Camouflage, M J Marlow [english readers txt] 📗

waited a half hour until her eyes began to open. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before,” he told her simply as she sat up and looked at him. “You look so much like the woman who stole my research that I was confused.”
“I don’t know anyone named Dianna,” Emily told him, seeing he was sincere. “What are you working on that is so important this woman stole it from you?”
“I’d rather not tell you,” Michael said honestly. “If you knew more, I would have to keep you here permanently.” There was a knock on the door and a man entered the room. “As it is, you’ll need to stay until I have found the woman I’m looking for. I really am sorry about all this.”

Halfway across town, Dianna got onto the city bus and settled back to relax a moment. She had been running for almost two days now and she was tired. The bus came to the end of the line and she felt someone shaking her shoulder. She looked up to see Luke Wainwright standing over her, his gun hidden from everyone but her. He yanked her to her feet and took her to his car. An hour later, they were at that Clinic.
“Please have a seat, Dianna,” he said as he slipped the disk into his laptop. He opened the disk and looked over each file. Then he looked at Dianna, frowning. “This is not my research! What game are you playing now?” He pressed a button on the intercom and two orderlies came in. “Please see Miss Spencer to a room upstairs; we have a few things to discuss.”
Dianna got to her feet and stood her ground. She was not going to let this madman bully her. One of the orderlies grabbed her arm and twisted it up behind her back, forcing her body next to his. Dianna tried to free herself but he countered every attempt. She glared up at him then, waiting for him to tell her what this was all about.
“You’ve led me a merry dance, Dianna,” he said finally. “I have to admire such tenacity. But I need you to tell me where my research is. What did you do with the disk you took?”
“I’m not going to tell you, Winslow,” Dianna shot back, wincing as he tightened his hold on her arm. “Go ahead,” she snapped at him, “Break the arm. I am not going to give you what you want.”
“Not even to keep that pretty girl we took in your place safe?” Michael heard her gasp and smiled. He had her with that. “You will tell me what I want to know, or I will hurt that innocent child. And,” he snarled as his lips moved up to hers, “I will not be gentle with her.” The door opened and one of the doctors came into the office. “Take her to Room 417,” he told the man. “We’ll continue the interrogation shortly.”
Michael looked down on the bowed head of Dianna Spencer. She had fought bravely, but in the end, she had broken. He now knew that the woman had never had the disk on her. She had merely been acting as a decoy while it was on its way into the hands of Dianna’s confederates. She had not told him who those confederates were, but she would. He could recreate the research, but he would not condone the betrayal. He had taken the girl on as extra security and she had stolen from him.

