Manhattan Merger

Though Payne loved all his nieces and nephews, he’d always had a special feeling for Catherine. Her heart melted for the less fortunates of this world whether they be animals or people.

Out of all his sister’s children, Catherine was the one who’d taken her brother Trevor’s death from leukemia the hardest. When she came into her inheritance, he had an idea she’d give it all to research in an effort to find a cure.

Since the shooting, his niece had attached herself to Diane, determined his brunette fiancée would walk again one day. Catherine’s desire to make that happen had endeared her to Payne as nothing else could have done.

While Phyllis and Trent were away with their three older children, Payne’s niece—who’d begged to stay behind—had been helping Diane and her mother with plans for their wedding. It was scheduled for August first.

Without Diane’s knowledge Payne had already cleared his calendar so he could take Diane to Switzerland for the month. They would spend their honeymoon at a special hospital reputed to perform miracles on patients with Diane’s type of injury. He was going to get her there no matter what.

After climbing out of the limousine, he handed Mac the sack before approaching his fiancée. Though her light brown eyes still looked haunted, she broke into a smile when she saw him.

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips knowing what he had to say would disappoint her, but it couldn’t be helped.

“This problem with the romance cover needs to be dealt with. I’m afraid our plans to go into New York for dinner have to be put on hold.”

“Somehow I knew you were going to say that.”

“Drew’s meeting me as soon as he can.”

“That’s good.”

“After we’ve finished talking, I’ll call you. In the meantime, Sam will run you home.”

He pushed her wheelchair to the limousine, then lifted her into the back seat. Catherine and the dog ran over to say goodbye while John folded up the chair and put it in the trunk.

“Promise you’ll phone later and tell me what’s going on?”

He couldn’t look at her in this condition without being aware of her near lifeless legs. Though he might not have pulled the trigger, he was the reason she couldn’t walk.

“You know I will.” He gave her hand a squeeze, then shut the limo door.

“’Bye, Diane,” Catherine called to her.

As the car drove off, Payne put an arm around his niece and walked her toward the house. He needed to get his laptop. “I want to thank you for being so good to Diane.”

“I want her to get better.”

“So do I.” So do I.

“She’s decided she’ll never walk again, but I told her that’s crazy because she still has feeling in her legs. I won’t let her give up! Even if she doesn’t want to go to that clinic in Switzerland, you have to take her, Uncle Payne.”

He held the door open for her and the dog. Once they’d entered the house he said, “That’s my plan.”

“While you were in the village, she broke down crying and said she didn’t want to go through another operation when it wouldn’t do her any good.”

Payne gritted his teeth. “I’m afraid seeing me on the cover of that book has brought back the horror of what she went through at Christmas.”

“Then all the more reason for her to fight with everything she’s got to get better!” Catherine blurted. “At least her doctor hasn’t said her case is hopeless. It’s not like what happened with Trevor,” her voice wobbled.

“You’re right.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you for caring so much. When your mom asked me to look in on you while they were in Mexico, I was happy to do it. Tell you what— I’ll free up some time tomorrow afternoon and take you and Diane sailing.”

“She doesn’t like to sail.”

Payne had an idea something unpleasant had happened between Catherine and Diane. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“Nothing,” came the quiet response.

“You can say that to anyone but me.”

His niece looked up at him with soulful blue eyes. “Diane got after me about reading romances. She said they’re a waste of time and don’t reflect real life.”

Until Payne had a chance to read Manhattan Merger, he would reserve judgment.

“You shouldn’t take her disapproval to heart. She’s a little down right now.”

“I’m not. She’s been like this since you got engaged.”

His brows knit together. “Like what?”

“Let’s just say she has a hard time tolerating me when you’re not around.”

“That’s not true, Catherine. She cares for you enough to have wanted your help with our wedding plans.”

“She only asked me because you hinted it might be a good idea while mom and dad were away. I never told you this, but two years ago at that Fourth of July party on the yacht, Linda and I figured out Diane was in love with you when she told us to run along and leave you two alone.”

