Desert Devil (10 page)

"I wonder if Nicole is here now to announce the engagement."

"Could be. But the company's annual picnic and barbecue is next weekend. She could be here to help with the arrangements for that. I gather it's the big social event of the year." He paused reflectively. "That might be when they'd choose to announce the happy news, of course. Everyone troops out to the Taylor estate and they barbecue a herd of cattle or something."

Juli couldn't help laughing at his obvious exaggeration. She took a sip of her drink. "You don't sound very enthusiastic," she commented.

He wrinkled his nose. "I have the feeling its the kind of thing where you're expected to spear a chunk of meat and eat it at a dead run on horseback, or something barbaric like that."

"I don't think it could be
that
barbaric." Juli laughed.

"You don't think so? Then you don't know our Thorne Taylor. Don't let his sophisticated appearance fool you," Brian warned. "He's not one of your tame, domesticated types, as Nicole Taylor may soon find out."

Juli shivered, her smile suddenly mechanical as she remembered the way Thorne had savagely ripped and ruined her blouse. Yes, she had no doubt but that he could be barbaric, indeed.

She drained her glass, intending to excuse herself, but her eyes widened as over the rim she saw a powerful figure standing at the door. There was something almost menacingly predatory in the way his eyes swept over the room. Brian's back was to the door and he didn't see. He talked on, but the words rolled meaninglessly over Juli as Thorne's eyes unerringly found hers even in the dimness of the room. For one heart-stopping moment Juli thought he was going to stride over to the table, but with a motion that shouted pure disdain, he spun on his heel and disappeared.

What was he doing here? Was he alone? He had departed instantly upon seeing her, almost as if—

"Are you all right?"

"What?" Juli's eyes wavered and finally refocused on her companion.

"You looked so strange for a moment—almost as if you were ill."

"Oh, no, I'm fine," she assured him. "It just seems a little cool in here after being so warm outside," she improvised. "You were saying—?"

"I was just suggesting perhaps we could have dinner together. The restaurant here isn't any match for New York's finest, but it's not bad. At least they don't drown everything in grease and chili sauce."

Juli's heart was unexplainably pounding, and her hand trembled as she replaced the glass on the table. She had held it to her mouth so long while her eyes locked with Thorne's that the taste from the salt-rimmed glass clung to her lips. She licked them lightly, remembering with an odd tremor how close Thorne's lips had come to her own not more than a few hours ago.

"Let's make a deal," Brian said suddenly, eyeing her closely. "No more talk about the Taylors or Taylor Electronics. I get the feeling that for some reason you find the whole subject upsetting."

"Only because I… I don't feel they treated David fairly," Juli said faintly. "I really couldn't care less about their personal relationships. And dinner sounds lovely," she added determinedly.

They ate at the restaurant adjoining the lounge. Brian ordered chicken Kiev, which Juli had to admit looked marvelously succulent and delicious. But she, much to Brian's disgust, she suspected, chose one of the Mexican specialty dinners and enjoyed spicy stuffed peppers called
chiles rellenos, frijoles refritos
, crunchy jicama salad, and warm, soft tortillas. For desert there were
sopaipillas
, fluffy golden pillows stuffed with sweetened fruit jam. At the end Juli surreptitiously licked the last delectable bit of sticky jam from her fingertips.

By that time she was almost relaxed, the tense feeling that Thorne Taylor might somehow barge in at any moment finally disappearing. She could almost feel sorry for Nicole Taylor, planning to marry such a headstrong man. They finished the meal with strong, savory coffee, and Brian entertained her with anecdotes about local people and events, humorous, though a bit biting at times. She gathered he regarded his position with Taylor Electronics as primarily a stepping stone to bigger things with a company more desirably located.

After dinner Brian walked her back to her car. Juli was surprised to find it was almost dark outside. She shivered lightly in her bare-shouldered sundress.

"I don't suppose you'd be interested in a movie, would you?" Brian asked hopefully.

Juli shook her head. "Thanks, anyway, but I—"

"I know. I've already monopolized more of your time than I had any right to on such short acquaintance. Perhaps if I could call you—?"

"I'm sorry, but there's no phone at the trailer. I guess David didn't feel he needed one."

"That fits in with what I've heard about David, all right. He wasn't very sociable."

The comment gave Juli an opening and quickly, without explaining too much in detail her reasons for wanting to know, Juli asked Brian if he could find out a little more about David's work at Taylor Electronics. She said that any information he could gather could be very important to her.

Brian looked curious, but seemed agreeable enough. "Now I have a favor to ask of you," he returned. "How about coming to the company picnic and barbecue with me next Sunday? I wasn't planning to attend, but together we might get some laughs out of it."

Juli hesitated, torn by conflicting feelings that had nothing to do with Brian. Attending the barbecue would mean seeing Thorne again. One part of her shrank from that prospect. He was a ruthless, deter-mined man who let nothing stand in the way of what he wanted. He might not be married at the moment; he might even be interested in Juli in some temporary, very physical basis. But marrying Nicole Taylor was his real plan, a plan with which Nicole seemed in perfect agreement. Risking any involvement with him could only mean heartbreak for Juli.

