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‘You mean he’s prepared to blackmail his own aunt? That’s despicable!’ Rachel exclaimed angrily. The man had to be a monster.
‘It certainly explains how he manages to always have money to spare, despite his lifestyle. He’s probably done this before,’ Nathan observed bluntly. ‘What are his terms?’
Linus grimaced. ‘He wants her to use her influence with a certain company to make sure a take-over goes ahead. A take-over which will increase his personal fortune by several million pounds. Naturally, she flatly refused. However, time is running out, and, the situation being what it is, she cannot dare him to publish and be damned. She has to get the letters back, for she knows that if she does not he will use them. For all his charm, he has a vengeful streak if he doesn’t get his own way. She knows it, and so do I. The only sure way of knowing the matter is closed is to take the letters back—fast.’
At that, Nathan went quite still. ‘And you need my advice as to how to go about it?’ he charged, in a strangely toneless voice which had Rachel glancing at him sharply.
Linus looked him squarely in the eyes. ‘No. I need you to steal the letters for me.’
For a moment Nathan simply stared at him in stunned silence. ‘You cannot be serious.’
Immediately Linus raised a calming hand. ‘Oh, not steal, exactly. Retrieve would be a better word.’
Nathan uttered a bark of laughter. ‘Steal or retrieve; there’s very little difference between the two. Whichever way you put it, it’s breaking the law.’
Linus’s gaze narrowed. ‘I never expected you to be so nice,’ he said sharply.
‘Nice? I think I’m entitled to be a little alarmed when you ask me to break into Ames’s house and do some thievery of my own,’ Nathan protested reasonably.
Linus tutted irritably. ‘Don’t be a fool, boy. I don’t expect you to break in at dead of night. I expect you to be invited in,’ he declared. ‘Once inside, you’ll have every opportunity of searching the house.’
‘You have it all figured out, don’t you?’ Nathan observed in mingled amusement and incredulity.
‘I don’t like to leave things to chance,’ Linus concurred.
‘Then perhaps you can tell me how I am to get invited into Ames’s house? Just walk up to the front door and ask if it’s OK if I stay for the weekend? Oh, and by the way, whilst I’m here do you mind if I search the place for some letters you stole?’ Nathan said facetiously, causing Linus to glower at him.
‘You don’t have to do anything. All you will need is Jasmine to run interference.’
Both Rachel and Nathan blinked. ‘Who?’ they chanted in unison.
‘You know,’ Linus snapped tetchily. ‘That blonde woman you’re going out with. What’s her name…? Jasmine, or something equally ridiculous.’
Rachel hastily stifled a giggle and received a quelling look for her pains. ‘Her name is Jade, and for your information we are no longer an item,’ Nathan replied tightly.
‘Then take someone else. Who are you dating at the moment?’ Linus ordered.
‘At the moment I’m not dating anyone,’ Nathan said through gritted teeth.
‘What do you mean, you’re not dating? You always have a woman around somewhere! Can’t keep your hands off them!’ Linus exclaimed irritably.
Much to Rachel’s amusement, faint colour stole up Nathan’s neck. ‘Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t have one. I had no idea it would be required.’
Linus’s fingers tapped out a staccato sound of annoyance on the desktop. ‘Then you’d better go out and get one! Damned quickly too!’
A muscle ticked in Nathan’s jaw, and Rachel watched it in fascination. ‘Does she have to be blonde, or will any colour do?’
‘Of course she has to be blonde. Ames has a thing for blondes. He likes them decorating up his house, apparently. Curse your fickle heart, Nathan. You’re putting the whole plan in jeopardy. There are three real passions in Ames life: blondes, antiques and gambling, and you and your girlfriend were to supply two of them. A double entrée into his house. But you need to catch his eye. I understand Ames is going to be in his American home at Lake Tahoe this weekend, and I had everything planned for then. He’s bound to keep the letters close to him, and who knows when we’ll get another opportunity like this? You’d better go out and pick up the first blonde you meet.’
The outrageous suggestion appeared to echo round the room, and Rachel thought Nathan was in imminent danger of exploding, he was so furious. However, with a monumental effort of will, he forced himself to relax. ‘For your information, I do not pick up women off the streets.’
The two men stared each other out for what seemed like ages, then Linus grunted. ‘You don’t, eh?’
Nathan crossed his arms and shook his head emphatically. ‘No.’
Linus sank back in his seat with a heavy sigh. ‘Then Lord knows what’s to be done.’ he declared morosely, upon which Nathan closed his eyes for a second.
