Mac's Angels : Sinner and Saint. a Loveswept Classic Romance (9780345541659) (19 page)

“Not much damage,” Niko explained. “And I didn't want to worry you.”

She'd been worried before. Now she was angry. She might not remember everything, but she had the right to know, to decide what she was going to do. And going to a party was probably the last thing on her list.

“So, where am I driving you?” Sam asked, eyeing Karen curiously in his mirror.

“To a very expensive dress shop. We're going shopping for a slinky red dress,” Niko answered. “Would you believe we're going to a party?”

“After the last three days, I'd believe anything,” Sam said as he turned the van back toward the city. “The story being bandied about is that you ran off and got married.”

Niko laughed and glanced over the back of his seat at Karen. He didn't like the stoic expression on her face. He might have expected her to be puzzled, even concerned, but what he saw was a quiet fury. She definitely didn't look excited about going to a party.

Or maybe it was the story about their being married.

“Don't worry, princess,” he said. “Anybody who knows me won't believe that story.”

“Of course they won't,” Sam agreed. “It's just typical tabloid journalism. If they can't find out the truth, they make up something juicy.”

Karen didn't reply.

The dress-shop owner took one look at Niko and melted. “Of course, sir, just what did you have in mind?”

“A dress for my lady. Red, I think, and slinky.”

“Certainly. You and your friend just have a seat, and we'll see what we can do.”

“But, Niko,” Karen argued quietly. “I'm sure I have a dress. I'd prefer that you take me to my house and tell me where to meet you.”

Niko's look squelched that thought. Karen decided the quickest way to handle the situation was to let him think he'd won. There had to be a back way out of the shop, and the dressing rooms were in the back.

The shop owner took Karen to a dressing room and inquired about her dress size. By the time she'd
returned with her selections, Karen had determined that the back door was well locked and bolted on the inside. She wasn't about to slip out into the alley. The only way out was the way she'd come in, and the only way she was going to get there was by buying a dress.

“This one meets your husband's suggestions.”

“He isn't my husband,” Karen said sharply.

“Of course, your—your friend. Allow me to assist you.”

“That's all right.” Karen didn't have to remember everything in her past to know that she wasn't accustomed to dealing with people in a shop like this.

She shrugged away from the woman's attempt to help her undress and jerked off her clothing down to her Kmart bra and panties. The woman threaded her arms through the dress she was holding and slipped it over Karen's head. Moments later she was zipped into the shortest garment she'd ever worn.

“Just stand right there and I'll bring a pair of pumps that will emphasize your long legs. I'll be right back.”

Karen looked into the mirror and blanched. The only good thing about the dress was that its skirt was flared. Otherwise, she'd look like one of those women prowling the street corners near her boardinghouse.

Boardinghouse. She remembered the seedy house and its location. If she could get away from Niko, she could stop at the library and then retrieve her own clothes.

The shop owner returned with a pair of red,
strappy high heels and insisted that Karen put them on.

“I'm sorry, but I can't wear this,” Karen said. “Bring something else, with a bit more material in it.”

“But this one is the latest thing from Paris. It's—”

“Indecent! Another dress, or I'm out of here.”

The woman straightened her shoulders and reached outside the dressing room for another dress. It was also red, but it had a high neckline, long sleeves, and a skirt that would reach her ankles. “I'll take it,” Karen said, removing the shoes and pulling on her own clothes.

“But aren't you going to show it to your—your friend?”

“No.” She brushed past the surprised woman, down the corridor and through the showroom.

Niko and Sam stood and watched her exit the shop.

“Go after her, Sam,” Niko said. “Get her into the van if you have to throw her over your shoulder.”

“This is the dress she selected, sir. I think she wants to surprise you. But she really needs a fur. Otherwise she's going to freeze.”

“What do you have here in the shop that would be appropriate?”

“Well, it isn't the real thing, but it's the rage right now and it's warm.”

The shopkeeper pulled an ankle-length fur from the racks and held it out for his approval. “It's a Borgana, perfect for your lady.”

She was right. The color was a silver white, almost
the same color as Karen's hair. Niko pulled out a credit card and handed it to the shop owner. Outside the shop, Sam was holding on to Karen's arm. It was obvious that she was arguing, but in the end she got in the van, folded her arms across her chest, and glared straight ahead.

So his princess had a temper. He wondered what had set her off in the dressing room. He'd known she had no interest in attending the party, but she hadn't given any indication that she would refuse.

Until she'd learned about the fire in his apartment.

Hell, he could understand her concern. If the shoe had been on the other foot, he would have felt responsible for bringing trouble to her door. But it was just an apartment. And the fire had made it obvious that they needed to take action.

Sam took his cue from the dour expression on Niko's face and didn't ask questions. “Mac has a friend on Riverside Drive who's in Europe. He's arranged for the two of you to stay there for a couple of days.”

“Good. Can you take us there?”

Sam merely nodded. “I assume that at some point I'm going to learn something about what's going on?”

“You wanted a story. Stick with us and you're going to be right in the middle of it,” Nick said.

“Good thing I told my editor I wouldn't be back today.”

“Thanks, Sam. I owe you. There's one more thing.”

“What?”

“Once you leave us, will you go to Dominic's and pick up a tux for me? He knows my size. I rent one there often enough.”

Sam nodded. “For the party.”

“For the party. And while you're at it, get one for yourself. I don't know what's going to happen, but, if this works, I think I'd better have another pair of eyes.”

“Isn't Mac going to be there?”

“So far as I know, Mac never leaves New Mexico.”

“Is something wrong with him?” Sam asked curiously.

“Couldn't say. I've never seen him. He's just a voice on a phone.”

“A mystery man with this kind of power. Now, that's a story.”

