On the Hunt - Page 83

“I could name a few, though I’m not sure they’d want to embrace the idea of that Titanoboa cerrejonensis.”

“See? You’re stuck with me.”

“And that document I was supposed to sign was nothing official, it only had to do with the professors?”

“Well, I didn’t want Belson to spoil the surprise. The professors did want reports from you about what happened during the encounter.” He started nudging her away. “I told Belson that he should take this plane and run interference with Kalim for the next few weeks.” He was leading her toward his Gulfstream. “We’ll need to take the larger Gulfstream so that we can get back to Summer Island with all possible comfort and speed. Who knows? We might even decide to take a few side trips.”

“Why? I just came from there. Now you want me to go back?”

“Well, you’re here because I didn’t know if I could get everything done that I had to; I thought I might have to take you somewhere else to give you the surprise. But I should have had more faith in myself. It was close, but I came in under the wire. So now we can go back to that place you’ve always loved, and for the next few weeks, we’ll sleep under the stars and talk and then make love and maybe even discuss those next fifty years. I don’t want to be pushy, but I’ve always been one to advocate advance planning on any project. And this project is particularly important to me. If I do it wrong, it might even be a career breaker.”

She laughed. “And we wouldn’t want that to happen when you’ve had such a promising career so far. Too bad it’s all in the past. But I’ll be happy to cooperate with reviving it.” Dear God, how she loved him! She held out her hand. “But first we have to go see Kalim and make arrangements for him to receive those professors in his fine castle if they arrive before we get back.”

“That’s all taken care of.” He smiled. “I told you that I’ve been busy. I’ve also talked to Fiona and told her that she’s to run this island, even and including Kalim, during the next few weeks while we’re gone. Because you need a vacation before we start a new life after what you’ve gone through, and I’m going to see that you get one.” He took her hand. She was delighted to cooperate. Why shouldn’t she be?

She chuckled. “You think she can handle Kalim?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. I told her once that she was following in your footsteps. She liked the idea. Now stop questioning and let them work it out.”

“Oh, I have every intention of doing that.” Kira was grinning mischievously. “Because Fiona and I had a good many talks while we were working together in the hills during the time when you and Kalim were so busy ridding the world of Taylor’s dirty crew.”

“You did?” Harlan asked cautiously. “I’m almost afraid to ask the subject.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Kira said. “Fiona and I both care enormously about you, and we’re very fond of Kalim. We decided it would be fairly easy to persuade you to go along with whatever we need. But Kalim could be more difficult, and we might have to bring you into it occasionally.”

“For instance?”

“Kalim isn’t going fast enough to allow more freedom to the women on the island. We’ll have to push him to speed it up.”

He chuckled. “And that’s my task?”

“Our task,” Kira said softly. “And Fiona has a lot of ideas about combining her stable with Kalim’s, which would allow them to be trained together. Can you imagine what a stunning and innovative group they’ll be? What we could do with them?”

“I can see why the two of you would think so.” He nodded. “It’s a wonderful vision. Do you have anything else in store for us?”

“Yes, but I thought we could break it to you gently.”

“I’m not sure that I shouldn’t be making a list to prepare myself for what’s to come,” he said ruefully. “You appear to have a lot of surprises on the horizon.”

“But a surprise is usually just a question mark, isn’t it? And you like me to question. Isn’t that what you told me?” She was already climbing the steps of the Gulfstream. “But this time, maybe I’ll relax and let you answer a few of them. Remember? I kept telling you it was always better together! Every day and every way. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to demonstrate that concept this week at Summer Island. Perhaps I’ll even have Sarah and John stop by and give us a few lessons based on their years of experience.” Her eyes were twinkling and she was smiling teasingly. “What do you think, Harlan?”

He chuckled. “That you’d better be kidding. I respect Sarah and John enormously but they’re individuals living their own individual lives. We don’t need lessons. It will be more exciting discovering everything on our own, including the surprises.” He was starting the engines. “I believe we can create our own story and do a fantastic job of it.” He reached over and fastened her seat belt as he smiled at her. “This is only the beginning!”