White Mountain (37 page)

“My feet are killing me,” she muttered.
 
“What a day this has been.”
 
Then she looked up, aware that the uncles were staring at her.
 
“What?”

“Nothing,” David said quickly, and gave her a smile.
 
“What are you having for dinner?”

“Trout with steamed asparagus tips.”

“So am I,” Thomas said.

She leaned over and patted his hand, then brushed a wayward strand of white hair away from his forehead.

“We always did like the same things, didn’t we, Uncle Thomas?”

He beamed, pleased by her attention and the fact that they shared something so common as their taste in food.

“Yes, we did.
 
Remember how you used to crawl up in my lap and dig through my coat pockets for my M&M’s?”

Isabella chuckled.
 
“Those were mine all along.
 
You just pretended they were yours to hear me squeal.”

They laughed aloud, and the moment passed.
 
A few minutes later their food began to arrive and the banter between the men increased.
 
A lump came up in Isabella’s throat as she watched them.
 
They were so dear to her heart.
 
How could she confront them without hurting their feelings?

“Isabella?”

“Hmm?
 
What?
 
I’m sorry, Uncle John, what did you say?”

He pointed.
 
“The pepper.
 
Would you please pass the pepper?”

“Oh.
 
Sure.”

She handed it over, then looked past the diners to the French doors that led to the terrace.
 
It was almost dark.
 
Jack had gone with the search team earlier.
 
She wondered when he would come back.

“Isabella, isn’t you trout to your liking?” David asked.

Startled by the question, she dropped the bite of trout on her fork back onto the plate.

“If I answer your question, will you answer one of mine?” she fired back.

David felt himself pale but managed to smile.

“Why, darling…if I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were angry with us.”

She took a deep breath.
 
Just say it.
 
“I don’t think ‘angry’ is the right word,” she said.
 
“But I
am
upset.”

“Why?” Thomas asked.
 
“What have we done?”

David glared at his old friend.
 
His wording left them open to all kinds of questions, none of which he wanted to address.

“I don’t know,” she said.
 
“And that’s the trouble.
 
I think you’re keeping something from me, and you know it’s not fair.”

“What on earth makes you say that?” Jasper asked.
 
“you know you mean the world to us all.”

“Jack Dolan has a picture.”

David’s heart skipped a beat.

“What kind of a picture, darling?”

“It’s an old picture, taken in the early seventies, I believe.
 
It’s of seven men in business suits in the act of boarding a plane.
 
There’s also a woman, but you can’t see her face, and two pilots.
 
They’re just going up the ramp.”

She heard a quick intake of breath from one of the men to her right, but she wouldn’t take her gaze from David.

“I didn’t recognize all of them, but one of the men is Daddy, so I’m guessing the woman is my mother.
 
I also recognized Uncle Frank.
 
And, Uncle David, I think you’re in the picture, too.”

David frowned, pretending to test his memory, although it wasn’t necessary.
 
He knew damn well what picture she was referring to.
 
It was the last time he’d been called Anton Spicer.

“My problem is, Jack has a picture of my family and he won’t tell me why.
 
I know it has something to do with Uncle Frank’s murder and with what’s happening now.
 
That’s why I’m upset.
 
Now finish you food before it gets cold.
 
The cook made peach cobbler for dessert, and I know it’s your favorite.”

David nodded.
 
“That it is,” he said.
 
“That it is.”

They resumed their meal, but the atmosphere at the table was no longer light and cheery.

Isabella wanted to cry.
 
Instead, she took another piece of fish and popped it into her mouth, forcing herself to chew and swallow, although it was suddenly tasteless.
 
She made herself find a topic of discussion that wouldn’t cause them any more pain.

“So, Uncle David…I understand the Silvia family will be leaving tomorrow.
 
How did her procedure go?”

Glad to have something else to talk about, David nodded and smile.

“It went well, I think, although you know how risky these things are.
 
Only time and God will tell.
 
And I think they’ve already checked out.”

“Really?
 
Well, I hope for her sake it’s successful,” Isabella said.
 
“I’ve never seen a woman so desperate for a child.”

David nodded, then pointed at Jasper.
 
“Would you please pass the bread?” he asked.

Jasper passed the basket of rolls and their meal progressed.
 
It wasn’t until they were finishing dessert and Isabella started to get up the David took her by the hand.

“I’m sorry you feel hurt,” he said softly.

“So am I, Uncle David.”

He looked at her closely, searching her face for signs of anger, but he saw nothing other than anxiety.

“Before you go to bed tonight, come to my room.
 
We’ll talk.”

Her eyes lit from within, and her mouth curved in a smile.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“I’ll be there.”
 
Then she bent down and kissed his forehead.
 
“Thank you, Uncle David.
 
Thank you so much.”

The moment she was out of hearing distance, the table erupted in a series of gasps and hisses.

“Have you lost your mind?” Rufus asked.

“What are you going to say?” John countered.

“You can’t tell,” Thomas argued.
 
“We promised Samuel.”

