The Maverick Millionaire Read online

  Ellie shook her head. She hadn’t seen it. And it had been years since ER had been her entertainment fix. Jake would have been ten years younger and wouldn’t have been disguised by far too much hair. She never knew the real names of actors anyway—she had enough trouble remembering the names of the characters they portrayed. But it made a horrible kind of sense.

  No wonder Jake could act like a doctor. Gentle and caring and skillful. He’d learned how to pretend to be one, hadn’t he?

  ‘That’s what he was coming to New Zealand for. To film the last bits of the movie they’re making from the series. You wouldn’t believe the coverage the E channel’s been giving this disaster thanks to him being in it. And did you know that the other guy in the life raft was his brother? Not just a brother but his twin?’

  ‘Yes. I did know that.’

  Everybody would know that. Was that why Jake had revealed that much? And was the reason he’d been so shuttered about anything else personal because he knew it would be gold for the waiting media and he didn’t trust her not to go and spill the beans?

  The television crew had beaten the ambulance to the hospital. They were waiting for Ellie to come out of the back. A couple of photographers were there as well.

  ‘Ms Sutton...how are you feeling?’

  ‘What can you tell us about Jake Logan? Is he coming here as well?’

  ‘You saved his life... How does he feel about that?’

  ‘Ellie—over here. Slow down... We just need one shot.’

  Ellie ducked her head behind Mike’s arm. ‘For heaven’s sake,’ she muttered. ‘Just get me inside.’

  * * *

  The Cloud was an extraordinary building right on the waterfront of Auckland’s harbour. Designed to accommodate up to five thousand people, it was long and low with an undulating white roof that had given it the unusual name. A perfect space to be catering for the huge numbers of people.

  The Ultraswift-Round-the-World yacht race had come to a temporary halt due to Cyclone Lila. The boats that had made it safely to Auckland were all moored nearby and their crews were using The Cloud as their base as they had repairs done on their yachts and waited for the weather to settle. Families of those injured or still missing were here as well, and there were almost as many reporters as the race officials, crews and their supporters.

  Jake was hustled through the crowd and allowed to ignore the press of attention. He was taken to a mezzanine level at the far end of the building that had been roped off to allow only authorised personnel. Up the stairs and in a private area of a large bar, Ben was waiting.

  He had apparently refused to allow their reunion to be anything other than completely private and, as the two men held each other in a grip powerful enough to prevent a breath being taken and Jake felt the trickle of tears on his face, he had never been more thankful that the moment wasn’t going to be shared with the world.

  It was a long time before they broke apart enough to stare intently at each other.

  ‘I thought I’d lost you.’

  ‘Me, too.’

  ‘I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it until now. Are you okay?’

  ‘Pretty good. Got a bit banged up and dislocated my knee. I’ll be on crutches for a week or two. And I wouldn’t mind sitting down again.’

  There were comfortable chairs here. A small table had been provided with a cushion on it for Ben to keep his leg supported. A pair of elbow crutches lay on the floor beside the table. Apart from the splint on his knee, though, Ben didn’t seem to have suffered a major injury.

  ‘How did you do it? What happened after I got rescued? It felt like the worst moment in my life when I found out that the weather had got so bad they couldn’t even try to get back to rescue you.’

  Ben looked about as haggard as Jake was feeling. He was nodding and it looked as if he was swallowing hard before he could answer. ‘And the worst moment of mine was thinking I’d never see you again.’

  ‘So what happened?’

  ‘Bit of a blur. Didn’t think I was going to make it. Thought I was dead until I found myself being dragged up a beach.’

  ‘Someone found you?’

  ‘Wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t. And it wasn’t just someone. It was a nurse who goes by the name of Smash ’em Mary.’

  Jake had to grin. ‘Sounds formidable.’

  Something flickered in Ben’s eyes but was gone before Jake could analyse it. ‘She saved my life,’ was all he said. ‘And she was a nurse. If she hadn’t put my knee back I’d be a lot worse off than I am now.’