After what Catherine had just told him, he realized his perceptive niece understood a lot more about his fiancée than he’d given her credit for.

With so much on his mind at the time, Payne had been oblivious to Diane’s interest in him. If he hadn’t left his office that night… But all the what-ifs in the world weren’t going to change the situation that had shattered lives and dreams.

After finding his laptop in the study he said, “Why don’t you ask Linda to come sailing with us tomorrow, Diane or no Diane.”

“Really?” Catherine’s face broke into a sunny smile. “Thanks, Uncle Payne. You’re the greatest!” She stood up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “I’ll invite her when we get together later.”

“You do that. See you later.”

“Okay. Come on, Lady.”

Before he left the house to join Mac in the other limo for the short drive ride to Crag’s Head, he watched the dog follow her up the stairs. The Sterlings loved their animals. Payne was no exception, but after his bullmastiff Bruno had died, he’d decided not to get another dog.

Since moving into his new home, he was gone too much. It wouldn’t be fair to keep a pet when he was away a lot of the time. They needed constant love and attention.

When he joined Mac in the limo he confided, “A few days ago I told Diane I missed having a dog and planned to get her one for a wedding present so she wouldn’t be so lonely when I’m overseas. Apparently that’s the last thing she wants, even though I pointed out it could serve as a guard dog too.”

“It’s not really surprising when you consider her mother’s allergy to them,” Mac murmured back. “Your fiancée didn’t grow up around animals.”

Payne rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Diane claims she’s been in love with me for years, but since our engagement she’s begun to realize how little we have in common. I’m afraid I’m not the perfect man she thought I was.”

Mac eyed him frankly. “Don’t hate me for saying this, but someone should have warned her about the old saying, ‘Be careful what you pray for. You might get it.’”

“You’re scary, Mac.”

“How so?”

“You just took the words right out of my mouth. Last night she broke down and admitted she doesn’t like my home.” Mac grimaced. “Instead of a dog for a wedding present, could we build an English manor along the lines of her parents’ home?

“I reminded her that as an only child she would inherit her family home one day, and could spend as much time as she wanted there after our marriage.”

Mac didn’t say anything. Neither did Payne.

After leaving his sister’s sprawling New England style home which was reminiscent of many homes in the Hamptons, he craved his eyrie at Crag’s Head.

Money could buy a lot of things he would never want, and it had brought him more pain than he’d ever thought possible. But if he could be grateful for one thing, it had allowed him to turn his ideas for the old lighthouse standing on family property into a sanctuary of primitive beauty and isolation.

Payne was an engineer, not an architect, but he’d known what he’d wanted the moment he’d glimpsed Le Corbusier’s Chapel of Notre Dame Du Haut at Ronchamps for the first time.

Using a sculptural style rather than rectilinear, the famous French architect had created two curving walls of white-washed rough masonry that met beneath a dark roof.

Incorporating those same elements with the lighthouse, Payne’s home stood like a piece of sculpture on the headland overlooking the Atlantic. The randomly punched out windows of the walls gave him all the privacy and all the view he could ever want.

He liked being able to walk around while he studied where he would lay massive fiber-optic cables in a place as difficult as New York’s labyrinthine underground.

The urban fiber networks were one of the least-developed pieces of Internet infrastructure throughout the world. Payne had always considered it a market of vast potential.

Pleased to have been responsible for putting five million kilometers of glass thread in the ground already, he was now selling rights to individual strands of fiber outright. World carriers and corporations were coming to him every day asking for more.

When he’d had the place built, he hadn’t yet met the woman he’d wanted to marry. If he’d given it any thought at all, he’d imagined that when the right one came along, she’d love it as much as he did.

Last night he’d promised Diane he would add some interior features to the second floor to make it less austere and fortress-like.

As for the lighthouse portion of his house, it had been transformed into an open workspace. It was here in his inner sanctum he used the thick rounded walls to spread out his huge maps of the tunneling beneath major American and European cities.

