Diamond Bay by Linda Howard Page A

only now beginning to realize its reaches. And he had
become hers, as if that act of mercy had created a marriage of their lives,
binding them together regardless of their wishes or wants.
    Though he was a stranger she already knew a lot about him. She
knew that he was hard and fast and well trained; he would have to be, to
survive in the world he had chosen. He also possessed a tough-mindedness that
was awesome in its intensity, a steely determination that had kept him swimming
in the night-dark ocean with two bullet wounds in his body, when a lesser man
would have drowned almost immediately. She knew that he was important to the
people who were hunting him, though she didn't know if they wanted to protect
him or kill him. She knew that he didn't snore and that he had an extremely
healthy libido, despite his physical incapacitation. He was still when he
slept, except when his bones and muscles ached from his flaring fever; that
stillness had bothered her at first, until she realized that it was natural to
him.
    He also answered no questions, even in his delirium, not even one
as elemental as his name. It could be the fever-induced confusion, but it was
also more than possible that his training was so deeply ingrained in his
subconscious that even illness or drugs couldn't override it.
    Soon, tomorrow or the next day, or
perhaps even during the coming night, he would wake up and be in full
possession of his senses. He would require
clothing, and answers to his questions. She wondered what those questions would
be, and thought of her own questions, though she was beginning to wonder if he
would provide any answers. She couldn't prepare for what he might or might not
say, because she felt it would be useless to try to predict his actions.
Clothing, however, was a problem she could do something about. She had nothing
there that would fit him; though she often wore men's shirts she had bought
them specifically for herself, and they would be far too small for him. She
hadn't kept any of B.B.'s clothing, though that would have been useless in any
case, as B.B. had weighed a good thirty pounds less than this man.
    Mentally she made a list of the things he would need. She didn't
like leaving him alone for the length of time it would take her to drive to the
nearest discount store, but it was either that or ask Honey to do the shopping
and bring the things out. She considered that. It was tempting, but the arrival
of the two men that morning made her reluctant to involve Honey any deeper in
the situation. It should be safe to leave him alone for an hour. She would do
her shopping early the next morning, which would give those men time to move
out of the immediate area.
    She carefully locked the house when she left, and told Joe to
stand guard. Her patient was sleeping quietly; she had just gotten him settled,
so he should sleep for several hours. Her gun-metal Regal ate up the miles as
she pushed her speed as fast as she could, anxiety gnawing at her. It should be all right to leave
him alone, but she wouldn't breathe easy until she was back home and could see
that for herself.
    Though it had just opened for the
morning, the local K mart was already swarming with customers who had all decided to do their shopping before the worst heat of the day was upon
them. Rachel got a shopping cart and maneuvered it through the crowded aisles,
dodging the darting preschoolers who had managed to escape their mothers and
were headed, one and all, for the toy department. She steered around browsers, idled behind a frail white-haired
woman who walked with a cane, then spotted a clear aisle and broke to the
right.
    A package of underwear, a few pairs of socks and a pair of jogging
shoes, size ten, went into the cart. She had measured his feet that morning, so
she was fairly certain the shoes would fit. Two button-up shirts and a cotton
terry pullover shirt were piled on top of the shoes. She was uncertain of what size pants to
get, but finally selected