Ric managed to loosen his mouth enough to say, 'At least she's safe here.'
'Yes. And I'll keep Kathryn with me tonight.' 'What about her fiancé?
'He's in Melbourne on business.'
'Put Kathryn on for a moment, please Mitch.' A pause while the receiver was handed over.
'I'm okay with all this, Ric,' she instantly assured him. 'And let me tell you I don't blame Lara Chappel for running. Her husband is one scary guy.'
'Promise me you'll do everything Mitch tells you, Kathryn. Take nothing for granted.'
'I will.'
'Good. And thank you again for your help. I'll be in contact once I reach L.A.'
'Take care.' 'You, too.'
She handed back to Mitch who immediately asked, 'Will Lara talk to me now?'
'Give me fifteen minutes. I'll call you back and put her on.'
Was Lara calm enough to give Mitch the information he needed? Time was clearly of the essence. Hoping she'd have the presence of mind to cooperate fully in telling Mitch all he needed to know, Ric strode around the veranda to the guest wing, hating the necessity to put her through this.
She'd already been through too much with her husband. Her fear of Chappel and what he could do was obviously based on experience that Ric could only guess at. A history of abuse… God only knew what that encompassed. Her white-faced panic over what Patrick had told them at the airstrip was sickening in itself. Was it even possible for her to think straight at this juncture?
He knocked on her door, knowing he had to persuade her to talk, yet inwardly recoiling from pressing her into it. He savagely wished he could have achieved her release from torment by himself, not involving others— just her and him—but that was as futile a dream as wishing for everything to be different. It wasn't. Never would be.
She opened the door and he just stood there, looking at her, unable to say a word, rendered speechless by a chaotic torrent of powerful emotions. His Lara…
She wore blue jeans and a blue and white checked shirt that still had the creases from its packaging. Despite the swollen and bruised eye and the years that had gone by, she looked fifteen—young, terribly vulnerable, and he desperately wanted to take her in his arms and promise that life would be good to her. She was safe with him. He would love her as she should be loved. Nothing to fear.
But she wasn't fifteen, and the years that separated them carried a weight he couldn't shift. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. One step at a time, he told himself.
'Mitch needs to talk to you now, Lara,' he stated bluntly, incapable of bringing any finesse to this step. Concentrating on action was the only way to hold his feelings at bay.
Her carriage stiffened, shoulders going back, chin up. 'I'm ready,' she said, clearly determined on doing whatever was asked of her to redress a situation that now endangered others.
He gestured for her to accompany him, intensely relieved that she had at least accepted they had moved beyond her going back to her husband. She stepped out of her room, closed the door and fell into step beside him.
'You've spoken to Mitch, Ric?' Tension in her voice. 'Yes.'
'Is Kathryn…safe?' 'Yes. She's with him.'
Her throat moved convulsively. She managed a ghost of a smile. 'I liked her. Is she…special to you?'
'As a business associate and a person, I value Kathryn very much but we've never had a private relationship. She's engaged to be married.' It suddenly seemed important to add, 'While I, on the other hand, have no romantic commitment to anyone.'
'Oh! I just…' She ducked her head, her long hair veiling the rush of heat into her cheeks. 'You seemed to have a good rapport with her.'
'I trained her to take the position she has in my business. It's given her a keen understanding of what I'm about.'
A nod. 'You're sure she's safe?'
The threat Gary posed was weighing heavily on her mind. Ric gave her a quick rundown of what Mitch had already done and intended to do.
'Victor doesn't want to know,' she said in bitter comment. 'Gary is his only son.'
'Believe me, Lara. Mitch is not going to allow Victor to turn a blind eye to what his son is.'
'I begged him for help. He wouldn't listen. He brushed off everything, saying it was between me and Gary to work out our…our differences.' There was a world of painful disillusionment in that last word. Helpless frustration, too.
'Tell Mitch,' Ric gently advised. 'It will be far more effective put in a legal context.'
Her hands started fretting at each other. 'I'll tell him, but…' An anguished glance at him. 'I'd rather speak to him alone.'
'I'll wait outside the office door. You can call me in if Mitch needs to speak to me again.'
Her breath shuddered out on a sigh of deep relief. 'Thank you.'
Shame. He knew it was an integral part of what she'd been through and nothing he said would take it away. Right now she couldn't bear him to hear the worst. Ric knew it would make no difference to what he felt about her but she wouldn't believe that yet. Nevertheless, she had to understand and appreciate the need for honesty.
