Intrusion (10 page)

I stared at the receiver like a mesmerized cobra. I knew who it was, even before I saw Concord University on the caller ID.
No need to be a fool.
Answer the damn thing, Lizzie Mae. Stop playing the ingénue
.

“Mrs. Buckley,” I said firmly.

He paused. “I’ve been thinking of you, Elisa.”

Naturally, with that whisper of French it sounded so damn sexy. I tried desperately to regroup.

“Dr. Sand? How may I help you?”

He laughed.
A guffaw, really.
Deep and masculine.
“We don’t have to discuss that now. Are you ready for dinner?”

“Dinner?”
I sounded like a rube unaccustomed to the ways of society. “Actually, I was just getting ready to go home. Della’s with me.”

“Wonderful. I’m right outside your building.” Lucian Sand was conceited.
Quite boorish.
My heart started thudding like a bongo.

“I … I can’t go out tonight. Tomorrow’s a big day for me.”

“I’m an excellent cook,” he said. “Frenchmen always are.”

“I haven’t shopped. I have nothing at home. I don’t cook much anymore.”

Why be defensive about the contents of my refrigerator? I patted my hair. There was just too much of it springing around my head in an auburn blaze. I grabbed a mirror. At least I had some makeup on.
Enough to pass for human, anyway.

“Dr. Sand …”

“Lucian, remember? You can’t starve a man who’s kissed you. It’s against the Geneva Convention.”

That made me laugh
. “OK. Della and I will be out in five minutes, but I can’t stay up late.”

“Understood.
I’ll be waiting.”

As I locked my office, it suddenly dawned on me. My phone’s unlisted. How in the hell did Lucian Sand get a private number?

I discovered a bit later that he didn’t lie. If anything, he’d been modest. To the strains of cool jazz, Lucian Sand whipped up a feast fit for the gods. It was thoroughly French,
coq au
vin
,
and incredibly luscious. He was more at home in my own kitchen than I was.

While he did the dishes, I stretched out on the sofa, thinking about the last time a man had cooked for me. Six months ago Tommy had arrived uninvited, wearing a chef’s toque. Despite my protests he had prepared the only dish he knew,
huevos
rancheros
. Then he’d poured us both a flute of Cristal and proposed a toast to Kai.

“He was my best friend,” Tommy said. “Because of me, because of my clumsiness, he died. I’m sorry, Betts, so sorry I took Kai from you.”

We’d talked a little, cried a lot, and held each other. Afterward, Tommy sacked out in the guest room while I led Della to bed, feeling emptier than before.

“Tired?” Lucian asked. “Don’t move. It’s OK.”

I bolted upright, shocked to find my head nestled in his lap. I felt embarrassed, mortified and so good.

“I’m sorry, Lucian. I didn’t mean to doze off. You must think I’m a horrible hostess.”

He leaned forward, brushing my forehead with his lips. “I think that you are way too hard on yourself. In France a little nap after dinner is a compliment to the cook.” He unbuttoned my suit jacket and gently ran his fingers over my collarbone, making my whole body shudder. I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

“You’re very beautiful, Elisabeth. Do you know that?” He stroked my hair, savoring each silky strand.
“Too beautiful to be lonely.”

I hauled myself up and faced him. “Alone isn’t the same as lonely. I have Della and my work.”

“Work can’t keep you warm at night,” Lucian said. “I know that better than most.” He massaged the tense muscles of my neck with strong, deliberate strokes. When “Angel Eyes” started playing, he pulled me to my feet. “Dance with me,” he whispered.

He was taller than me by several inches. Shorter than Kai, but still tall and well muscled. Lucian held me so tightly I thought I might faint. His hand moved slowly down my back, caressing every inch of me while his lips planted soft kisses on my neck. When the song finished we broke apart and stood watching each other warily in the dim light. I felt feverish, ready to melt.
Yearning that I hadn’t felt in months stirred in me, followed immediately by overwhelming guilt.
I turned away and almost wept.

