Intend To Seduce(32)

"Exactly."

"No offense, but I think your sister wins the prize when it comes to lies. If I'm right about what's going on, that is."

"Yeah." Lucas rubbed his free hand over his face. How long was it going to be before he could get rid of the image of Mac standing there on the balcony as he left their suite? The whole time he'd packed his things, she'd just remained at the railing, staring out to sea. "Do you have a contact in Key West, someone who could check on her and see that she's all right?"

"Dr. Lloyd? Sure thing, boss. I'll get right on it."

Tracker had no sooner cut the connection when the intercom on his desk buzzed.

Lucas pressed a button. "Yes?"

"There's someone— Miss, you can't go in there."

The door to the office opened, and Lucas started forward the moment he saw his sister framed there.

"Sophie—" He stopped short the moment she pulled off the wig.

It was Mac. No, he corrected himself again. It wasn't Mac either. It was the doc. She was wearing her hair pulled back and she was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. And she looked vulnerable. He took a step toward her before he stopped, reminding himself that he couldn't trust anything he thought or felt about her.

"Mr. Wainright?"

It was only then that he noticed the man standing behind her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Detective Ramsey."

Lucas glanced at the badge the man produced.

"I just want to make sure that Dr. Lloyd is in good hands. She can't stay at her apartment tonight, and she shouldn't be alone."

Just seeing Mac had so many feelings tumbling through him. Guilt, desire, bitterness. He tried to hold on to the last one.

"I'm sorry about the wig," she said. "I had to wear it on the plane, and I just forgot to take it off."

"Why are you here?" he asked as he took another step forward. For a moment he thought she would turn and run, but she held her ground.

He knew in that moment that he might not have let her run.

"I may know where Sophie is staying. Or was staying. And she may be in danger."











Chapter 16

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Taking a long swallow of the water that Lucas had poured for her, Mac tried to focus her attention on Detective Ramsey as he summarized what they'd discussed at her apartment. It hadn't been until she'd said the words out loud to Lucas that the fear had struck her full force. Sophie might be in real danger because of her. Setting her water on a low table, she saw her hand was shaking and curled her fingers into a fist.

"So, you believe that there's someone so desperate to get control of Dr. Lloyd's research that they would kidnap her?" Lucas said.

"More importantly, there are some higher-ups at the university who believe it," Detective Ramsey said. "According to them, there are a lot of pharmaceutical and biotech companies who've been showing some interest and offering money. Greed is a big motivator when it comes to crime. And someone has enough power to get my bosses to pay attention. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. My usual job is to investigate robberies, murders and rapes – crimes that have already happened. In D.C., we don't have much time or manpower for prevention. I came over here at Dr. Lloyd's insistence. She seems much more concerned about Miss Wainright's safety than about her own. She says that your sister has been traveling as MacKenzie Lloyd, using that ID instead of her own, and now she's missing. She's afraid that Ms. Wainright's disappearance might be related to the incidents at her lab and her home. How long has your sister been missing?"

The detective's words had a new wave of fear settling in Mac's throat. If she'd been thinking more clearly, she could have warned Lucas before he'd left Key West. She should have figured out what Sophie was doing earlier. Maybe she could have prevented this, if she hadn't been so distracted by Lucas.

Lucas showed no emotion on his face as he glanced at his watch. "Sophie's been missing a little less than twenty-four hours. My security people traced her the same way that Dr. Lloyd did. Sophie went out last night and didn't come back to her hotel room, but I have a man in California checking the restaurant that the concierge recommended to her. We think she may have met a man there, someone she flew out there to be with. There's a possibility that she may be with him."

"No," Mac said.

Both men turned to look at her.

"She's not with him. She'd decided she didn't like him after all. She was going to cut her trip short."

Ramsey turned to Lucas. "Could be she's on her way back then. Do you have a way to check that out?"

Lucas nodded. "I'll have my security people check the flights out of San Francisco."

