Intimate Betrayal (28 page)

Slowly Maxwell shook his head in denial. “I'm not that naive. I know my father is involved in some major cover-up. That much is clear. But my gut tells me that he was just following orders. I can't imagine that Murphy would divulge that much to my father—to anyone.”

“Then I guess we'll have to go with that,” Chris conceded, not totally convinced. “So how do we get this Tilden guy?”

“That's Reese's thing. She'll make the contact, reporter to reporter.”

“Journalist,” she drawled.

Maxwell and Chris gave each other an “oh boy” look.

“What can I do?”

“I thought you'd never ask.” Maxwell leaned forward. “I want you to keep an eye on my lady. I'm going to be doing a
lot of running in the next few weeks, and Reese isn't always going to be able to be with me.”

“No problem.” He turned to Reese and winked. “I'll work my schedule around you guys.”

“I haven't heard from Larry yet, so I don't know when he'll be getting in. But he'll be able to take up the slack when you have to break out.”

“Got it. When do I start?”

“Tonight. I have a meeting with Tasaka.”

“I'm beginning to feel like Whitney Houston in
The Bodyguard.
”

“You look good enough,” Maxwell said giving her a slow once-over. “But can ya sing?”

The trio broke out into a fit of much needed laughter.

 

“I'm parked around the corner,” Chris said as they stepped out into the throng of human traffic. “I'll meet you guys back at the hotel.”

Maxwell gave him a thumbs up and slid his arm around Reese's waist, before opening the car door for her.

“I like him even better than I did when we first met,” Reese commented easing into the car. “You're lucky to have such a good friend.”

“Believe me, I know. Chris and I go way back. We've been in each other's corner since day one.”

“That's the way it is with me and Lynn. I guess we're just two lucky people.”

The glow of her smile warmed him, and he realized that above all else, nothing was more true. Circumstance may have thrown them together. Danger united them. But what they felt for each other would surmount everything. Yes. They were lucky to have found each other, and even considering all that they had to deal with, he wouldn't have it any other way.

 

The trio returned to the suite and while Maxwell prepared for his meeting with Tasaka, Reese and Chris sat in the living room and got to know each other.

“How is your story going on our man?” Chris asked with a teasing smile, his gray eyes sparkling with curiosity. He leaned forward and rested his arms on his thighs.

“It's coming. A lot of facts and figures, some great quotes.” She leaned back and sighed, running her hands through her hair.

“But?”

“I want to capture the essence of Maxwell Knight—the man. Anyone can write a story about the businessman. I want more,” she concluded, her eyes and voice alight with the writer's passion that fueled her.

Chris lowered his gaze and smiled. “It would seem that would be easier…I mean…” He looked up at her and shrugged helplessly.

Reese gave him a long look and pursed her lips to the side to stifle a grin. “You mean because we have a…relationship…what I want should be easier to get?” She folded her arms in front of her.

“Yeah. Something like that.”

“It may seem easier, Chris. But the reality is, it's more difficult. I have to work even harder not to interject my personal feelings.” She took a deep breath. “Maxwell has so many layers, so many nuances to his personality it's difficult to see it all clearly, especially without putting a personal spin on it. Then compound that with all that's been going on and you can imagine what I'm up against.”

“Whew. I see your point.” He leaned back against the cushion of the couch and draped his arm along the top. “So, what are you going to do? How can you make it work?”

“Well, if I've found out nothing else about Max, I've
discovered that a great deal of who he is and what he's accomplished today has to do with how he feels about himself. And a lot of it is tied up in his Japanese heritage. He knows little or nothing about his mother and it's left this gaping hole in his life. He's done everything in his power to fill it by overachieving and being the best at everything he does.”

“That's definitely true.” He shook his head slowly in reflection and in admiration for her insight. “I've never known anyone who is more driven than Max. He's always been that way, even when we were undergrads together, here at the University of Tokyo. Max carries a lot around with him, Reese. And his mother does have a lot to do with it.”

