Nathan's Vow (10 page)

"Do you think Carrero had
anything to do with it?"

"I suppose it's possible.  But
why would he interfere?"

The gray-haired man answered,
"He's never liked Nathan.  That's no secret."

"Because Nathan wouldn't bend
to Carrero's dictates.  Decided to stay his own man.  Good decision if you ask
me."

"Yet, it could be coming back
to haunt him now."

A hand on Gillian's shoulder
startled her.  She turned quickly, almost spilling her juice and found herself
face to face with a handsome dark-haired man with appraising green eyes.

"Gillian?" 

She nodded, recognizing the voice.

"I'm Linc Granger," he
said as he extended his hand.  "One of the guests corralled Nathan to talk
business, and he asked me to keep an eye out for you.  I must have missed you
when you came in."

Linc looked casually relaxed in
khaki slacks and a tan camp shirt.  He was almost as tall as Nathan.  She shook
his hand.  "It's nice to meet you.  Nathan speaks of you often."

"We go way back.  Why don't we
go inside and get something to eat?"

Linc led Gillian to the kitchen
where a waiter stood at the table, ready to help serve from the many selections
of food.

"Nathan certainly knows how to
throw a party," Gillian murmured.

Linc took a plate from the end of
the counter.  "He wanted to cancel it, but he knew he shouldn't.  Contacts
are too crucial to his business."

Gillian glanced around her. 
"I didn't expect so many people."

Linc waited for her to make her
choices first, then made his.  "I think he was concerned you wouldn't
come."

She couldn't tell if Linc Granger
was fishing for information or just stating a fact.  "You're Nathan's
closest friend, aren't you?"

"Did Nathan tell you
that?"

Gillian didn't need Nathan to tell
her.  It was a fact she'd known as soon as she'd talked to this man on the
phone.  "It's something in his voice when he talks about you."

That explanation seemed to satisfy
him.  "Nathan's a very solitary man.  Especially over this situation with
Maddie and Dana.  He doesn't want anyone to see how deeply their disappearance
has affected him."

Gillian could feel how much it
affected him.  She suddenly had thousands of questions about Nathan that Linc
might be able to answer.  But she knew she had to find out the answers
herself.  Instead of questions about Nathan, she asked, "Do you know
Leona?"

"Yes."  The word stood by
itself until Linc asked, "Are you making any progress finding Dana and
Maddie?"

"Sometimes I think we are,
other times I'm not sure."

Hairs prickled on the back of
Gillian's neck and all her senses alerted her that Nathan was close by.  Suddenly,
he was standing beside her and smiling at Linc.  "Thanks."

Linc nodded.  "It was a
pleasure meeting you, Gillian."  He took a fork from the silverware
holder.  "Maybe we can talk again later."

She had a feeling Linc was looking
out for Nathan's interests.  She couldn't fault him for that.

As Linc moved away, Nathan's gaze
caught hers.  "Can we talk privately for a few minutes?"

The power of his blue eyes hadn't
lessened nor had her attraction to him.  "I'm not sure I should
stay."

"That's why I wanted Linc to
keep you company until I could get to you.  Let's go to my office."

Placing her plate and glass on the
counter, she followed him.  She'd never entered Nathan's office.  It was
located down a short hall from the dining room.  After she stepped inside, he
closed the door.  Cases of bookshelves lined two walls.  A computer sat at a
station beside the mahogany desk. A laptop, too, was on the credenza.

Before she'd taken more than a
quick glance around the room, he said, "I was wrong the other day.  I still
want you to help me find the girls."

"Nathan, this search is
getting harder instead of easier."

"That's not true.  I know more
now than before I contacted you."  He approached her slowly.  "When I
came home early the other day, I was going to suggest that maybe we both need
to lighten up.  So what if we kiss now and then?  So what if we give into
natural urges?  Maybe if we stop fighting the chemistry, whatever's blocking
you will vanish."

His theory was interesting and, oh,
so tempting to try.  "I don't think it's that easy.  At least not for
me."