Considering he was in negotiations for the rights-of-way to dig in fifty more markets by next year, there was no way of gauging where it would lead in future years. But it ensured he wouldn’t run out of problems to solve. That’s what he loved to do.

That’s why he was taking Diane to Switzerland, even if he had to drag her there. And if working with those doctors didn’t produce a cure, he’d heard of another one who ran a clinic for injuries to the spine in Norway.

If Payne had already figured out how to unearth dazzling riches lying in mud beneath the streets of New York, Paris and Rome, surely he could find a way for Diane to walk again!

“Betty?” he called to Mrs. Myers. She and her husband lived in to look after his house and do light housekeeping. “I’m expecting Drew Wallace later tonight. When he gets here, let him in my study, will you please?”

“Of course. Would you like something to eat before he arrives?”

“How about a sandwich.”

“Coming right up.”

Taking advantage of the time, he sat back in his easy chair, adjusted the floor lamp light and began reading Manhattan Merger.

The opening line grabbed him by the throat.

Logan Townsend wasn’t in love with his fiancée.

From that point on it was like walking through the minefield of his own psyche where his deepest thoughts and feelings were exposed at every unexpected turn. By the time he came to the last page and closed the book, his hands were literally shaking.

He recalled something Catherine had said before he’d left for Crag’s Head.

Diane got after me about reading romances. She said they’re a waste of time and don’t reflect real life.

How wrong could Diane have been!

If Payne could be thankful for one thing, it was that Catherine hadn’t read the story yet. It would bring her even more pain.

Once more the painting on the cover leaped out at him, underscoring his shock that this book with his picture was in circulation.

“Payne?”

At the sound of Drew’s familiar voice, he levered himself from the chair. Only then did he realize he’d been too riveted to the well-written story to notice Betty had brought him a tray of food some time ago. Unfortunately his appetite had left him.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Good grief. You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“I wish that were the case. A ghost I could deal with,” he muttered grimly.

Payne handed him the book. “I just finished reading it. No one, and I mean no one, could have reached down into my soul to pull things out the way this author did. I’m talking secret thoughts and feelings here.”

His attorney took it from him and studied the cover. “There’s no doubt about it. The person who did this artwork used a picture or photograph of you. Let’s see the other books.”

Payne emptied the sack onto his desk. Drew examined the covers of all the books.

When he eventually looked up he said, “Every day of life your picture appears somewhere in the newspapers or tabloids. The public has free access. That means you’ll always be a target for unsolicited attention.

“But to find a painted picture of you on the cover of a book without your express written permission is a legal matter, never mind that the person responsible might or might not be a stalker.”

“So you don’t believe this could be a coincidence?”

Drew pursed his lips. “You have an aura that goes everywhere with you. Whoever did this painting caught your essence as well as the outer shell. I’ve a hunch this person has met you before, probably at your office.”

Payne agreed, still haunted by the story. “I doubt the artist and the author are the same person, but I suppose it’s possible,” he theorized. “Regardless, something needs to be done right away. My niece and fiancée are terrified.”

“With good reason,” his attorney came back. “I admit I don’t like this either.” His thick brows met in a frown. “Rest assured I’ll look into it first thing in the morning, then get back to you. I’ll take these with me.” He scooped up the books and put them in the sack.

“I promised the woman at the bookstore she’d get the four books back with my picture on them by Thursday at the latest.”

“No problem.”

Payne walked him to the north door which led to the pad where the helicopter was waiting. “Thanks for coming tonight.”

“It was my pleasure. The sooner we find out if we need to call in the FBI, the better.”

As he closed the door, Payne wasn’t sure anything earthly could help. Not when the author knew things about him no one knew but God…

CHAPTER TWO

LORRAINE Bennett, known to most people as Rainey, had just set everything up to paint when her phone rang. It was only eight-twenty a.m.

Since she paid extra on her phone bill to avoid taking telemarketing calls, she figured it was Barbara Landers, one of the secretaries who worked for Mr. Goldberg, Rainey’s boss at Global Greeting Cards.