  ‘You got saved by a nurse.’ Jake shook his head. ‘And I got saved by a paramedic. A girl paramedic.’

  Except that ‘girl’ was totally the wrong word. Courageous, determined...beautiful...Eleanor Sutton was a powerful woman. Compelling. And Jake was already...missing her? Not that he could begin to explain to Ben what had happened in the hours they’d been apart. It would have to wait until they had more time. Until Jake had had a chance to get his own head around what may well have been a life-changing incident. Best to ignore it for the moment.

  ‘What happens now?’

  ‘Guess I’ll get the first flight I can back to the States. You?’

  ‘I’ll get on with what I was coming here for in the first place. There’s a deadline on getting this film into the can.’

  Ben nodded. ‘We both need to get back into it. Put this disaster behind us.’

  ‘Any word on Rita?’

  ‘Doubt they’ll even find any wreckage. She’s gone.’

  Just like her namesake. Rita Marlene. Their mother.

  Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘What you said, Ben...it’s not true. Mom didn’t kill herself. It was an accident. That was the coroner’s verdict.’

  Ben was silent.

  ‘It’s not true,’ Jake insisted. ‘Is it?’

  ‘I wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true.’

  ‘How do you know? Did you hide something? Like a note?’

  Ben shook his head.

  ‘So how do you know?’ Jake’s voice rose. ‘You have to tell me. I’ve got a right to know.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Can’t...or won’t?’

  ‘Jake...’ Ben held up his hands—a pleading gesture. ‘Let it go. Please. It’s so long ago it doesn’t make any difference now.’

  ‘Are you kidding? You can’t say something like that and just leave it. If you’ve got some evidence and you’ve been hiding it all these years, you’ve been lying to me.’

  ‘I haven’t got any evidence. I just...know.’

  ‘Jake?’ It was his PR manager, Kirsty, who approached the men in their corner of this big space. ‘Sorry to break in on the family reunion but we’ve got all the major TV networks queued up downstairs to talk to you. Adam’s getting an ulcer, waiting for you to get a proper medical clearance. How long do you think you’ll be?’

  Jake glared at Ben. The joy of seeing his brother safe was being undermined by anger at not getting the answers he needed.

  And there was fear there, too. Ben was the only person in the world he’d ever had complete faith in. Absolute trust.

  He was looking completely shattered now. Instead of celebrating their joint survival, Jake had turned it into a confrontation that was something he’d never anticipated between them. Was he even ready to hear the truth?

  And now they were being interrupted by the lifestyle that Ben deplored. The pursuit of fame that had always seemed more important to their mother than they had been. Play-acting. Sidestepping reality.

  He could hear an echo of Ellie’s voice in his head.

  How does avoiding reality help exactly?

  Maybe it didn’t help but it was the only protection Jake knew.

  Ben seemed to sense his train of thought. The softening in his eyes suggested that he understood. He gripped his brother’s shoulder.

  ‘Go, Jake. It’s what you do. Your public needs you. You need them. We’ll talk soon.�
�� He even summoned a cheeky grin. ‘And, hey...no amount of money could buy this kind of PR for the movie. You may as well milk it.’

  ‘Amen,’ said Kirsty. ‘Come on, Jake. Pretty please... We’ll set up a press conference so you only have to do it once. And while we’re doing that, you can let the doctors check you out properly.’

  * * *

  X-rays had revealed no broken bones, but the ligament damage to Ellie’s ankle meant that she needed a plaster cast for a couple of weeks at least. And complete rest. She was off active duty on the helicopter crew for the foreseeable future.

  ‘I’m going to be bored out of my skull,’ Ellie informed Mike, who had come back to hear the verdict and take her home.

  ‘They’ll find some light duties for you on base for a while.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Maybe fate was stepping in here, forcing her to take some time out and think about her future. Did she really want to give up on the part of her career that had meant so much to her for so long?