If looks could start fires, the one Niko gave Sam would have caused instant combustion. “A story you will never tell, Sam Wade. Not unless you want to end the most humanitarian foundation ever conceived. Not unless you want to answer to me, personally.”

The apartment was elegant, old money, old establishment. Karen didn't know about Niko, but she was out of her element. For just a moment she wished they could go back to the island where she was the princess and Niko was her Gypsy lover.

But that was a fantasy and she'd returned to the real world.

“Nothing like Slade Island, is it?” Niko said quietly as they walked through the foyer and into the living room.

She didn't answer. It took great effort not to look at him. Was he smiling or was he feeling as awkward as she? She didn't know about Mac, but she didn't have to look at Niko to feel his power. The connection between them was still there, under control, but simmering beneath the surface.

“What do you expect to happen tonight?” Karen asked.

“I expect us to go to a party and be so charming that the hospital will raise lots of money for my research program.”

Niko was giving her the obvious answer, not the truth. She'd play along. “And if we do, what will you accomplish?”

“I'll learn what causes the interference in the brain that keeps otherwise healthy people from remembering who they are.”

“Like me?”

“No, like my father.”

She turned and faced him. “Your father? But I thought …”

He went rigid, and she knew he hadn't intended to let that slip.

“That he was dead? No, but he might as well be.”

“What happened to him?”

“Funny, isn't it? There was a time I wished he were dead. I even thought about killing him myself.”

“But you didn't.” She took a step toward him.

“No. I waited too long. Then fate stepped in and took away his memory. Punishing him then would have defeated my purpose.”

“I'm sorry, Niko.”

“So am I. In the end he lost the control he sacrificed everything to keep. His mind closed him off in a world of fear.”

“So that's why you're studying Alzheimer's disease, to help your father.”

“Help him? No way. I want to punish him for his sins, and I can't even do that now. He doesn't know who I am.”

Niko offered to order food sent in, but Karen refused. Instead, she said she wanted to take a long, hot tub bath, followed by an equally long nap. Niko heard the bathwater running, but afterward he could hear her moving about, obviously no more able to relax than he.

It was time he checked in with Mac.

“Mac speaking.”

“Mac, Niko here. We're at your friend's apartment. So far, so good. Any news?”

“Just this. I talked with the police chief in Silver Lake yesterday. Seems he got a strange phone call. Someone disguising his voice suggested that he drop
the search for the arsonist. Otherwise there might be another fire.”

“And?”

“The chief explained that another fire would be a mistake. He also let the caller know that Karen's been found and will be coming back to Minnesota.”

“Good.”

“You're not a police officer, Niko. I hope you know what you're doing. I don't want Karen hurt.”

“She won't be. Sam will be with me. We'll keep her safe. Mac, don't worry. Research is research. This time I'm dealing with people instead of cells.”

“And I think you ought to remember that people aren't predictable or orderly like cells.”

“Sometimes cells aren't predictable either.”

Sam brought Niko's clothes and left, promising to hire a car and return at nine o'clock.

Through the closed door, Niko offered Karen a drink. When she didn't answer, he made one for himself and downed it in one gulp. He started to pour a second, then stopped. Tonight he had to be sharp, in complete control of his mental faculties. He had to protect Karen for one last time.

Once her pursuer revealed himself and she was safe, Niko would go back to his lab and get his life in order again.

At precisely eight-thirty, the door to her bedroom opened and Karen stepped into the room. He turned and felt his gut twist into a knot.

He'd known she was beautiful, but the woman looking at him now was the most elegant, most glamorous woman he'd ever seen. The dress covered every part of her like a second skin. She'd put her silver-blond hair in a braid and twisted it into a figure eight at the base of her neck. She was wearing no jewelry, no flowers, nothing to take the eye away from her quiet elegance.

“My God,” he said in a voice so low that he wasn't certain she even heard. “You are truly spectacular.”

For a silent moment they simply gazed at each other.

Karen swallowed hard. “I'm ready.” She felt like Joan of Arc daring her persecutor to light the fire.

Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at Niko. There were no moors, no fog, and no heather. The man standing before her was not her laughing Gypsy. He was no driven scientist either. He was a man of mystery, a man steeped in danger, and it took every ounce of her control not to reveal her desire for him.

He was wearing black tuxedo trousers and a crisp white shirt not yet buttoned. She could see the dark hair feathered across his chest. The same chest her fingers had explored so intimately. There was no tie, and he was holding the button studs he'd been about to insert. A red cummerbund the same color as her dress was draped over his shoulder.

“Just a minute,” Niko finally said, and threaded the pearl button through the opening. His fingers
were visibly shaking and he immediately dropped the button back.

“Let me,” she managed to say, enjoying for a moment his reaction to her transformation.

When she took a step closer, the split in her skirt parted, exposing one long leg. Niko's gaze was riveted to her ankle. As his gaze moved upward, she felt her breath rush out, leaving her lungs struggling for air.

What he might have done was halted by the ringing of the doorbell. At first he looked irritated, then he straightened his shoulders in concentration, turned, and moved through the foyer to open the door and admit Sam Wade.

“Are you ready?” he asked, stepping past Niko. “No, I see you're not. Need some help?”

Sam walked into the living room, caught sight of Karen, and let out a long, disbelieving whistle. “Holy hell!”

“A truer statement was never made,” Niko growled. “Get this shirt fastened and let's go before I show you how a sinner gets to be one.”

Karen fingered the fake fur coat that seemed so real, she knew she would be a target for the first animal rights advocate she met.

The dress and the coat probably cost more than her entire wardrobe back in Silver Lake. To her students she'd probably look like a famous actress. To her mother she would still be invisible.

Karen sighed, almost glad now that her mother
couldn't see her. “Where are we?” she asked, studying the buildings through the tinted glass of the car windows.