Part 17 (1/2)

Without seeming to rush him, Hazel extricated him from the circle of his fellow directors and drove him back to the ranch in her Maserati.

'It's terrible!' she lamented as soon as they were on the highway. 'I just never seem to have you alone to talk to. I haven't even told you about my trip to Was.h.i.+ngton. I saw the President. I told him that I had paid a ransom for Cayla's release. He tut-tutted and gave me a lecture on dealing with terrorists. Then he told me how happy he was for me and Cayla. Obviously he was relieved to have me off his back.'

'Didn't he want to know who the villains were?'

'Of course. Roberts and a gang of heavyweights from the CIA grilled me. But I told them that the negotiations had been done by telephone. The payment was made electronically. I knew nothing.'

'Did they believe you?'

'Probably not. But they didn't torture me to get the truth.'

'They're brave, but not stupid. They know a tough cookie when they meet one,' Hector laughed.

When she parked in the underground garage she consulted her watch.

'You ran over time at the meeting. We have just an hour and forty minutes before we must leave for the country club,' she warned him. 'I want to introduce you to some of the people who really matter in Texas.'

'So, we have just enough time for a little bit of TLC. What do you think?' he asked her seriously.

'You are really terrible, Hector Cross,' she told him sternly. 'Well, okay then. I suppose we can always find time for a little bit of that.' She grabbed his hand and they ran to the private elevator that took them up to the bedroom wing. An hour later he was waiting for her in their sitting room when she emerged from her dressing room. They stood at opposite ends of the room and looked at each other in awe.

'Not bad.' She gave her opinion at last. 'Not bad at all.'

'Turn around!' he ordered and she pirouetted for him, the skirts of her ball gown billowing out around her long athletic legs. Her feet were clad in diamante-encrusted black velvet slippers.

'I am trying to find the words to describe your beauty,' he said, 'but it's ineffable. All I can say is that you are the loveliest woman on this earth.'

'I'll accept that,' she said, laughing.

'But hold on!' His expression changed. 'Aren't those the Barbara Hutton diamonds that you're wearing?' She nodded and laughed again.

'Of course, my darling. Only the very best for my man.' He looked mystified.

'But ... but ...' he protested, 'you lost that necklace when the Amorous Dolphin Amorous Dolphin went down.' She shook her head, still smiling at his confusion. went down.' She shook her head, still smiling at his confusion.

'That necklace was a replica.'

'A replica?' He was stunned. 'What about the one you're wearing now. Is that the original?'

'Of course not. The original is in a bank vault in Switzerland. Do you have any idea what the insurance premiums would be on it if I wore the original on every odd occasion that I went shopping in the mall or dancing at the club?' His eyes left her face and darted to the Gauguin painting on the wall behind her. It was a magnificent Tahitian landscape, with naked island women in the foreground swimming in a blue river pool.

'What is the insurance premium on that one?' She turned to see what he was looking at, and she smiled again.

'Oh, it isn't worth insuring.'

'It's another fake?'

'Fake is too pejorative a word. Let's rather say it's a representation of the original, which is in a secure vault in London wherein the temperature, humidity and exposure to light are all strictly controlled.'

'What about those paintings that disappeared with the Amorous Dolphin Amorous Dolphin ... ?' ... ?'

'Yes, indeed. Those were also representations. Apart from the danger of theft, imagine the damage that a constantly changing maritime climate could wreak on such fragile pieces. All my copying is done for me by a gifted husband-and-wife team in Tel Aviv whose work is almost indistinguishable from the real thing. At the very first opportunity I intend to take you to view the originals. You will be the only one who has ever had that privilege, apart from Henry and me.'

He burst out in delighted laughter. 'You are a cunning vixen, Hazel my heart!'

'You don't know the half of it. However, that's enough chit-chat for now. Take me dancing, please.' She paused, and then went on diffidently, 'I thought we might take Cayla with us. I don't want to leave her alone yet.'

'What a splendid idea. I'll be escorting the two loveliest girls in Texas, no less.'

Sat.u.r.day night and the club was full, every seat in the bar and every table in the dining room taken. Hazel knew everyone. At her side Hector moved easily through the throng, charming the ladies of all ages, and impressing the men with his forthright manner and his straight sensible talking. He and Hazel had never danced together before, but they were both natural athletes and they adjusted to each other effortlessly. Most eyes were upon them as they glided around the floor.

A little before midnight she led Hector out onto the terrace. 'Darling, Cayla has not danced all evening. Some of the nicest boys in all the state of Texas are here. She hasn't looked at one of them. I want to have a chat to Sarah Longworth. Be a darling and take Cayla onto the floor, won't you? Try to get her to enjoy herself.'

'Okay, I'll see what I can do.'

Cayla accepted his invitation to dance with alacrity. 'Thank you for saving my life again, Heck. I was shrivelling up with boredom.'

Once they were on the floor he discovered that she was as supple and light on her feet as her mother, but she was still so thin that her collarbones were standing out, and he could feel her ribs under the bodice of her Tom Ford gown. Even the professionally applied makeup could not disguise her pallor. He could see the blue shades of pain deep in her lovely eyes.

'There are some good-looking boys here tonight. I saw more than one of them trying to charm you into a dance. What's up?' he asked her.

'I am off boys. All except for you of course, Heck. For your ears only, I am seriously considering becoming a lesbian, only I don't know how to get started.'

'Don't look to me for guidance.' He laughed. 'It sounds like fun, but I have never tried it.'

'Aren't you shocked by the idea? I hoped you might be.'

'I know that's what you hoped. But it didn't work. I am getting to know your wicked ways well enough.'

'Then let's drop the subject of my s.e.xual orientation, shall we? Did you know that Mummy has promised to take you and me up to the Colorado ranch this coming weekend?'

'I am looking forward to it.'

'I know you're going to love it there. We've got horses in the paddocks, moose and bear in the forest and enormous rainbow trout in the lake. Of course, best of all, that's where Daddy is.' She spoke of her father as though he were still alive. He wasn't sure if that was healthy, so he did not follow up on the remark.

'Tell me about the trout fis.h.i.+ng. Is it catch and release?'

'Good Lordy, no!' She was shocked. 'We eat them. Mummy and I are true hunter gatherers.'

'But you catch them on the fly?'

'Of course we do, we're not total barbarians. I'm the family casting champion. How about you? Can you cast a fly?'

'I don't have much of a clue,' Hector admitted. 'You'll have to give me lessons.'

On the flight into Steam Boat Springs airport they diverted to overfly the Bannock Ranch. All three of them crowded together at one window to peer down at the magnificent wilderness of snow-clad mountains, green forests, sparkling rivers and lakes. Hazel pointed out the boundaries.