Gentlemen Prefer Nerds (11 page)

“Price is a keen sailor,” Fabian went on. “With ocean racers coming and going, what better way to leave the country undetected than on a yacht? He may even have come into Australia that way, possibly from Indonesia or New Caledonia via New Zealand.”

“Surely sailors have to check in and out with Customs and Immigration,” Maddie objected.

“In a small marina like this, it’s an honor system. There’s no coast guard patrolling the mouth of the harbor. A boat could slip away under cover of darkness without anyone being the wiser. With a big enough yacht he could sail right back to South Africa.”

“In that case he might have left already. He could have provisioned the boat before he even came to Melbourne.”

“He’s just cocky enough to stay for a few days.” Fabian drummed his fingers on the white linen. “All the same, we need to find him as soon as possible.”

Rick came back with their bottle of wine. After Fabian had tasted it and approved, he started to pour Maddie a glass.

She stopped him. “None for me, thanks.” When Rick had left, she added, “The last time I drank wine, a twenty-million-dollar diamond was stolen out from under my nose.”

“The Chameleon is devious. You mustn’t blame yourself.”

“I blame you. You rang me on my cell phone to harass me about meeting Rolf.”

“Was that before or after you kissed him? That had to have been when he made the switch, you realize.”

Of course, she realized. Maddie tried to remember if she’d told Fabian about that kiss. Had he watched them through his binoculars? “What I can’t understand is how Rolf could have known he’d get a chance to steal it.”

“He’s an opportunist. Taking a risk is part of the thrill for him. If he hadn’t stolen it that night, he would have found another way, on another day.”

Maddie buttered a roll. Ten o’clock might be fashionable dining for the jet set but it was almost bedtime for her. “So what is it you actually do in the civil service? Send out rates notices? Develop policy statements on sewerage works?”

Fabian’s gaze roamed restlessly over the rows of moored boats and back to the restaurant. “Something like that.”

She’d bet her spectrometer it was nothing like that. English aristocrats didn’t work as lowly clerks in a suburban council office. He was probably an advisor to a minister or even the Prime Minister. Why did he make it such a mystery? He reminded her of someone, but who? And where had she come across the name Montgomery before? Her mind flashed to his gold cuff link, monogrammed with an elaborate letter
L.
That image also rang a bell but the significance eluded her, like a name on the tip of her tongue.

“Whatever happened to the champagne diamond that the Chameleon stole in England?” she asked.

“I told you, it disappeared. Either Price stole it to order for someone’s private collection, or—and this is what I believe—he took it for himself.”

“Who owned it?”

Fabian took his time answering while he rearranged his forks in the correct order. “What difference does it make?

“It might help me to understand Roland Price better. As you say, you have to know your prey to capture him.”

The sharp crease between Fabian’s dark eyebrows deepened. Maddie could practically hear him turning over his thoughts, choosing what to reveal and what to conceal. Finally he said, “I suppose there’s no harm in you knowing. The diamond was from the collection owned by my mother, Isabella Montgomery.”

Maddie gasped. That was it! “Isabella Montgomery, originally the Contessa di Licciardo, heiress to the fabulous Licciardo Jewels?”

Fabian nodded. “I’m the eldest son.”

“Which makes you the current heir to the collection.” Maddie sat back, stunned.

“It’s my cross to bear.” He spoke grimly, as if he actually meant it.

Forget the Chameleon. Maddie couldn’t believe she was in the presence of the man who would someday inherit a king’s ransom of diamonds, rubies and emeralds. That he was so blasé made it even more unreal.

“I thought this was personal with you.” She leaned forward again, excited. “You couldn’t pin the theft of your diamond on the Chameleon so you’re trying to catch him in another crime in the hopes you’ll have enough evidence to put him in jail.”

“You’re quite the sleuth.” His smile wasn’t entirely mocking.

“I’ve been hearing about the Licciardo collection since I began studying mineralogy. It’s world-renowned, almost legendary, with over three hundred significant jewels.”

“Three hundred and twenty-eight to be precise,” Fabian acknowledged with a shrug. “But who’s counting?”

“I knew I’d heard your name before but I couldn’t think where,” Maddie babbled on, still amazed at the connection. “Montgomery isn’t commonly associated with the collection. Why is that?”

“My father is in public life and he doesn’t like the sensational aspects it brings to our family.”

“Wasn’t there a scandal involving the jewels?”

“Twenty-odd years ago a court case was mounted over the inheritance of the collection. It caused a furor in the British media. Since then my father has taken pains to keep his name separate from the Licciardo legacy.”

Maddie popped an olive in her mouth, her eyes glazed over at the thought of all those fabulous gems. “There are women who would marry you for your jewels alone.”

“Which is why I’ve never proposed to anyone. One of the reasons, at least.” Studying her out of the corner of his eye, Fabian added, “I suppose you would marry me.”

