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CHAPTER ONE

‘GET Dan Drayton.’

Theplea…theinstruction…thecommand…thumped continuously through the shocked daze in Jayne Winter’s mind as she watched her stricken employer being wheeled away, an oxygen mask clamped over his mouth and nose.

He had told her not to worry about anything else nor to let any other consideration get in the way. Dan Drayton could do the job. Given the critical situation, he would certainly take over and do the job for Monty. All Jayne had to do was contact him, brief him on the problem, and give him whatever assistance he required when he arrived.

Simple.

Except it wasn’t simple.

Far from it.

Dan Drayton was the man she had married in blind passion and left when irreconcilable differences had formed an unbridgeable chasm between them. Monty Castle knew nothing about that part of her life. She had shut the door on it, asserting her independence by adopting her maiden name again before gaining employment as Monty’s personal assistant.

Her estranged husband was the last person in the world she wanted to call on for help. She would rather be dragged over hot coals than admit any need for him whatsoever. As for working with him, being at his beck and call, having to carry out his orders…Jayne quailed at the thought of how Dan might use that situation to bring all sorts of pressure to bear on her.

Perhaps he was tied up in a contract and couldn’t come. Perhaps he was somewhere inaccessible, impossible to reach. He had the soul of a Gypsy, his typically whimsical and eccentric ambition being to visit every country in the world in alphabetical order.

She had felt she was being swept away on a marvellous magic carpet when she had first married Dan. The magic had worn thin when she had found her life reduced to being a camp follower while he went out and blew up mountains or whatever else he was contracted to do as an explosives expert.

Iran had been the end for her, stuck in the American engineers’ ghetto, going quietly mad with frustration. If she moved out of it she had to be covered from head to toe in black, a faceless person, a nothing person. That was how she had felt. She only really existed for Dan as the woman he came home to bed.

He was probably up to L or M by now. He had done China a long time ago so he wouldn’t want to come here anyway. She hadn’t particularly wanted to come to China herself, having done enough travelling with Dan to last her the rest of her life. Yet she now felt that in taking this trip and its accompanying challenges in her stride, she had really come of age as a person who could handle anything.

Dragon Lady…that was what the Chinese called her. It gave her a unique and individual identity and Jayne secretly revelled in it. Dan would undoubtedly put the name down as relating purely to her appearance, which, Jayne conceded, had initially inspired it.

With her willowy height and the cascade of fiery red ringlets that tumbled hectically around her face and shoulders, untameable by any hair-dressing aid, she certainly stood out as unusual amongst the people of China. Her pale skin and vivid blue eyes increased the effect of being some strange, mythical creature, especially to the workers on the project site.

To them she was a subject of curiosity, awe, and a certain fearful respect. Being Monty Castle’s personal assistant gave an aura of power, as well. Dragon Lady had definitely become an apt title for her, especially since she was so closely associated with and trusted by the explosives expert.

She had also earned it in her own right, Jayne assured herself. She had proved herself capable of carrying out any task that Monty had tossed at her with meticulous competence and efficiency. Handing her the responsibility of getting Dan Drayton was par for the course.

If only it was anyone else but Dan!

Jayne released a long, feeling sigh. It was no use hoping for Monty to make a speedy recovery. The forces of nature did not wait upon anyone’s state of health. This was an emergency situation. The threat of a disastrous mudflow had to be stopped and that required an explosives expert who could move mountains. Monty had chosen Dan Drayton and he expected her to get him. She had to do it.

Her turbulent train of thought was abruptly interrupted by the arrival of Lin Zhiyong and his usual entourage. She had called him herself, requesting the best available modern, medical attention for Monty. As the highest ranking official, responsible for the successful completion of the new city of Denjing, Lin Zhiyong was well known to her. He was critically interested in Monty’s protection plan.

Jayne didn’t have to be told this was not a sympathy call. As the team of Chinese engineers who had been assigned to the project filed into Monty’s office after Lin Zhiyong, she was well aware that she occupied the hot seat that Monty’s collapse had created. These men wanted answers. They wanted direction and they wanted certainty in that direction. As Monty’s personal assistant, it was up to her to fill the hole he had left.

Instinctively she stood tall, taking full advantage of her height as she greeted the much smaller dignitary and thanked him for his assistance in procuring fast, professional help for Monty.

Lin Zhiyong was well in his seventies. He invariably wore a Mao suit, apparently scorning the modern trend toward Western-styled clothes. Jayne suspected he was not comfortable about inviting in Western technology, either, but he was less comfortable with failure.

After a brief exchange of courtesies, he came to the purpose of his visit. ‘It is most regrettable,’ he stated without the slightest crack in his essentially enigmatic demeanor, ‘but it would appear that Mr. Castle will not be capable of fulfilling his contract with our government in the time allotted.’

A broken contract meant Monty would take a huge loss, not only in personal investment but in reputation. Jayne knew she had to reply with confidence and authority.

‘On the contrary, Mr. Castle will deliver on his contract,’ she asserted. ‘While he may not be able to do so personally, another expert in his field will take over and see Mr. Castle’s plans to completion. Castle Constructions will finish the project on schedule.’

