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A bandage covered her upper arm, stark white against bruised flesh. The doctor tucked the blankets around her and stared down at her with a crooked smile before shaking his head. She seemed to have that effect on everyone.
“Thank you for coming in, Dr. Dreyden, and as always for your discretion.” Raymond shook the doctor’s hand before leading him to the door. “Send me the bill, please. I’ll make certain everything is taken care of.”
“It’s going to be quite a bill, my friend,” the doctor informed him. “This was my vacation, you know. My wife will pout for days.”
“I’ll call the resort myself,” Raymond said. “I understand you’ve been trying to get reservations into one of the exclusive restaurants in town. Casamara’s?”
The doctor paused. “We’ve yet to obtain a time.”
“I’ll make certain you have an open reservation,” Raymond promised. “On me. I’ll take care of everything and have the owner of the restaurant contact you soon.”
The doctor’s brows arched as he thanked Raymond before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
“Who was it?” Raymond murmured at his side. “Has Travis contacted you yet?”
John shook his head. “Not yet. He will soon.”
“It wasn’t Warbucks,” Raymond promised him. “The moment Myron informed him of the attack, he went crazy. I could hear him screaming in rage over the phone myself.” He paused for a moment. “I’ve never heard Ford scream like that. I’ve never known of him to be that furious.”
“I’ll find out who it was,” John promised before glancing at Bailey again. She was sleeping. Finally. “I’m going to have to tell her,” he stated quietly as he turned back to Raymond.
He was going to have to warn her soon that Raymond was actually working for the good guys. Not that he expected her to believe it. Not at first.
Raymond grinned at that. “She enjoys hating me, John. And I have to admit, it’s been fun having carte blanche to irritate her. Mary knows me too well now. I can’t irritate her near as easily.”
Raymond and Mary’s marriage was truly a love match. Raymond loved his new wife despite her money and the power it had given him. It hadn’t gone to his head. He’d used it as he could, though, to further the investigations that his position placed him in the path of.
He was a damned good agent himself. Sometimes, too good. He enjoyed pretending to be the bad guy far too much.
“Find out what’s going on,” John ordered as Bailey shifted against the bed restlessly. “Tell Warbucks I’m pissed over this. I suspect he’s behind it. Suggest finishing this deal up to appease me. If word gets out that he attacked my partner, then it could damage his standing among those willing to bid for the product. They may not trust the product enough for an optimum bid if they don’t trust him any longer.”
“Good thinking.” Raymond nodded. “I know Myron has already suggested that fear to me, so it should be simple enough.”
John nodded as Raymond turned and walked from the room, leaving him alone with Bailey and the knowledge that he should have kept her closer to him. He should have refused Warbucks’s demands that she not be a part of the negotiation process, that he preferred to work with John alone for that. The good-ol’-boy system had placed Bailey in danger, and he didn’t like that. It wouldn’t happen again.
Checking his watch, he picked up his cell phone and dialed.
“Richards,” Ian answered on the first ring.
Moving closer to the white-noise generator, John checked on Bailey again quickly.
“She’s fine,” he stated into the connection.
“Kira was concerned,” Ian said carefully. “We were coming to check on her later, before we leave. Kira’s uncle has had a small emergency and requires her presence.”
It was code. Kira’s uncle was actually in perfect health; the phrase was a signal to pull the group together and prepare for the final phase of the mission.
It was coming together. John could feel it moving closer, that surge of adrenaline, that sense of danger coming closer.
“Give her uncle my regards. I hope everything is well with him,” John said.
“I’ll do that,” Ian murmured. “We should be there in an hour or so to tell Bailey good-bye. Will she be awake?”
John didn’t see how, but knowing Bailey, it wouldn’t surprise him.
“Perhaps,” he answered. “In any event, we’ll see you when you get here.”
He disconnected the call and paced back to the bed before pushing his fingers through his hair and exhaling a hard breath.
