On the Hunt - Page 73

But Fiona was standing directly in front of him now, gazing at him accusingly. “He’s gone?” Her eyes turned to the helicopter as it began to lift off the tarmac. “I was hoping to get to talk to Harlan again before he left. Why couldn’t you have stopped him?”

“I realize you’re disappointed,” Kalim said. “But he told me that he’d had his discussion with you, and he asked me to watch out for you. I think you can trust me.”

“That’s not good enough.” She was still gazing at the departing helicopter. “I wanted to help Kira. And I wanted to help Harlan, dammit. Instead, he sent me to you. Do you know how that makes me feel? I’m not a child, Kalim. He should have let me go with him.” Her hands were clenched into fists. “I’m just as good as Aban if you give me a chance. You let Kira work with you here on the island, and look how much she improved your herds and even brought you a treasure trove. She wouldn’t have been able to do that if she hadn’t been much smarter than any other man you could have hired. I’m not saying I’m as smart as Kira. She’s older and more experienced. But I could be, if you’d let me have the opportunity. I work hard, and all you have to do is let me try.” She reached out and grabbed his arm. “Listen to me, you need help here? If you won’t send me after Kira, let me stay here and help you catch Taylor so that he won’t have a chance to hurt her. But don’t lock me up somewhere I won’t be able to do that. You need me, even if you don’t know it yet.”

“You very seldom appear to listen to me,” Kalim said. “I’m hoping it’s only a fault of the young and foolish.” He shrugged. “But you seem to be very sincere, so I will take you at your word.”

“You won’t regret it,” Fiona said. “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

“That sounds reasonable. Do you have any suggestions, Aban?”

“She does not swim nearly as well as I do,” Aban said. “But Harlan has already said that I couldn’t go and help him.” He added reluctantly, “It seems she’s been very good with the horses in the short time she’s been here. She was even good with Sinbad. You might send her to help with the herds. That’s what Harlan said Kira would want.”

“Good. Then you take her and save me the trouble. Unless you have an objection?”

“Not if that’s what you wish,” Aban said resignedly. “You know I try to please you. But I’ve always told you herding isn’t my favorite thing, sir.”

“And he realizes I’m much better with the horses than he is.” Fiona smiled slyly. “They like me and trust me. I promise not to hurt his pride too badly. Since he’s one of your people, and I do respect you, Kalim.”

Kalim shook his head. “I believe I’ve heard enough from the both of you to last me quite a while. All I ask is that you just keep your eyes sharp and take care of my property. Understood?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he headed for his Bugatti. “Let Harlan and me worry about the rest…”

Kira looked at the four chunky black Jet Skis parked behind Taylor’s cruiser. “You do know they’re ugly as sin, right?”

“Looks aren’t everything.” Taylor scowled. “They’re much more powerful than those ridiculous underwater sleds that Harlan and Dr. Bryson built.”

“I doubt that.” Kira wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I saw your men tooling around on them this morning. Your Jet Skis appear to be about as maneuverable as a supermarket shopping cart… with a busted front wheel.”

Taylor’s face flushed with anger. “They were custom-built for me by one of the world’s finest marine manufacturers. I wanted to be ready if I needed to go after that treasure on my own.”

“Really? For ordinary marine activities, they might be adequate. But what we’re going to be doing is far from ordinary. You may have been cheated, that’s all I’m saying.” Kira turned away to keep him from seeing her smile. Now he was really pissed off. “But this is your party. I’m sure they’ll get us to the treasure eventually.”

“Are you quite finished?” he asked icily.

“I’ll have more to say when you get on them. But your men sure didn’t seem to be having too much fun. Maybe you should have consulted Harlan or Hannah Bryson before you put these things in the water. Possibly they could have helped you out.”

“Enough!” Taylor growled. “I’m sick of your snide remarks. We leave now, bitch. And you’d better lead us right to that treasure.”

“No problem. I realize what my purpose is at this party.” She boarded the sled she’d brought from that midnight drop. But she couldn’t resist one last needle. “Don’t worry—if your sorry-ass Jet Skis break down, we can always swim!”

HATHOR ISLAND

FOUR HOURS LATER

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Kalim called as he got off his horse and moved deeper into the woods. His voice became considerably more strident when Fiona didn’t answer. “Now!” he snapped as he reached the edge of the forest. “Aban told me that you’d taken Sinbad out for a training session over an hour ago. He said he’d tried to stop you and told you that Sinbad was too wild for anyone to ride but Kira. But you ignored him. I don’t believe you’ll ignore me, will you? Because I don’t have time for this nonsense at the moment, Fiona.”

“No, of course I won’t ignore you.” Fiona nudged Sinbad forward out of the forest so that she faced Kalim. Her eyes were wide with fear as she searched his expression. “Have you heard anything from Harlan? What about Kira?”

“No word yet,” Kalim said. “But Harlan will let me know as soon as there’s any news.” He added, “I didn’t need to hear this trouble about Sinbad from Aban when I’m trying to get any information I can from the villagers, Fiona. What’s it all about?”

“You told me to take care of your property, and that’s what I’ve been doing,” Fiona said. “From what Kira and Aban were saying, Sinbad appears to be one of the most valuable pieces of property that you have on your island. Anyone who wanted to damage you would choose Sinbad to do it. Just like Taylor chose Golden Boy to hurt me. I wasn’t going to let him do the same thing to you.” She stroked Sinbad’s neck as she spoke. “I tried to explain to Aban that I’d been working with Sinbad since I came here to the encampment. I thought he was ready to let me ride him. Usually all it takes is a few days for a horse to get to know me before we understand each other.” She shrugged. “He wouldn’t listen to me.” She lifted her head and met Kalim’s eyes. “And he was too afraid of you. So I thought I’d let you find out for yourself.”

“How very kind of you,” Kalim said acerbically. “Just what I needed when I’m so damn worried about keeping everything and everyone in my world safe and afloat.” He was watching with amazement as she stroked Sinbad. “He’s not displaying even a sign of wildness around you,” he murmured. “Kira said you were magic with horses.”

“Because I love them,” Fiona said simply. “And how could I help but love Sinbad? Just look at him. He’s absolutely beautiful. His coat shines like ebony. He’s bigger and stronger than most horses that are considered to have Arabian blood, and his eyes are large and they positively glow with intelligence. He’s already learned so much in this short time we’ve been training together. And the way he moves… Kira would understand all that because she loves him, too. Though she loves all animals. You know that because you’ve seen her work with them.” She paused. “I want her back, Kalim. We have to make it happen.”

“We will,” Kalim said gently. “And she’s one strong woman. She’ll be out there somewhere helping us.”

“But how can I help?” Fiona asked. “I thought if I hid Sinbad in the forest here, none of Taylor’s men would be able to find him.”