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He jammed his fists into his pockets and studied her as she examined the slacks, cotton turtleneck and wind-breaker hanging inside the closet.
“I obviously wasn’t planning to stay long,” she said finally, removing the jacket from the hanger and sliding her arm through the sleeve. So far, she’d said very little about what was going on inside that lovely head of hers.
Damn, but he couldn’t figure her out. Was she for real, or was she putting on an Academy Award performance? Sara was hardly his idea of a covert operator, yet he couldn’t rule it out.
Only last week, Interpol had notified the TALON-6 headquarters in New York City that a terrorist had been arrested in London and plea-bargained with them, offering information about a plan to steal the Land-Net 17, Liam’s latest design for an electronic security net. Was Sara part of that plan? He thought of that silky red hair and those long, incredible legs. Hell, everyone including the local priest knew that Liam O’Shea had a weakness for tall, beautiful redheads.
Anything was possible. Until the schematics for his security net were safely in the hands of the Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, Liam knew he couldn’t leave anything to chance. Especially a disarming redhead who looked as though she’d just stepped out of his most erotic dream.
He felt like a bastard for doubting her, yet he wouldn’t put it past the terrorist mentality to think they could infiltrate TALON-6 with a woman like Sara. He’d made no secret of the fact that he was a self-proclaimed protector of alluring, downtrodden women. Especially a woman with sexy-as-sin looks combined with innocence and vulnerability. He was the first to admit it would be his favorite way to go down.
She turned toward him as she took a seat on the edge of the king-size bed. Her fingers sifted through the meager contents of a straw bag. She was truly stunning, he decided. Her hair hung down her back in a lustrous curtain of red. Long eyelashes swept her cheekbones as she studied the set of keys, the billfold and a tube of lipstick, as though she could piece together the framework of her life from these few articles.
What must it be like to lose a lifetime of personal memories? What was it like to feel mentally naked and completely vulnerable? He felt a tug of compassion for what she must be going through. Yet how could he possibly imagine the depth of her fear and panic?
Was there a special man in her life? Had the guy told her how very desirable she was? For a brief, insane moment, Liam wanted to be that man.
He swallowed against the surge of heated desire. He’d better get some sleep. He was becoming delusional. He shook away the thought and strode toward the window. Across the road he could see an expanse of sun-bleached sand, then cold gray sea for miles. A sailboat tilted back and forth in the breeze. For an odd moment, Liam was reminded of when he was six years old and had found a stray kitten after Labor Day along the sand dunes. Some bastard had abandoned the animal. His mom had let him keep it and he’d called it Tiger. He glanced back at Sara, whose head was bent over the assorted items in her hand. Would tender loving care heal her as it had his pet?
She must have sensed him watching her because she lifted her head and that megawatt green-eyed gaze fixed on him. He fought back the urge to pick her up and cradle her in his arms.
She wasn’t a lost kitten. And until he received the results of the background check that he’d asked his TALON-6 partner, Clete Lawton, to run, Liam needed to keep his emotional distance.
“If you’re about through,” he said, giving his watch a glance, “I think we should leave.”
“Nothing looks familiar,” she said, brushing her hair away from her face. “It’s as if these things belong to someone else.” She put the gold cap back on the tube of coral lipstick, then opened the billfold and stared again at the driver’s license and her photo. She lifted her gaze to his, and if she was acting, he sure as hell admired her talent.
Still, she hadn’t noticed one thing. He picked up her straw bag from where she’d left it on the bed and pulled out the picture of a man in his early thirties, standing in front of a palm tree. Liam had found the photo hidden in a side pocket in the lining of her bag when he’d gone through her possessions earlier that morning. At the time, he’d wondered if the photograph would trigger her memory. “Know who he is?” Liam asked her.
She stared at the photo, then shook her head. “No.”
“Is he Gregory Urquhart?”
“I—I don’t know. Should I?”