Lin Zhiyong stared at her with flat, black eyes, his timeless Chinese face as expressionless as the Buddhas in the old temples.

Conscious of the many onlookers in the office gauging her response to Lin Zhiyong’s supposition, Jayne deliberately evoked the Dragon Lady image by keeping her shoulders straight, maintaining her full height, her head tilted as though she was about to emit fire from her nostrils, blue eyes ablaze with conviction.

The elderly official, however, was not about to be diverted from pursuing his point. He was too accustomed to a position of power over others to be overly impressed by a twenty-seven-year-old foreign woman, no matter how remarkable she was.

‘May I inquire who it is you propose to call in?’ he asked in a mild, silky tone.

It flashed through Jayne’s mind that to hesitate was to show weakness. She had no choice. Any prevarication would be a terrible disservice to Monty.

‘Dan Drayton,’ she replied, not letting any hint of uncertainty show as she answered for her employer. ‘He is recognised as one of the foremost explosives experts in the world. If you wish to check his credentials…’

‘I am aware of his credentials, Miss Winter, as I am also aware he is presently occupied in Africa. It was the reason for our choosing your employer instead of Mr. Drayton in the first place.’

Africa! Was he in Liberia, Libya, or had he moved on to Morocco or Mozambique? Jayne couldn’t think of any other countries whose name started with L or M in Africa. Dan might still be working through K. Kenya leapt to mind. Whatever the location, the more important question was, with what and whom was Dan occupied? If she literally couldn’t get him…

‘You do appreciate,’ Lin Zhiyong went on, ‘that time is an important factor in the contract.’

The softness of his tone did not veil the implacable intent in his words. There would be no extension of the deadlines to be met. Penalty clauses would be actioned.

Jayne had a few seconds of intense trepidation. Was it better to put damage control in place now? Were Monty’s instructions a straw he was grasping at in a moment of great crisis, a straw that could prove more costly in the end? Or was she looking for a way out of having any personal contact with Dan?

One thing she wasn’t, was a coward!

‘I believe Mr. Drayton will oblige Mr. Castle in this matter. He will come,’ she declared, trusting that Monty knew more than she did about Dan’s present professional life. ‘He will come,’ she repeated with decisive assurance.

‘You cannot know that,’ Lin Zhiyong replied, unmoved from his sceptical viewpoint.

‘I do know it,’ Jayne retorted, stonewalling as hardily as General Jackson.

‘How?’

The knowing challenge warned Jayne he was aware that she had not yet communicated the news of Monty’s collapse to anyone outside China. The necessity to save face left her with no other option but to reveal a personal connection.

‘Because Dan Drayton promised me I only had to call him for anything, and he would supply it.’

She had never put that promise to the test. She didn’t doubt Dan had meant it at the time. He had wanted to show himself generous in their parting. Whether he would hold to it now after two years of silence from her was highly doubtful, but Lin Zhiyong couldn’t know that.

She sensed a subtle change of attitude in the man confronting her, a flicker of recognition in his eyes acknowledging a different kind of power to his, a power that was essentially female. Dragon Lady could breathe fire into a man. The fire of desire.

The irony of it twisted Jayne’s heart. That had been true between her and Dan throughout most of their marriage, but Dan wouldn’t come to Monty’s aid, if he came at all, because he still wanted her. Their desire for each other had wilted into insubstantial smoke under the deadening effect of other needs.

Nevertheless, she saw no reason to disillusion Lin Zhiyong’s typically male deduction. It gave her the breathing space she needed.

‘Today is the eighth day of the eighth lunar month,’ Lin Zhiyong stated portentously. ‘On the fifteenth day, when the moon is full, the people in this province celebrate Zhongqiu Jie, the Mid-Autumn Festival. I shall be hosting a party that evening. You and Mr. Drayton are cordially invited to my home, Miss Winter.’

In other words, Dan Drayton had better be here by then, or else!

Jayne mouthed all the correct, courteous words of acceptance and appreciation for both herself and Dan. Lin Zhiyong departed, satisfied he had gracefully applied the time pressure that would keep Monty Castle’s project on schedule or prove it was impossible. It also allowed him to save face and retain his position of influence and power in the government hierarchical system that was so important to the Chinese.

The office emptied of visitors and Jayne shut the door after them, briefly leaning against it and closing her eyes, fiercely hoping she had not just set herself up for an ignominious fall.

She had to get Dan for Monty. It was a professional call, not a personal one. She hoped Dan was of a mind to let private bygones be bygones. She was simply doing her job, following her boss’s instructions. She would state the problem, pass on Monty’s request, and keep everything on a business basis.

A sense of pride stirred. It would be good for her if Dan did accept the proposition. It was the ideal opportunity to prove she had become her own person, self-determining and strong enough not to be affected by Dan or the memory of their all-consuming relationship. That was another life.

She pushed herself into action, making herself a pot of tea and stacking a plate with Chinese sugar biscuits before settling at Monty’s desk. Somehow she now had to activate the plan she had just promised. She steeled herself to the task and picked up the telephone.