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was
just as well that she couldn't see the look
in his eyes.
    It was impossible to
talk in front of Stevie as they drove through the massive electronic gates at the
Scott ranch. He, like Sally, was fascinated by the layout, which included a helipad, a landing strip with a hangar, a
swimming pool and a ranch house that looked
capable of sleeping thirty people. There were also target ranges and guest
cabins and a formidable
state-of-the-art gym housed in what looked like a gigantic Quonset hut like those used during the Second World War
in the Pacific theater. There were several satellite dishes as well, and
security cameras seemingly on every available edifice.
    "This is
incredible," Sally said as they got out of the truck and went with him
toward the gym.
    "Maintaining it
is incredible," Eb said with a chuckle. "You wouldn't believe the level
of technology required to keep it all functioning."
    Stevie had found the
thick blue plastic-covered mat on the wood floor and was already rolling around
on it and trying the punching bag suspended from one of the steel beams that supported other training
equipment.
    "Stevie
looks like that man, Dallas," she said abruptly.
    He grimaced. "Haven't you and Jess ever talked?"
    "I didn't know
anything about Dallas and my aunt until you told me," she said simply.
    "This is
something she needs to tell you, in her own good time."
    She studied the
youngster having fun on the mat. "He isn't my uncle's child, is he?"

34
    MERCENARY'S WOMAN
    DIANA PALMER

There was a rough
sound from the man beside her. "What makes you think so?"
    "For one thing, because he's the
image of Dallas. But also because Uncle Hank
and Aunt Jessie were married for years with no kids, and suddenly she
got pregnant just before he died
overseas," she replied. "Stevie was like a miracle."
    "In some ways,
I suppose he was. But it led to Hank asking for a combat assignment, and even
though he died of a heart condition, Jess has had nightmares ever since out of guilt." He looked down at her.
"You can't tell her that you know."
    "Fair enough. Tell me the rest."
    "She and Dallas
were working together on an assign ment. It was one of those lightning
attractions that over come the best moral obstacles. They were alone too much and finally the
inevitable happened. Jess turned up preg nant. When Dallas found out, he went crazy.
He demanded that Jess divorce Hank and marry him, but she wouldn't. She swore that Dallas
wasn't the father of her child. Hank was, and she had no intention of divorcing her husband."
    "Oh, dear."
    "Hank knew that she'd been with
another man, of course, because he'd always been sterile. Dallas didn't know that. And Hank
hadn't told Jessica until she announced that she was expecting a child."
He shrugged. "He
wouldn't forgive her. Neither would Dallas. When Hank died, Dallas didn't even try to get in touch with Jess. He really believed that Stevie was Hank's child.
Until about ten minutes ago, that
is," he added with a wry smile. "It didn't take much guesswork
for him to see the resemblance. I think we won't go back for a couple of
hours. I don't want to walk into the
firefight he's probably having with
Jess even as we speak."
    She bit her lower lip. "Poor Jess."
    "Poor
Dallas," he countered. "After the fight with Jes sie, he took every
damned dangerous assignment he could find, the more dangerous the better. Last
year in Africa, Dallas was shot to pieces. They sent him home with wounds that would
have killed a lesser man."
    "No wonder he looks so bitter."
    "He's bitter because he loved
Jess and though she felt the same, she wasn't willing to hurt Hank by leaving him. But in
the end, she still hurt him. He couldn't live with the idea that she
was having some other man's child. It destroyed their marriage."
    She grimaced. "What a tragedy, for all of them."
    "Yes."
    She looked toward Stevie, smiling.
"He's a great kid," she said. "I'd love him even if he wasn't my
first cousin."
    "He's got grit and personality to