  Right now, all Ellie wanted to do was to get home and eat something that hadn’t come out of an ancient can. To call Jillian at the bird centre and get more information than Dave had passed on to Mike about the condition of the rescued baby kiwi. To sink into her own bed and sleep. A week or so should do the trick.

  There was a slight problem with the plan, however.

  ‘Where’s my other boot?’

  ‘You can’t wear it with your foot in a cast.’

  ‘No, but it had all the loose stuff from my pockets in it. I had to find a way to carry it all in a bit of a rush. My keys are in there.’

  ‘You can’t drive either.’

  ‘My house key is on the same ring.’

  ‘Haven’t you got a spare?’

  Ellie was too tired to be reasonable. ‘I want my boot.’

  ‘I’ll ring the base. It might still be in the chopper.’

  He ended his phone call a short time later. ‘Dave reckons it went with some other clothing—to The Cloud.’

  Ellie sighed. There had been a bundle of clothing. Jake had changed out of the horrendous trackpants and put his jeans back on, but either he’d run out of time or had become attached to his black-and-red-checked shirt because he had only put his coat on top and bundled his other belongings under an arm.

  ‘Fine. That’s on the way home, if you don’t mind a quick detour.’

  Mike’s face lit up. ‘And get a chance to rub shoulders with the rich and famous again? See you become world famous as the woman who rescued Jake Logan? I don’t mind at all.’

  ‘There’ll be no rubbing shoulders,’ Ellie warned. ‘We get my boot and get out. I’m not in any mood to get interviewed.’

  She had no intention of talking to Jake if she could avoid it. The shock of learning who he really was had more than one aspect that was making her cringe.

  She’d made a joke about his limp. Ordered him to make himself useful. And had she really dismissed his whole career by suggesting that he might be a male model?

  He hadn’t enlightened her, though, had he?

  And you didn’t have to lie outright to be dishonest. You could lie by omission.

  Arriving at their destination wearing their bright red flight-suits and with Ellie hopping on crutches should have attracted attention, but instead they slipped in virtually unnoticed. Everybody was crowded around an area that had been set up with a long table in front of a big screen.

  Images of yachts and rescue scenes were providing a backdrop to a press conference. Jake sat centre stage, flanked by the man who’d met him at the helipad and others who were wearing lanyards and looked like race officials. Just under the mezzanine level of the building, there were people leaning over the balcony to watch as well and Ellie noticed she wasn’t the only person on crutches here.

  Jake’s voice was clear and loud, not only because of the lapel mike he was wearing but due to the rapt silence of an audience that was hanging on every word.

  ‘...we thought that was it. And then we saw the chopper with the crewman on the end of the winch. Or should I say crewwoman?’ Jake’s headshake was slow and incredulous. ‘I can’t speak highly enough of the courage and skill of the New Zealand helicopter rescue service. You guys should be very, very proud of yourselves.’

  Mike nudged Ellie, but she was heading purposefully towards someone on the edge of the crowd at the very front. A woman with blond hair and high heels, who was holding a clipboard. She’d been at the helipad with the other people who’d been waiting to whisk Jake off in that ridiculous limousine. Maybe she’d know where her boot was.

  ‘Oh...you must be Ellie.’ The woman’s smile was very wide. ‘I’m Kirsty. This is great. Can we get a shot of you and Jake together after this interview? I understand it was you that rescued Jake? That it was your beach house you used as shelter? And did you guys really watch a kiwi hatching? That’s so awesome...’

  Someone from the floor was asking a question about whether the race organisers were at fault for not postponing this leg of the race. One of the officials started explaining the cyclone’s erratic path. A video clip of a weather map was now playing on the big screen.

  Ellie looked at Kirsty’s perfect hair and makeup. She might have been able to brush out the tangled mess of her own hair at the hospital and rebraid it but it was still filthy. And while the scratches and bruises on her face had been well cleaned, she didn’t have a scrap of any makeup on to soften the effect.

  ‘No,’ she told Kirsty firmly. ‘I look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards.’ It wasn’t far from the truth, was it? If Jake had told people about Pēpe, maybe he’d also told them about saving her life by getting her out from under that tree? Wouldn’t the media love that—to find that a movie star had morphed into a real live hero? But it felt like something private was being exploited.

