He went to his office in the morning, snarled at his secretary, at his brothers and finally grabbed his jacket, said he had an appointment and walked out. He got
into his Porsche, gunned the engine and drove out of the city, drove aimlessly for what seemed forever until he pulled under a stand of aspens, got out of the car and walked along a rutted trail that wound down to a lake.
What kind of a woman was she? To give herself to a man, cry out in his arms, make him believe he was all she’d ever wanted in the entire world, even say she loved him, when it was all lies?
The adrenaline, remember? That’s what it was. And, just in case there was any doubt, you gave her a dose of the real world. “We had sex, lady,” you said. “Sex. Don’t confuse it with love.”
Cam kicked a stone aside.
Okay. Good. She’d never loved him. Hell, he never believed she had. But he’d saved her life…
For God’s sake, man, are you back to that? That’s pathetic. Besides, the life you were saving was your own. She just happened to be along for the ride.
No. Not true. At the end, his life hadn’t mattered. Her life was all he’d cared about.
Damn it, he wanted answers!
Cam yanked his cell phone from his pocket. As usual, the miserable thing didn’t work but this time all it took was a jog back to the road to make it light up like Broadway at night.
He punched in the P.I.’s number. Told him what he wanted. The name of a dancer with the ballet company performing at the Music Hall.
Could Mr. Knight narrow things down a bit? the P.I. asked. He had that sketch the police artist had done, but…
A day ago, Cameron would have identified Salome as the most beautiful woman in the world, but things had changed.
“She’ll be simple to identify,” he told the detective. “She’s the only blonde. And I need to know where I can find her. She’s got to be staying somewhere. An apartment. A hotel. I need the name.”
“Fine, Mr. Knight. When do you need this information, sir?”
Cam narrowed his eyes. Hadn’t the Music Hall’s program said something about a limited run? For all he knew, tonight was Salome’s last in Dallas.
“I needed it an hour ago,” he said sharply.
The Porsche’s tires screamed in protest as he put the car into a tight U-turn and headed for home.
The audience was still applauding. The corps de ballet was still onstage, but Leanna slipped away to the dressing room.
She couldn’t wait to change into street clothes and get back to the hotel. One more night, and she’d leave Dallas behind.
Her hands shook as she tore the pins from her hair and shook it loose.
The week had been horrible, thinking about Cam all the time, seeing his face in every shadow.
And then last night—last night, she’d been sure he was in the theater. Crazy, of course, but she’d felt his presence, ridiculous as that sounded. Felt him looking at her.
She hadn’t dared lift her head.
The company made only one brief appearance in this show, dancing a piece from Swan Lake.
“Eyes down,” Nikolai had told them. During rehearsal, when one girl glanced up, he’d stomped and shouted that they were cows and if it happened again, he’d work them until they dropped.
They were all close enough to dropping as it was, Leanna especially, thanks to her stay in the hospital while she’d battled the infection in her foot. Dutifully she’d kept her eyes down as she’d danced.
Besides, if she’d looked up and seen Cam in the audience last night, she’d probably have—she’d probably have…
The truth was, she didn’t know what she’d have done.
She’d almost lost her mind when she’d looked at the company’s schedule.