Vistas opened up before her of a vastly different existence than the safe and predictable life she’d known. Danger and excitement, travel and romance, passion and— Abruptly she reined herself in. He was taunting her, not sounding her out.

Sticking her nose in the air, she glanced away. “I wouldn’t marry you for anything.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re just pretending to be a husband and wife. I’m reassured to know there are still some women with ethics.”

“Ethics nothing, I wouldn’t marry a man who kidnapped me.”

“I helped you escape,” he corrected with a show of extreme patience. “There’s a difference.”

Before they could argue the point, Rick arrived with their food. Succulent prawns, char-grilled and dripping with garlic butter, were placed in front of Maddie. An involuntary moan of hunger escaped her lips and she waited impatiently while Rick unfolded her napkin onto her lap, topped up Fabian’s wineglass and left. Wasting no more time, she stabbed a fork into a prawn and opened her mouth—

“There he is,” Fabian said quietly.

Maddie froze, the untasted prawn trembling on her lips. “Where?”

Fabian nodded at the waterfront where people strolled under the palms. “The man passing under the streetlight in the white shirt and navy shorts. He’s heading for a pontoon. I do believe my hunch was right and he’s staying on a boat.” He tossed his napkin onto the table and abandoned his dinner without backward glance. “Come!”

“Nooo!” Maddie gazed mournfully at her prawns. Fabian was already halfway across the dining room floor heading for the exit. With a strangled sob she put down her fork and followed.

Fabian stepped out along the waterfront path, keeping Roland’s blond head in sight among the holidaymakers and yachties. The thrill of the hunt, fueled by anger, lent vigor to his swift strides. Roland’s arrogance and ego at walking about openly in public was beyond belief. The man had to be stopped.

Maddie jogged to catch up, breathless and hyper. “Which way did he go? Let’s get him. Get the Rose.”

“Settle down. And don’t speak so loud. He’s gone onto one of the pontoons where sailboats are moored.” Fabian pulled her into the shadow of a palm tree. “There, do you see him?”

The well-lit pontoon hummed with activity. Some yachties were coiling ropes or pushing wheelbarrows loaded with sailing gear down the ramp, others were drinking beer and chewing the fat with their neighbor. Adding to the confusion were scores of tourists strolling along gawking at the expensive boats.

“There’re so many people.” Maddie peered around the narrow palm trunk. “Which one is he?”

Fabian rested a forearm on her far shoulder and casually pointed as he leaned closer. “He’s about halfway down, talking to a blonde woman in a red dress.”

With Maddie’s head sandwiched between his arm and his jaw, Fabian was distracted by her scent and the warm tickle of her breath on his wrist. It was a good thing he wasn’t attracted to her type or he’d have trouble focusing. Seduction was not on the agenda.

Unless it was Maddie seducing Roland.

Roland had ditched the eyeglasses and the cropped beard, the rumpled clothes and the disheveled air. Looking ten years younger than he had as Hauzenegger, he was as well-groomed as any of the wealthy yachtsmen and tourists staying at the luxury resort. He wore a crisp white polo shirt teamed with immaculately pressed navy shorts and rubber-soled leather deck shoes without socks. A pair of sleek gunmetal sunglasses perched atop his perfectly styled blond hair.

Despite Maddie’s protests to the contrary, she might enjoy seducing Roland. Fabian flexed his fingers, itching to break something. He thrust the thought away. He barely knew the woman. She was a necessary nuisance, nothing more.

“Quick, he’s moving again. We need to find out which boat he’s on.” Fabian took her hand and tugged her across the short stretch of grass and pavement to the ramp. “Come.”

“How do we know he’s not just visiting someone?” Maddie asked.

“We don’t. That’s why we’re following him. Stay out of sight. We don’t want him to see us.”

He stepped off the ramp. The floating pontoon rocked beneath his feet, and the up-close tang of salt water assaulted his nostrils. Maddie slowed, pulling her hand away from his and dragging her heels in as if she were a child.

“What’s wrong?” he asked impatiently.

“I think I’m going to be seasick.” Weaving slightly, she bumped into the protruding belly of a florid-faced man in a colorful T-shirt, spilling his drink over his white shorts.

“Watch where yer goin’!”

“I’m sorry.” Maddie backed away so hastily she stumbled again.

The man’s scowl turned to a leer. “Hey, honey, lemme help you.” He drunkenly grabbed at her breast.

Fabian inserted himself between her and the man. To a passerby it would look as if he was clapping him on the shoulder, not digging his fingers into the soft tissue between the tendons at the base of the neck. “Don’t touch my wife like that again. Apologize at once.”

The man’s eyes bulged as the blood drained from his flabby cheeks. His knees started to sag. “S-sorry.”

