Golden Dancer (21 page)

That loss would have broken Daniel’s heart, and worse, broken Trelain’s. He wasn’t sure he could have taken that pain.

He leaned over and kissed the damp skin. Mac had known all along.

The man turned in Daniel’s arms and laid his head on Daniel’s shoulder. “I think I’ve always been suspicious of my own happiness. I guess I sensed that there was such an important part of me missing that no happiness I experienced was actually real. When I got home from New York, I got scared.”

“But now you’re happy.”

The boyish face grinned up at him. “Yeah, I guess that’s right.”

“Want to fuck some more, or you want to hear the story?”

“Well, to prove my sincerity, I should say I want to fuck and don’t care at all about the story, but truthfully, I’m not sure I can take another go in the ass, much as my libido would like to.” Mischief lit his face. “Soooo, I guess I’ll just have to hear the story.”

“Okay, put on some clothes, or we’ll never get through the tale. Wear some of my stuff.”

A few minutes later, Mac sat opposite Daniel, dressed in slightly too large shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. They lounged in the sitting area of the bedroom with some snacks and drinks nearby. Their feet played together on one well-padded footstool.

Mac shoved some carrots and hummus in his mouth. “Shoot.”

Daniel took a deep breath. He was betting the farm on this moment. The story Mac had been gathering was a speculation about Daniel’s connection with the burglary. What he was about to confess was absolute confirmation. “Okay, I already told you I stole the statue. You kind of knew that.”

“Yeah. And you know Von Berg knows it too, right? He tried to team up with me. Said he’d give me the story if I fed him clues.”

The old bastard. “And you’ve been doing that?”

Mac shrugged. “Not really. But he’s given me some stuff that proves he knows at least as much as I do. Plus, he claims he has a way to get you to give back the statue. He said it was foolproof. That kind of worries me. What do you think he means?”

“I don’t know.” Shit, it worried him too. “Maybe he’s going to try to leverage my connection with Chaim.”

“Ben Harrari?”

“Yes, I stole the statue for him.”

Mac looked frustrated. “But why, Daniel? You can’t need the money. Was it for the thrill, like some Thomas Crown caper or something?”

Interesting. “So you don’t know my connection with Chaim?”

“No. I just followed you to breakfast in New York. That’s when I took the photo you saw on my computer.”

Why, the little sneak
. Daniel grinned.
Good reporter
. “So you think I might be a thrill seeker or an opportunist, and yet you’re still here?”

A furrow plowed Mac’s brow. “Yeah, I’ve called myself a fool a hundred times. I’ve told myself you’re a thief, and I shouldn’t like thieves. I’ve tried to walk away.” He shrugged. “But I don’t leave, and I keep finding myself thinking that a man like you can’t be a thief.” He looked at Daniel, steady and direct. “I guess the bottom line is that no matter how much I ‘prove’ it, I don’t seem to believe it. Or somehow I believe there’s a good reason you stole the statue, and I just don’t know yet.”

“So you’re saying you trust me.”

“Hey, I let you talk me into putting a cock the size of Iowa in my ass. I’d call that trust.”

C’mon, Mac
. Daniel waited.

Again, Daniel got the direct stare that had probably cowed a few heads of state. “I guess I must.”

“Then I believe you love me.”

“You didn’t before?”

“Do you know much about me?”

“Approximately everything. Self-made billionaire, put yourself through school, a million scholarships to Caltech and such, made your first fortune by twenty, lost it, started again, and made it.”

“My parents?”

He shrugged. “I guess not so much.”

“They were old money until they ran it into the ground. Facile people who would tell you anything you wanted to hear if it forwarded their agenda. They said ‘I love you’ a lot. It didn’t mean shit.”

Mac leaned forward in the chair. “How did you come by that open heart of yours?”

“I used my brain. I figured out early that being like them was crap. I left and never looked back.”

“Wow.”

“That’s why trust means a lot to me. Without it, love isn’t love—it’s just sex.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“So thank you for believing I had a reason to steal the
Dancer
.”

Mac’s face asked the question.

“Chaim ben Harrari is my distant relative. That was part of my shitty family’s myth. That they weren’t Jewish and weren’t related to that clan. When I discovered that I was, I began helping the various causes the ben Harraris support, mostly in worldwide education. After a particularly notable contribution, Chaim asked to meet me. When I told him our connection, he slowly began to open up to me. He told me about the
Dancer
. That’s when I tried to buy it. “

“He’s over ninety, right? I can imagine he’d want to restore it to his family.”

