Men of Intrgue A Trilogy (73 page)

“Then what?” she cried, her voice louder. “You lead me on like this, twice, and then . . . nothing. Don’t you know what this means to me? Do you think I do this all the time?”

He looked at her then. “I never thought that, Angela.”

But she wasn’t listening. “No one, no one, has ever touched me, kissed me, that way. Not even Philip. He wants to . . . but. . .”

Devlin’s jaw tightened. “I’ll kill him if he touches you.”

“I’ll kill
you
if you touch me again!” Angela flared, almost hysterical. “You stay away from me, do you hear?”

“I hear,” he replied stonily.

She dressed awkwardly, jamming her brassiere into the pocket of her jeans. As she passed him he reached out to her, but she yanked her arm away.

She swept from the room without looking back.

At least she hadn’t told him that she loved him.

It was true, but she didn’t want him to have that satisfaction.

Chapter 3

The next day was a nightmare for Devlin. Angela treated him with an icy politeness that made the distance between them seem like a chasm. She gave no indication of what had transpired the previous evening but her withdrawn attitude never let him forget it, wounding him more deeply than the cruelest rebuke would have. By nightfall he was like a jungle animal with a thorn embedded in its paw, pacing wildly, inarticulate with pain. He tried to distract himself from it in the usual manner, by concentrating on his job.

Devlin waited until Angela headed upstairs after dinner to study, and then intercepted her.

“I’d like to know the price of that ornament I broke. You never told me what it cost.”

He had anticipated an argument, but Angela merely removed her arm from his grasp and said quietly, “Very well. I’ll be right back.”

As soon as she walked away Devlin went to his room and activated the receiver on the bug he’d planted in Patria’s study during his last nocturnal visit. He’d left the tiny metal disc, which amplified sound many times, attached to the inside of the door. Fresh out of ideas about locating the safe and running short of time, he’d finally resorted to electronic surveillance. If it didn’t work, he would have to find a way to get some camera equipment in there, and that was a lot trickier. ...

Devlin came to attention as he heard the click of the door opening into the room. He closed his eyes and listened intently, visualizing the layout of the furniture as he’d last seen it. Angela crossed the floor, and the heels of her shoes became audible as they left the rug and rapped the hardwood floor. She was standing at the desk. Devlin held his breath and tried to isolate the various sounds he heard, exhaling slowly as he realized that Angela was sliding open a drawer. The control for the safe must be inside the desk. No wonder he hadn’t found it.

Angela walked back in the direction of the door and stopped a few feet away from it. Devlin thought hard. There was nothing in the vicinity of the door; she was confronting a blank wall. Devlin sighed. He was going to go over that sucker with a fine tooth comb. He must have missed the seam in the wall. He listened to the sound of machinery as Angela unlocked the safe. The rustle of papers followed as she looked up the price of the broken piece, and then the door of the safe slammed shut. She redid the combination and left the room.

Devlin dropped the receiver in his drawer and pushed it closed with the palm of his hand. Then, as always, he locked it and pocketed the key. He now had a few clues about the location of the safe, but no way to get into it and no knowledge of its contents. He drummed his fingers restlessly on the shiny surface of the dresser. One thing at a time. He had to get back into that room.

But first, there was a call to make. He had delayed as long as he could. As soon as Angela was occupied he would do his duty.

His expression grim, he went into the hall and waited for Angela to return. She descended the staircase and faced him.

“Three thousand two hundred dollars,” she announced flatly.

“Three
thousand
two hundred dollars?” Devlin repeated, incredulous.

“That’s correct,” Angela said.

Devlin extended his arm. “You’d better take the first pint right now,” he said darkly.

Angela almost forgot she was mad at him and came close to smiling. But she controlled herself, refusing to relax at all. She kept her face impassive, waiting.

“I’ll have to pay it in installments,” Devlin added.

“I’m sure that will be fine with my uncle,” Angela replied. “I’ll tell him about it next time I speak to him.” She turned on her heel and left.

When Devlin was sure she had settled in to study, he went to the basement and detached the phone cable to the extension in Angela’s room. Then he positioned himself at the hall phone, where he could see her if she left her bedroom to come downstairs. As always when he had to steel himself to perform an odious task, he lit a cigarette. He dialed quickly.

“They’re beginning to wonder if my presence here is necessary,” he said tersely into the receiver. “Make another call to convince them.”

He took a long drag during the response from the other end.

“That’s right,” he replied. “At eight o’clock.” He dropped the phone into its cradle as if it had become hot in his hand, and headed back to the basement to reconnect Angela’s extension.

* * * *

Angela threw her notebook on the floor and chewed the tip of her pen. She couldn’t think about holographic wills. Devlin was downstairs and she couldn’t concentrate on anything but him.

What was going to happen now? He wanted her but had rebuffed her twice. Why? Now the tension between them was like a tightly strung connecting wire, sure to snap. Angela was so preoccupied with her relationship, or lack of it, with Devlin, that everything else in her life was relegated to the background.

She rolled over and stared unseeingly at the collection of framed film posters that covered her bedroom walls. What had Devlin’s previous life been like? What was Devlin’s life away from her? This assignment mandated that he be with Angela all the time, but she knew that he must have a social circle away from his work. She tortured herself with visions of girlfriends and lovers, gorgeous and seductive, until her nails were imprinting little half moons on the flesh of her palms.

The phone on her bedside table rang shrilly. Glad of the interruption, Angela answered on the second ring.

She listened for a few seconds and then, swallowing hard, she replaced the receiver carefully. Moving woodenly, she left her room and paused on the upper landing.

