Chapter 7
The arm that came around her head, snaking through her thick hair and grabbing on was snapping-turtle quick. Quicker even than Dane. The thought sent a sizzle of panic through her, but she forced her eyes to his as he pulled her head back and her body close at the same time.
“I know you’re lying to me. You two are lovers. I’d know that even if I hadn’t done my homework.” He didn’t ease up on his hold of her hair. She controlled her breathing and stayed still and silent.
“I know what your game is, but I’m not sure why. You want to tell me, sugar?”
Before she would answer him, she would extricate herself from his hold.
And she would do some damage while she was at it.
A lazy smile played on her lips. She opened her mouth as if she were going to speak.
The instant she felt the slight relax in his grip on her hair, the miniscule release of tension in the ropey arm around her waist, she moved.
Simultaneously shoving hard with one hand against his chest to throw off his balance, and leaning away, she shot her knee upwards and landed it in his crotch, then spun out of his arms before he could regain his broken grip on her.
Then she raised her gun hand and aimed it at him as she stepped away from him.
Del was doubled over with his knees bent and one hand braced on the counter, but he straightened enough to see the gun.
“You’re playing with fire, lady.” He croaked the words.
“You sure I’m the one playing with fire, Del?
” She stepped back as far as the small kitchen would allow.
She didn’t trust him to not try getting her gun away.
He was too fast. It occurred to her that he had a gun in his shoulder holster, but this wasn’t the Wild West. They weren’t going to engage in a game of quick draw.
But she wasn’t lowering her gun until he was gone.
“Get out.” This time she wasn’t playing games.
Del saw that and, with some trouble, he stood straight and walked out.
Dane was going to kill her. He’d got himself arrested for nothing. She’d blown her assignment. Del had her number and Dane’s too. He was well informed and smart and quick. And she sensed he was desperate. He had something very big to hide. More than the murder of Harvey Lake.
Taking stock of her vitals, she could take some pride in the normalcy of her heart rate and her dry skin.
But when she slipped her phone from her pocket to dial Cap, it was impossible to miss the tremor in her hand.
Disgust filled her and quelled the tremor as she punched the speed-dial number three.
In an unnerving quirk of the mobile communications world, he answered her before she heard the phone ring on her end.
“What’s happening?” Cap sounded anxious. Not completely unfounded.
“Delbert—the bastard—is on his way to you. He has Dane. In cuffs. Turns out he expected me to play him and he’s good at playing. This guy’s a pro, Cap, and I don’t mean at being an ATF agent.”
“Yeah. I know. I got his file—pulled some strings with the governor. Del was undercover for years and came in hardened but smart enough to work his way up the ATF ladder instead of out. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was dirty for Harvey’s murder and a lot more. Maybe it’s drugs.”
“I’m kind of hoping it is, Cap. But the thing is, I have a bad feeling it’s the firearms part of the ATF he’s into—and on the wrong side.”
“What did Dane do? Can I get him out of this?”
“You’ll have to give up some intel. You have anything small you can give him?”
“I’ll find something. We’ll give him the business card from the bank. That’ll get Dane off the hook for knowing about the safety deposit box. He has no way of knowing that we found the microchip. No way of knowing that it even exists.”
“I hope you’re right.” She didn’t want to give voice to the nagging conclusion that Delbert had a canniness to rival Dane’s. Abhorred even thinking it. Instead she said, “He’s sharp, Cap. Real sharp.”
Shana worried about Dane. When hadn’t she?
Not about his physical well-being, but about his fragile soul, how he could be crushed like a dried leaf with one wrong move by her.
Or at least it seemed that way to her. When they’d made love, she’d felt empty and full at the same time as she’d stroked his back. Would it always be that way?
She’d wanted to test him, had been testing him for weeks. She wanted to make sure he was up to the commitment and past his fear and vulnerability when it came to losing her.
But now she wanted to do nothing more than to protect his fragile soul.
Protect him from himself.
Never a winning game.
*****
It had been a long time since Dane had been cuffed and stowed in the back of a car to be dragged off to the local police station. Del got in the driver’s seat and took off without saying anything. Dane didn’t mind the silence. His pride sat him up straight and the stoic face was automatic.
The problem was the churning inside his head and his gut. It wasn’t right to have Shana work Del for inside info, never mind that Del might very well prove to be the exception to the rule. He might not be susceptible to Shana’s charms. Not even if they had all the time in the world to work him.
