I eavesdropped on your conversation with Banes. Do you believe he’s marrying Rexie for love or money?” he asked.

She thought for a few seconds. “Yesterday I would have said his motives were strictly business. He was so detached at the rehearsal. He seemed more interested in talking on his cell phone than he was in what was going on. But then he stayed in town last night. And he came to see me today. Maybe he has some feelings for her.”

“His cell was keeping him pretty busy while he was talking with you today.”