  ‘And I’m exhausted,’ she added. ‘I just want to find my boot and get home.’

  ‘I had it sent to the front reception desk. I didn’t know that you’d be coming to collect it in person. Are you sure I can’t change your mind about a photo? Or a quick interview? There’s a lot of people here who are super-keen to talk to you.’

  The need for officials to deflect blame for the disaster the yacht race had become was still going on. Not needing to answer any questions for the moment, Jake was looking around the room. Ellie watched, using it as an excuse to ignore Kirsty’s request even though she knew that she had to be very obvious, standing here on the edge of the crowd, not far from the end of the long table. Wearing bright red.

  She was prepared for him to notice her.

  What she wasn’t prepared for was the effect of the eye contact.

  For just a heartbeat, he held her gaze. Clung to it as though seeing her again was a huge relief. As if he’d been afraid of never seeing her again?

  For just that infinitesimal fraction of time it felt like that moment when Ellie had known they were going to kiss. That the connection was far too strong to resist.

  But then it was gone. So fast she could believe she had imagined it.

  And Jake was interrupting the race official.

  ‘There’s no point in trying to blame anyone,’ he said smoothly. ‘It happened. Yacht racing is a risky business. I’d like to take this opportunity to say how devastated we all are that lives have been lost. And how incredibly grateful both my brother and myself are for being rescued. There’s one person in particular that I will be grateful to for the rest of my life.’

  ‘Who’s that?’ someone yelled.

  Jake was smiling now. He stretched out a hand. ‘Paramedic Eleanor Sutton. My real life heroine.’

  Kirsty beamed, stepping aside slightly to allow Ellie to be seen more clearly.

  Ellie cringed as cameras swung in her direction.

  ‘They want you to join them.’ Kirsty sounded excited now. ‘Do you need some help?’

  ‘No.’ The word came out through gritted teeth. Jake had caught her gaze again as he’d stretched out that
hand as an invitation to share his fame.

  She must have imagined that connection she’d felt because it certainly wasn’t there this time. This was Jake Logan the movie star looking at her and he wasn’t the man she had rescued or shared the miracle of watching new life emerge with.

  Couldn’t anyone else see that he was only showing what he wanted the world to see?

  That that warm smile and the over-the-top praise wasn’t real?

  She didn’t know this man.

  And she didn’t want to. She had personal experience of a man who could make others believe whatever he wanted. An experience she would never repeat, thank you very much.

  With nothing more than a dismissive shake of her head for Kirsty’s benefit, Ellie turned and started moving.

  She had to get out of there.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  IN THE END, it was the rescue base manager, Gavin Smith, who gave the media at least some of what they wanted, providing details of the horrific day from the viewpoint of the emergency services and fielding some awkward questions from journalists.

  ‘Is it normal practice to keep a victim on the end of a winch line like that? Isn’t it incredibly dangerous?’

  ‘The pros and cons of any emergency situation are something our crews are trained to weigh up. The chopper was already fully loaded. The only way to get the men out of the life raft was to try and transfer them to the closest land.’

  ‘So why didn’t they go back for Jacob Logan’s brother?’

  ‘Not only had weather conditions worsened, the condition of a patient on board was also critical. The risk to everybody involved was simply too great.’

  ‘So they just got abandoned?’

  ‘They weren’t abandoned.’ The base manager stayed perfectly calm. ‘By a stroke of luck, the paramedic who was on the winch knew the area well. She knew that they could find shelter.’

  ‘Why won’t Eleanor Sutton talk to the media? Has she been told not to? What went on that needs to be kept so private?’

  Gavin’s bland expression made the question lose any significance. ‘As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing to tell. Our crew did their job under exceptionally trying circumstances. Successfully, I might add. If one of them chooses not to be in the public eye for doing that job, I’m more than happy to respect that. Perhaps you should too.’