Buccaneer (Dane Maddock Adventures) (33 page)

“
Who are you?
”

The man
’
s blue eyes, so pale as to almost be white, shone with icy contempt. He worked his lips and then spat on Dane. Dane raised his fist, intending to turn the guy
’
s nose into a waffle, but a sharp voice rang out.

“
Hold it right there! CIA!
”

Dane froze as three men, weapons trained on him, came running up.

“
Put your hands in the air,
”
one of them barked.

“
I will as soon as you relieve this guy of his weapon.
”
He wasn
’
t about to give the albino a chance to take a shot at him or anyone else.

In an instant, the government agents, all clad in plain clothes, had him and the other man cuffed. They were patting him down when a familiar voice rang out.

“
Oh no! Oh
hell
no!
”

As he turned his head to face the music, he couldn
’
t help but smile.

Tam Broderick was an attractive woman, with a solid, athletic build,
dark
skin, and big eyes. At least, she was pretty enough when she didn
’
t look like she was about to waterboard someone. They
’
d met under unusual circumstances and forged a temporary alliance. Since then, they
’
d spoken a couple of times, but only to discuss a situation he and Bones had stepped into the previous winter. She marched up to Dane, her hand resting on the Makarov he knew she carried, and stopped, her face inches from his.

“
Dane Maddock.
”
She spoke his name like a curse.
“
Every time I get a lead on the Dominion, you stick your big, ugly nose in and jack it all up.
”

“
My nose is not big,
”
he said.
“
I know for a fact that you like my nose.
”

“
Save the wise comments or I will cut you.
”
She was still angry, livid in fact, but there was now a flicker of amusement behind her glower.
“
Now tell me, why does the Dominion keep following you around?
”

Her words hadn
’
t registered the first time, but now they brought him up short.

“
Wait. Locke is with the Dominion?
”
The Dominion was a shadowy organization about which little was known, yet Dane and Bones had a knack for running afoul of them. Had it happened
again?

“
Who is Locke?
”
She threw her hands up in the air.

“
The guy who went over the side. The first guy, that is. He kidnapped Bones
’
sister and we were getting her back.
”
He looked around, wondering where Bones had gone.

“
And you didn
’
t think to notify the authorities? Never mind, don
’
t bother.
”
Tam sighed.
“
Let him go, but take mister pale and pasty into custody, and see if you can fish his partner out of the harbor.
”
She turned and looked down into the water
.
“
Don
’
t hurry. Looks like he
’
s a floater.
”
Tam put her hands on her hips and fixed Dane with a disapproving stare while her man uncuffed him.
“
Give him his weapon back,
”
she said. The agent gave her a quizzical look, but followed orders.

“
Where are the rest of your boys?
”

“
Matt
’
s waiting in the getaway vehicle. Willis is down below, incognito, as it were, and Bones and Angel ought to be climbing out of the water by now.
”

“
Let me get this straight.
”
Tam pressed her fingertips to her temples.
“
You boys tried to stage your own rescue operation in the middle of the Inner Harbor, where who knows how many innocent people could have gotten killed?
”

“
We didn
’
t choose the location,
”
Dane said.
“
And yes, we rescued Angel.
”

“
No we didn
’
t.
”
Bones and Willis, both in handcuffs, were being ushered to Tam by a pair of agents.

“
What do you mean?
”
Dane felt cold all over.
“
I saw you with her.
”

Bones shook his head.

“
It wasn
’
t her. They found a girl her size and coloring, then beat her beyond recognition.
”
Bones glared out at the water, as if he could take flight and chase down Locke and his men.

“
Where do you think she is?
”
Dane couldn
’
t remember feeling more helpless.

“
Enough!
”
Tam shouted.
“
I want to know who the hell this Locke is and why you almost got a whole mess of civilians killed out here.
”

“
Calm down, girl,
”
Willis said. He and Tam had fought side-by-side in the Amazon, and were on friendly terms.
“
Nobody likes an angry black woman.
”

“
I am not an angry woman, I just have a low tolerance for stupidity.
”
She glared at Willis until the smug grin melted from his face.
“
I suppose you can take the cuffs off of these two dummies too, and give them their weapons back. You boys won
’
t try to run, will you?
”

Bones and Willis shook their heads
, both looking like chastened schoolboys
.

