Chapter 7

I retreated. I smoked more, but kept my smoking to my office. I buried myself in solitary activities. I pushed a cart through Barnes and Noble, filled it with books, and read them in my expanding library. I painted in my studio. With acrylics. I was too impatient to use oils, and the painting was large and angry and...

It was a great painting, a work of art. I'd poured all my emotions into the painting, and it reflected the emotions I poured into it. I decided not to burn it. I had it framed and hung it in my great room.

I didn't ignore my business completely, but I pulled back from it as much as possible. Sable, bless her industrious heart, stepped up and filled the retreating void I left behind.

I added running to my exercise regimen. I ran around the track inside the walls of my refuge. I ran until I couldn't run anymore, then I'd crash in the hot tub, shower and dress, and then read or paint.

The written word, paint dabs on canvas, tai chi, Krav Maga, the shooting range, and running kept me busy. I also checked on the construction progress for the horse facilities daily, answered the contractor's questions, and made changes with the architect. So I kept my mind and body occupied.

Time passing while staying busy allowed my mind to slough off my self-pity and bitterness, and start the healing process.

Then one morning at our breakfast meeting, purpose came into my life again.

"Late last night, I received a call from our surveillance specialist in Houston," Greg said. "Hal Carson will leave for Denver tomorrow. He's convinced that your sister, Sable, knows where you are. He intends to abduct her and do whatever it takes to force her to divulge your location."

"No!" Sable cried out. "She doesn't know where I am. I've spoken to her, but she..."

"You've spoken to her?" I said.

"Yes, Greg got me a throwaway cell phone with a New York City area code, and I called her to let her know I was okay."

"When?" I said.

"The day before yesterday," she said.

I looked at Greg. "He probably had the sister's phone tapped."

"Fuck," he breathed.

"I've got to warn her," Sable said, jumping up so quickly that her chair toppled over. She looked frantic. "I'll take the next flight to..."

I rose and picked up the chair. "She'll be warned, Sable, and she'll be protected. Sit down, please. Let's take fifteen minutes and develop a plan that protects your sister and maintains your safety at the same time."

She sat down.

"Now take a big breath," I said.

She did.

"Another ... good. Are you calm enough to think now? To plan?"

She nodded.

"Good, tell me about your sister. Is she married? Does she have children?"

"No, neither. She lives alone – I think. She's twenty-eight, a year younger than I. I wasn't a supermodel. She was ... is. She's semi-retired. Mostly retired. Selects only the most lucrative assignments. She's in Denver to finish her education. When I spoke to her, she told me all she had left for her Ph.D. was the defense phase of her dissertation."

"Is the defense scheduled?" I asked.

"I don't know," Sable said.

I grabbed a pad of paper and pen. "Give me her name, address and telephone numbers?"

"Her name is Loni, spelled with one N and an I, Loni Masterson. She's better known by her work name – Zane, no last name."

I chuckled. "Yep, she's a supermodel. Only a supermodel, top-notch singer, or actress would get away with using one name." I wrote down the address and telephone numbers Sable gave me.

"Okay, first things first," I said. "I'll call a man I know in Denver. He's an executive protector. I spoke with him when I was looking for someone to head up my security. He'll pass a note to her. Something in the note must convince her that the note came from you, Sable. The note will tell her to call you from a safe telephone." I looked at Greg. "Do you still have the throwaway cell phone?"

"I don't," he said and then smiled. "I threw it away, but I have another one."

"We'll give Loni that phone number to call you, Sable," I said.

She nodded.

"What will happen next depends on what is said during the phone call. Ideally, Loni should disappear until we can eliminate Hal Carson as a threat." I gave Greg a hard look. "Do we have enough on him to insure his arrest if we give the authorities the information we've gathered about his illegal activities?"

"No," he said. "Not according to the legal-beagle at your law firm I've been conferring with. What we've uncovered with our surveillance wouldn't be admissible in court."

"Then we'll just use a different way to convince Hal Carson that it is in his better interest to forget he ever knew Sable."

Greg smiled wryly. "I like that approach. It's way past due."

"Sable, I'll want to speak with Loni when you talk with her," I said. "There's a device available that turns a cell phone into a speakerphone. Greg, send Frank out to buy the device while I make arrangements for the protector to contact Loni. Sable, please draft the note for your sister. Remember, she must know the note is from you. Let's get to work."

Sable, Greg and I sat in my office. We waited for Loni Masterson's call. Sable was nervous. Her hands clenched in her lap. The device that would turn the throwaway cell phone into a speakerphone was attached.

Although I expected the phone to ring, I still jumped slightly when it chirped. I nodded to Sable, and she pushed a button to answer the call.

"Loni?" Sable said, tentatively.

"Yes, Robyn. What the hell is happening? Why all this cloak-and-dagger twaddle?"

"Because we believe your home phone is tapped. Because you're in danger," Sable said. "Hal is flying to Denver tomorrow. He plans to abduct you and force you to tell him where I am."

Loni snorted with disdain. "Won't work. I don't know where you are."

"What do you think will happen when you refuse to tell him Robyn's whereabouts?" I said.

"Who are you?" Loni said belligerently.

"My name doesn't matter. Call me Bob or Bill, your choice. I'm the man who has provided Robyn refuge from the wrath of her violent husband. The key word from that statement, Loni, is violent. Hal Carson is junk-yard-dog mean, evil to the bone. Granted, you can't tell the creep Robyn's location because you don't know where she is, but he believes otherwise. He also has a compulsive need to fulfill the promise he made Robyn if she ever left him. He promised to kill her, Loni, and from what we've learned about this brute since giving Robyn sanctuary, we believe that if he can find her, he will follow through and kill her. Or have her killed. We have Hal Carson under electronic surveillance, and we learned this morning about his plans to abduct you and force Robyn's location from you. When you refuse to divulge your sister's location, he will beat you. He'll beat you anyway. He gets off using his fists on women. Makes him feel like a big man. Question? Can you disappear for a week or two right now?"