And yet, in spite of what had happened today, another part of her traitorously tingled with excitement at the prospect of simply being near him again.

"I promise to be a good sport. I won't complain even if we have to rope our meal on the hoof." Brian grinned and Juli guiltily realized he thought her delay in making up her mind had something to do with seeing him again.

Now rationalization took over. She had to see Brian again in order to find out if he had learned anything helpful to her. She might, at a gathering of company employees, even find out something useful on her own.

She smiled at him, quelling a shivery feeling inside, a feeling that was a strange blend of apprehension and anticipation. "I'd love to go with you."

Juli paced the trailer restlessly before Brian arrived on Sunday to take her to the barbecue. Thorne's flowers were in a quart jar on the dinette table, no vase available among David's haphazard assortment of utensils. The other part of Thorne's gift was tucked into her purse for return to him. The more Juli thought about it, the more infuriated she became over what he had done. It was insulting and degrading. If it were not that she was determined to return what Thorne had sent her, she would have called off going with Brian today.

As it was, she had already nervously changed clothes twice. The backless coral dress she had bought for the occasion somehow looked far more daring and revealing now than it had in the store. She had put it on, uneasily changed to slacks, and then defiantly slipped into the dress again. What would Nicole Taylor be wearing? Something stunning, no doubt. Would she and Thorne take the occasion of this big company event to announce their engagement? Maybe she wouldn't have to stay, Juli thought suddenly. If she could catch Thorne alone for a moment and say what she had to say, she and Brian could just slip away. She doubted that Brian would be disappointed. He still looked on this whole affair as some sort of barbaric Western rite akin to throwing sacrifices to idols.

Brian whistled approval of the new dress when he arrived. On the drive over to the Taylor estate, he filled Juli in on what he had been able to learn about David's work at the company. It was not particularly encouraging, although it appeared that in the early days of David's employment he had done quite well and even picked up a small bonus for an innovative design change. But he had gone downhill from there. He often left work early on Friday afternoons and sometimes didn't return to work until Tuesday. He was, in fact, close to being fired at the time of his death.

"I'm sorry," Brian apologized. "I don't know exactly what you wanted to hear, but I doubt that this was it."

He was right, of course, and Juli felt more bewildered than ever. If everything Brian said were true, why had Thorne bothered to offer Aunt Kate anything? And how, under the circumstances, could David have written that glowingly optimistic letter to his mother? Juli also wondered, as she had before, what he did with his money. Brian, had implied that the job paid well, and David certainly hadn't been
overly
generous with his mother. Was it possible he did have some secret vice?

As they passed under the arched entryway, Juli resolutely put those thoughts and questions out of her mind. She had another little matter of importance to take care of here today.

The park-like area within the large circular driveway was already overflowing with people. A table had been set up for food and drinks, and a whole series of long tables and benches were scattered around to provide eating space. A portable playground had been brought in for the children, and the gate to the swimming pool was wide open, A loudspeaker blared rollicking country music from a small band playing near the barbecue pit. Brian braked to avoid a very small boy on a long-legged horse trotting across the driveway. A herd of noisy, bathing-suited kids stormed toward the pool. Brian said something, but his words were drowned out by the whinny of a horse practically in Juli's ear. The aroma of meat cooking and chili simmering mingled with the smell of sweaty horses and dust. An American flag waved in the breeze; beneath it was a green Taylor Electronics banner.

Juli felt an unexpected tingle of excitement at the hustle and bustle, the noise and smells and music and laughter. Everyone was obviously having a good time. She craned her neck to watch a group of kids on horseback inside the corral playing what seemed to be a form of musical chairs, astonished at the way the riders flung themselves off their horses and scrambled for seats when the music stopped. It seemed miraculous to her that there were no broken bones or other casualties.

Brian, grumbling, squeezed his gleaming, freshly washed sports car into a parking space between a dusty horse trailer and a battered pickup. They walked back toward the tables. Everyone seemed to have a soft drink or beer can in hand, but evidently the food wasn't being served yet. An arm-wrestling contest was going on at one table, and another group of people was playing horseshoes. Juli had the uncomfortable feeling of being overdressed. The garb of the day seemed to be Levi's and green T-shirts with the Taylor Electronics emblem emblazoned on the back. Except for Brian, of course, and even his casual leisure suit looked too formal.

Then Juli spied Thorne. He was supervising the removal of the meat from the barbecue pit. Juli had to admit Brian had been right about one thing. It was more meat than she had ever seen at one time. At least a half, maybe even a whole, side of beef had been cooked in the pit. Thorne was wearing the same jeans and T-shirt as everyone else, but even so, there was something about his powerful physique and authoritative air that made him stand out from the crowd. And where, Juli wondered as she glanced around, was the shapely Nicole?