Dana Mentink - Dangerous Melody

“You were more to him than an employee.”

“Well, it wasn’t mutual,” she snapped. It was fun at first, consulting for a man with a genius intellect, and then after Tate broke her heart, she desperately needed a distraction. Treasure Seekers was in its infancy with not enough projects to keep her busy, so she’d accepted Bittman’s job offer to be his security consultant and design software protection systems. In all her time with Bittman, never did she feel any stirrings of love for the man. Bittman did not seem capable of love even if she had been interested, any more than a mountain cares for the clouds that surround it.

The flow of memories was interrupted by Luca’s next question.

“Can you get a look at the police report?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. The local police department there was flooded about fifteen years back, so a lot of the records were destroyed.”

His eyebrow arched. “But you’re still working on it anyway, aren’t you?”

“What makes you think so?”

He laughed. “It’s like waving a steak in front of a hungry Doberman. You’ve got to know. It’s what makes you a great Treasure Seeker.”

She wanted to return the chuckle, but darker thoughts prevented her from doing so. If I don’t find this treasure, we might never see Dad again.

The plane descended through an oppressive gray sky.

* * *

She wasn’t surprised to find Tate waiting at the airport, sporting a neat T-shirt, a softly worn pair of Levi’s and a baseball cap. He nodded at her and ignored Luca as they headed to the rental car counter.

“How’s your brother?” Tate murmured into her ear, sending tingles dancing along her ribs.

“Stable for now. Did you fly?”

He shook his head. “Drove my friend’s truck.”

She started. “You didn’t leave my place until almost one. You must have been driving all night.”

He shrugged. “Don’t sleep much anyway. Called my friend Gilly. He’s gone to Maria’s place. Checking her computer.”

“Hacking into it?” Luca said.

Tate shot him a glance. “You worried about Maria’s feelings? You didn’t worry about those before.”

Luca jerked to a stop and faced Tate. “I didn’t touch your sister. Get that into your fat head.”

“You saying she’s a liar?” Both men topped six feet, and now they were nose to nose, anger simmering between them.

“Stop it,” she hissed. “We have to work together.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Tate said.

Luca snorted. “Don’t worry, none of us like it, so you’re in good company.”

Stephanie was relieved when Tate sat down to wait while Luca rented a car. She caught sight of a vending machine at the end of a quiet corner of the terminal. Stomach growling, she realized she could not recall the last time she’d eaten. Not wanting to take time to order from the café, she headed for the lone vending machine.

Away from the terminal noise, she shouldered her laptop strap and fished in her purse for loose bills, all the while wondering how she would keep Luca and Tate from killing each other long enough to find Maria or the violin. Her father would have told them both in that genteel way, “Cool heads, gentlemen.” Thinking about him brought a lump to her throat. Had he been injured in the crash? Or worse? She only had Bittman’s word that her father was unhurt. There had been bandages in the room where he had been held.

God, please, she whispered. Please keep him safe until I find him.

She felt off balance, useless, unable to locate her father and not there for her ailing brother. On impulse, she pulled out her phone and dialed, surprised when Brooke answered.

For a moment she could hardly imagine what to say to this sweet woman who loved her brother so deeply. “It’s Steph. I’m so sorry, Brooke.”

“It’s not your fault. Luca told me a little about what’s going on, and you have to know this didn’t happen because of you.”

The words were kind, but they did not change the truth. “How is he?”

Brooke sighed. “Still unconscious, but the doctors are easing off the sedatives so if all goes well he should be coming around.”

If all goes well...

“I’m glad you’re there with him.”

Brooke must have heard the unspoken feeling in her voice. “We both know you would be here, too, if you could. Just do what you have to do and stay safe. I’ll stay right here with Victor, I promise.”

Stephanie said goodbye and disconnected. What would happen when Victor did wake up? Would he remember the accident? Even more frightening, what if he was not himself anymore? What if he was damaged by the violence of the crash? The serious, steadfast brother whom she had relied on her entire life.

It was too much to worry about. Stepping around a man reading a newspaper, hat brim pulled down over his eyes, she continued to the machine.

Finally grasping some bills from inside her purse, she fed them into the slot. As her finger moved toward the button, the hair on the back of her neck stirred. Her subconscious knew someone was there before her ears detected the soft noise directly behind her. Before she could spin around, she was sandwiched against the machine by a man’s heavy bulk, the breath forced out of her along with a cry. As she rallied to push him off, he jerked the laptop from her shoulder and ran down the darkened corridor.

She ran after him. He was strong and had the element of surprise, but she was fast and as determined as a lioness.

In a minute she’d caught up with him, his arms pumping as he headed toward the main terminal where she would lose him for sure. There was only one choice. With a surge of adrenaline, she leaped.

* * *

Tate was out of his chair as soon as he heard Stephanie’s cry of surprise. He sprinted to the dim hallway in time to see a figure emerging with Stephanie’s laptop under his arm. A moment later, Stephanie hurtled forward, catching the man by the ankles. They both fell, the man’s hat flying through the air, along with the laptop. Tate ran to grab the man, but the assailant shook Stephanie loose with a vicious kick and leaped to his feet, running out the nearest exit door, grabbing his hat on the way.

Tate was paralyzed for a moment, wondering whether to pursue the laptop snatcher or help Stephanie. He decided on the latter. She was in a sitting position, blood oozing from the corner of her mouth, hair disheveled and cheeks pink with exertion.

He knelt next to her and a startled Luca joined them, along with an airport security officer who grilled them immediately.

“He tried to take my laptop,” Stephanie puffed.

The security man answered a call from his radio. “No sign of the snatcher, but we’ll keep looking.” He gave her a quizzical stare. “I’ve been working here since the new terminal opened six years ago, and this has never happened before. Are you sure you don’t know who that was?”

Stephanie shrugged. “He was wearing a hat.”

“Uh-huh. Police will be here in a moment for your statement.”

Tate and Luca helped her to a chair, and her brother gave her a tissue to apply to her lip. Another airport employee offered her medical attention, which she declined except for an ice pack.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Luca said.

She nodded. “Fine, just a bloody lip.”

Tate shook his head. “You didn’t think it would be nuts to try and tackle the guy?”

Her eyes opened wide in exasperation. “He tried to steal my computer.”

Tate’s stomach tightened as he looked at her, brown eyes glinting, outrage painted across her delicate features. Small woman, with courage as big as any man he’d ever met. He didn’t love her anymore; there was too much anger and hurt between them to ever allow those feelings to take hold again. Still, he wondered why his heart beat unsteadily as he drank her in.