Fabian let him go with an expression of distaste. “Clean yourself up, man, you’re a mess.” He turned to Maddie. Her eyes were wide with shock. Oh hell. She’d seen. He brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “Your mouth is open.”

“Right. Thanks.” She closed her gaping jaw. “I suppose you’re going to tell me you learned that Vulcan death grip in the civil service?”

“It’s dog-eat-dog in the lunchroom. No one pinches my special tea bags and gets away with it.” He spoke lightly but held her gaze, silently telling her not to make a big deal out of it.

When she didn’t reply, he took her hand again and continued to weave his way down the pontoon with her trailing. Fabian berated himself silently. He was lucky he hadn’t killed the man. He’d leaped to Maddie’s defense like a wolf going for the jugular. She must think he was a brute.

“You’re very quiet,” he said when she hadn’t spoken again for several minutes. “Is there a problem?”

She plucked at the sweaty fabric of her dress. “You mean aside from feeling like a dishrag, starving to death and being on the run from the police?”

One corner of his mouth curled. “Yes, aside from all that.”

“I know we’re supposed to be married but I wasn’t prepared for you calling me your wife in public. It was sort of strange.”

“It’s purely a cover. Don’t go getting any romantic notions.”

She stuck her nose in the air. “As if.”

He let a beat go by as they picked their way around a sail being folded by two teenage boys. “Is that really what’s bothering you, not what I did to that drunken oaf? Which he totally deserved, by the way.”

Pink bloomed in Maddie’s cheeks. Her gaze met his, fleetingly. “That was rather thrilling. Not that I condone violence.”

They neared the end of the pontoon. No Roland. Fabian stopped in the shadow of a schooner and pressed Maddie out of sight behind him. “I’d swear he didn’t pass us going back so he must be on one of these boats. The question is, which one?”

Maddie didn’t answer. She was peeking out around his shoulder at the boat moored at the end of the pontoon. It was an ordinary forty-five-foot yawl named
Beau Sancy.
The sleek white two-masted hull bobbed in the choppy waves of a passing motorboat. A single light burned belowdecks in the after cabin.

She opened her mouth as if to say something. Then turned away, shivering even though the evening was warm.

Fabian touched her arm. “What is it?”

“I really don’t feel well.” She held her arms across her stomach.

He studied her miserable expression, looking for clues as to the source of her unease. Was it really possible to get seasick standing on a pontoon? It was a full-time job just trying to puzzle her out. “All right. Let’s go back to the villa.”

* * *

Maddie sank into silence as Fabian drove the golf buggy along narrow roads flanked by tropical foliage glowing with underlighting. She and Fabian were in this together and she should tell him. She should have told him back there on the dock. But whereas he was adept at handling a crisis, she wasn’t used to thinking on her feet. He was right; she didn’t like straying out of her comfort zone. Some kick-butt heroine. She couldn’t even face her own fears.

He pulled up in front of their villa and parked. “You’re still quiet. What’s on your mind?”

His face was shadowed and she couldn’t read his eyes, reminding her that despite all they’d been through together, he was still a stranger. Across the way on Catseye Beach, a bonfire blazed, sparks leaping against the dark sky. On the warm salt-laden breeze drifted the tantalizing aroma of char-grilled meat.

“I’m going to find some food.” Maddie climbed out of the buggy and set off for the beach. Even from a distance it was clearly a private party but she was so hungry she didn’t care.

At the edge of the sand she took off her sandals. Her bare feet sank into the cool grains as she made a beeline for the banquet tables. Clusters of people stood about in the last stages of eating and drinking. Many were already moving toward a lighted pavilion farther up the beach where a band could be heard tuning up. A pair of uniformed security guards patrolled at a discreet distance.

“It’s a wedding reception.” Fabian nodded at a couple at the water’s edge. A woman in a white strapless dress with a gauzy veil draped over her arm was engaged in a lingering kiss with a man in a white tux with his pant legs rolled up. Both were barefoot.

“I bet the food will be excellent.” In a mark of how far she’d strayed from her usual law-abiding self, Maddie grabbed a plate from a stack at the end of the table and marched across to the server presiding over the carved remains of a whole roast lamb. She gave him a brilliant smile. “Hi, we’re late. Is there anything left?”

“Sure but you’d better grab it while you can.” The young man obligingly filled her plate with sliced meat. “The dancing’s about to start, and we’re supposed to be packing up. Salads are over there. The bar’s closed but you can have a drink if you don’t mind pouring your own.”

“Don’t mind a bit.” Maddie moved on to the salads, heaping her plate.

Fabian got his own food and picked up a near-full bottle of champagne. “Bring the glasses.”

She grabbed a pair of champagne flutes and they traipsed through the sand toward the bonfire. Maddie commandeered an abandoned blanket. Fabian lowered himself to the ground beside her and handed her a knife and fork. She held the glasses while he poured.

