The Ties That Bind

made his fingers clamp more fiercely around the phone as Bonnie came on the line.
    "Mr. Sheridan, I've been wondering where you were," Bonnie said in her smooth, professional voice. "I couldn't find any messages saying you'd be late in to work, and I was beginning to be concerned."
    It crossed Garth's mind that the concern in his secretary's voice was slightly more than he would have expected from Bonnie Garnett. He dismissed the thought. "I'm calling from the car. Put me through to Wes."
    There was a short pause and then Bonnie said politely, "I'm afraid Mr. McIntyre isn't in yet, either. I was informed he had a breakfast meeting with Mr. Jensen of TechHi . I think he expects the meeting to take all morning."
    "Damn." Garth swallowed the rest of the curse and told Bonnie goodbye rather abruptly.
    "But when shall I expect you, Mr. Sheridan?"
    "In a couple of hours."
    That seemed to startle her. "A couple of hours? You're not just driving across town?"
    "I'm on my way back from the coast."
    There was another pause from Bonnie. "I see, I hadn't realized." She took a breath and said, "Then we'll see you in a couple of hours. Goodbye, Mr. Sheridan." She hung up the phone.
    Garth drove another couple of miles, turning everything over in his mind, including Bonnie's unexpected concern for his late arrival at the office. Something was very wrong, and the root lay somewhere close to the office of the president of Sherilectronics . He knew it. He also knew the feeling of being on the wrong end of an act of betrayal.
    On a hunch, Garth picked up his phone again and asked for information. A moment later the operator put him through to Matt Jensen's office at TechHi .
    "I'm sorry, Mr. Jensen is in a meeting and can't be disturbed," Jensen's secretary announced. "May I take a message?"
    "Jensen's in a meeting with McIntyre who works for me. I'm Sheridan," Garth said impatiently. "It's Wes McIntyre I need to reach. Do you know where they're having breakfast?"
    "Oh, but they're not having breakfast, sir." The secretary sounded startled at his assumption. "Mr. Jensen is in a meeting with his accountant. I haven't seen Mr. McIntyre."
    Garth took his foot off the accelerator as a cold chill of premonition went through him. "I see. Thanks for the information. Must be my mistake."
    He hung up and slammed the Porsche to a halt at the side of the highway. Then he sat behind the wheel, drumming his fingers on the leather and marshaled his thoughts once more.
    McIntyre. The man he thought he knew so well because Wes's mind worked the same as his own. But for the past few months Garth's own mind had been working a little differently than usual.
    Garth asked the mobile operator to put through one more call. When the head of Bailey Security came on the line, Garth didn't bother with the preliminaries.
    "I want your man to keep his eye out for a guy named Wes McIntyre. I have a hunch he's involved in this mess." Quickly Garth launched into a description. Halfway through it, he was interrupted.
    "But, Mr. Sheridan, you had Walters pulled off that detail over an hour ago. I have a record of your call."
    "The hell I did," Garth breathed, aware of a tightening in his stomach. "I didn't make any call, George."
    "Just a second. Here's the note from my secretary. The call came in at ten thirty-five. You specifically left word that everything was under control, and you didn't want to pay for any more of Walters's time."
    "You didn't take the call yourself?"
    "No, I was in a meeting."
    "It was a phony, George," Garth said bluntly. "Get Walters back out to that cottage. Now."
    It was the other man's turn to swear. "I'm sorry, Garth. But it's going to take him some time to get back there. I'll start him moving as fast as I can."
    "You do that," Garth said savagely, putting the Porsche into gear and spinning the sleek car back onto the highway. "I'm going back myself. This whole thing has turned to fertilizer." And it's my own damn fault, he added silently as he opened up the Porsche.
    A weekend lover wasn't of much use to his woman. He was doomed to always be in the wrong place when she needed him.

-11-
    WHEN WES SHOVED HER through the kitchen door of her cottage. Shannon gave up any hope of being spotted by the security guard from Bailey. Even if he had returned from lunch, he wouldn't be expecting an approach from the back of the house. From his position on the opposite side of the road, Ted Walters wouldn't be able to see what was happening at the