"I can but I won't. This is ridiculous."

"How about a vacation, a ten-day cruise maybe, all expenses paid?"

"No," she said.

I could think of only one carrot I could dangle in front of her that might work. I didn't like my solution, but I didn't see another way to insure the woman's safety.

"Peter, are you there?" I said. Peter Cornwall was the executive protector I'd hired in Denver to set up the phone call, protect Loni, and help her disappear for two weeks.

"I am," he said. "We're on the speakerphone in my office."

"Loni, how would you like to visit Robyn for a week or two?" I said.

Silence. I wished I were close enough to her to experience her thoughts.

Finally, she said, "I'd like that."

"Good. Peter, take Loni to her home so she can pack. Loni, it's hotter than blazes where we are, so pack accordingly. Please follow Peter's advice to the letter. Do not speak while you're in your home. While you're packing, we'll arrange a charter flight. I'll call you, Peter, with the flight data. Make sure you're not followed to the airport, and Peter, no money trail."

"I know the drill," he said. "Do you want me to fly with her to your location?"

"No." I said. "She'll be safe once she's on the aircraft, but hang around until it takes off."

"I'll do that," he said.

"What will change in two weeks?" Loni said. "Won't I still be at risk?"

"No," I said.

"Why?" she said.

"Because we will convince Hal Carson that it is no longer in his best interest to extract his revenge on Robyn," I said.

"How will you accomplish this?" Loni said.

"Forcefully," Greg said.

"Who are you?" Loni said.

"I'm Cl ... ah, Bob's head of security and Sa ... ah, Robyn's fiancé."

I smiled. I didn't know Sable and Greg's love affair had progressed so far. I didn't know because, for the last few weeks, I'd rarely connected mentally with anyone.

"Robyn, can I trust these men?" Loni said.

"Yes," Robyn said. "With your life. I do."

"Okay," Loni said. "I don't like it, but I will cooperate."

"Great. Let's get to it," I said. "With luck, Loni, you'll be in the air in three hours. We'll meet your flight on this end."

We met the Cessna Citation on the tarmac at Williams Gateway Airport. Greg and I stood back while the sisters hugged and greeted each other. Then, Sable introduced us.

Being a model, Loni was tall, 5'10", I guessed, and beautiful, of course. She had brown hair with gold highlights, which gave her a slightly wild look. The lustrous hair cascaded in waves below her soft shoulders. She was, in a word, magnificent!

Her lively brown eyes looked Greg over critically. Then she smiled and said, "You'll do. How about a hug for your future sister-in-law?"

"A hug sounds nice," Greg said. He hugged her fiercely.

"Clint Wilson, huh?" she said to me next. "What happened to Bob or Bill?"

"Until you agreed to disappear for a couple of weeks, telling you my name would have put your sister at risk," I said.

I didn't get a hug.

I did connect with her mentally and sighed with relief when she didn't notice my intrusive presence.

I'm not at all sure I like Clint Wilson, she thought while looking at me. He's too cocky, too full of himself.

Shucks. Win some; lose some.

While we greeted Loni, Frank had gathered her luggage and stowed it in the Hummer. The four of us got in the vehicle, and Frank drove us away. Sable sat next to Loni so they could talk, and by the time we drove through the gates to the compound, Loni knew about Sable's new identity, that Sable was my assistant, and that I was a venture capitalist. Sable also told Loni about Ginny.

"She's a living doll, Loni," Sable said. "I love her to pieces. She can't wait to meet you."

"A new husband and a daughter to boot, huh?" Loni said.

"Yep," Sable said. "This time, I'm getting it right."

Loni looked at Greg, who smiled at her.

"I believe you are," Loni said and patted her sister's hand. "I'm happy for you." She looked at me and thought, Greg fits her, but I would've picked Clint.

Go figure. First she doesn't like me, thinks I'm too cocky. Then decides she'd pick me over Greg. As long as I live, and it appeared that I'd live for a very long time, I will never understand the female half of my species.

"Quite a place," Loni said as the Hummer stopped in front of my home.

"Thanks," I said. "Frank, please put Loni's luggage in the guest suite next to Sable's."

"Will do, boss," Frank said.

As we walked inside, I said, "Are you hungry, Loni?"

"They fed me on the flight." She snorted a laugh. "Talk about conspicuous consumption! I was the flight's only passenger."

"Disappearing is difficult to accomplish on a commercial flight with other passengers," I said.

"I suppose." Know it all. He has an answer for everything.

"Would you like a drink, or do you need to freshen up?"

"Do I look unfresh?" she said.

"Unfresh isn't a word," I said.

Infuriating cuss! "I want a drink. A good scotch if you have it. Over ice with a twist of lemon."

Greta greeted us. I introduced her to Loni. "She'll be staying with us for about two weeks," I added.

"Do you want me to cater to her every whim?" Greta said with a teasing grin.

"Reasonable whims only," I said. "Otherwise, cater away."

Loni looked at us like we had two heads each.

"I asked," Greta said to Loni, "because Sable tol' me you were a supermodel, Ms. Loni, and I figure a supermodel has to watch her weight. If you're on a diet of some sort, I need to know about it, so I can fix you food you'll eat."

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