“I guess for him it's like being adopted,” Reese said softly. “Even though you love your parents, you still want to find out where you came from.”

“I wish I knew what to tell you.”

Reese crossed her long legs. “I can't bring his mother back, but I can try to recreate her for him by digging up whatever I can find.”

Chris raised his thick brows in skepticism. “That's going to be pretty hard to do. It's been over thirty years.”

“I know and I don't have much time. Not to mention my own set of problems,” she added derisively. She leaned forward, clasping her hands tightly in her lap, her smoky voice captivating him with its intensity. “I have to do this, Chris—for Max. I want to be able to give him this one thing.”

Chris gave her a long appraising look. “I believe you can.”

“Sorry I took so long,” Max apologized, striding into the room and to the bar. “Can I fix you two anything?”

“Not me,” Reese answered, leaning back.

“I'll take one of what you're having,” Chris said.

Max fixed Chris's drink and joined the two on the couch.

“Ready for your meeting?” Chris asked, taking a sip from his drink.

Maxwell nodded. “As ready as I can be.” He turned toward Reese. “Are you going to try to get in contact with Tilden today?”

“Yes. If I have my time and dates right, it's yesterday in the states about 9:00 a.m.”

Max grinned. “Hey, you're getting good.”

Reese smiled smugly. “I figured I'd wait until after ten, eastern time, and then give him a call.”

“I'm curious. What makes you guys think this Tilden will help you?”

Reese spoke up. “He wants all that he can get for his story. That's just the nature of the business. I have information that I can feed him to fuel his interest in Frank Murphy.”

“The harder this guy pounces on Murphy, the less time Murphy will have to concentrate on us,” Maxwell added.

“I really need access to the Air Force's computer files. That's where the answers are,” Reese stated, looking from one to the other. “It would have been extremely helpful if I'd gotten a look at our computers at the magazine. But…” Her stomach knotted and her thoughts flashed to Lynn. Reese pushed herself up from the couch. “If you guys will excuse me, I'm going to call and check on Lynn.”

Briefly they stood as Reese walked from the room.

“You have yourself a special lady, Max. Don't screw it up.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He tossed down the remnants of his drink and set the empty glass on the marble coffee table. “Sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself to make sure she's real—that we're real. I don't have any intentions of screwing up.” The corner of his mouth curved upward. “I just want us to be able to get to the bottom of this
mess so that we can put the pieces of our lives together and go on.”

Maxwell stood and slipped his hands into his midnight blue pants pockets. His brow creased. “I know that whatever we discover is going to be devastating to a lot of people. I can't begin to imagine the impact on my own family, the military and mostly on Reese.” He turned anxious eyes toward his friend. “I don't want this thing to destroy her—destroy us.” Methodically he paced, his voice steady and even. “Day by day she's beginning to remember things and the shock of the revelations are traumatizing enough. When she puts it all together, I don't know what it'll do to her.” His jaw worked in fear and frustration. “All I can try to do is keep her safe and be there for her when the nightmares and flashbacks take over and become our reality.” His voice shattered with a barrage of untenable emotion, his eyes glistening as he continued. “She's the first woman in my life who has accepted me for who I am, and not tried to fit me into some mold or their own version of who I should be.” His dark eyes narrowed as he formed the words. “She's helping me to see my own worth outside of business and the bedroom. I know I still have a long way to go, but I want to make sure Reese is there with me.”

“If it's meant to be, she will,” Chris assured, clasping Max on the shoulder. Chris took a deep breath before plunging into what he knew would be dangerous waters. “Listen, man, I don't mean to play devil's advocate—and I really dig Reese and all, but I think you need to back up and be a little more objective about her.”

Maxwell turned glowering eyes on Chris, an undeniable warning layered his voice. “Don't go there, Chris,” he growled, pointing a finger to ram home his point.