"Keep me posted. Here's my card. If you need me to contact the local law enforcement, just give me a call. I have to get back to the station." He met Lucas's eyes. "Now that I've warned Dr. Lloyd, there's not much else I can do."

Lucas nodded. "I'll take care of it."

As the two men moved toward the door of the office, Mac clasped her hands together in her lap. In a moment she'd be alone with Lucas. That had been the one thing she'd wanted to avoid. She could still leave. Even as the impulse moved through her to stand and run after Detective Ramsey, she heard the door click shut and her throat went dry. She was reaching for her glass when she saw the blond wig lying on the table where she'd tossed it. Quickly she dropped her hand to her side. If only she had refused to go along with Sophie's plan…

Rising, she steeled herself to meet Lucas's eyes, something she'd avoided since she'd first walked into the room. In that instant when she'd taken off the wig and he'd recognized her, she thought she'd seen … what? Relief? Pleasure? Or had it only been a fantasy, a projection of the feelings that had been running through her?

Pushing the hope down, she lifted her gaze to his … and saw nothing. His eyes were perfectly blank. She might have been a stranger he was meeting for the first time on the street. Drawing in a deep breath, she managed not to shiver. She told herself that she preferred blankness to the cold detachment she'd seen in the hotel room. "This is all my fault. All of it."

He took a step forward, then stopped. "Blame is beside the point right now, don't you think?" His tone was as neutral as his expression.

"Of course. Tell me what I can do."

"Do?" He took two more steps toward her and stopped again.

This close she could see that he wasn't as carefully controlled as she'd thought. For a moment the silence stretched between them, and her heart began to drum.

The ringing of the phone made them both start. Then Lucas moved to grab it.

"Yes, Ms. Burns?"

"Mr. Falcone on line two."

"Put him through."

*

"I hope your flight from the Keys was uneventful, Lucas."

"To the point of being boring." Lucas was pleased to note that his voice was cool. Because he wasn't. He hadn't been since Mac had walked into the room. And it wasn't merely the news that his sister might have been kidnapped. Even now as he looked at Mac, she unlocked feelings in him that he couldn't seem to control. And what he'd feared most seemed to be true. In spite of everything, he still wanted her.

"You shouldn't have left your little playmate behind at the hotel. She could have amused you on the flight."

Fear was a copper taste in his mouth as several possibilities flooded his mind. He'd known that Falcone was monitoring his movements. How else would he have known to call him at the Wainright Casa Marina? And yet he'd left Mac there alone without any thought that Falcone might make a move on her. But she was here. She was safe even if it was no thanks to him.

Tearing his gaze away from Mac, he said, "I came to the same conclusion. That's why she's with me right now." Lucas sat on the edge of the desk and concentrated on relaxing every muscle in his body. He had to get some grip on his control or Falcone would believe he had the upper hand.

"Ah."

He hadn't known that, Lucas thought with some satisfaction.

"She seemed to be much different than your usual choice of companion. But I'm told she is very entertaining."

When his free hand tightened into a fist, Lucas relaxed it. "Surely you haven't called merely to comment on how I'm keeping myself entertained?"

Soft laughter rippled into his ear. "Of course not. I called to remind you of my party tomorrow at the vineyard. Bring your new little friend if you wish. For old times' sake, I'd like you to be there."

"The old times are over."

"Perhaps I can persuade you to create some new ones. Your sister has accepted my invitation."

"Sophie?" The surprise he heard in his voice was genuine. He hadn't expected Falcone to mention her. Had he already discovered that she was impersonating Mac? He felt the flutter of panic in his throat and swallowed it.

"She and Sonny have become very close over the past few weeks. He's persuaded her to come."

Falcone was choosing his words carefully. He was purposely creating the idea that his son and Sophie were intimate. Could Mac's theory be wrong? Was Tracker right and Sophie had merely spent the night with Sonny at the estate? Pushing the questions aside, Lucas concentrated on the one thing he could depend on. The old man wanted him frightened and angry. Therefore, he couldn't afford to be. "I'm sure you'll treat her as an honored guest. For old times' sake. Give Sophie my best."