“Not the plan. He’s sold it to a private collector who is happy to pay an exorbitant price and keep it under wraps as long as he can own it. The money will support the network of schools the family builds around the world. I told him I’d give him the money, but in truth, the statue is worth more than I can probably afford to give him. Plus, he’s an independent cuss. Besides, he owns the
Dancer
and should be able to sell it if he wants to.”

Mac grinned. Shit, he had a nice smile. “Well, he owns it now. Is the private collector you?”

Daniel chuckled. Tricky devil. “No. Believe it or not, I have no compunction about stealing from Von Berg, but I do shy from the idea of owning stolen property, even if stolen from a thieving Nazi’s son.”

Mac smiled. “Daniel, I like who you are. So, I must confess to curiosity about the details of the theft. How did you—”

There was a rap on the door. Must be important or Carlos would never interrupt. “Yes, Carlos.”

The door opened quietly. “Sorry, sir, but Mister…”—he glanced at Mac. “Mr. S is on the phone, and he’s quite insistent.”

“He’s always insistent. How do you say ‘fuck off’ in German?” Oh wait. “On second thought, Mac, you might enjoy this. Give me a moment, and then put him through in here.”

“Yes, sir.”

He looked at Mac, who was watching with interest. “This is SS, the hacker. You might get a kick out of listening to the guy, since you’ve heard about him.”

Mac looked a little sheepish. “I actually heard him once when you were talking to him. I didn’t set out to eavesdrop, honest. Just ended up in the wrong place at the right time.”

“Maybe this will explain a little of how it was done.”

The phone rang on the side table between him and Mac. He hit Speaker. “Terrebone.”

“Ach, Herr Daniel. I have considered your offer again.”

“It’s not an offer, Stefan. If you want to get paid the balance, you need to give me a copy of the program. It’s clear, I think.”

“But if I give away my program…”

“You will have met the bargain we made.”

“I’m thinking I will get my money when pigs fly.”

Daniel watched Mac suppress a laugh.

“Doesn’t have to be a porcine adventure, Stefan.”

“Excuse me?”

“You know how to get paid quickly with no further discussion. I always pay my debts, one way or another.”

“Are you threatening me, sir?”

“Take it in the spirit in which it is offered.”

“We will speak again when pigs fly!” The line went dead.

Mac laughed. “I heard him use that expression before. Hell, where do you think he got it?”

“Amazing, isn’t it? I always want to laugh, but the man makes up for his technical brilliance with a complete lack of sense of humor.”

“Why not just pay him?”

“I want a copy of the program he used to hack Von Berg’s system.”

“Is he likely to blackmail you with it if he keeps it?”

“No. He can’t accuse me without implicating himself. And as you say, Von Berg already knows I did it, he just can’t prove it. I actually plan to give it to my own in-house hackers to develop an antitheft program for advanced security systems. Keep people like me out.”

Mac laughed. “Tricky devil.”

“Always.” He sipped his champagne. “Hey, remember when you thanked me for your office?”

“Yeah.”

“How you sat on my lap?”

Mac grinned. “Yeah, when we looked like what Trelain would describe as two water buffaloes snuggling.”

Daniel attempted a strange moo. No self-respecting water buffalo would claim that sound. “I kind of liked it.”

Mac bounded up from the other chair straight onto Daniel’s lap and kissed him.

“Oof. Maybe I forgot the full weight of your affection.”

Mac pulled back, laughing. “If anyone had ever told me it was possible for me to be this sappy, I would have called them nuts.”

Daniel buried a hand in the thick, dark curls, pulled Mac’s head back, and kissed him. “It’s good for a guy to be sappy sometimes.”

A vibration tickled Daniel’s groin. “Yikes. That feels good. I thought you didn’t want to fuck anymore.”

“Nitwit.” Mac dug the vibrating cell phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. He frowned. “It’s Von Berg.”

Daniel nodded and Mac hit the Send button. “MacAllister.”

His frown deepened. “Slow down a second, Horst. What are you telling me?”

He glanced at Daniel. “Okay, so you no longer need my collaboration. Have you given up the investigation?” He nodded. “I see.” His frown got deeper.