They reached Patrick's office and he ushered her inside, saw her seated in the chair by the telephone. Before he picked up the receiver, he paused to emphasise the gravity of the situation. 'Lara, I know you're going to hate this, but you must give Mitch all the ammunition you can for him to go into battle. The photograph is good but if you can give him more…'
She nodded, her gaze evading his, the heat of humiliation still staining her cheeks. 'I won't hold back anything, Ric. I owe it…to all of you.'
'No.' He frowned at the responsibility she was loading onto herself. 'You owe it to yourself,' he said emphatically. 'The truth is what will set you free, Lara. And it's the best weapon you can give to Mitch to use on your behalf.'
She flashed him a look of flinty courage. 'I won't spare myself when so much is being done—being risked—for me. Call him, Ric. I'm ready.'
He got through to Mitch again and left Lara to it.
Outside the office, he paced up and down the veranda, needing to expend some of the violent energy stirred by thoughts of what she might have suffered at Gary Chappel's hands. His own hands kept clenching. It was just as well that Mitch was handling the Sydney end because Ric wasn't sure he could trust himself to act rationally if he was anywhere near the Chappels.
Best that he get himself right out of the way, and not just to separate himself from Lara and draw attention away from where she was.
She needed space from him, too.
Patrick would be better company for her. A father figure. Someone who didn't want any more from her than her own well-being. She'd grow confident again with Patrick, not feel ashamed. Able to be herself. No sense of having to measure up to a memory of what she was before Gary Chappel.
Yes. He could see he had to go. Yet it felt like hell, having to leave her.
She didn't need him, he told himself. In fact, he might be harmful to the process of healing. No choice, anyway. No choice. He had to go.
The office door opened. He had no idea how much time had passed.
Lara beckoned him. 'Mitch wants a further word with you, Ric.'
She looked pale, sick to her soul, but there was no trace of tears. He strode back into the office, picked up the receiver. 'Have you got what you need?' he rapped out, wanting this torment to be at an end for Lara.
'All except a fax with Lara's signature, appointing me her legal representative.'
'We'll do that now. Thanks for everything, Mitch.' 'Just leave it with me, Ric. Take care of yourself.' 'You, too.'
He switched on the office computer, then flicked an apologetic look at Lara. 'Almost done. I'll just type out what Mitch needs—authority to act on your behalf—you sign it and I'll fax it to him. Okay?'
She nodded.
It only took him a couple of minutes. Her hand was surprisingly steady as she wrote her name on the printed sheet. She stood with him, watching it go through the fax machine. Before Ric was aware of what he was doing, his arm was around her shoulders in a comforting hug. She didn't flinch from his touch. She actually leaned into him, much to Ric's relief…and a burst of private pleasure.
'It's over for you now,' he assured her.
She released a shuddering sign and rested her head wearily on his shoulder. 'It's the start of something else, Ric,' she said sadly. 'I'm worried for you, and everyone else this is touching.'
He rubbed his cheek over her hair, unable to resist the close contact, a surge of tenderness tempering the desire to feel a much more intimate bond with her. 'Don't worry on my account. I'm a survivor from way back.' Before temptation could get the better of him, he quickly added, 'We'd better join Patrick. No doubt he's kept dinner waiting for us.'
'Yes,' she agreed, lifting her head and giving him a wobbly smile. 'You're one of a kind, Ric Donato. Did you know that?'
He wanted to read more into her comment than there probably was.
He'd rescued her. That made him special in her eyes. He disciplined himself into returning a reassuring smile. 'You'll find that Patrick is one of a kind, too. He'll be good for you, Lara. Be at ease with him.'
Her mouth tilted wryly. 'A pity I wasn't sent here with you all those years ago. A different life…'
'Don't look back. Look forward. Okay?' 'I'll try,' she promised.
He walked her to the door, casually dropping his arm from her shoulders as he opened it to usher her out. Giving comfort was one thing. Pressing it too far was something else. Yet as they walked around the veranda to the main body of the homestead, he reached out and took her hand, holding it as he had held it when they'd walked together a lifetime ago.
Her fingers fluttered for a moment, then settled, content to accept the feeling of friendly companionship. She'd been alone too long, Ric told himself. She needed to be connected to someone who cared about her.
He cared.