“
Even the dagger?
”
the agent standing behind Bones asked, holding up Carnwennan.

Tam
’
s eyes narrowed as she looked
at the odd weapon
.

“
What kind of knife is that?
”
She took it from the agent and held up for a closer look.
“
You boys have a whole mess of explaining to do.
”

“
I know,
”
Dane said.
“
But not until we go somewhere private, and the sooner the better. We
’
ve got to find out what Locke
’
s done with Angel.
”

“
Fine,
”
Tam sighed.
“
I commandeered an office downstairs. We
’
ll go there.
”

“
Do you want us to go with you, Ma
’
am?
”
The agent who had handed her the dagger looked at Dane and the others like they were about to sprout fangs.

“
No. Just take the lead here. You know what to do.
”
When the agent looked uncertain, she raised her voice.
“
Agent Paul, as hard as it might be to believe, I owe my life to these three stooges. I
’
ll take one man to guard the door, but that
’
s it. I
’
ll be safe with them. Besides, they just might be able to help us.
”
She turned back to Dane.
“
Come on. This sounds like it
’
s going to be a long story.
”

On the way downstairs, Dane remembered something.

“
So, when did you become CIA? Last I knew, you were FBI.
”

“
Oh, right about the time somebody stirred up a branch of the Dominion in Germany.
”
Her glare
left no doubt whom she
meant.
“
All of a sudden our little domestic problem became international.
”

“
Hey, I filled you in on that right away,
”
Dane protested.

“
Yes you did.
”
She sounded neither pleased nor upset.
“
Funny how you keep butting heads with the Dominion, but you don
’
t want to join in the fight against them.
”

Dane didn
’
t bother to argue. They
’
d had this conversation before. The previous summer, Tam had asked him and his crew to join her in her work rooting out the Dominion.

When they settled into the small office in the museum section of the
Constellation
, he wasted no time bringing her up to speed.

“
So, we
’
ve got the dagger and the spear, but Locke still has Angel,
”
he finished.

Tam looked down at the dagger lying across her lap.

“
You
’
re telling me this thing is...
”

“
Carnwennan. King Arthur
’
s dagger. We also have his spear.
”

“
Oh, holy Lord Jesus.
”
She rested her head in her hands.
“
Would it kill you to have an ordinary life?
”
She sighed for what felt like the twentieth time, and handed him the dagger.
“
You really expect me to believe not only was King Arthur real, but that thing belonged to him? It doesn
’
t exactly look ancient.
”

“
Think about what we found in the Amazon,
”
Bones said.
“
Then ask yourself if this seems any more unlikely.
”

“
I don
’
t suppose it does,
at that,
but it
’
s hard to get used to.
”
She stood and moved to the window that looked out on the harbor.
“
You
’
ve got the spear and the dagger. Aren
’
t you missing something important?
”

Dane, Bones, and Willis exchanged glances. They
’
d
discussed this very subject
. The way they saw it, the final map could only lead to one thing.

“
We have a lead on one more map,
”
Dane said.
“
My sister is looking into it.
”

“
Avery Halsey?
”
Tam turned around and grinned at him.
“
You finally found her?
”

“
Yeah, she
’
s... Wait a minute! You knew about her?
”
Dane trusted Tam, but to find out she
’
d been keeping a secret like this hidden from him? It was hard to swallow.

“
Not until recently. I
’
ve done my homework on you and your whole posse. By the way,
”
she turned to Willis,
“
there
’
s a stripper in Detroit who said to tell you the baby is yours.
”

“
What?
”
Willis gaped at her.

“
Don
’
t worry about it. I checked. The boy
’
s daddy is a five foot nothing Latino.
”
She smirked.

Willis sagged, visibly relieved.

“
How do you know all this stuff?
”
Bones asked.

“
I
’
m with the government, sweetie. We
’
ve got resources you
’
ve never dreamed of.
”