Rachel leaned over and placed her hand over her grandfather’s. ‘We’ll think of something, Grandfather,’ she murmured consolingly, and felt rather than saw Nathan’s head turn towards her.
‘I must be mad to suggest it, but this whole situation has a ring of insanity about it. If you can spare her, I’ll take Rachel.’
Rachel very nearly fell off her chair in shock. She gasped, fish-like, for a moment before a word passed her lips. ‘What?’ she squawked incredulously. He couldn’t have said what she thought he had.
Linus was as surprised as she, and his response was to look her over critically. ‘Of course I can spare her, but…Rachel hardly fits the bill,’ he concluded doubtfully, bringing colour to her cheeks and a flash of fire to her eyes.
‘What does that mean, exactly?’ she demanded in outrage, her feminine pride tweaked by the implied criticism.
The old man’s expression was regretful. ‘Forgive me, Rachel, but I only have to look at you to see the problem. You’re blonde, certainly, but far too intelligent. I’m glad to say not Ames’s type at all,’ he replied gently, and she did a rapid mental review of herself.
She could see what he meant. She wore suits because they were comfortable to work in. Her long blonde hair she kept tied back in a knot at the nape of her neck because she hated it falling over her face whilst she worked. Last, but not least, she wore glasses for all the close work she did on the computer. All in all, Rachel was not the blowsy blonde type that Luther Ames apparently went for in a big way. Which was just as well, really, because he didn’t sound like a man she would want to get to know.
‘I agree she doesn’t look the type now, but she could be made to be,’ Nathan put in quietly, sending a shock wave through her system. What on earth did he mean by that?
Linus frowned. ‘I admit the potential is there, and Rachel is a quick study, but she’s no actress, Nathan.’
Nathan was watching Rachel, a calculating look in his eye. ‘Oh, I don’t believe it would take long to make her convincing.’
‘You think not?’
‘Trust me. It can be done with very little time or effort.’ Nathan declared confidently, bringing her eyes to his face.
There was a certain something in his expression which made her frown and go still. She tried to read his thoughts, but it was as if a wall had gone up. Confused, and vaguely unsettled, she finally found her voice. ‘Just a second. Will you please stop talking about me as if I weren’t here? Time is irrelevant. I have no intention of going anywhere.’
‘But I’m counting on you, Rachel!’ Linus exclaimed in disappointment. ‘There’s no time to find somebody else.’
Whilst she hated the thought of letting her grandfather down, this was way beyond her agreement to help him in his time of need. ‘I’m sorry, Grandfather, but I simply can’t do what you’re asking. Even if I could just drop everything and fly to America, leaving my business to sink or swim—which I can’t—you were quite right. What you need is a femme fatale, and that just isn’t me.’ Not that she didn’t know how to be, but that was another story.
‘On the contrary,’ Nathan cut in softly. ‘With a little make-up and the right clothes I can see you holding your own with the best of them in the playgrounds of the rich. Places like Tahoe or…Cap d’Antibes, for instance.’
The pause was infinitesimal, but it registered on Rachel, who blinked in yet more confusion. Why had he mentioned Cap d’Antibes in that strange tone of voice? And just what was that jibe about the playgrounds of the rich? What on earth was he suggesting? Yes, she had been there, but only once, and the circumstances had been extraordinary. She looked at him sharply, but before she could demand an explanation, Linus spoke.
‘Thank goodness that’s one problem solved. You’ll take Rachel with you. If the whole mess can be sorted just as easily, we’ll be laughing. Now, I’ve booked two seats on the midday flight to Tahoe tomorrow, and a suite at the Tahoe Caesar Hotel. The rest will be up to you.’
Rachel could feel control of the situation slipping out of her hands. ‘Just a minute,’ she protested. ‘I haven’t agreed to go.’
‘Of course you’ll go, my dear. Nathan needs you.’
If he thought that would persuade her, he was mistaken. She stood up quickly, the better to enforce her stance. ‘I’m sorry, but it’s quite out of the question.’
Nathan rose too, reaching out to take her arm in a deceptively firm grip. ‘Don’t worry, Linus, it’s just stage fright. She’ll go,’ he declared unilaterally, and looked down at her with a clear message in his eyes for her not to argue. ‘Let’s talk it over, shall we?’ he suggested mildly, but she knew it for the order it was, and bridled.
Yet, however fuming she might be, she was unwilling to cause a scene in front of her grandfather, and set her jaw firmly. ‘Very well,’ she agreed frostily, determined to stick to her guns. ‘We’ll talk, but I’m telling you now, you’re wasting your time.’
‘That remains to be seen, sweetheart,’ Nathan murmured softly as he gently but firmly ushered her from the room.
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