Part 18 (1/2)

”Isn't it lovely? Perry found it in a Maya tomb. He told me wonderful stories abouta””

”How thoughtful of Perry,” Liam interrupted. ”Unfortunately, I'm not staying.” He freed his arm from Caroline's hold. ”I'll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, Perry will be coming with me, and I want you to go upstairs to your aunt. Is that clear?”

She pouted. She was very good at it; it would have worked on most men. ”But Perry has only just arriveda””

”His visit is at an end,” Liam said. He strode back to the door and signaled to Biggs, who waited just outside. ”Biggs, see that Miss Gresham goes upstairs and remains there.”

The butler bowed to Caroline. She cast Liam a look halfway between tears and outrage and flounced away, Biggs at her heels.

”That wasn't well done of you, old man,” Perry remarked. ”Somewhat boorish, at best, considering your abrupt entrance.”

Liam turned and met Perry's gaze. ”Worried?” he asked, advancing on the Englishman. ”Can't hide behind her skirts now, can you?” He wanted to charge at Perry, wipe the smirk off that pale, handsome face. But there were better ways of going about thisa”much better ways.

Perry retreated a step and stopped, raising his hands in appeas.e.m.e.nt. ”I'm not hiding. I know why you're here. But this is hardly the place toa hold the discussion you have in mind.”

”You're right. That's why you're coming with me. There's someone I want you to meet. Someone I found in the jungle.”

Perry didn't react beyond the lifting of one well-groomed brow. ”In your present mood, old man, I doubt you'll do well at introductions.”

”In my present mood I have very little patience for your games. Either you come with me now, or I go upstairs and tell Caroline how you betrayed me in the jungle.”

”You wouldn't do that.”

”No? You made certain to be with Caroline, alone, when I wasn't here to prevent it. Unfortunately for you, I've returned, and I decide whether you ever see Caroline again.”

The easy indifference left Perry's expression. ”You don't have that much power. She's not your propertya””

”Don't underestimate me, Perry. You failed the last time.”

”Did I, old man?”

Liam bared his teeth. ”The proof stands before you.”

But Perry didn't take the bait. He was utterly coldblooded, relaxed, and elegant in his movements as he retrieved his hat and cane from the hall stand. He let Liam maneuver him out the front door and to the waiting brougham, revealing not so much as a single uneasy gesture to betray his guilt.

The air in the carriage was as thick with tension as the Bay with fog in high summer. Liam directed the driver back to the Palace, mollifying his banked rage with a long, hard stare at Perry's impa.s.sive face. It was Perry who broke the silence first.

”If it's an apology you want, old man, I'll be happy to give it,” he said, s.h.i.+fting his cane between his hands. ”I admit what I did in the jungle was hardly honorable.”

Hardly honorable? Liam almost laughed aloud. Was it so easy for Perry to dismiss an attempted murder? Or was it possible he thought Liam didn't know who was behind it?

”I should never have abandoned you as I did,” Perry went on slowly. ”I was angry, and not thinking clearly. I knew you could reach the nearest village with the provisions I left you, buta””

”Save your apologies,” Liam snapped, ”until you've met my friend. You may find that things turned out a little differently than you expected.”

The carriage door opened. ”The Palace Hotel, gentlemen,” the driver announced. Perry hesitated, gazing up at the towering bay windows.

”No need to be afraid, Perry,” Liam said behind him. ”If I wanted you shanghaied, I wouldn't have brought you here.”

Perry alighted, and Liam took his arm as companionably as if they were still the close friends they'd once been. They walked through the Grand Court and to the elevators; Perry hid it well, but Liam felt his tension.

Liam's own tension mounted as they stopped before the door to Mac's room.

Now he would know. Now he'd be sure how much Mac was tangled up in all this. He wondered why he wanted her exoneration.

But the h.e.l.l of it was that he did.

He nodded to the hotel employee he'd set to guard Mac's door, gesturing the man discreetly out of the way, and knocked.

The door cracked open an inch. A familiar brown eye peered through the slit, blinked, and vanished. The door swung wide to reveal Mac in her s.h.i.+rt and trousers, her expression caught between a foolish grin and the threat of an imminent tirade.

But Liam wasn't watching Mac. He examined Perry's face, waiting for the first shock of recognition.

”Miss MacKenzie,” Liam said, ”may I present my colleague and partner in adventure, Mr. Peregrine Sinclair.”

Mac hadn't known what to expect, but this had been pretty far down on her list of likely occurrences.

She should have seen it coming. Liam had kept her prisoner here, making sure she didn't run away if she, Perry's partner in crime, decided that she'd be better off gone than stuck waiting for the inevitable confrontation.

The confrontation that was about to take place.

Perry walked in first, giving Mac an all-too-brief moment to study the man who stood at the eye of the coming storm.

Peregrine Sinclair.

Mac locked her knees and ordered herself to stay firmly on her feet. She would have liked nothing better than to indulge in a few blessed seconds of incredulity, awe, and general stupefaction. She was standing in a hotel room in 1884 with her own great-great-grandfather, for G.o.d's sake. She had known this moment would come, but the reality was a little more overwhelming than she'd antic.i.p.ated.

Perry's thin, handsome features were marked with the unmistakable Sinclair stamp. He was young and alert and bore all the elegance of born-and-bred aristocracy, from his neat tie and flawlessly trimmed mustache to his highly polished shoes and bra.s.s-headed walking cane. He was, in fact, the perfect image of a Victorian gentleman.

He was also either a man without a heart, utterly unscrupulous and ruthless in pursuit of his goalsa”or a relatively innocent party to a nasty misunderstanding. And Liam, just behind him, was watching Mac's face keenly.

”Miss MacKenzie,” Perry said, doffing his hat. His hair, like Mac's, was nearly black, and his brown eyes were watchful. ”I haven't had the pleasure.”

His accent was properly British and softly precise. He looked Mac over, taking in her jeans and s.h.i.+rt and short hair with a calculation that left nothing unremarked.

”I'm, uh, pleased to meet you,” Mac said, offering her hand. Perry took it, his clasp warm and firm.

Liam pushed pa.s.sed him into the room and shut the door. ”Not quite the tender reunion I'd expected,” he said caustically.

Perry released her hand and looked at Liam. ”Now that we're here, may I ask what this is all about?”

Liam's eyes were dark as slate, and the muscles in his jaw bunched and released. ”So the game continues, Perry?”

”Perhaps if you'd clarify the rules,” Perry said. ”I gather I'm supposed to know this young lady?”