Tracker shoveled in a final mouthful of scrambled eggs, chewed and swallowed. "I'm betting that Sophie's somewhere on the estate. There are apartments over the garage that I didn't get a chance to check. Falcone's security is top of the line. Electronic surveillance as well as human. The two who helped Sophie into the RV were probably part of his crew."
"It might help if we knew who they thought they snatched in the parking lot last night," Lucas said.
"Tell me about it," Tracker said.
"The D.C. police think that there have been two attempts to snatch Mac here because of her research. So it's probable that whoever took Sophie last night thinks they have Mac. When she wasn't in her apartment on Thursday morning, they could have traced her eventually the same way we did."
"Yeah. And they have every right to think they have Dr. Lloyd," Tracker pointed out. "Sophie was registered as the doc and she was dressed up impersonating the doc. Plus she was using the doc's credit card at the bar."
"But if Sonny dated Sophie in D.C., he might have seen through her disguise last night," Mac said. "In those wigs, we do look a lot alike. But if I was wearing the blond wig right now, you'd still know it was me."
Lucas turned to her. "What are you saying?"
"Only that if Sunny thought he was dating me and had an inside track to my research, and he suddenly found out that Sophie wasn't me…"
"He could have snatched her in the heat of the moment, so to speak, and he could be using her as a pawn," Tracker said. "She's got a point."
"Looking at it objectively as possible, there's only one fact we can be sure of. Sophie was taken last night in that silver van," Mac said. "The rest is just theory. We won't know if it's true until we test it. Therefore, it's only logical that you take me along to the party because that will give you so much more flexibility in solving the problem. If I have to, I can sign papers on the spot, give them what they want, and we can walk out of there with Sophie."
Lucas stared at her. "But you don't want to sign those papers."
She met his gaze steadily. "Sophie wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for me. Everything you said to me in Florida was true. I did lie to you. I didn't tell you the whole truth. If I had, she wouldn't be where she is right now."
"Mac—" Lucas began.
"She's my best friend and I love her."
There was a beat of silence. Mac thought she saw something in his eyes, but then it was gone.
"You can't fault her logic," Tracker said.
"Thank you." Mac sent him a crooked smile.
"Anytime," Tracker said. "You gonna finish your home fries?"
Mac pushed her plate toward him.
"You hardly ate anything," Lucas said with a frown.
"I ate a lot," Mac said. "I knocked at least two inches off the top of this mountain."
"No bickering, kids," Tracker managed to say around a mouthful. "Whoever they think they've got, the way I see it, our job is to get in there and get her out."
"The question is how to do that," Lucas said.
Tracker sighed. "You always ask the tough questions."
"There ought to be a lot of confusion when I show up as the real Dr. MacKenzie Lloyd."
"No." Tracker and Lucas spoke in unison.
"You can make your move then, while I'm distracting them," Mac insisted.
"You can't show up as yourself. It's too risky. And it could put Sophie in even more danger," Lucas said.
"Then I'll come as Sally."
"Sally?"
"Sally made quite an impression on the staff at the Wainright Casa Marina. Lucas even introduced me as his wife," Mac said. "I bet Mr. Falcone won't be surprised if you bring me. And I can help."
"She could be right," Tracker said.
Lucas hesitated for a moment, then said, "We'll have to lay down some ground rules."
Chapter 18
«
It was nearly dawn when Lucas rose and slipped from the bed. Moving quietly, he went into the living room of the suite at the St. Francis. Through the wide expanse of window, he could see the lights winking on the Golden Gate Bridge.
A quick glance at his watch told him that it would be at least four hours before Tracker would arrive, and the time could best be utilized by sleeping.
But sleep did not seem to be a possibility as long as he was in the same bed with Mac. He couldn't seem to be anywhere near her and not make love to her. It hadn't even mattered that she'd been asleep when he'd finally lost the battle he'd been waging with himself and crawled in next to her. Immediately she'd snuggled her backside into him so that they were lying side by side, nestled like spoons in a drawer. And immediately, his body had responded, growing hard.