He searched her face for what
seemed a long time.  "Gillian, if you want me to stay away from you, I'll
stay away.  I think we're close to finding Maddie and Dana.  I know you can
speed up the process."

A smile sang in her heart because
she and Nathan weren't finished.  Not yet.  "You're using your
intuition?"

At her playful question, he
relaxed.  "Powers of deduction," he responded with a grin.

"There's nothing wrong with a
man using intuition," she offered quietly.

His eyes held her in place as he
stroked her cheek.  "My intuition tells me it will be very difficult to
stay away from you.  Is that what you want?"

What she wanted wasn't the issue. 
"I need to concentrate on the girls, Nathan.  Not on feelings between
us."

He frowned and dropped his hand. 
"Then let's concentrate on them."

Did she hear a "for now"
in his voice?  Exactly what would happen when and if they did find the girls?

"I'd like to tell Linc that
you're a psychic."

"I don't know, Nathan."

"I'd trust him with my
life."

The confidence and sincerity in his
voice were enough to convince her.  "Go ahead."

"But you need to know he's a
TV show producer.  He's involved in quite a few reality and talk shows."

She thought about what Nathan was
saying. What Linc could do with her secret if he wasn't such a good friend.

"I'd still trust him with my
life."

She shook her head.  "I've
talked to the man for a few minutes and you want me to trust him to keep my
secret when maybe a TV segment on what I do could get him better ratings?"

Nathan looked as if he wanted to
touch her but he kept his hands by his sides.  "What does your intuition
tell you?"

"To trust your friendship with
him.  But I'd like to talk with him a little longer and then decide."

Nathan took her hand.  "Then
let's go find Linc."

He was forging ahead again.  That
shouldn't be a surprise anymore.  This time she followed him, thinking maybe it
was time she did some forging of her own.

#

Arthur Carrero didn't strike
Gillian as a man who liked surprises.  So early Monday morning, she phoned
Carrero's office and asked how soon she could see him.  His secretary informed
Gillian he had an eight-thirty slot open.  Gillian snapped it up.  She didn't
have to be at work until ten.  She should have plenty of time.

Last night, she and Nathan hadn't
agreed on a strategy, just that she would continue to help him.  After she'd
met Linc, talked with him at length and seen how much he cared for Nathan and
his daughters, even baby sitting now and then, she decided it was safe for
Nathan to confide in him.  Shortly after, Nathan had been pulled aside by
former and prospective clients and friends.  She'd left before he could ask her
to stay after the party ended.

The more she thought about Dana and
Maddie, the more Gillian decided she needed to concentrate on where she'd
received information easily.  Carrero's office was one of those places. 
Without Nathan's presence, without the enmity vibrating between the two men,
she hoped she could make some headway.

When Gillian arrived at Arthur
Carrero's office, the secretary buzzed her boss.  Shortly thereafter, he opened
the door to his domain.  "Ms. Moore.  Alone, today, I see."

She stood.  "Mr. Carrero. 
Good morning."

"You're not only much prettier
than Bradley, you're more polite."

She didn't take the bait.

He gave her a wry smile. 
"Come in."

Walking to the other side of the
room, he stepped behind his desk.  "What can I do for you?"

"Maybe I can do something for
you."

He looked skeptical.

"I don't think you know Nathan
Bradley."

Carrero grunted.  "I've known
the man for five years.  Ever since Leona informed me she was going to marry
him."

"You would have preferred
hand-picking a husband for your daughter?"

"Not that it's any of your
business, but, yes, I would have."

"And you had someone all
picked out, didn't you?" Gillian asked following her intuition.

Carrero's brows arched and he kept
silent.

"You couldn't control
Nathan."

"I offered him a career with
my corporation he could only dream about.  He would have been internationally
famous."

"But under your thumb. 
Nathan's not that kind of man."

"You think you know so much
about him, Miss Private Investigator.  Maybe you should ask him why Leona
divorced him.  I might not have given Leona much time after her mother died, but
I was a faithful husband while I was married."

Gillian's chest tightened. 
"What are you saying?"

"Leona told me Bradley had an
affair.  That's why she demanded a divorce.  His secretary, she said.  How
tawdry."

