Those in Peril (Unlocked) (38 page)

‘I didn’t know how to tell you this before, it’s so horrible. But my little girl was all torn up inside by those filthy swine. Do you know what a vaginal fistula is?’ He was so shocked that he could not speak; instead he squeezed her hand and nodded. ‘The doctors have repaired it surgically,’ she went on, ‘but while they were doing so they discovered that she was in the very early stages of pregnancy.’

‘Oh, God! The poor little thing.’

‘They fixed that also. Cayla was under total anaesthetic and she doesn’t know anything about that part of it. We must never tell her.’ He held her close, trying to comfort her with the contact. She sobbed softly against his chest and hugged him with all her strength. They were silent for a long time, and then she stirred and drew back a little.

‘But it’s going to be all right now. The first tests show that Cayla is not infected with HIV or any other sexually transmitted disease, and she is recovering well from the surgery. Thelma Henderson is working her special brand of miracle over her. Cayla trusts her. Apart from the terrible traumatic events that my baby has suffered, she is also consumed by guilt. According to Thelma, Cayla believes that she has betrayed both my trust and her father’s memory. She thinks that it is entirely her fault that she allowed herself to be seduced by that horrible monster. However, Thelma has made significant progress with her. No more nightmares for a while. She says that Cayla will soon be fit enough to go up to the ranch in Colorado with us. It has always been her favourite place in all the world. Mine too. Cayla wants to visit Henry’s mausoleum and of course all her horses are on the ranch.’ She propped herself up on her elbow. Hector could sense her eyes close to his face in the darkness. ‘I truly believe that it’s very important for you to spend some time with her,’ she went on. ‘You know how good you are with her, and how she dotes on you. To a large extent you have filled the great gap that Henry left when he died. You’ve become a real father to her, darling. You see, both of us Bannock girls need you.’

‘Of course, I could return with you to Houston right away, and leave Paddy to find his own way around the Cross Bow operations in Nigeria and Chile.’

‘You know I could never agree to that.’ She shook her head. ‘The company’s security arrangements are of paramount importance. No, I will return to the States on a commercial flight tomorrow, and leave the Gulfstream at your disposal to speed up the handover process with Paddy. I want you in Houston by the twenty-fifth of this month. Do you remember we promised that to Cayla? Apart from that the board is having an extraordinary general meeting the following Monday to ratify your appointment. I have a strange premonition that they are going to approve of you. You have friends at court.’ She smiled for the first time. ‘After that the three of us can fly up to the ranch together.’

Three weeks later both Hazel and Cayla were waiting to meet Hector when the Gulfstream landed at William P. Hobby airport in Houston.

‘God! I missed you,’ Hazel whispered as they embraced.

‘Not as much as I did you.’

‘When you have finished with him, Mummy, may I have a little bit of what is left?’ Cayla asked sweetly. Hector looked at her for the first time.

‘Wow! You are looking great, Cay.’ He was lying. The truth was that she was still very frail and pale, but he kissed her on both cheeks. Then he took one of the women on each arm and they went out through the VIP entrance into the car park to where the uniformed chauffeur was holding open the door of the Cadillac for them.

Hector was expecting Hazel’s Houston home to be palatial and pretentious. He was way off the mark. It was in the rural outskirts of the city on what was obviously still a working cattle ranch. To reach it they drove through lush paddocks of alfalfa in which grazed herds of white-faced cattle. Then they passed stables and outbuildings before they came to her home.

‘Looks like JR’s pad in
Dallas
,’ Hector remarked.

‘This is Houston, Heck,’ Cayla reminded him. ‘We don’t like to mention second-rate cities around here. Just wait until you see the master bedroom suite. Mummy has had it completely redone, especially for you.’

‘Cayla!’ Hazel said sternly.

‘Oops!’ She put her fingers to her lips. ‘I wasn’t supposed to tell you.’ She was blithely unrepentant, and winked at him in a conspiratorial manner.

‘Anything you want to know around here, just ask your old pal, Cay Bannock.’

T
he board meeting was planned to last for an hour and a half. In the end Hector held the board members enthralled for almost four hours. Hazel had never heard him speak to an audience before and even she was taken by surprise. She found her heart warming with pride as she listened to him. He was so handsome and self-assured. His grasp of his subjects was firm and extensive. He presented his thoughts in a clear and logical manner, and yet his choice of words was riveting and thought-provoking. He fielded all their questions adroitly, and his replies had them all nodding their heads in agreement. Of course John Bigelow, the retired Democratic senator for Texas, tried to trip him up. But Hazel had warned Hector about him, and Hector turned the tables on Bigelow so neatly that the others burst into spontaneous applause. As Hazel had predicted Hector was elected to the board by a unanimous show of hands. They crowded around to congratulate him.

Without seeming to rush him, Hazel extricated him from the circle of his fellow directors and drove him back to the ranch in her Maserati.

‘It’s terrible!’ she lamented as soon as they were on the highway. ‘I just never seem to have you alone to talk to. I haven’t even told you about my trip to Washington. I saw the President. I told him that I had paid a ransom for Cayla’s release. He tut-tutted and gave me a lecture on dealing with terrorists. Then he told me how happy he was for me and Cayla. Obviously he was relieved to have me off his back.’