“Urquhart is listed as the person to contact in case of emergency.” Liam lifted a brow as he showed her the ID card inside her wallet. “Think this is an emergency, Sara?” He couldn’t quite hide the sarcasm from his voice.
Her lips opened slightly. “I don’t know. Y-yes. Yes, it is.”
Was Urquhart her ex-husband? Lover? Why else would she be hiding his photo? Was she running from him? Or to him?
Sara put her head in her hands. “Liam, I’m trying the best I can. I don’t know why I came here. Was I passing through? Was I planning to meet someone?” She leaned over and reached for the phone on the bedside table. She glanced at Urquhart’s telephone number, then lifted the receiver.
Liam stopped her. “If you’re calling Urquhart from this phone, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Why not? He must know who I am.”
“Okay, but let’s not use this phone.” Liam took the receiver from her fingers. “I’ve got a cell phone in my car. Why don’t you pack your things, and if you want, I’ll drive you back to the cottage? You can call Urquhart on the way. By the time we get there, my family will have left for church. The place will be quiet and you can rest.”
She rose, picked up the set of car keys from the top of the dresser. “I obviously own a car. I’ll follow you back to the cottage.”
“Good idea.” Liam slid the mirrored closet door open and pulled out a small floral piece of luggage that he’d seen when he first checked out her room. Opening it on the bed, he stood back.
She pulled a blue, long-sleeved T-shirt from a hanger and began folding it into the suitcase. “I feel like these are someone else’s clothes and I’m stealing them,” she said with a weak smile. When she looked away, a jab of sympathy charged through him and he had to physically stop himself from touching her.
“Don’t worry, Sara,” he said instead. “The answers will come when you’re ready. Just relax.” He picked up the photo of the smiling young man and slipped it inside her open bag.
“Can you guess why you might have come to Bellwood?” he asked as she finished packing.
“No.” She gave a slight shrug as she closed the lid of the suitcase.
No? Not even a feeble attempt at a guess? He felt slightly irritated with himself. Should he have let her call Urquhart? Or would that have signaled her accomplice that she had made contact with Liam? He was beginning to doubt his own instincts. Was she playing him? Well, damn it, there was one way to find out, once and for all.
Something flickered in those pretty green irises when he came over and pulled her to him. His body brushed hers, and he felt her tremble when he wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t resist when he pulled her closer. He found himself breathing in the scent of the sea in her hair.
Her breath caught; he felt her stiffen, but her eyelids fluttered shut. Morning sunlight slanted through the window, making a reddish halo of her hair. He could feel her heart hammering in her chest, or was it his own?
He was afraid that if he kissed her she might bolt out of the room, into her car and out of his life. That is, if she was innocent…
And if she wasn’t? He took in a slow breath as he dragged the tip of his tongue along her full lower lip. Testing. Teasing. Taunting.
She didn’t bolt. She didn’t throw herself into his arms, either. Those ripe lips parted slightly, and he was lost.
He hadn’t expected her mouth to be so warm, so sweet, so trusting. Kissing her was like slipping into a deep, delightful abyss. The kiss deepened, and the groan he heard vibrating low was his own.
This was no femme fatale. This was a flesh-and-blood woman. A beautiful, appealing woman who had stepped out of his fantasies and into his world. But at what cost? A woman like this could be more dangerous to a man than a thousand land mines.
He released her and stepped back, wanting to shake off the fog that had settled over his brain. What a foolish thing to do. He should say something. Instead, he made a helpless gesture with his hands.
Her green eyes were wide, confused. He made fists of his fingers to keep himself from pulling back a glistening red strand from her cheek. “I’ll wait for you outside,” he said, ignoring the underlying reason that he had to leave. If he didn’t get out of that room, he’d take her into his arms again.
Chapter Three
“Thank you, Ms. Regis,” said the desk clerk as he slid Sara’s credit card through the machine. Liam couldn’t help noticing the young man’s appreciative glances at her from behind the counter as he finished preparing her checkout statement.
