Twice A Hero Part 19

What should she say when Liam came back? She could tell him straight out why he couldn't marry Caroline. But of course that was ridiculous. He'd only think her even more crazy.

Or she could appeal to Perry. She'd been honest with Liam; she didn't believe Perry was a murderer. Maybe if she could meet Caroline as well, some incredibly effective plan would pop into her heada She'd be d.a.m.ned if she'd wait around for that to happen. She jumped up, strode to the door and opened it. Liam wasn't there, of course, to receive a piece of her mind.

But neither was the bruiser he'd left on guard. She took a cautious step into the hallway. No one by the bal.u.s.trade, ora"

"Miss MacKenzie?"

She started, turned sharply and found herself looking into a pair of keen brown eyes. Peregrine Sinclair stood beside her door, hat in hand, his demeanor as unruffled as if he'd just arrived on a social call.

Or as if he'd read her mind.

Chapter Twelve.

Time is that wherein there is opportunity, And opportunity is that wherein there is no great time.

a"HIPPOCRATES "WHERE'S LIAM?" MAC demanded.

"He'll be gone for some time, I believe," Perry said, swinging his cane with perfect nonchalance. "When I was waiting for a hack I saw him receive what appeared to be an urgent message. He left several minutes ago."

"But you didn't leave," she said.

"As far as Liam is concerned, I did," he said. "I made certain of it. And as for the guard Liam placed on your room, he's also otherwise engaged. I don't expect him to return for an hour, at least."

Otherwise engaged? Mac peered over Perry's shoulder. "Why did you come back?"

He shrugged. "Call it a hunch, Miss MacKenzie. A hunch that we might perhaps be useful to one another in some small capacity."

Interesting. Sinclairs, it seemed, thought alike.

She held open the door. "Come in."

He smiled, a faint quirk of his lips, and complied. After an awkward moment she realized he was waiting for an invitation to sit, and she gestured him toward the two chairs by the fireplace. He waited for her to seat herself first, then set his hat in his lap and hung the cane on the chair's arm.

"Where shall we begin, Miss MacKenzie?" he asked. "We've had little more than an introduction, and that under less than pleasant circ.u.mstances."

Mac did her best to match his composure. "Liam mentioned youa a few times in the jungle."

"And not favorably," he said. "How awkward it must have been for you to be drawn into the net of his suspicion." He leaned forward, studying her face. "It's clear you know each other rather well."

Mac fortified herself with a deep breath. Here goes. "Yes. We met in the jungle, as he said. And we traveled together from the Petn to San Francisco."

He raised a brow. "Were you his prisoner, Miss MacKenzie?"

"No. I didn't even realize how little he trusted me until we arrived here."

"Ah. I confess to being very interested in what happened in the jungle to convince Liam I tried to have him killeda"and what part you played in it. Not to mention how you came to be in the jungle alone when Liam was there. It must be a fascinating tale."

Fascinating, yes. But not one she was prepared to let him in on just yet.

"I'll try to be brief," she said, inventing quickly. "My name is Rose MacKenzie. I'm the daughter of Hector MacKenzie, an explorer and missionary in Central America. My father recently died, and I was left with little money in a small village in Guatemala. I was trying to make my way to the port when Liam found me."

"An explorer's daughter," he repeated. "Liam does have a certain rough gallantry that would lead him to rescue a maiden in distress."

Rough gallantry. That was one way of putting it. "Yes. But there was some rather bad timing involved. You seea"

And she proceeded to explain, in calm, efficient words that she hoped were convincing, how she'd been with Liam less than a day when the guerrillas had attacked, how he'd been wounded, and how he'd behaved when she found the watch at the site of the a.s.sault.

"My loss of that watch caused a good deal of trouble," Perry said. "But there's one thing I still do not understand. Your presence did prevent his death, and you brought him the watch. This hardly accounts for his suspicion." He searched her eyes. "He did mention a photograph."

So Perry hadn't missed that. "Urn, I did have a photograph. Of you and Liam."

His gaze sharpened. "Indeed."

"Well, before my father died, we did a great deal of traveling. We'd heard, of course, of the famous exploring team of Sinclair and O'Shea, and, um, we ran across a native who had this photographa"

Perry leaned back, tapping the brim of his hat. "A native. How very interesting. Go on, Miss MacKenzie."

"I, um, asked Father to buy it. I had it with me when Liam found me, and he was sure it was the same one you had in San Francisco."

"May I see this photograph?"

In for a penny, in for a pound. Mac went to the dressing table and pulled out her backpack, keeping her body between it and Great-great-grandpa. When she put the photo in Perry's hand, he sat up very straight.

"I begin to understand," he said, turning the battered photograph in his hands. "I remember when this was taken, and to my knowledge only one was made. It appears I was wrong." He returned the photo to her with obvious reluctance. "So when he found you with this following our argument, and then the business with the guerrilla attack and the watcha"ah, Liam." He shook his head, swift speculation moving behind his eyes. "Even he has enough sense to realize now that his suspicions were unfounded."

I hope you're right, Great-great-grandpa. Mac put the photo away, pausing by the dressing table to breathe out a long sigh of relief. Perry seemed to accept her story, however improbable it was. Maybe this was going to go her waya"

"Nevertheless, Miss MacKenzie," Perry said, "there's something you aren't telling me."

Mac braced herself and turned. "Oh?"