2*
It still bothered Winslow how much Emily resembled Dianna Spencer; they had to be related. How much she looked like his lost love, Stephanie. He pressed a button on the intercom and Luke came inside.
“The girl, Emily Barton,” he said without explanation, “I want to know everything there is to know about her.” He went upstairs and walked into the room where Emily was being kept. He watched her do her exercises, struck again at how fluid her movements were. Despite the apparent ease of the motions, there was still a great deal of pain on her face. “Are you certain you should be pushing yourself so hard?”
“I couldn’t let the company down,” Emily told him as she got to her feet and met his eyes. “They were counting on me. Did you find your sneak thief?”
“She didn’t have what we wanted,” Michael replied honestly. It couldn’t hurt the girl to know that much. “Luke will take you home now.”
“I’m not going home,” Emily informed him. He looked at her stunned. She had been abducted and she wasn’t ready to run for cover. “I have a life,” she reminded him firmly. “If you want to make up for taking me from it, you’ll have to set me back down where I should be at this moment.” She actually put her hands on her hips and glared at him fiercely. Michael shook his head of the sudden image of Stephanie in just such a pose. She had to be related to Stephanie, there was no question of it now. “Is something wrong? You’re looking at me rather strangely.”
“You just reminded me of someone I used to know,” Michael said softly as he took her to the car outside.
Luke got behind the wheel. “Where are we going?” She told him and he looked at her in amazement. “Where?”
A half hour later, they were walking through the doors of the solarium in the Pediatrics Ward of the local hospital. The children cried out in joy as they saw Emily enter. It was obvious she was a regular. Michael moved back into a corner and watched. Emily went to the front and nodded to the intern at the piano. He began to play and she danced, the joy on her face making Luke rethink his opinion of the girl; she was no empty-headed skirt for a night’s dalliance.
This girl was a woman for a lifetime; a being of such gentleness, intelligence, and spirit, she would never bow to anyone willingly. She finished by telling the children how she had been paralyzed in an auto accident; but hadn’t let it stop her from working hard to get back on her feet. When she had finished her ‘you can do it, too’ speech, she followed Luke out of the ward.
“Where next?” he asked her once they were out of the hospital. She didn’t speak and he looked over. She was pale and in obvious pain. “Are you certain you should push yourself so hard.”
“I won’t let this stop me,” Emily replied, biting her lip to keep from crying. “I just need to rest for a while. Take me to the theater; I’ve got some painkillers there.” She saw his look. “It’s closer than the apartment,” she defended her decision, “plus I have to talk to Wes about set designs for the tour.”
“You are quite the little dynamo,” Luke smiled at her. “Do you never stop?”
“Not if I can help it,” Emily told him. “The paralysis from the accident was the first rest I’ve had in my life. My parents didn’t believe in being idle.”
“There’s a difference between taking a break to recoup your strength, and being idle,” Luke said to her. He fell silent and finished driving to the theater. “I’m sorry we had to meet the way we did, Miss Barton. We might have been friends.”
He stopped the car and she hurried away, not waiting for him to open the door for her. She was a stubborn little thing, he laughed to himself as he drove away. Emily went up on stage where the Wes was going over sketches with a tall, broad-shoulder golden blond. The stranger turned his head as she approached and her breath caught in her throat as his ice blue eyes met hers. He was a god, Emily’s mind sang as her heart rate began to speed up. Wes Sharpton saw the look on her face and began to think that Sebastian may not have been making a mistake with sending his son here.
“Emily, this is Sebastian Townsend’s son, Alexander,” Wes introduced the stranger; his voice breaking the spell that had settled over Emily. “Emily?”
“Wha…” Emily shook her head and looked back up at the man. “I’m sorry, I’m still a little tired from the hospital…”
“You were in the hospital?” Wes cried out, alarmed. He made Emily sit down, and she looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “Emily, are you sure you should be here?”
“Wes,” Emily laughed at him. “I had my weekly visit to the Children’s Ward this morning.” She looked over at Alexander. “Your father has done a lot for this company. Are you here to oversee his investment?
“Something like that,” Alexander nodded. “I’ve been made co-manager of the company.” He saw her expression and misread it. “I have four degrees in Dance, Economics, English Literature, Mathematics, and a Masters in Business. I think I can handle helping to run a ballet company.”
“I’m sorry,” Emily apologized immediately. “I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t capable of doing the job.” She looked over at Wes. “I just wasn’t aware that Wes needed the help. He’s done an excellent job with the company.”
“Yes, he has,” Alexander agreed whole-heartedly. “We were just going over the sketches for the Gershwin sets. I’m certain you have some insights that would help.”
He turned back to work, the awkwardness of their introduction forgotten. For the next several hours, the trio put their minds to working up sketches and materials list for the sets they would need for the next company production, which was loosely titled ‘An Evening with Gershwin.’
Emily found herself liking this man. He was intelligent, talented, and easy to talk to. He accepted hers’ and Wes’ ideas and considered them thoroughly before he made a suggestion for change or accepted them with a smile. When he suggested they break for lunch, they continued their conversation over a table at the pizza parlor down the street. He was not stand-offish or arrogant in the least; as unlike his father in manner as he was like Sebastian in appearance.
Alexander saw Emily home and went to join his father for dinner. He found Sebastian in the bar of the hotel they were staying at. Sebastian followed him to the restaurant and they had an unusually pleasant time together. The talk was all about