If Sara noticed, she gave no sign. Nor did she seem aware of her exceptional beauty. Yes, she was beautiful. Not in that flashy, glittery way he usually found attractive in women. But this woman had skin the color of clotted cream, and eyes as green as the first shamrock to greet the April sunshine.
Hell, when the rest of his family, especially his other sisters, arrived this morning, they would take one look at Sara Regis and think that he’d finally brought home “the one.”
“Oh, we found your camera,” the clerk said to Sara, almost as an afterthought.
She looked up from signing her credit card statement. “My camera?”
“Yeah. A man stopped in here a little more than an hour ago.”
“Did this man have a name?” Liam asked.
“No, but he left his phone number.” The clerk turned and pulled a plain business card from the mail slot for room 26. “Feel free to use the house phone, Ms. Regis.”
Liam reached for the card just as Sara did. “Thanks,” he said, snatching it from the clerk’s fingers.” He looked at the youth. “Where’s the camera?”
“The man didn’t leave it.” The clerk shrugged. “He wanted the lady to call him first.”
The hair on the back of Liam’s neck stood up. Something didn’t sound right about this. He looked at Sara. “It will be quicker if you call from the car.”
Her expression didn’t give a hint of what she was thinking. “Okay.” She looked back at the clerk. “Thank you.”
When they were outside, she snatched the card from his hand. “I’m not helpless.” Her green eyes glittered with agitation. “I’m perfectly capable of calling the number myself.”
“I know you’re not helpless,” Liam said, “and I’m sorry if I gave that impression.” He was overreacting, something he never did, but he couldn’t ignore the possibility that this man who had her camera was connected with whatever had terrified her. Liam whipped out his cell phone and gave it to Sara. “Here, why don’t you call the number? Maybe if you hear the man’s voice, it will trigger your memory.”
Sara bit her lip as she took the phone. “I hope so. Maybe he knows why I came here this weekend.”
Liam’s uneasiness increased as he watched her punch in the numbers. She acted calm, yet her shoulders stiffened, a mannerism he’d noticed before when she’d been overly tense.
She put the receiver to her ear. A few seconds later, her green eyes widened. “I don’t understand.” She repeated the number on the card. “A man left me this number to call. He said he had found my camera.”
Her face paled as she listened to the conversation on the other end of the line. Liam’s senses went into full alert. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
She handed him the phone without explanation. He grabbed it from her trembling fingers.
“Who is this?” he demanded, almost shouting into the mouthpiece.
“I already told the lady. This is the Bellwood Funeral Home.”
“Did a man from there go to the Sand Dune Motel early this morning and say he’d found a camera?”
“Like I told the lady, no. What is this, some kind of joke?”
“Let me speak to the owner.”
“You’re speaking to the owner, and I have no time for games,” he said indignantly, then hung up.
Liam clicked off the phone, then caught Sara’s gaze. She shook her head, glancing at the business card in her hand. “I know I dialed correctly. The man verified the number written on the card.” She tucked the card into her bag. “Maybe we should go there and question each employee?”
Liam didn’t want to squelch her hopes, but the whole camera story sounded fishy. If someone had found a camera, why not leave it for her at the desk? Maybe Sara had a point. If they spoke to the other employees, someone might recognize her. “Good idea. Let’s go,” he said.
A few minutes later, after they had stowed Sara’s bag in the trunk of Liam’s sports car, they walked around the motel to the rear parking lot.
She held her fingers over her eyes, squinting into the bright sunlight. “Omigod. I have no idea which car is mine.”
He looked at the cars parked in a row along the back of the building, then at the keys in her hand. “No problem. You have one of those new automatic ignition starters on your key ring. Just click the button, and whichever car starts is yours.”
She pulled back her hair from her face as she studied the keys in her palm, then smiled at him. “You’re a genius,” she said, and pressed the starter button.