“Devlin,” she said. It came out as a croak.

She tried again, louder. It still wasn’t forceful enough to summon him, but he appeared anyway, as if by magic, looking up at her from the hall.

“What is it?” he asked.

She tried to answer but couldn’t. Instead, she leaned against the wall and bent forward, her arms folded across her stomach. Devlin took the stairs two at a time. When he touched her shoulder she turned blindly into his arms.

“Another call,” she whispered. “Oh, Brett, another call. I thought, I hoped, that they had stopped.”

Devlin held her silently, hating himself so much that it was a tremendous effort of will not to tell her the whole story then and there. He stroked her hair as she recovered slowly, and sensed the exact moment that she became aware of the way she was clinging to him. She stiffened suddenly and stepped back.

“I’m all right,” she said firmly. “I’m perfectly fine.”

“Tell me exactly what was said,” Devlin demanded, playing his role through to the finish.

Angela’s face closed as she relived the recent experience, going over what she had heard when she answered the phone. Devlin listened patiently, careful not to betray any of his own feelings.

“It was just a scare tactic,” he said soothingly when she was done. “They haven’t done anything so far, and they won’t do anything now. I know that it’s upsetting for you, but try not to worry about it.”

Angela nodded, and he walked with her as she moved back toward her room. He glanced inside when she opened the door and noted the decor. He had never seen the room in the light before, and examined the film posters with interest. The one on the wall facing Angela’s bed caught his eye. It showed James Dean, dressed in jeans and a red windbreaker for his role in
Rebel without a Cause
, a cigarette burning away unnoticed between his fingers.

Devlin examined the young woman at his side. “You like that film?” he said, nodding at the wall.

Angela smiled deprecatingly. “I like beautiful boys in battle jackets,” she replied lightly, starting to close the door.

Devlin inserted his foot to halt its progress. He wasn’t going to let her evade him with a joke.

“That movie is about rebellion,” he said, “about someone who is dissatisfied with his life. Is that the way you feel?”

She tilted her chin up and met his gaze. “Do you care how I feel?” she demanded. “Or is my state of mind just a matter of curiosity?”

Devlin sighed. He was often very sorry that she was going to law school. She had a wonderful facility for turning the tables that would undoubtedly serve her well in court.

“I’m sorry I asked,” he replied. “Good night. I’ll be right downstairs if you need me. And if the phone rings again, let me answer it.” He was turning away when her soft voice called him back.

“Brett?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re here.” Her door closed as the sound of the words faded from the air.

Devlin stood still for a long while, his face expressionless. Then he started back to his room but made it only as far as the top step of the staircase, where he sat and lit a cigarette with shaking hands, filled with self loathing.

* * * *

Angela emerged from her room several hours later, pulling on a jacket. Devlin looked up from his perch on the window seat in the living room.

“What are you doing sitting there in the dark?” Angela asked.

“Going somewhere?” Devlin replied, ignoring her question.

“I have to go to the library,” Angela announced.

“It’s quarter to one in the morning,” Devlin said, amazed.

“The law library is open all night,” Angela stated, “and I just realized that I missed an entire issue in the presentation I’m giving tomorrow. I have to research it or I’m going to get blown out of the water. I’m sorry about this but it’s necessary. I guess you’ll have to go with me.” Her words were apologetic but her tone was neutral.

“I guess so,” Devlin answered. He stood obediently.

“Do you think I should call for the car?” Angela asked. “Taxis aren’t too reliable this time of night.”

He shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

Devlin changed his mind when he saw the car. A Lincoln stretch limo, it made him feel as if he were an Oscar nominee arriving at the Awards ceremony. Patria had some setup, with this kind of transportation available twenty-four hours a day. And his niece took it for granted too.

He was astonished to see how many people were at the law school. These kids really burned the midnight oil. Angela dismissed the driver and Devlin followed her to the library, where she dropped her purse and notebook on a table not far from the one she’d occupied on the first day he’d seen her.

“I have to get the books together and it will take a while. There are newspapers and magazines in the lobby if you want something to read.”

Devlin watched as she wandered through the stacks, consulting a list she had in her hand, and assembled a stack of volumes indexed like an encyclopedia. Finally she sank into the chair across from him with a sigh and began to read.

Silence reigned for about forty minutes. He noticed that she was methodically consulting each book, making notes, and then moving on to the next one. It was obviously a time consuming and tedious process.

“Can I help you?” Devlin asked at last.

She glanced up briefly. “That’s not necessary,” she replied stiffly.

“I know that. I’d like to help you.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” She looked down again to write.

“Why not? I can read.”

“It’s very dull stuff.”

“It can’t be any worse than”—he consulted the title of the newspaper he’d found on the table and had been reading—“
The Litigator’s Quarterly
.” Devlin held up another paper. “Unless it’s Volume fourteen, Number four of
Lex Brevis
, also a fascinating piece of journalism.”

Angela grinned.
Lex Brevis
was the student newspaper and featured a lot of articles about things like moot court competitions and taxation conferences. It was better than an overdose of sleeping pills for inducing an instant coma.

“All right,” she agreed. “You can help me by reading the headnotes in these reporters and selecting the ones that deal with the issue I have under examination.”

Devlin blinked. “Would you give me that in English, please?”

Angela showed him how to skim the opening paragraphs of each reported court decision and determine if it would be helpful. For someone who didn’t understand a word of what he was reading, Devlin proved to be very adept at isolating the sections that would be worth further study and eliminating the rest. They worked together, talking little, until Angela sat back with a satisfied sigh.