Shit. Whatever the Nazi bastard was planning probably wasn’t good. Daniel felt the tension in Mac’s body.

Mac sat up on Daniel’s lap. He looked down at Daniel with concern in his eyes. “Uh, Horst, I understand you plan to give up the investigation, but I have some additional data I want to give you. I’m going to be in New York…uh, tomorrow. Can I come and see you? I think this will be of interest.” He listened. “No, it’s something I have to show you, and I’d prefer to do it in person. It could make a difference in your decision.” He formed a tight smile. “Yes, I look forward to meeting you. Tomorrow, then, at your home? Have someone e-mail me the directions. Good. See you then.”

He clicked off and stared at Daniel. “He says he’s giving up the investigation. This makes me really uneasy. I can’t believe he’d give up without that statue in hand, and one of his minions told me Von Berg has a foolproof way to get it back.”

“You’re going to see him?”

“Yeah. Maybe if I can get close to the man, I can figure out what the hell he’s thinking. I’ll show him the photo of you with ben Harrari and act as if I think this is news to him. I’m a news reporter. Maybe I can get him to reveal something useful.”

“We’ll use my jet. I’ll come with you. I don’t like the idea of you alone with Von Berg.”

Mac waggled his eyebrows. “Why, is he a German hunk?”

Daniel smiled. “Hardly. Besides, he’s old enough to be your father. No, I just don’t trust the bastard.”

The intercom on the phone beside him rang. Mac moved to the other chair to give him room, and Daniel picked up the phone. “Yes, Carlos?”

“Sir, there is a person who will not identify himself on the phone. He says it’s urgent, but will not tell me why.”

Daniel felt a slow panic build in his chest. He took a deep breath. “Put him on.” He looked at Mac with wide eyes. He heard the click. “This is Daniel Terrebone. Who are you?”

A muffled voice answered. “Don’t ask questions; just listen. I have the dancer.”

What the hell? “The dancer is not my property; why should I care?”

“Because I’ll kill him—or worse, maim him—if you don’t cooperate.”

Ice. He turned to ice. “You mean you have Trelain Medveyev? That is the dancer you mean?” He looked up. Mac’s face had gone white.

“Of course. And if you want to see him again, you’ll return the statue to its rightful owner. Instructions will be sent to you. I’m sure you won’t go to the police. Just do as I say. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Then we understand each other. Do not fail, or Medveyev will never dance again.” The line went dead.

No. Turn back time. Make it go away. Not Trelain. Please. He looked at Mac. “Von Berg’s foolproof plan. Jesus, Mac, he has Trelain, and I don’t even want to think about what he could do to him.”

Mac’s chocolate eyes were huge. “But he won’t hurt him if you give back the statue, will he?”

Daniel thought his heart would burst. “The statue is gone, Mac. The man who has it paid a huge price for it and will never give it back.”

Daniel watched that somber face that made Mac look older than he was. The reporter shook his head. “Then we have to find him. We have to get him back. And we have to do it before Von Berg figures out he’s not going to get the statue.”

Chapter Twenty-four

Mac knelt in front of Daniel and took the man in his arms, feeling him shaking. Daniel shook his head against Mac’s neck. “Oh God, I did this to him.”

“No, we both did.” He kissed Daniel’s cheek, then got up and paced toward the windows with their ocean views. “And we’re going to get him out.”

“We have to go to the police.”

“And have you thrown in jail? Shit, no. We’re going to find him.”

Daniel stared at Mac, glassy-eyed. Then he seemed to pull that bright mind through his panic. “It makes sense that Von Berg would hold him somewhere in New York. He could take him anywhere. But why? He figures I’m just going to cough up the statue and maybe he’ll give me Trelain…or not. He’s ruthless, but he’s also smart. I don’t think he’ll harm Trelain until he has the statue in hand.” He put his head in his hands. “But what if I’m wrong? Oh God, Mac, what if he hurts him, maims him so he can’t dance? What if I ruin his life?”

“That kind of thinking is poison. It’ll paralyze you. We have to find him. When I go to Von Berg’s tomorrow, I’ll try to get something. No, I
will
get a clue about the location.”

“Okay. I’ll have investigators following all his men to see if we can find some movement pattern. Maybe they’ll reveal the location. But damn, it’s all risky. Trelain will be held all night. He’ll be frightened, and who knows what kind of thugs will be keeping him. Shit…if they hurt him.”