Barb was the same age as Rainey, and single. They’d hit it off the first day they were introduced. Since then they’d often eaten lunch or dinner together.

Through Barbara, who was a native New Yorker, Rainey had met a lot of her friends at weekend parties. A couple of guys had already asked her to other parties and films.

Ken Granger, another guy who lived in her building and was clerking for a law firm, had taken her to dinner several times. Rainey’s mother didn’t need to worry that her daughter lacked for a social life.

Stepping away from the easel, she walked over to her desk and picked up the receiver.

“Rainey Bennett Fine Art Studio.”

“Rainey? It’s Don Felt again.”

“Oh— Hi, Don!”

He was the head of the art department at Red Rose Romance Publishers. Only yesterday he’d phoned her about a new project, and had already faxed her the artwork sheets she needed to get started.

Between commissions from Global Greeting Cards and Red Rose, she had more work than she could handle at the moment. But of course she would never say no to a new project. This was her life and her livelihood!

“Sorry to bother you this early.”

“This isn’t early for me. I’ve already had my morning run in the park. What can I do for you?”

“Could you give me the name and phone number of the agency in Colorado you used for the male model on that sensational cover of Manhattan Merger?”

Her gaze clicked to the wall where she’d hung her oil paintings. Rainey was flattered that five out of the eight she’d done with him as the hero had already been sold to the authors who’d written the books featuring him on their covers. The ninth was in the beginning stages.

She had to admit those paintings were sensational even if she said so herself. However it was the man on the covers who made them so riveting. Rainey had only been the vessel to put him there.

“I didn’t find him through a modeling agency, Don.”

The artist in Rainey had been drawn to the face and body of a stranger whose rugged male beauty made her want to put him on every cover she did for Red Rose Romance.

It seemed the sales on those books had been phenomenal. The company had sent her red roses several times congratulating her for her excellent work.

Even better, the company had increased her salary to the point that she’d finally been able to move to New York and live on what she made doing artwork for them and the greeting card company.

“So—this masculine heartthrob who is setting hundreds of thousands of female hearts aflutter around the world is a figment of your imagination?”

“No.” She sucked in her breath. “I’m afraid even my psyche couldn’t dream up anyone that gorgeous.”

“Then he must be a boyfriend you’ve been keeping secret from me.”

She chuckled. “Don’t I wish. To be honest, I have no idea who the man is.”

After a slight pause, “Then how did you get permission to paint him?”

“I didn’t. About two years ago I saw him in a photograph. His looks were so incredible, I found myself sketching him every time I went near my drawing board.”

“Whose photograph?” he asked without preamble.

“My brother’s.”

“Do you still have it?”

“It was never mine to take. The only reason I happened to see it was because I was helping my mom clean his bedroom before he came home to go back to college.

“You know me and how I work. I often get ideas from people I see on the street or in a photo or some such thing. Later on if a face haunts me enough, I end up sketching it from memory.

“That’s what happened in this case. A third of the covers I’ve painted for Red Rose have been done without models.”

“I know, and there’s never been any kind of problem. Maybe there isn’t now.”

She gripped the receiver a little tighter. “What’s wrong, Don?”

“Possibly nothing. The legal department sent me a memo asking for the information.”

She blinked. “Legal department… Do you know what this is about?”

“Not yet. But since you admit you saw this face in a photograph, humor me and talk to your brother.”

“Don—you don’t understand. The man in that picture was simply one of a group of vacationers. Craig is a whitewater river guide. Every summer he takes dozens of groups on float trips down the Colorado, and always gets a picture of them at the place where they put in.

“This is his sixth year. He must have close to a hundred group photos lying in a box in his bedroom closet. I have no idea how old that picture even was.”

“Are they dated?”

“Probably. I wasn’t paying any attention at the time. He plans to open up his own sporting goods store one day soon and use them for wall decor along with trophy fish and elk he’s had mounted. He might remember something unique about a particular trip, but I doubt very much he could recall a name.”

