Chapter Twenty-Three

"Take the handcuffs off her, Danley," Andreas said. "And I want her in the limo with me."

"I wouldn't advise you to-"

"I think I can protect myself from her." His arms tightened around Cassie. "And I doubt she's any danger to my daughter. You told me yourself that her first move was to try to save Cassie."

"That might have been a clever act on her part to-"

"Put her in the car, Danley."

"Yes, sir." He reluctantly unlocked the cuffs and opened the door.

Melissa got into the limousine.

"Your neck is scratched," Andreas told her. "It's bleeding a little. There's a tissue in the holder." He wrapped Cassie more tightly in the blanket. "Sorry, told them not to hurt you."

"Why?"

"It was part of the deal." He took out his phone, if you'll excuse me, I have to call my wife." He dialed the number. "Cassie's safe. Perfectly safe. Yes, I'm sure. She's not been hurt. I love you too. I'll call you later."

"What deal?" Melissa asked when he hung up.

"Michael Travis. He called and told me where you and Cassie were."

Betrayal. She shouldn't be this shocked. She should have known when she'd seen no sign of Travis or Galen while she'd been dragged from the house.

"And the deal?"

"Amnesty for you. You're not to be prosecuted for kidnapping or any other crime. You're to be kept in custody for forty-eight hours and then released."

"And for Travis?"

"He's an intelligent man. He knows I'm ready to cut his throat. The deal was entirely for you. He was very persuasive, and I had little choice when he told me this Deschamps knew where you all were and could come after Cassie at any minute. He said he would phone me right before he left with the Wind Dancer and we had to charge in before Deschamps."

Who had followed her and Travis to the cottage, she realized in disgust. My God, why hadn't she put two and two together? If she'd been leading with her head instead of her emotions, she'd have figured out what had been evident to Travis. All that time he and Galen had spent on the beach…"Did you search the area?"

"Of course. I'd have been delighted to find either Travis or Deschamps."

"It's Deschamps you want. He's the one who staged the Vasaro attack."

"I want them both. But I've had a report on Deschamps since Travis called me, and that bastard may be marginally worse."

"He's a monster. Ask Cassie."

"Unfortunately, she won't answer." He looked down at his daughter." Is it true Cassie's not having the nightmares any longer?"

She nodded. "It's early days, but I think they may be gone."

"I'll pray you're right." He looked down at his daughter. "I wanted to kill your sister that day Cassie was taken."

She flinched. "Someone else did it for you."

"I know." He paused. "I sent her body back to Virginia. It was difficult for me to believe that she was an accomplice."

"She wasn't. Leaving Juniper just seemed better for Cassie at the time." Her chin lifted. "And she was right. Cassie is much better now. If she'd stayed at the house, she might have been lost forever, or one of those bouts of hysteria could have killed her."

"I'm supposed to be grateful?"

"Hell, yes."

"She put Cassie in jeopardy."

"And she gave her life for your daughter."

He was silent. "Just as you were prepared to die for her in the cottage today."

"My reaction was pure instinct. If Jessica had known she was going to die, I believe she would have gone to the museum to see the Wind Dancer anyway. She thought she had a chance of bringing Cassie back. She almost pulled it off."

"So Travis told me." He looked down again at Cassie. "How close was she?"

"Very close."

"She asked me to take Cassie back to Vasaro. I refused."

"You should have done it."

"Hindsight. But you'll be glad to know your sister is getting her way."

"What?"

"That's where we're going. We'll stay for two days and you're going to be my guest."

"Why?"

"Didn't you just tell me that it's best for Cassie?"

She studied him. "But why now? I'd think you'd want to rush her back to the States to her mother."

"I have to stay here for another couple of days, and I don't want to let her out of my sight. I'm not about to rely on anyone else to make sure she's safe. You can understand that."

"Yes." But Andreas wasn't telling her everything. "You evidently had this arrangement in place before-"

"No statue, Mr. President." Danley had opened the door. "We tore the place apart."

"I didn't think it would be there. I just had to make sure Travis really had it with him. Tell the driver to go on."

"You were looking for the Wind Dancer/' Melissa said as the car started. "I should tell you Travis didn't want to take it from the museum. He said you'd raise all kinds of hell to get it back. I made him do it."

"Why?"

"Deschamps had just killed my sister and he wanted the statue. I wanted to use it as bait."

"Then Travis definitely must have come around to your way of thinking," he said grimly. "Please stop trying to defend him. Stealing the Wind Dancer is the least of his crimes."

"He didn't hurt Cassie."

"He put her in jeopardy." He added coldly, "And I intend to see him punished."

She wearily leaned back in the seat. Why was she trying to save Travis when she was so angry with him? He had tricked her and was now trying to tie her hands. "Okay, do what you like. But it's best if you don't talk about it in front of Cassie. He's still her hero."

He frowned. "Do you think she's awake now?"

"I know she is. She's listening to everything we say."

"How do you know?"

Evidently, Travis had not told Andreas of the link between Melissa and Cassie, and she wasn't about to do it. Credibility was of the essence. All she needed was for him to think she had a screw loose. " I've been with her almost constantly since we left Juniper. I can tell."

He stroked Cassie's cheek and his voice softened to velvet. "I love you, baby. I'm going to take you home soon. Will you like that? Won't you speak to me? No? That's okay. Maybe later." He cleared his throat as he looked up at Melissa. "But you've succeeded in getting her to talk?"

She frowned. "Where did you get that idea? No, we haven't gotten that far."

"Danley said she screamed your name."

Her eyes widened. "She did? She actually said my name?"

"Screamed it."

"Thank God." She could feel the tears stinging her eyes. "Then maybe I shouldn't be so mad at Travis after all. It might have taken weeks to get to that point if Cassie hadn't been frightened." She added deliberately, "And maybe you shouldn't be either."

"I'll think about it…later."

Now that she'd warned him, he was not about to upset his Cassie. But that didn't mean he was softening. Andreas was difficult to read, and she was aware of a multitude of undercurrents both in him and the situation. Well, if she had to work her way through them, she'd better begin. There was more going on than Andreas had said. One thing he had thrown out had set off a small flare. Concentrate on that first.

Why were they going to Vasaro?

From Travis's helicopter the limousine and official cars looked like a giant snake as they wound their way to the highway that led to Vasaro.

Galen gave a low whistle. "Andreas brought enough firepower for a battalion."

"He's not about to let Cassie be taken from him again." Travis's gaze shifted to the boat in the harbor that had pulled up anchor and was starting to move. "There goes Deschamps. He's probably gnashing his teeth right now because he didn't go into the cottage and grab the statue when he had a chance." He flipped him the finger. "Screw you, bastard."