‘Didn’t he want to know who the villains were?’

‘Of course. Roberts and a gang of heavyweights from the CIA grilled me. But I told them that the negotiations had been done by telephone. The payment was made electronically. I knew nothing.’

‘Did they believe you?’

‘Probably not. But they didn’t torture me to get the truth.’

‘They’re brave, but not stupid. They know a tough cookie when they meet one,’ Hector laughed.

When she parked in the underground garage she consulted her watch.

‘You ran over time at the meeting. We have just an hour and forty minutes before we must leave for the country club,’ she warned him. ‘I want to introduce you to some of the people who really matter in Texas.’

‘So, we have just enough time for a little bit of TLC. What do you think?’ he asked her seriously.

‘You are really terrible, Hector Cross,’ she told him sternly. ‘Well, okay then. I suppose we can always find time for a little bit of that.’ She grabbed his hand and they ran to the private elevator that took them up to the bedroom wing. An hour later he was waiting for her in their sitting room when she emerged from her dressing room. They stood at opposite ends of the room and looked at each other in awe.

‘Not bad.’ She gave her opinion at last. ‘Not bad at all.’

‘Turn around!’ he ordered and she pirouetted for him, the skirts of her ball gown billowing out around her long athletic legs. Her feet were clad in diamante-encrusted black velvet slippers.

‘I am trying to find the words to describe your beauty,’ he said, ‘but it’s ineffable. All I can say is that you are the loveliest woman on this earth.’

‘I’ll accept that,’ she said, laughing.

‘But hold on!’ His expression changed. ‘Aren’t those the Barbara Hutton diamonds that you’re wearing?’ She nodded and laughed again.

‘Of course, my darling. Only the very best for my man.’ He looked mystified.

‘But . . . but . . .’ he protested, ‘you lost that necklace when the
Amorous Dolphin
went down.’ She shook her head, still smiling at his confusion.

‘That necklace was a replica.’

‘A replica?’ He was stunned. ‘What about the one you’re wearing now. Is that the original?’

‘Of course not. The original is in a bank vault in Switzerland. Do you have any idea what the insurance premiums would be on it if I wore the original on every odd occasion that I went shopping in the mall or dancing at the club?’ His eyes left her face and darted to the Gauguin painting on the wall behind her. It was a magnificent Tahitian landscape, with naked island women in the foreground swimming in a blue river pool.

‘What is the insurance premium on that one?’ She turned to see what he was looking at, and she smiled again.

‘Oh, it isn’t worth insuring.’

‘It’s another fake?’

‘Fake is too pejorative a word. Let’s rather say it’s a representation of the original, which is in a secure vault in London wherein the temperature, humidity and exposure to light are all strictly controlled.’

‘What about those paintings that disappeared with the
Amorous Dolphin
. . . ?’

‘Yes, indeed. Those were also representations. Apart from the danger of theft, imagine the damage that a constantly changing maritime climate could wreak on such fragile pieces. All my copying is done for me by a gifted husband-and-wife team in Tel Aviv whose work is almost indistinguishable from the real thing. At the very first opportunity I intend to take you to view the originals. You will be the only one who has ever had that privilege, apart from Henry and me.’

He burst out in delighted laughter. ‘You are a cunning vixen, Hazel my heart!’

‘You don’t know the half of it. However, that’s enough chit-chat for now. Take me dancing, please.’ She paused, and then went on diffidently, ‘I thought we might take Cayla with us. I don’t want to leave her alone yet.’

‘What a splendid idea. I’ll be escorting the two loveliest girls in Texas, no less.’

S
aturday night and the club was full, every seat in the bar and every table in the dining room taken. Hazel knew everyone. At her side Hector moved easily through the throng, charming the ladies of all ages, and impressing the men with his forthright manner and his straight sensible talking. He and Hazel had never danced together before, but they were both natural athletes and they adjusted to each other effortlessly. Most eyes were upon them as they glided around the floor.

A little before midnight she led Hector out onto the terrace. ‘Darling, Cayla has not danced all evening. Some of the nicest boys in all the state of Texas are here. She hasn’t looked at one of them. I want to have a chat to Sarah Longworth. Be a darling and take Cayla onto the floor, won’t you? Try to get her to enjoy herself.’

‘Okay, I’ll see what I can do.’

Cayla accepted his invitation to dance with alacrity. ‘Thank you for saving my life again, Heck. I was shrivelling up with boredom.’

Once they were on the floor he discovered that she was as supple and light on her feet as her mother, but she was still so thin that her collarbones were standing out, and he could feel her ribs under the bodice of her Tom Ford gown. Even the professionally applied makeup could not disguise her pallor. He could see the blue shades of pain deep in her lovely eyes.

‘There are some good-looking boys here tonight. I saw more than one of them trying to charm you into a dance. What’s up?’ he asked her.

‘I am off boys. All except for you of course, Heck. For your ears only, I am seriously considering becoming a lesbian, only I don’t know how to get started.’