Part 4 Jason Gripp Jason Gripp 2 1249 2001-11-04T04:48:00Z 2001-11-04T05:45:00Z 2001-11-04T05:45:00Z 2 692 3946 32 7 4845 9.2720

Part 4

*          *            *

            Once in Irons' office at Vorschlag, Ian briefly explained Sara's day; then Irons asked about Hunter.  When he found out that she had been nowhere near Sara during the day, he was displeased with her.

            Now, Irons sat next to the fire in his den; pocket watch in hand watching the seconds tick by.  With every minute Hunter was gone the tension in the room grew.

            Nottingham waited patiently, head bowed, watching the way the firelight played on the polished wood floor.   In truth, Ian did not care what happened to Hunter; he wanted nothing to do with her.  However, he knew that if she was killed or vanished, Irons would hold him responsible.

            Like a predator, Ian looked up at the sudden sound of shattering crystal that was closely followed by a curse in German.  He looked down at Irons right as a grimace left the older man's face.  Kenneth stood up, tucked his watch away and straightened his suit.

            "Hunter has returned."  He said in the silence that followed and then turned to his bodyguard.  "Ian, I want you to bring her to me, now."  Ian nodded and skulked out of the room as Irons moved to gaze at the fire.

*          *            *

            Hunter hurriedly walked across her bedroom in Irons' mansion and collapsed on the bed.  She let out a deep breath and then closed her eyes.  With a moan of protest, she got back up to take care of the shopping bags.  She lifted the largest onto the bed and dug through it, lifting out a red sweater wrapped around a small box.  Hunter pulled the fabric away to expose her laptop.

            ~Now where to hide it…~  She pondered as she looked around the room.  Her eyes rested on the armoire.   ~That'll work.~  Quickly Hunter switched hard-drives in the computer and slipped it onto the top shelf.  Then, she put the other drive into her purse for safekeeping.  Hunter threw the clothes back into the bag and dropped it on the floor.  She would let the domestic staff take care of putting them away.  Right now, she was tired and wanted to sleep.

            Hunter sat down on the edge of her bed and started to remove her boots, when she remembered her accident in the dark hallway.  ~I'll worry about it in the morning.~  She decided as a knock on the door made her jump.  ~Who could that be?~  She wondered as she once again stood up and answered the door.  A slight gasp escaped her as she took an involuntary step away from her visitor.

            "Yes, Ian?"  Hunter asked, regaining her composure.

            The tall man stood still, his eyes downcast.  "My master wishes to speak to you."

            She carefully rubbed weary eyes.  "Can't this wait until morning?"

            "He requests your presence now."  Ian replied lifting his eyes to hers to emphasize 'now'.

            "Fine."  She stated reluctantly.  Nottingham turned on his heel and began leading the way.  Hunter fell in stride behind him not even attempting to match his pace.  She nervously twisted the ring on her finger lost in thought.  Ian was escorting her into the den sooner than she expected and without a noise he was gone.

            Hunter found Irons watching the fire, his back turned to her.  After a few moments of silence she spoke.  "If this is about the vase—"

            Irons turned quickly to face her, cutting off her sentence.  "I missed you at dinner."  He said in a condescending tone.

            "I was busy and did not realize what time it was."  Hunter replied with a half-truth as she moved over to one of the couches and leaned against the arm.

            "Busy doing what?"  He prodded looking at the chessboard.

            "Research."

            Kenneth raised an eyebrow at her as he picked up a knight.  "Ian informed me that you were not with Sara as you said you would be."  The knight replaced the queen and Irons laid the ousted chess piece next to the board.

            "I had things t—"  She tried to explain.

            "I do not care about your excuse."  He said sharply. 

            Hunter started at the tone in his voice.  "Temper, temper."  She breathed barely audible.

            "You should have been back hours ago."  Irons stated as he walked towards her.

            Hunter looked at him perplexed.  "I was unaware that I had a curfew."  She retorted crossly.

            "You don't."  Kenneth responded calmly.  "I was disappointed that we could not have dinner again."

            Hunter was taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor.  "I'm sorry, I didn't know…"  She trailed off.

            He looked at her warm-heartedly.  "I was worried about you."  Hunter smiled back at him with reserve.  Irons reached inside his suit and procured a small cellular phone.  He handed it to her and she looked down at it.  Kenneth put his hand under her chin tilting her head back.  He caught her eyes with a steel blue gaze.  "The next time you're going to be late, do call.  Now go to bed.  We will talk more in the morning."

            Hunter stepped away from Irons before she turned and retreated to her room like a chastised child.