SARA FELT THE EXPLOSION before her brain processed what was happening. A force like a giant fist jerked her from the pavement and carried her toward the motel with the impact of a freight train. She felt herself cannon through the air and land with Liam, entwined in his strong embrace, against an evergreen hedge.
Heat burned her skin. Corrosive smoke filled her lungs. She choked on the acidic fumes as she peeked over his shoulder at what was left of her car.
The row of vehicles in which it had been parked now looked like a mound of burning, twisted metal, a smoking inferno. Although the explosion had occurred several seconds ago, plumes of black smoke, flying metal and debris still spiraled through the air.
“What happened?” she asked, her ears ringing.
Liam held her, frantically searching her face. “Are you hurt?” Pure terror edged his voice.
She glanced down at herself and realized her body was shaking uncontrollably. “My ears…I can barely hear you.” Then she realized he might be hurt, too. “Liam?” she cried, her voice rising. “Are you okay?” She ran trembling fingers over his face, her heart hammering with fear.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He winced in pain as he moved beneath her, then shot her a crooked smile. “Really, I’m okay.”
She stared at him warily. He was rubbing his shoulder. Black particles of soot clung to his skin, but he looked…incredibly wonderful. Her body sagged with relief, but she couldn’t suppress the shudder that ran through her.
“We’re both lucky,” he said as he picked an evergreen needle from her hair. “We were far enough away from the explosion to keep from being burned, and the hedge broke our fall.” He stood to help her to her feet, glancing over at the fire, which was burning out of control.
Several cleaning women in white uniforms hurried outside, screaming and shouting excitedly. Guests burst from their rooms, their yells adding to the din. A man, dressed only in striped pajama bottoms dashed barefoot from the door of his motel unit into the street.
“What could have happened?” Sara asked, unable to take her eyes from the blazing inferno.
“We’ll know for sure once the police arrive and the bomb squad gives their report, but I think your car was wired.”
She swung around to face him. “Wired? You mean someone wanted to blow up my car?” Her face froze as the possibility struck her.
Someone wanted to kill her. If she had turned on the ignition when she was sitting in the car, she’d be dead now.
Panic shot through her like a bolt of lightning. “I’ve got to get away,” she cried, pulling out of Liam’s grasp. She staggered a few steps before his large hands grabbed her shoulders.
Liam was reminded of when he’d first found her, lost and afraid and trying to run away from some unseen terror. He held her, wanting desperately to find a way to calm her. Finally she stopped struggling and looked up at him, her eyes wide with terror.
“If someone is trying to kill me, I’m endangering you, too. You could have been killed.”
“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Come on, let’s go to my car. It’s lucky I parked by the front door.” As they made their way around the motel he smiled to himself. When was the last time a woman had cared about his safety? That is, a woman with whom he didn’t share the same gene pool? He was surprised to find he liked the feeling.
As they neared the corner of the building, the desk clerk burst into view, nearly running into them. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the smoking inferno in the rear parking lot. His jaw dropped, then he turned to Liam and Sara. “My God, look at you! What the hell happened?”
Ignoring his question, Liam asked instead, “What did that man with the camera look like?”
The desk clerk shaded his eyes with a hand as he gazed at Liam. “He was almost as tall as you. Black, shiny hair, like Elvis Presley’s.” The clerk made a disapproving face. “Heavy in the shoulders and arms, like a wrestler. And he had a diamond ring the size of a doorknob.”
Liam frowned. “Did he speak with the local accent?”
“No, more New Jersey or the Bronx. My sister’s husband is from the Bronx and he talks like this guy did.”
Now we’re getting somewhere, Liam thought. “Anything else?”
“He had long arms. He lumbered when he walked, like he was skating almost.” The clerk scratched his head. “I saw his car. Yeah, a classy set of wheels.”
Liam looked up. “Did you get the license number?”
“Er, no. I was too busy looking at the Caddy. Black. Tinted glass. And the fanciest set of gold hubcaps I ever saw.”
