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In desperation, because he was totally uncommunicative, she phoned Tess Lassiter and went to see her
at the office, pretending that she was going shopping for some feminine necessities. Cord gave her
the keys to his car and told her to be careful. Even with Gruber's men rounded up, she might not be
totally safe. He had Davis go with her, to her dismay.
"This is your old office building," Davis protested when she parked on the street.
She glared at him. "Thank you, I didn't know that," she drawled sarcastically.
He sighed. "Maggie, what are you up to?"
"Nothing that you can tell Cord, and I mean it," she added, holding up her left hand with the small
gold band that Cord had put on it.
He grimaced. "Husbands and wives shouldn't have secrets."
"Tell him that," she replied. "I'm going inside to see Tess Lassiter and if you breathe one word to
Cord, I'll have you barbecued over that coal pit out back. Do you hear me?"
He stared at her. "I'd taste terrible."
"Not if we used enough barbeque sauce, and I'm not kidding. Wait for me. I won't be long."
"Okay. If the police come and arrest me for parking in a No Parking zone and I tell them you made
me promise to stay here, and they shoot me..."
She gave an exasperated sigh. "All right! You can drive to the mall and have coffee at that famous
littie shop you like," she chided. "I've got my cell phone. Got yours?"
He took it out of his pocket and showed it to her.
"Great. I'll phone you when I'm ready to leave!"
She got out and went into the building alone.
Tess Lassiter was uneasy about what Maggie wanted to know. "It's classified stuff," she began.
"What's classified stuff?" Dane Lassiter asked with a smile as he walked into the office with his
briefcase.
Tess exchanged a complicated glance with him.
"Okay, come on in," Dane told Maggie, opening his office door. "Sweetheart," he addressed Tess,
"how about getting me a bear claw? I'm starving. They don't feed you at federal offices."
"Poor old thing," Tess said with a tender smile. "I'll see what's left at the bakery. Maggie, can I get you
anything?"
Maggie shook her head. She was too nervous to
eat. "Thanks, anyway."
"I'll be back soon." Tess closed the door behind her. Dane leaned forward and stared across his desk at
Maggie, his black eyes steady and unblinking.
"You want to know what Cord got out of me."
She swallowed and flushed. "Yes. I'm sorry I was trying to find out from Tess. "
"It's all right," he said quietly. "It must be easier for you to talk to a woman."
"It is," she said, surprised at his perception.
He drew in a long breath. "Even after all the years I've been in the business, some things get next to
me. This case has been an example. Stillwell and Adams are in jail waiting to be arraigned. They're
going to turn state's evidence, in exchange for lighter sentences." His face hardened. "They won't be a
threat to you, ever again. I promise you they won't."
"Cord told me. Thanks." She hesitated, clasping and unclasping her hands. "There was a fax you sent
to Cord in Amsterdam," she began finally.
"I told him nothing," he said at once. "But he knows how to break into encoded files," he added
uneasily.
Her heart stopped. She looked at Dane with horror in her eyes. "You mean ... he knows? He knows ...
everything?"
"It looks that way."
She bit her lower lip. She was remembering things the way he'd acted that night, the odd remarks, the
assurance that he loved her, no matter what had happened in the past. He knew, and he hadn't said,
because she'd threatened to run away. She'd spent years running away, from emotions, from
attachments, from commitment, from everything, out of fear. She was afraid of what Cord would
think of her. But he knew. And he loved her.
She studied the small gold band on her finger, the one she'd chosen for its simplicity. Cord had put it
on for her, and he'd looked into her eyes ... what had he said? That no matter what had ever happened
in the past, the ring was a seal on their future, a promise of mutual support through fire and flood and
disaster. Surely her past would come under the heading of a disaster.
She looked up at Lassiter. He'd been saying something. She hadn't heard him.
He smiled. "You haven't heard a word, have you? I said, Cord phoned me on a secure line and told me
that he was going to come home and make sausage out of Adams and Stillwell, and that he'd
personally hang Gruber out to dry. I've never known anyone that homicidal, except maybe me when
my wife was shot, before we married," he recalled. "He wanted blood. I spent half an hour talking him
out of it, while he raged in two languages. I think he'd been drinking, too-and I can tell you that Cord
Romero doesn't drink. That was the best indication of how upset he was. He was hurt that you hadn't
trusted him enough to tell him, in all those years he'd known you. He said there was nothing in his life
that he wouldn't gladly have shared with you."
Her face cleared. Things fell into place. Her life became an open book, a pattern, that she could see
for the first time. She hadn't trusted Cord. She'd been afraid that he would think less of her, that he
wouldn't want her, that he'd judge her, as so many other people had. But when she turned that scenario
around, when she considered how she'd have felt if it had been Cord in her place-she was sick at her
stomach.
"I failed him, right down the line," she said unsteadily. "I never thought how I'd feel, if he'd had such a
past and hadn't wanted me to know. It all comes down to trust, doesn't it?" she added, meeting his dark
eyes. "If you love someone, you have to trust them."
He smiled slowly. "I'm glad you're getting the picture."
"And nothing you do, nothing you have done, will ever make any difference," she continued, as if
she'd just found pure truth. "Because when you love, it's unconditional."
"Exactly." He pursed his lips. "Why don't you go home and tell Cord that?"
Her eyes brightened. It was like free fall. She didn't have to be afraid. She never had to be afraid
again, even of disclosure. Cord loved her. His was the only opinion that would ever matter. It was so
simple, and she'd never considered that one simple fact.
She almost leaped out of the chair. "When the kids get bigger, I want to come and work for you. Can
I?"
He chuckled heartily. "That's the spirit. And yes, you can."
She grinned. "I'll hold you to that, Mr. Lassiter. Thank you. For keeping my secret. For making Adams
and Stillwell keep it. For. .. everything! I think you're terrific."
He got to his feet and shook hands with her. "Just for the record," he told her, "so does my wife."
She chuckled. "I'm not the least bit surprised!"
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next few minutes were a blur of activity. Maggie almost knocked Tess down getting out of the
building. She thanked her, blessed Dane, promised to phone, and dived into the car the minute Davis
pulled up at the curb.
She inspired him to break speed limits and sighed her relief that they weren't picked up by the state
police as they pulled up in front of the house.
She opened the door even as Davis was putting on the brakes. She dived into the house, past a
surprised June, right into the office where Cord was speaking on the phone to someone about a bull.
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