They arrived at police HQ and Del and Pratt walked Dane inside as if they’d caught Whitey Bulger. When they got to Cap’s door they shoved him inside ahead of them. Cap stood at his desk. Dane smiled on the inside. There wasn’t a shred of surprise on Cap’s face. Shana had called to warn him.
“Back off, Agent Parrish.” Cap came around the desk and separated Dane from his captors.
Then he clipped the plastic cuffs holding Dane’s wrists.
They both stood in front of the desk then, facing down Delbert and his pal Pratt.
Dane noticed for the first time Del’s fat bloody lip. Then he smiled for real.
“What are you looking at?” Del said. He raised a chin at Dane. “You should see your face. Not even your girlfriend’s makeup will cover that bruise.” Del didn’t smile.
Dane suspected that was because a smile would have hurt too much. His own cheek and temple throbbed like a son of a bitch if he focused on it. Which he didn’t. Not now.
Del spoke to Cap.
“Keep this guy locked up. He has until noon tomorrow to give me what I want. Or to talk you into it.” He smiled with that know-it-all face that Dane would bet had got him punched out a crap-load of times.
Cap said nothing. Neither did Dane.
“If you don’t, I’m taking Blaise with me to D.C. on federal charges of obstruction of justice and assaulting a federal agent. For starters.”
“Give him the picture,” Dane said.
Dane tells Cap to give him the picture. This was one of the rare occasions that rocked Cap’s calm boat. He looked uneasy.
“You’re crazy.”
“Give Agent Parrish the photo.” Dane stared him down. They’d printed up a few copies of the photo for reference and Cap opened his drawer and pulled one out.
Del leaned forward and snatched it from the top of Cap’s desk, keeping a deliberate watch on Dane as if he were going to vaporize in front of them.
When he had the photo, he flicked a glance, then slapped it back down onto the desk where he’d got it.
“So?”
“So what were you doing with Nate Beaumont?” Cap said.
“What do you think? You know what I do for a living. Wall took this picture?”
Dane answered, “Your late brother-in-law.”
“Where did you get it, Blaise? More interfering with a murder investigation?”
“We found it in his hotel room.” No need to tell Del it was hidden and that they’d found it in the form of a microchip. If he’d searched the place—and Dane was certain he had—he couldn’t tell them or he’d give himself away.
Dane smiled.
Del did not. He glazed over like only pros with lots of undercover experience knew how and waited for more.
But Dane wasn’t giving him anything and he knew Cap would follow his lead.
Now all he needed to worry about was getting Shana into the loop.
He hoped to hell she wouldn’t hold it against him that there’d been a drastic change in plans.
She wasn’t going to be the one to play Del after all. He was.
After a minute and a half Dane figured they’d all had sufficient time to stew over the implications.
“Aren’t you worried?” Dane said, affecting concern.
“Why should I be?” Del gave nothing away. He was damn good.
“It’s obvious that whatever drug dealer killed Harvey saw this picture—knew about it—maybe caught Harvey taking the photos and came after him.”
“And?”
Dane flicked a glance at Cap who followed the conversation as if he were translating Hungarian. Too much concentration on his face.
“And now he knows you’re ATF. It’s clear to me that Harvey was forced to blow your cover.”
The rock landed in the middle of the conversational pond with a silent splash save Cap’s deep breath followed by a small cough.
“So you think Harvey ratted me out to some drug traffickers? What was he doing with them in the first place?” Del asked in an almost friendly tone.
Dane shrugged.
“I don’t know—you tell me. Could he have been working with them? Why was he following you taking pictures—?”
“He wasn’t following me. If he got this picture it was because he was following Beaumont.” Now Del was playing along with their fake alibi for him. They’d given Del the perfect out in using Beaumont as the fall-guy.
Cap spoke up, “Why would he be doing that?”
Del looked at Cap and stalled. That’s when Dane knew they had him. He was buying time to think his story through.
“I think Harvey was having an affair with Beau’s girlfriend. I think that’s what got him in trouble. But don’t tell Penny. No need for her to know.”
“How the hell do you know?” Dane didn’t want to hand him everything lock, stock and barrel.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Del knew when to stop talking and Dane realized he’d chosen this moment to shut down.