On the Hunt - Page 52

Kira thought about it. “You know, that’s kind of wonderful. I was thinking about her talent with horses when she was talking to me on the phone just now. You asked me who could ride an impossible horse like Sinbad. It might be Fiona.”

“Because she’s a horse whisperer?”

She nodded. “Of course you’d recognize all the signs. She grew up with you.”

“Yes, I recognized them and I was grateful. I don’t know what constitutes a horse whisperer—I just accept it and try to give her whatever help she needs.”

“Like an impossible stallion?”

“Who knows if he’s impossible unless we bring them together?”

“I applaud the effort. Every single one that you’ve made for Fiona. But this will be pretty tough, so don’t get your hopes up.” She couldn’t leave it at that, though. This man didn’t know the meaning of impossible. “She did try to talk me into bringing her here to look around a bit. That might include Sinbad.”

“What did you say?” Harlan asked as he handed her a plate with biscuits, bacon, and eggs. “It’s not really a bad idea. Much as I disapprove of Kalim’s methods, you didn’t turn out too badly working here in the hills with his herders. Fiona would probably enjoy it.”

“How kind of you to admit that,” she said bluntly. “I thought it was a very bad idea. I skirted the suggestion entirely.”

“Am I allowed to ask why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Because we’re sleeping together. She’s your niece and she might not understand.”

“Then it’s time she learned. I don’t ask her who I can sleep with. I realize you may be having trouble with the idea yourself, but you’ll have to get used to it, too.” He met her eyes. “Because we both know we’re not going to give up what we’ve found, are we?”

“Aren’t we?” Kira asked. “It’s still so new, and I tried to tell you I’m not going to demand anything from you. Why bring her into it? You care about her. She’s family. I’d be taking something precious from you. It’s exactly what I said I wouldn’t do.”

“So sensible.” He shook his head. “But I can’t see it. Perhaps because I’m not feeling at all sensible at the moment.” He sighed. “I believe we’ll put this discussion on hold for the time being. Eat your breakfast. We have work to do down at the barge.”

“Maybe not as much work as you think,” Kira said as she picked up a biscuit from her plate and began to eat. “I’ve decided to recruit additional help.”

He shook his head. “Hannah said Aban wasn’t ready yet.”

“No, but Mack is. You saw how well he swims down at the lake. It won’t be the first time that I’ve taken him cave hunting. He did a lot of that when I was scuba diving at Summer Island, and he loved it. It was just another game to him. It should be pretty much the same here.”

“Then I guess we’ll be teaching him how to hitch a ride on one of my sleds. I have an idea how to make that work. But I’m not sure how to guide him or lead him through those caves. And you’re the cave expert.”

“You’ll learn soon,” Kira said. Her eyes were twinkling. “But you’d better give him a good breakfast, too. He’ll need it. He can run me ragged sometimes when we’re training on Summer Island!”

Hannah Bryson hadn’t arrived yet when they appeared at the barge landing. But Kira was surprised to see Kalim getting out of his Bugatti Mistral sports car and strolling toward them. “I hear from Aban that you two have been doing quite a bit of diving in the past couple days. Anything interesting?”

“Not for Aban,” Harlan said. “Hannah isn’t ready to train him on the new sleds yet. I told you we’d take good care of him.”

“What about you, Harlan?” Kalim asked. “Are you ready to take a chance on your new toys?”

“I never release a product unless I’m ready to take a chance on it,” Harlan said. “And I guarantee you’re going to want an entire stable of those ‘toys’ before this is over. That is, if I decide to sell them to you.”

“Indeed?” Kalim shrugged. “Now, why would I want to bother with buying one of your new inventions when you know I much prefer to own the finest horses on the planet instead? Aban tells me he gave you an in-depth look at my herd the minute he got the opportunity. Were you properly stunned?”

Harlan took a step closer to Kalim’s Bugatti and ran his fingers caressingly over the car’s glittering black surface. “Absolutely. You didn’t really need to bring this beauty to show off to me. The herd was more than enough. A car is just a car. Though I understand this mechanical miracle has all the bells and whistles. La Voiture Noire. Let’s see, the last time I was thinking about buying one, it was priced at somewhere around nineteen million. Is it worth that much to you?”

“Anything I want badly enough is worth it to me,” Kalim said, stiffening. “I support this island and educate my citizens exceptionally well. Why should I not buy anything for myself that I wish?”

“I didn’t say that.” Harlan shrugged. “I just didn’t find it worthwhile for my purposes. Most of the time, I have simpler tastes.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Kira had heard enough of this nonsense. “Will you stop?” She came forward and stood in front of Kalim. “Yes, Harlan was amazed and appreciative when he saw your horses—not to mention the dogs that I so carefully and laboriously trained for you. But you haven’t had a chance to even test out his new sleds. They’re a fantastic invention, and he’s right, you’ll want to own them. But you didn’t come here so that you could taunt each other like this, did you?”

“Don’t be rude, Kira,” Kalim said. “No, I just wanted to make sure that everything was in order and Harlan was treating you and my property well. After all, I’m permitting him to watch over Aban, and I did allow those barges to enter my territorial waters when he requested it. I thought I should have a right to look the situation over.” He turned back to Harlan. “I understand from Aban that Kira appears to believe you’re not mistreating her. Though that term doesn’t necessarily compute in either my opinion or my culture.”

Kira stiffened. She had an idea what Aban had told him, and she needed to avoid any confrontation. “Don’t go there, Kalim.”