“Will you ask him anyway? Then get back to me with the information A.S.A.P.?”

“It’s the end of June, Don. He’s been running rivers for the last three weeks. All I can do is leave a message at Horsehead Whitewater Expeditions. That’s the company Craig works for.

“They’ll get word to my brother to call me, but it might take anywhere from a few days to a week before I hear from him.”

There was another silence that increased her nervousness.

“Tell you what,” Don murmured at last. “I’m going to contact the legal department and find out why they’re asking questions. Then I’ll get back to you. Will you be there for a while?”

“Yes. I’m finishing up the painting for the cover of The Bride’s Not-So-White Secret, and will send it over to your office by courier the day after tomorrow.”

“Excellent. I’ll look forward to seeing it. Expect to hear from me soon.”

After they’d clicked off, she returned to the painting in question propped on her easel. Unfortunately the reason for Don’s phone call had taken the zip out of her morning.

Instead of reaching for the brush to fill in the last bit of lace on the bridal gown, she walked over to the painting she’d done for Manhattan Merger.

There he was. The embodiment of her dreams come to life on a piece of canvas:

Rich dark brown hair that looked vibrant to the touch.

Nordic blue eyes that seemed to envision things no one else could even imagine.

Rugged facial features denoting a life of hard work, sacrifice and triumphs.

The build and stance of a conquerer beneath his business suit. Someone who dared to explore new frontiers.

A man who hadn’t yet been transformed by a woman’s love…

Perhaps because his total persona had enchanted her, she’d managed to breathe life into him. Enough life that she’d just been told this particular cover had taken first prize among all the covers on romance novels published by the various companies in the U.S. over the last twelve months.

The romance writing industry was going to present her with an award in August. Bonnie Wrigley, the author, would also receive an award for writing Manhattan Merger, chosen the best romance novel from the Touch of Romance line.

Much as Rainey was thrilled by this honor, she coveted this particular rendering of the man in the painting too much to part with it.

When Bonnie Wrigley had made inquiries to the art department for its purchase, Rainey had told Don it wasn’t for sale. But she’d urged him to tell Ms. Wrigley that if it happened Rainey was the artist chosen to do another cover for her, she could have that painting for a minimal fee.

The phone rang again. Rainey rushed to answer it.

“Don?”

“No. It’s Grace Carlow, the senior attorney in the legal department at Red Rose Publishing. I just got off the phone with Don and decided to call you myself.”

Though the window air conditioner worked well, Rainey felt perspiration bead her forehead.

“Thanks for getting back to me so fast. I have to admit I’m a little anxious.”

“After talking to Don, I think we’re going to be all right. Where are you?”

“Near Eighty-Sixth Street and Lexington.”

“That’s good. Can you be at my office by ten?”

Rainey’s green eyes widened. “You mean today?”

“Absolutely. The sooner we put out this fire, the better.”

That didn’t sound good.

“I’ll explain when you get here. Come to the second floor. Make a left. I’m at the end of the hall.”

The line went dead.

With heart pounding, Rainey showered and dressed in a straw colored wraparound skirt and pale blue cotton top. She brushed her gilt-blond hair which had been styled in a feather cut, slid on sandals and flew out the door of her furnished studio apartment.

There was no elevator, however the stairs were carpeted. She hurried down three flights to the entrance of the pre-World War II building, calling out hello to several people who lived there.

She’d been lucky to find a place this close to the Metropolitan Museum. Her rent might be horrible, and the landlord didn’t allow pets which forced her to leave her dog behind with her parents. However this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

If things didn’t work out and her commissions fell off, she’d go back to Colorado. But she didn’t anticipate that happening anytime soon.

So far the conversation with the attorney had sounded the only discordant note since she’d moved here four months ago.

After living in a small town all her life, she felt tiny walking between the skyscrapers. New York was like being in a different universe with every race and type of person represented. She loved the explosion of humanity amid the famous landmarks. Rainey loved the smells and sounds.