“I'm your friend, Max, and I always will be. So therefore it's my job to keep you in check. Reese seems like a wonderful
woman. She's beautiful, intelligent and she seems to make you happy. But remember, she has an agenda and a truckload of her own problems. And heading the list is the fact that she's here to do a job.” He walked slowly across the floor, ignoring the killing looks that Maxwell was throwing his way. Chris turned to face him. “I don't doubt for a minute that she cares a great deal for you. But as your friend, I don't ever want to see you hurt the way Victoria hurt you.” Even though he saw Maxwell flinch, he continued. “Just take it slow, man, that's all I'm saying. When it's all over I want to see both of you come out of it in one piece.”

“I know you mean well. And I appreciate your concern, but I know what I feel. This isn't another Victoria fiasco. I've been weighing the pros and cons for weeks. I've had my bout with uncertainty and misgivings, but the deck always stacks in her favor.”

“I hear you. But you know I had to put it out there. Just don't let that ‘whip appeal' get to you,” he grinned.

“Yeah,” Maxwell replied, smiling. “And just an FYI, I'm not whipped.”

“Whatever you say, my man.” Chris chuckled. “Whatever you say.”

They looked at each other and couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled up from their guts. They both fell into a round of laughter clapping each other on the back, knowing that above all else they had each other's best interests at heart.

“You two are sure in a good mood,” Reese said strolling back into the living room.

Both men turned in her direction, winked at each other, then turned on their dazzling smiles full blast.

Reese raised her brows suspiciously and planted her hands on her hips, giving them the once-over from the corner of her eyes. “Something's up.”

“It's a guy thing,” they said in unison. “You wouldn't
understand,” and they immediately broke into another fit of laughter.

“Humph,” she puffed, in mock offense. “Then it's probably insignificant,” she declared with a dismissive wave of her hand. She stalked off toward the bar and fixed herself a glass of sparking water with a twist of lime over ice. Turning, she first pinned them with a look, then dropped into the spot next to Maxwell who was seated at the bar.

“Did you get through to Lynn?” Maxwell asked draping his arm across her shoulder.

She gently rotated her glass, letting the ice cubes chill her drink. She took a sip. “Yes,” she said swallowing. “She sounds much better. She said her headache is easing up and the bumps and bruises don't feel half as bad as they did.”

Maxwell released a sigh of relief. “That's good news. Did she say when she'd be getting out?”

“It'll still be a few weeks. But,” she added with a grin, “she doesn't seem to mind. All she really wanted to talk about was her doctor. She almost sounded like she might invent some new ailment just to stay under his care a little longer.”

“Sounds like a pretty interesting lady,” Chris chuckled.

“Oh, that she is,” Max rejoined. “Take it from one who knows.”

Reese stood and eased Maxwell upward with a slight tug of his tie, while she made busywork of straightening out the red silk. “I wish I could go with you tonight,” she whispered huskily, her tone full of invitation.

Maxwell's dark eyes began to smolder with growing desire. He stroked her cheek with the tip of his finger, causing a shiver to ripple through her. “I wish you could, too.” He planted a hot, wet kiss on her glossy lips. “But Chris will stay and keep you company until I get back.”

She lowered her voice so only he could hear. “Chris is real cute, but he's not you,” she taunted.

He fought down the jolt that throbbed between his legs. He stepped closer and instantly felt the heat emanating from her body. “I'll make it up to you when I get back.”

Reese's amber eyes sparkled like sherry. “I'm going to see that you do.”

Chris loudly cleared his throat, and pretended to look embarrassed when they looked at him. “Oh, don't mind me,” he drawled. “But if you don't get a move on, you'll be late. You know the traffic is murder.”

“Yeah, you're right. Let me call down to Daisuke and let him know to bring the car around. Sorry, baby.” He gave her a puppy-dog look and a peck on the cheek before dashing off to the phone in the bedroom.

Reese sighed wistfully and smiled. When she turned around she was slightly taken aback to see Chris staring at her. She looked quickly up and down her body thinking something was amiss. “What?”