"You must be quite a remarkable woman to arouse such strong feelings in Liam. That he suspects any female capable of working against him is amazing, yet you made him believe it. You traveled with him and apparently held your own. How was that possible?"

What she needed now was sheer bravado. "Do you also think women are such ineffectual creatures, Mr. Sinclair?"

"To the contrary." He got to his feet, setting his hat behind him. "But I know Liam. I can think of only one situation that might account for your peculiar relations.h.i.+p, Miss MacKenzie. How long have you and Liam been lovers?"

IF SHE WAS startled by his frankness, she didn't show it.

Indeed, Perry doubted he would have been surprised by anything Miss MacKenzie did or said. He had learned long ago to be a swift judge of people, and his first glimpse of her told him just how unusual a woman she must be.

The girl was an oddity. She wore pants that molded her slender legs, an oversized s.h.i.+rt, and boots like a man from a mining camp. She was pretty in an unpolished way, but not exactly beautiful, and certainly no lady. Her dark hair was cropped short and uncurled. Her wide, dark eyes were those of an innocent, but her very presence here made such innocence impossible.

Perry had seldom seen Liam fraternizing with women of any sort, even on expedition, though he knew Liam was no celibate. Liam was always courteous with the ladies, in his rough way, but his deeper feelings for the gentler s.e.x remained a mystery.

All that had changed, if what Perry suspected was true. For some reason this Miss MacKenzie, with her unlikely stories, had a profound effect on Liam. Perry had seen them together only for a few moments, but that had been enough. The girl aroused Liam's strong protective instinctsa"instincts he had heretofore focused almost entirely on Caroline.

Very promising, indeed.

"Well, Miss MacKenzie?" Perry prompted softly.

She sat down, her face a little paler than it had been a moment before. "Yes," she said. "We were lovers." There was that slight hitch in her voice, a hesitation that Perry suspected had little to do with any maidenly modesty.

"And yet he didn't entirely trust you," Perry mused. "You said you were not his prisoner. You came here voluntarily, did you not?"

"Yes."

"And was this because he offered to help you, or for some more personal reason?"

She looked up. Oh, yes, she understood him.

"I needed his help," she said. "But it became more than that. For both of us."

"And yet, lovers or not, he deceived you when he brought you here as a trap for me."

"He believed he had his reasons."

The stiffness of her words didn't disguise her emotions. Perry sat down again, studying her face. "You may be justifiably annoyed, Miss MacKenzie. But you still havea some affection for Liam."

Only the expression in her eyes confirmed his guess, but it was enough. "I see," he said. "And what does Liam intend now? He set a guard on your door. What are his plans for you?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "There's a lot about Liam that I don't understand yet. He told me very little about Caroline when we were together, but he did make his plans very clear. You accused Liam of not caring about her, and he accused you of being a fortune hunter." Her gaze held quiet challenge. "Maybe you can explain this relations.h.i.+p to me, Mr. Sinclair."

"It's simple enough. Miss Gresham is Liam's ward, and has been since her father's death. He gave Gresham an oath to protect and care for her."

"Did he promise to marry her as well?"

"I don't know." Perry stared down at his hands. "He is determined to shelter her from the world, even if he drives all the joy from her life and crushes her spirit."

"Because he wants to protect her from you?"

"It was he who introduced Caroline to me shortly after she returned from her European finis.h.i.+ng school six months ago. But when I began to care for her, his att.i.tude toward me changed. During this last expeditiona"

"Are you a fortune hunter, Mr. Sinclair?"

He laughed at the bluntness of her question. "I am not. But I'm unlikely to convince Liam otherwise."

"But you're certain he doesn't love her."

"I have never been so sure of anything in my life."

"And you do."

"Yes. I know how terrible marriage is without love. I can't let that happen to Caroline, Miss MacKenzie."

"And how does Caroline feel? Does she love Liam?"

Perry deliberately unfolded his hands. "She has known him since childhood, years before her father died. Her habit of obedience to him is strong. She is too young, too naive to understand how Liam could destroy her chances of happiness."

"But she feels something for you."

"I believe she does. And she needs time to make the right decision. Time Liam doesn't intend to give her."

Miss MacKenzie stood and paced to the door and back again, gnawing her lower lip. "You came here hinting that we might a.s.sist one another, Mr. Sinclair. I know what you want, and maybe I can help you."

Perry rose to meet her. "The question is what you want, Miss MacKenzie, and what you'll do to get it."

"I want Liam."

"Why?"

"Ia think I understand at least one thing about him," she said slowly. "I'm not the kind of woman who needs to be sheltered and protected, and Liam isn't the kind of man who can live that way."

"I see that you do know him, Miss MacKenzie. You must also be aware that he is very rich."

The girl did have pride. She glowered at him. "Are you accusing me of being a fortune hunter? Maybe you should give me the same benefit of the doubt I'm giving you."

"Ah. Then you love him."

The uneasy flicker of her eyes prepared him for prevarication, but in the end she surprised him yet again. "I also need time, Mr. Sinclair."

"And time is the crux of the matter, is it not?"

She gave him an odd look and shook her head, as if to clear it. "Liam said something about two weeks."

"Caroline's birthday. I believe Liam has deliberately been waiting to ask her to marry him until that daya"the day when her fortune becomes her own."

"Isn't that a bit risky with another suitor in the wings?"

"It would seem so, wouldn't it? Why would he put it off, Miss MacKenzie? The possible answer to that question gives me hope that we have a fighting chance."