“Shut up, all of you,” Jasper said.
 
“David knows what he’s doing.”

David shook his head.
 
“I don’t know what I’m going to say, but she deserves some kind of an answer.”

“Are you going to lie to her?” Thomas asked.

David’s shoulders slumped.
 
“I’ll do what’s necessary to keep her safe.
 
We all will.
 
Is that understood?”

They nodded in agreement as the table went suddenly silent.

“This isn’t good, is it?” Rufus finally asked.

“No,” David said.
 
“And it hasn’t been for a long, long time.”

Rostov rolled to the side of the bed and sat up.
 
It was 10:15.
 
The old men would be in their rooms by now, although the dining room would still be open.
 
Plenty of time to do what he had to do and still get out undetected.

He crept through the shed and then peered through the window.
 
There was no moon, and except for the security lights at the edges of the grounds, the night was dark—perfect for what he had in mind.
 
He moved to the opposite side of the shed and looked toward White Mountain.
 
Somewhere up there, the search team had bedded down for the night.
 
A small grin tilted one corner of his mouth as he thought of them looking for him in that wilderness.
 
They could look for days for all he cared.
 
They wouldn’t find him.
 
No one found the Hawk unless he wanted to be found.

He didn’t think any guards had been left at the hotel, but it wouldn’t take him long to find out.
 
Fingering the knife at his belt and the gun in his pocket, he slipped out of the shed and disappeared into the darkness.

Jack squatted down beside Travis as another agent sat nearby, running a ground check on some aerial surveillance equipment.
 
Overhead, he could hear a circling helicopter.

“What’s he doing?” Jack asked, pointing to the man behind Travis.

“Checking to see if we’re online with the chopper above us.”

They’ve got heat-seeking radar on board.
 
It’ll give us a picture of anything warm-blooded that’s on the move.”

Jack shook his head as he stood.
 
“you better tell them I’m leaving camp so they won’t think I’m the target,” he said.

Travis frowned.
 
“You aren’t going back down this mountain in the dark?”

Jack nodded.
 
“I’m not leaving Isabella alone and I’m already later than I’d planned.
 
She’s not safe until Ross is found.”

“I’ll send a couple of my men with you.”

“No need.
 
I’ll travel faster alone.
 
Besides, you’ve got your thing to do.
 
I’ve got mine.”

Travis grinned.
 
“Damn it, Dolan, that’s not fair.
 
Yours is prettier.”

Jack ignored the taunt and shouldered his rifle.

“Remember what I said.
 
Tell the eye in the sky up there to cut me some slack.”

“Got your radio?” Travis asked.

Jack patted the two-way hooked to his belt.

“Yep, and if I see any boogers, I’ll give a yell.”

“We’ve already swept the lower east quadrant.
 
We’re starting on the upper side now.”

Jack said.
 
“With no moon and the trees so thick you can hardly see through tem, it’s not safe to be moving around up here after dark.
 
You’re not familiar with this place.
 
One wrong step and someone’s going to fall off the mountain.”

“This isn’t the first time we’ve conducted a search in the dark,” Travis said.

“Fine,” Jack said.
 
“You’re the expert on tracking.
 
Just keep me posted and let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do,” Travis said.

Jack looked back at the camp one last time, then turned on his flashlight and headed down the trail.
 
Once he left the perimeter of the search camp, he was immediately swallowed up by the forest.
 
If the path had not been so well defined, it would have been easy to get lost.

The farther he moved down the mountain, the more aware he became of the sounds above him.
 
Unless Victor Ross had suddenly gone deaf, he had to know what was happening, and if he
was
the Hawk, as they suspected, there was no way he was hiding in a hole somewhere.
 
He would be on the move and getting as far away from White Mountain as possible.

But what if he wasn’t?
 
Jack thought.
 
What if he was still willing to risk his life to get what he’d come for?
 
Suddenly anxious to talk to Isabella, he unclipped his cell phone from his belt and dialed the number for the hotel.

“Abbott House.”

“Delia, this is Jack Dolan.
 
I need to speak to Isabella.”

“She’s not in the office, Mr. Dolan.
 
I think she’s in the dining room having dinner with her uncles.”

“Would you please check?
 
I’ll hold.”

“Certainly.”

He heard her lay the phone down, then heard the sound of her footsteps as she crossed the lobby floor.
 
A minute passed, and than another.
 
Just when he thought Delia had forgotten him, she was back.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Dolan.
 
She’d already left the dining room.
 
Maybe she’s in the family quarters.
 
If you’ll hold, I’ll transfer your call.”

Again Jack waited and counted the number of rings, but Isabella didn’t answer.
 
The hair rose on the back of his neck as the tenth ring came and went.
 
He kept telling himself that she could be anywhere…even in the shower.
 
Just because one woman couldn’t find her and she didn’t answer her phone, that didn’t mean she was in danger.

But even as he clipped the phone back on his belt, he was increasing his stride.
 
After what they’d been through with Ross, he wasn’t going to assume anything was all right.