“No, no, that’s not what I mean.” Genuine distress made her voice quiver. “William may be ruthless when it comes to money and prestige, but he has never been…cruel before.”
“Cruel? Sonya, tell me what you’re talking about. You are frightening me.”
“Oh God, Ginny, I don’t know for certain. And even if it’s true, I don’t know what he intends. It’s only a guess on my part. I never thought he would stoop to such duplicity and I’m certain I’m wrong…”
“About what! You’ve got to stop babbling and tell me exactly what you mean.”
“William sent for your children several weeks ago.”
Ginny stared at her. The implications did not hit her at once, only a sense of perplexity that he would take it upon himself to send for Laura and Franco. Then, as she saw the distress in Sonya’s eyes, she knew what he intended. Her hand convulsed on the stem of her wineglass.
In a voice as brittle as breaking ice, she said, “If any harm comes to my children, I will ruin him.”
“Ginny…I don’t think he means them harm, but I know how angry he was when your husband managed to wreck his business dealings in Mexico. He was so livid. I tried to reason with him—after all, business is just business—but he took it very personally. Perhaps he feels that he can use the children as leverage with you.”
“You don’t believe that any more than I do.” Ginny rose to her feet. “He intends to use them as hostages.”
“Not even William would do that.” Sonya’s lips trembled and her eyes were dark with distress. “He’ll be furious with me when he learns that I’ve told you, but I think he’s gone too far this time. Children should not be used as weapons in a personal feud.”
“How long ago did he send for them? Oh God, they could be in America right now! I must find Steve….”
“Wait!” Sonya lunged to her feet, her face as pale as the white linen tablecloths. “Please, don’t let him go after William. He’s in ill health, and it could kill him!”
“I never thought you loved him that much,” Ginny said tartly, then was sorry when two crimson smears stained her stepmother’s cheeks. “Forgive me, Sonya, but this is too much, even for the senator. My God! To interfere in the lives of two young children surpasses anything he has ever done. It’s bad enough that he has lied, cheated and stolen just to enlarge his personal fortune, not caring who he hurt in the process, but now he has gone too far. If Steve doesn’t kill him, I very well may!”
Aware that their conversation was attracting attention from other diners, Ginny snatched up her reticule and left Antoine’s, gliding past a rather perturbed maître d’ with barely a nod and murmured pleasantry. There was no time to pause for social amenities, not when her children may very well be in danger.
When she reached the St. Louis Hotel, Steve was not there. He’d gone out again, leaving her a short note that he would be back in time for them to attend the opera later that evening.
The opera. Dear God, she’d forgotten all about their plans to attend the Royal Opera House’s late performance of Carmen with the lieutenant governor. How could she sit through an evening of music and pretend nothing was wrong?
Senator Brandon would not harm the children, she knew that, but they would be frightened, especially if her aunt was upset. Did he really think he could keep them from her? Did he underestimate Steve Morgan that greatly? Or was he just that desperate…?
It was true that the senator had lost a great deal of money after the men working his mines were freed. Díaz had bowed to public opinion—shrewdly surmising that it would cost him little in actual silver and benefit him greatly with the citizens—and proclaimed that foreign employers must pay each man a fair wage for his work. Profits would be drastically cut under such a measure, and some investors had pulled out of Mexico.
It seemed counterproductive when Díaz was attempting to lure foreign business to the country, but Steve had said dryly that, behind the closed doors of the presidential palace, deals were being made that would increase foreign profits but also put harsh burdens on the citizens.
“Senator Brandon just happened to get on the wrong side of el presidente, or he’d be getting his share of the take. I wonder how much good I did shutting him down. He’s liable to be replaced by someone much worse.”
To Ginny, already troubled and saddened to learn that the man she’d always considered her father was so pitiless, it had seemed grossly unjust that more innocent people would suffer because of greed. Despite that, she had been unable to stifle a feeling of pity for the senator. He’d looked so old and weary, a bitter, defeated man.
Now she felt nothing but revulsion for him. How could he be so cruel?
Steve returned to the hotel just before dark. Ginny met him at the door of their suite in her dressing gown.
“Sonya told me that my father sent for the children! They are probably halfway here by now.”
Blue eyes caught and held hers, his tone grim as he said, “The ship carrying our children from London docked in Galveston three days ago. We probably passed them in the Gulf.”
“You knew.”
“Not until about two hours ago when I received a reply from your cousin Pierre. His cable expressed dismay that we had not authorized the children’s journey.”
Ginny stared at him. “Three days. Where are they? Oh God, where could they be?”
“I have some men working on it. Stay calm, Ginny. I don’t need female hysterics right now.”
His cold tone was like a dash of icy water in her face, and she recoiled. “I’m not hysterical, just frightened, and I would think you’d understand that.”
“I do. Believe me, I do. But this doesn’t help.”
Steve raked
