Chapter Twelve #3
They drove in near silence toward Arlington.
Morgan studied his profile. He was tense, square jaw clenched, the muscles in his forearms rippling as he gripped the steering wheel, weaving in and out of traffic.
An altogether very pleasing specimen. The fact that he had actually denied her piqued her interest as well.
Except for Michael, no man turned her down.
It might be interesting to wear him down…
“Here we are,” he said, jolting her out of her thoughts as he turned into a quiet side street. Morgan hadn’t even noticed when they’d exited the freeway. “It shouldn’t take long to get Sophie fired up,” he said as he knocked on her door. “You’ve got the rope ready as soon as the dragon charges in?”
“Right here.” She patted her purse. “Just let me get in and a short distance away from you so I can come up behind him.”
“Got it.”
They waited. He knocked again. No answer.
Robert pounded the door. “Hell, where could she be? She’s got a broken leg!”
“She has crutches. Maybe she’s outside in the back.”
As they rounded the house, Morgan crossed the patio and tried the French doors. They swung open. She glanced at Robert and took out the garrote. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
They were met with silence. Ten minutes later, after a thorough search of the house, Robert cursed. “I thought you said they’d be here!”
“They were!” She couldn’t very well tell Robert that the dragon key-ring held a GPS and that there had been no signal that it had moved from here.
“Well, they didn’t disappear into thin air!” he said. “I goddamn want that dragon! It’ll be the leverage I need to get Sophie back.”
Morgan stared at him. The stupid man actually loved that bitch? Like that was an important thing? But she had a bigger concern than that.
Adam wanted the dragon and he had counted on her to get it. She’d managed to elude his finding out about the herbs she’d put in Sophie’s drink that caused the accident. But now, no dragon…
She shuddered, a chill like ice running through her veins. Unfortunately, she knew what happened to people who let Adam Baylor down.
****
“You must know something,” Michael said to Allison the next morning at the clinic. “Has she called you?”
“Why should she? I’d already told her while she was still in the hospital that I’d have one of the other vets who works with us at Palo Pinto come in if I needed more help. The last time I heard from Sophie was just before she was dismissed from the hospital.”
“I thought you took her home,” Janie said.
“I did. I went to get some groceries and when I got back, she was gone.” Michael looked over at Morgan, who was busying herself with files. “Have you seen her or talked to her?”
Morgan shook her head, a little too quickly. “Not me.”
It seemed her hands shook a little as she opened the filing cabinet.
Michael watched her. He’d followed the Hummer yesterday, not totally surprised they had headed for Sophie’s.
At first, he’d assumed they were picking up extra clothes for Sophie, although that didn’t explain why Morgan would be with Robert.
When they’d left the house empty-handed, though, he realized that they had probably come for the dragon.
Robert had seen Pendragon. Had Sophie asked her ex to pick up the dragon?
But, if that were the case, why didn’t she just take Pendragon with her in the first place?
It was all confusing. And Morgan being mixed up in it set his nerves on edge. He had never trusted her.
As a precaution, though, he’d taken Pendragon to Stephanie’s.
No one would connect the temp agency with what had been going on.
She eyed Michael with suspicion when he told her she was better off not knowing anything.
She’d only relented about keeping the dragon when Michael told her he was tied in to Sara’s disappearance.
And Pendragon was under strict orders to not speak.
The door to the clinic opened and shut. Janie’s eyes went round while Allison groaned. Morgan glanced up and her face turned ashen.
“Where’s my wife?” Robert asked as he stalked to the front desk angrily.
“I don’t know,” Allison said.
“I was asking him.” Robert pointed to Michael.
Michael kept his face impassive. Did Robert really not know where Sophie was? Or was this a ruse to throw everyone off track? He wouldn’t put it past the man.
“She should be at home,” he said neutrally.
“You know damn well she isn’t!”
“I do?”
Robert took a deep breath and spoke in more modulated tones. “I went by to check on her yesterday. There was no one there.”
Michael shrugged. “Maybe she didn’t want to let you in.” He glanced sideways at Morgan who was concentrating on making entries in the computer. “Can’t blame a handicapped woman for not wanting to be alone with an ex-husband.”
“I wasn’t…” Robert paused for the merest fraction of a second. “I wasn’t going to harm her. I’ve never laid a harsh hand on her, and she knows that.”
So he wasn’t going to admit that Morgan had been with him. That was interesting in itself. But, if Sophie wasn’t at Robert’s—and why would Robert be here if he already had Sophie ensconced at his home?—then where was she?