“Tomorrow—” Fabian began.

Maddie’s hand shot up, silencing him. “Not a word till I’ve eaten. Or I’ll use your Vulcan death grip on you.”

“Remind me never to teach you that.”

She ate with single-minded intensity until everything on her plate was gone. Fabian finished his with a speed that astonished her although frankly, there wasn’t much about him that wasn’t astonishing.

Finally she set her plate aside and held out her glass to be refilled. “I’ve never crashed a wedding party before. One more crime I’ve committed since I met you.”

“It’s not an indictable offense.” Fabian eyed her curiously. “I thought you didn’t want to get drunk.”

She ignored that and brooded on the glowing red embers in the center of the fire.

“What’s troubling you, Maddie?” Fabian asked. “Are you worried about meeting Roland again? You needn’t be afraid he’ll recognize you. When I’m done with you, your own father won’t know you.”

“That’s not my main concern right this minute. Although purely on philosophical grounds I’m opposed to women using sex to get what they want.”

“Sex alone won’t do the trick. You’ll need every scrap of intelligence and ingenuity you possess. Roland is not to be underestimated. But he won’t even notice you unless you look like a bombshell.”

Rolf the nerdy academic she could handle. Roland the playboy was out of her league. “This seduction plan of yours will never work. I just can’t get it up for rich bastards.”

In profile, Fabian’s hawk-like nose and carved cheekbones were burnished by firelight. The wineglass dangled from his long elegant fingers. Would
he
notice her once she was transformed into a bombshell—assuming that was even possible? Even if she was glamorous on the outside, she would still be the same old nerd inside.

A cool breeze gusted off the water, chilling her back and blowing away the heat from the fire. Maddie shivered.

“Come here.” Fabian shifted behind her and wrapped his arms around her, settling her between his legs.

She tensed, resisting his embrace. “Just because we’re pretending to be husband and wife—”

“Relax,” he murmured next to her ear. “I’m not making a pass. I simply don’t want you catching cold. Red eyes and a runny nose won’t attract Roland.”

Naturally, Fabian wasn’t interested in her, just in pursuing Roland. That ought to reassure her but instead it was deflating. Cautiously she leaned back against the solid support of his chest and the strength of his legs on either side of her hips. She did feel warmer. This wasn’t giving in to an inappropriate and unreciprocated attraction. It was preventative medicine.

But if he wasn’t making a pass, why was he stroking her arms ever so lightly? She didn’t know, and right now she didn’t care. She simply enjoyed the warmth of his touch.

The glowing heart of the fire drew her gaze again. In her mind she went over events since the Rose had been stolen. Everything had all happened so quickly, with no time to think. From the moment she’d looked up from her microscope, startled by Fabian’s sudden appearance in her workshop, she’d been charmed and annoyed, dazzled and bedeviled by him.

For too long she’d cast a blind eye to the gaps in his story. But she wasn’t going to be like stupid old Pixie and just roll over. There were questions she wanted answers to, explanations for the mysteries she hadn’t had time to think through. If she wasn’t satisfied with his reply, she could still go to the police.

“How did you know Roland Price was coming to Australia in the first place?” she asked. “Did you see the publicity about the Rose and simply guess he’d come after it?”

“It was more than guesswork.” Fabian’s voice held a cautious note. “A mutual acquaintance told me Roland was heading to Australia. Once I learned about the diamond being on display, it wasn’t hard to work out that Melbourne was his destination and the Rose was his goal.”

“Is this the same acquaintance that’s paying you to protect the Rose?” Maddie asked.

“No.”

“Then who?”

“It’s not important.” He lifted her hair and swept it to one side, away from his face. His fingers stroked down the curve of her neck.

Maddie shivered. If he was just helping her stay warm, why did he keep touching her?

“Are you still cold?”

“I’m fine.” She took another tack. “Melbourne’s a city of over four million people. How did you know Roland was going to be disguised as Dr. Hauzenegger? Or did your mutual friend tell you that, too?”

“I expected Roland would disguise himself but I didn’t know as who. When I learned where the Rose was going to be displayed I went straight to the gemologist in charge of the diamond—you.”

“To warn me to be on my guard?”

“Yes, and to find out what you looked like.”

“Because…?”

“So I could keep tabs on you. I knew he would make contact sooner or later.”

“So you were stalking me.”

“Not stalking. I merely followed you to the café because I suspected you were going to meet him. When Roland sat down dressed as a professor, I recognized him at once.”

Maddie shifted on the blanket, wedging herself deeper into a depression in the sand. Fabian’s arms loosened to allow her movement then settled back around her. His body touched hers in a half dozen places. Heat bloomed on her upper arms, her outer thighs, the curving length of her back, and spread, warming her whole body.