Page 6 of Loving Graystoke's Heir

Chapter Two

There was a good thing to be said about being invisible most of the time. Now, that didn’t mean that the people at GEI didn’t notice her or greet her kindly. Mostly everyone thought of her as Donal’s friend or Miss Ellery.

Few knew more about her than that. She spent most of her time in her office with her paperwork, the preserve they maintained on American soil, or the wildlife refuges that they funded across North America.

And even though Donal hadn’t been heard from for those lonely years, she still handled all the accounts for his personal contributions to preserves and organizations in Africa.

Just before she’d boarded the jet, she’d placed a call to one of the men that transported supplies to various locations for GEI and asked him to prepare a vehicle for her with a driver.

When she stepped off of the jet, she was surprised to see a familiar face.

“Hallo, Magheli!” Tamsin extended her hand toward the gentleman before her. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

“Hallo, Tamsin. Welkom to South Africa.” Magheli moved past her offered hand to press a light kiss on her cheek. “Surely we are beyond a handshake. Have we not known each other for years?”

Her cheeks were warmed by the greeting he gave her. Sure, they had spoken hundreds and hundreds of times over the years, but she wasn’t sure that she was really ready to return the gesture, so she choked on a laugh and took a step back. “Still, you didn’t have to greet me.”

He waved off her comment. “Of course, I did! I am your driver for your trip.”

She heard his intonation and wanted to make sure he understood.

“I can’t imagine that you’d have the time to focus on me. I might be here for quite some time. It depends on how quickly I can locate Donal. As I said on the phone, it’s imperative that I find him and as soon as possible.”

His smile showed the laugh lines near his eyes. “Of course,” he gave her a wink. “I understand why you’re trying to find him. I’m just not sure how much luck we will have.”

“At this point,” she began, wanting to explain more about her intentions, “I would be thrilled to find a solid lead.”

He pursed his lips together. “I asked around after I got your call, and while there was nothing concrete within the last few years, I did find out that GEI already has people looking for him.”

She watched his face carefully wondering if he was someone she could trust. “Do you know where I can find them?”

Tamsin had kept her features schooled into a quiet curiosity. She had to be careful with what she revealed. She hadn’t traveled thousands of miles to waste her time, and if Magheli wasn’t planning on helping her, she needed to find that out and quickly.

“I’ll take you to them.”

He gestured to a car that looked as though it had less than twenty miles on it. She wasn’t expecting him to drive something brand spanking new and right off the boat, if not the showroom floor.

“That’s your car?”

Magheli followed the direction of her eyes and laughed. “Not quite. But it is on my ‘bucket list’ for my life.” He jerked his thumb toward the corner of the parking row. “We’re going in that.”

The jeep was well used, at least a decade old, and covered in layers of road dirt.

“Nice.”

His grin was almost reassuring. “There’s hope for you yet, Amerikaanse, if you like the way I travel.” Magheli looked down at her hands. “Bags? Don’t you have any?”

She gestured at the pack she’d slung over her shoulder. “I’ve got everything I need.”

He narrowed his eyes and shrugged. “Let’s go then.”

They piled into the jeep and took the short drive to the office.

* * *

Donal arrived at the camp and parked his vehicle in the dirt lot where the other vehicles sat when they weren’t in use. Stepping into the heat of the day gave him a rough slap of reality. Out here, he was in his element. The world where his uncle existed was lightyears away.

But his traitorous mind spoke up, Tamsin was close.

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