Gillian was stunned.  She wanted to
refute his statement, and everything inside her cried out that he had to be
mistaken.  But she didn't know for sure.  Nathan had been so reluctant to tell
her about his past.  Had he left this out on purpose?  She wasn't sure which
voice was crying, No, her intuition or an emotional part of her that didn't
want to believe Nathan was capable of infidelity.  There was only one way she'd
know for sure.  She had to ask him face to face.

Pulling herself together, pushing
that question into the background, she said, "Mr. Carrero, I'm not here to
delve into past history.  I'm here to tell you Nathan loves his daughters
dearly and has only their best interests at heart.  He would never do anything
to harm them.  But your daughter is harming them by keeping them away from
their father.  Surely you can understand that Dana and Maddie must be confused
by this separation.  I'm sure as Leona was growing up, you could see how much
she missed her mother.  Dana and Maddie know Nathan is somewhere, yet Leona is
keeping them away from him.  Don't you think they'll eventually resent her for
that?"

Arthur Carrero pushed his chair
away and came around the front of the desk.  "Why do you care, Miss
Moore?  What does this have to do with you?  You're probably getting paid a day
rate whether you find the girls or not."

He'd assumed she was a private
investigator.  It wouldn't hurt to let him keep thinking that.  "I'm the
product of a divorce.  I know how much it hurt me.  Nathan cares about Dana and
Maddie as much as Leona does, and it's criminal to keep him from them."

For the briefest instant, Carrero
looked unsure.  But then his guarded expression was back in place almost as
quickly as she could blink.  "Time usually takes care of everything, Miss
Moore."

"Time never heals loss.  Dana
and Maddie are losing precious time with Nathan."  At the unyielding set
of his mouth, she asked, "Will you relate my concerns to your
daughter?"

"
If
I were in touch
with my daughter, I would express my concerns."

Seeing that Carrero wouldn't budge
from his stance, Gillian simply wanted to touch him.  Gut instinct told her
that was more important than standing in his office arguing with him.

She extended her hand.  "I
won't take up any more of your time.  Thank you for agreeing to see me."

He hesitated, then shook her hand. 
A word sounded in Gillian's mind. 
Gite
.  What was that?  A picture of a
green and yellow sign formed with the phrase Gites de France.  Quick on the
picture's heals she heard the name
Dev...Devereau
.  She waited, hoping
to get something more.  Something recognizable.  Something she understood.

Carrero released her hand, and she
knew she had to tell Nathan what she'd seen and heard.  Now.

Chapter
Six

Gillian telephoned Nathan from her
cell phone.  She could hear the restrained excitement in his voice, the hope
that maybe this time her intuition would take him to his daughters.

Then she waited.

The next morning, she was
shampooing a customer's hair when Harriet approached her with a frown. 
"Your Mr. Bradley is here again and he says he has to see you
now
."

Gillian finished the last stroke on
the nail of her customer's little finger.  "Mrs. Boyle is having her hair
permed next.  She's Marsha's client.  Could you show her to Marsha's
station?"

Harriet rolled her eyes.  "I
want to know what you two have going.  Do you always go running when he
calls?"

"This is business,
Harriet."

"Yeah, sure.  More likely
funny business."  She waved Gillian to the reception area.  "Go on. 
I'll take care of Mrs. Boyle."

Harriet was a gossip and nosy, but
she had a good heart.  Gillian smiled.  "Thanks."

Nathan paced across the empty
waiting area like a caged tiger.  When he saw Gillian , he broke into a wide
grin.  "Jake got it. 
Gites de France
are rural cottages that are
approved by the government.  They range from small guest houses to medieval
castles and are booked through the tourist office.  Devereau is the head of the
Loire Valley office.  We have the address of the estate Leona rented."

"Oh, Nathan!. I'm so happy for
you."

His arms went around her and he hugged
her close.  When she tipped up her head, his lips found hers.  The kiss was
spontaneous combustion.  Heat permeated her body until she felt as if little
fires danced inside her.  Nathan didn't seem to care that they were standing
inside her place of employment because he broke away, then came back to her.