It had been the same trusting way she'd slept with him in Florida, except, this time, he hadn't been gentleman enough to just watch her. Just thinking of how he'd slipped his arms around her and eased his hand beneath the elastic of her panties was enough to have his body hardening all over again.
She'd been so soft and warm, as if she'd been waiting just for him. She'd hadn't awakened right away, moving only slightly as he'd eased her panties off. She'd stirred again as he'd probed her from behind and then entered her. But she'd only fully surfaced when he'd begun to thrust into her with long, slow strokes. Even now he could hear her soft cries, urging him, pleading with him to go faster.
He hadn't.
Instead, he'd touched her, brushing his fingers under her breasts and lightly over her nipples, then down her torso and lower. Then he would begin the whole process again. He'd purposely kept the pace slow, building the pleasure and then retreating until it had become so intense that neither one of them could bear it. Only then had he allowed her to climax. When she'd cried out his name, he'd finally sought his own release.
Afterward, she hadn't been able to stop trembling. He'd held her close until she'd drifted off to sleep again. It had occurred to him that he could have gone on holding her just that way for a very long time.
The problem was that while his mind had found some kind of contentment, his body hadn't. She'd barely dozed off when he'd wanted to wake her again.
Lucas made his way to the couch. He couldn't stay in the same bed with her and not want to take her again. And again. At least if he stayed on the couch, one of them could get some sleep. He frowned down at the cramped space thoughtfully. Maybe if he hung his feet over one edge, and his head over the other…
Settling himself on the sofa, he twisted one way, turned the other, then tucked one arm beneath his head.
In his mind, he tried to focus on the plan that Tracker had outlined before they'd left the diner – where Mac had barely touched her food, he recalled with a frown. Of course, the food there hadn't been the best introduction to San Francisco cuisine, he thought ruefully. He could think of several restaurants he wanted to take her to the next time they visited.
The next time?
The two words had him rising again and pacing to the window. Oh, there was going to be a next time, all right. He was going to make it happen.
Because he was almost sure he was falling in love with her.
Slowly, he lowered himself to the arm of a chair. If it hadn't been directly behind him, he might have sat down right on the floor. He hadn't planned on falling in love. In fact, he'd spent most of his life making sure that it would never happen.
Hadn't his father always said that it was more fun when it sort of sneaked up on you and blindsided you? He'd always thought his father a fool for letting it just happen – for not building up a sort of protective armor against it.
His own armor hadn't been able to stand up against Mac.
And just how did she feel about him? Oh, she was enjoying the sex part. There wasn't enough dishonesty in her to be faking that. And, after all, that had been what her whole little experiment had been about – acquiring the skill that it would take to keep a man's eye from wandering.
But he hadn't been thinking about contributing to her research on the plane or just now in the bedroom.
All he'd been thinking about was Mac. There were so many women inside her. Not only was she Dr. Lloyd, the focused, serious-minded scientist, but she was also Mac, who wouldn't be left behind when her best friend was in danger. She had the loyal, nurturing nature of Lania, yet there was a very passionately playful and reckless side to her that was very much like Sally.
His gaze shifted to the bedroom door. And there was also a part of her who was Fiona – a part that desperately needed to be loved, without restraint, without inhibitions.
And heaven help him, he was in love with all of them. Rising, he moved back to the sofa and stretched out on it again. He would do something about that once he made sure that both Sophie and Mac were safe. Twisting, he settled himself into the cushions. He had an idea that rescuing his sister was going to be an easier task than getting a restful night's sleep on a piece of furniture that seemed to be designed for children.
*
Voices pierced the dream Sophie was having.
"She's got to be awake. It's been over twenty-four hours."
Instantly, she tried to clear her mind. How long had she slept? It was hotter now than the last time she'd awakened. In her earlier investigation, she'd figured out that she was lying on burlap bags filled with sand. And the place where she was being held was isolated. All she'd heard besides the voices of her captors was the sound of birds and the buzz of insects.