Enemy Within. AMANDA BROWNING

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СКАЧАТЬ of contract? I could sue you, too,’ she declared, thinking of all the preparations which had had to be made. The company’s outlay had been quite considerable at a time when it could be ill afforded.

      ‘I take it from your remark that you didn’t read the small print? That was careless, Hanlon,’ he tutted reprovingly, stirring the hardly settled ashes of her anger.

      ‘Meaning?’

      ‘Meaning I contracted to use an aircraft and pilot of Hanlon Air “for an unspecified time”. Which, roughly translated, means if I don’t use you, I don’t have to pay you.’

      To his credit, he didn’t sound as if he was gloating, but she felt as furious as if he had been anyway. For she had indeed read that clause, and had taken it to mean the trip was open-ended. In fact she had been working on the probability that he would need her for at least a week, and perhaps even two. Now she knew better, and her hatred of him grew in leaps and bounds. Because he had to have known how she would take it, how anyone would take it.

      Although it wasn’t the end of the world, the sense of being manipulated made her feel as if it was. ‘Very clever,’ she said bitterly. ‘I hope you can sleep nights.’

      This time he sent her a longer look, laden with scepticism. ‘Trying to tell me you wouldn’t have used my name as an advertisement for more trade?’ he queried softly, and she flushed, squirming a little in her seat, even though it was common practice.

      ‘At least it would have been honest. You can’t say the same.’

      ‘War is a dirty business, Hanlon. Take it from one who knows,’ he returned shortly, and clearly brought down a wall between them, concentrating on his driving.

      Mickey had nothing to say either, spending the remainder of the journey looking forward to seeing his face when he was proved wrong. It was likely to be the only satisfaction she had out of the whole fiasco. Ryan kept to the maximum speed limit, and consequently it took less time to reach Leah’s grandmother’s house than usual. The lights were on when he finally drew the jeep to a halt outside the faded elegance of the three-storey building, and Mickey wasted no time, jumping down before the vehicle had properly stopped moving and hurrying up the path to knock on the door.

      Sophie Trenchard opened the door herself, her statuesque frame swathed in a colourful lounging robe. Her look of irritation changed to a broad smile when she saw who her visitor was.

      ‘Mickey!’ she greeted warmly. ‘What a lovely surprise. I was in the middle of a book, and just about to throw a tantrum for being interrupted mid-flow!’ she added, with a wicked grin, because her penchant for behaving less maturely than befitted her years was legendary. The grin turned to a look of intrigue when a tense and grim-faced Ryan came to stand in the light issuing from the door.

      Mickey returned the hug she had been swept into, feeling quite relieved to have an erstwhile ally within call. Smiling up at the older woman, she realised with a faint qualm that Sophie had apparently taken to wearing pince-nez. ‘Hello, Sophie. I’ve come to see Leah.’

      The cheerful smile reappeared on the grey-haired lady’s face and didn’t flicker. ‘Isn’t that nice? Come in, come in.’

      Mickey felt her heart surge anew, and threw Ryan an ‘I told you so’ look over her shoulder before stepping inside.

      ‘Is this your new man, Mickey?’ the old lady asked forthrightly, eyeing the breadth and height of her adopted granddaughter’s companion with unabashed interest, while Mickey stiffened in instant rejection.

      ‘No!’ The denial shot out hurriedly as she caught a wicked glint of amusement in Ryan’s eyes. ‘No. This is Ryan Douglas. He’s come to see Leah, too.’ Reluctantly she made the necessary introductions.

      ‘Mrs Trenchard,’ Ryan greeted politely as he shook hands.

      ‘Dear boy, call me Sophie. Mickey will tell you I’m never one to stand on ceremony. I was the despair of my family!’ Sophie Trenchard invited, leading the way into a cluttered lounge.

      ‘Will Leah be long?’ Mickey asked firmly, knowing how dangerous it was to let Sophie take the conversation in an altogether different direction. She assumed her sister was out, because if Leah had been in she would have come to greet them before this. It brought a return of that small niggle of doubt to her mind.

      Sophie waved an airy hand. ‘She said they would come back soon. Sit, Mickey. Can I get you some coffee, Ryan? Or some brandy, perhaps? Thaddeus left some here when he went away...or was it Matthew? They were twins, you see, and I never can remember which is which,’ she explained, making Mickey stare at her long and hard, because Sophie wasn’t at all dippy; she just pretended she was when there was an advantage to be gained. Just what the advantage was this time, she didn’t yet see.

      Across the room, Ryan shook his head. ‘No, thank you,’ he refused with a polite smile, although his eyes narrowed.

      Mickey groaned inwardly, well aware of the impression he was getting, whereas the men in question were brothers who had lodged with Sophie one summer when their family home was full to bursting. She was on the verge of pointing this out when Ryan carried on speaking.

      ‘You say Leah isn’t here?’ The question was mild enough, but Mickey was aware of the steel behind the words.

      Sophie dislodged a cat from an armchair and sat down, nodding wisely. ‘Leah and her young man have gone away for a while, but they’ll be back when they’re ready,’ she revealed, seemingly unaware of just what a bombshell she had dropped.

      For a moment Mickey was totally speechless, but not so Ryan. ‘Does her young man have a name?’

      ‘Of course. Peter Douglas. Ah...’ Suddenly she made the connection, although she wasn’t in the least put out. ‘Your son?’

      ‘My nephew,’ Ryan corrected grittily, and Mickey was very much aware that he was holding a monumental anger in check solely because of the older woman. She knew he was thinking there weren’t just two women involved, but three!

      ‘A nice boy. I like him. He has a good heart. He’ll do well for our Leah,’ Sophie declared with satisfaction. ‘You don’t find young men of his standing turning up in our neck of the woods every day of the week.’

      Ryan’s face became stony. ‘No, indeed you don’t. Only a fool would let a wealthy young man get away,’ he declared grimly, and not very subtly.

      It appeared to go right over her head, for Sophie merely blinked at him over her glasses. ‘Fortunately Leah has no need for money, unlike Mickey. I don’t suppose you know of a wealthy man for her to marry?’ she asked, much to Mickey’s horror.

      ‘Sophie!’ she protested, knowing it was the older woman’s idea of a joke, but knowing too that Ryan was not the man to appreciate it any more than she did. However, just the mere fact of her having said it meant Sophie was covering something up. ‘I don’t need a husband!’

      ‘But you do need the money, dear.’

      Mickey took one look at Ryan’s grim expression and could have screamed. ‘We weren’t talking about me, Sophie. How could you let Leah go off? What about her studies?’

      The older woman tutted. ‘There will be time for them, Mickey. Where’s your heart, child? Leah loves this young man, and right now she wants to acknowledge СКАЧАТЬ