“You’re not ready yet, are you?” he asked. “Things have to be just right for us.”

“Everything’s confused. I need your help,” I told him. “There’s something I must do for Tommy and for myself.”

~

I was taking a big risk. What did I really know about Lucian Sand? He was a gorgeous hunk of man with the power to shake my soul. Check. But I knew nothing about his motives. Why burrow into my heart? Perhaps my shares of CYBER-MED were the attraction, not me.
Every childhood insecurity
welled up in me. I was a wealthy woman who might seem like easy pickings. Just because Kai loved me, it didn’t mean I was irresistible.
Far from it.
I had eyes and a mirror. I knew better. Still, Tommy counted on me to make things right. I had to trust someone.

“Your plan might be dangerous,” Lucian said after I’d sketched the broad outlines for him. “You have no idea who was on that recording. Odds are it was someone at CYBER-MED. Someone who murdered your friend.
Someone who followed you last week.”

He was absolutely right. For all I knew the mystery voice might even be Dr. Lucian Sand playing a treacherous double game with a needy, credulous woman. I banished that thought and the self-doubt that accompanied it.

“No one at CYBER-MED will take me seriously,” I said. “Not as a threat. To them I’m just a nerdy lawyer checking out their books and asking money questions. It would be more suspicious if I didn’t poke around. Candy and I are the majority partners, after all.”

He grumbled for a moment,
then
took my hand. “How can I help you?”

“Tell me why you left CYBER-MED. Sergeant Andrews
thinks
you’re a lunatic.”

His full lips twisted in a smile. “And you, what do you think, Elisa?”

I matched his smile and upped the wattage. “I’m undecided.”

“Fair enough.
I was hired as a consultant to CYBER-MED. You know I’m the president of LIPS, I guess. We do a lot of work on cyber-safety, especially when patient information’s involved. Anyway,
Arun
Rao
knew me from the high tech circuit. We’d been on a few panels together. He offered me a consulting contract, and I accepted.”

I poured each of us a glass of wine. Don’t ask about the vintage. It was a bottle of red from Kai’s stock, so it had to be good. I felt comfortable puttering around, performing housekeeping chores. They spared me from meeting Lucian Sand’s liquid gaze. Those eyes disturbed me, mesmerized me. His name should be Rasputin, for God’s sake.

“Things went well at first,” he said. “Most of the staff at CYBER-MED
are
quite competent. Lots of MIT people. Then I noticed things, small things at
first, that
troubled me.”

He took my hand and kissed it. Damn! How could I concentrate with those azure orbs watching everything? I used Della as a distraction.
Anything to regain my senses.

“What kind of things bothered you?
Safety violations or procedural things?”

“Both. When lives are involved, even procedures are important. I told them that both the patient information and security of those devices were at risk. I demonstrated how easy it would be to compromise them.”

“What?” Dr. Dreamy sounded more like Dr. Death at this point. Della’s head shot up, and she gave both of us a reproving look.

“Not on a real patient. I got some things from Radio Shack and did a simulation, showed them how easily I could activate one of their defibrillators. Rand Lindsay helped me.
Poor guy.
He almost lost his job over that.”

“So who went ballistic? And what did Tommy think?”

Lucian hesitated. “Your friend was cautious.
Concerned about finances.
Truthfully, I think he wanted to do a cost/benefit analysis first. My proposal would have hurt the bottom line in the short run. Long term, it was the only viable solution.”

That sounded just like Tommy. He was generous to a fault with his own money but wary with the corporate purse. Something must have spooked him. Otherwise, he would never have sent me those clippings. We had often used each other as sounding boards back in the days when I was a whole person instead of a wraith. Tommy had reached out to his old partner, the sprightly Betts who loved to banter with him, hoping for a miracle. I winced, thinking how tedious it must have been dealing with me.

“How did the others react, Dr. Cahill and
Arun
Rao
?”

Lucian frowned. “Dr. Cahill listened calmly to me, left the room and never spoke with me again.
Arun
was the hatchet man. He swore if I ever came back to CYBER-MED or shared my concerns, they would destroy my reputation.” That memory made him chuckle. “He wasn’t kidding either. Meg has the connections to do just that. Her husband is a big donor to Concord University, and his word carries weight.”

Arun
Rao’s
name kept popping up everywhere I went. He didn’t frighten me, but I was concerned for Candy. What if he abused her or broke her heart? She was naïve, almost child-like when it came to romance. I knew she was already sizing
Arun
up for the role of Prince Charming.

“Tell me something,” I asked. What kind of guy is this
Rao
? He’s been hanging around acting very interested in my partner. Tonight he’s even taking her to
L’Espalier
. Most men expect something when they lay out that kind of money.”

That amused Lucian, transforming him with a sudden smile that caught me unaware. “Is that your experience, Mrs. Buckley? Men still want their dates to put out?”

I could feel the slow blush of shame burning my cheeks. “Well, no. That is, I’m out of the dating game, but I understand that things haven’t changed much. So answer me. Is he a predator, a married man who woos unsuspecting females?”

Some men have perfect profiles. Lucian Sand’s should have been on a coin or in the Louvre. I hoped it wouldn’t end up on a police blotter.

“You really know how to turn a phrase, you know that?” There was that sexy smile again. “The French have better words for it.
Roue
, rake.
Take your pick.”

He had a talent for making me feel like a schoolgirl. It was also a strategy for deflecting questions too awkward to answer.

“You’re making fun of me again,” I said. “I’m serious. Candy means a lot to me.”

Relax,” he said. “As far as I know,
Arun
isn’t married or a predator. He is somewhat of an opportunist, though. He and Meg are as thick as thieves when it comes to CYBER-MED.
Arun
didn’t even flinch when he threatened me.”

He raked his mop of sun-streaked hair with strong, probing fingers. A man with great hair is such a turn-on. I caught myself before my silent comparison of Kai and Lucian took root. Both had major league locks.

“Weren’t you worried?” I asked. “What about your career?”

Something about him made me wonder. The blasé attitude, expensive car and designer duds weren’t typical of a professor living on a monthly stipend.
Might have been family money, of course.
Kai’s life had been cushioned by that. Another less attractive option reared its ugly head. The money trail might lead to something illegal. I had only his word about Tommy, and Lucian Sand was still a stranger.

He dismissed my concerns with a wave of his hand. “I’m not ambitious. Position and jobs are not things that concern me.” He squeezed my arm. “I’m not driven like you.”

Those words stung me like a Sea Wasp’s spine. All my life I’d studied, worried,
competed
to be the best. Tommy and I had enjoyed matching wits, making each other achieve successively higher goals. Candy and Kai were different. She had opted out of the academic grind, focusing on the creative things that she did best. Kai was the most self-confident man I’d ever met. His effortless brilliance dazzled me as much as his physical perfection. We were an odd quartet with a strangely symbiotic relationship that made Sweet Nothings hum. Those days were gone now, recaptured only in my dreams.

“Did you hear me, Elisa?” Lucian touched my arm again. “I meant no disrespect. A woman with fire, she is irresistible. You draw me like a flame.” His eyes crinkled. “And I am the poor moth, doomed to burn.”

I dismissed his flowery speech and focused on my task. “You never explained how you got that disk or my unlisted phone number.”

He sipped his wine, pensive now. “Let’s say a friend gave them to me. I still have some contacts at CYBER-MED. Things are difficult there.” Lucian gave me a long, cool look. “You’re the MBA.
Who better than you to decipher your friend’s records?”

His arrogance was as sobering as a splash of ice water. I was finally in control of my body, able to resist any overtures this professor might make. Once again, I used Della as my backup.