Diamond Legacy (7 page)

“You aren’t the only one wanting answers,” she replied without hesitation.

“Too bad,” he snapped just as quick. “Why are you at Katanga?”

She seemed to consider her response, then shrugged. “They flew me in to work on a hippo with an abscessed molar.”

He snorted in disbelief. “You’re the crazy zoo dentist? You’re barely big enough to wrestle a meerkat, much less a hippo.”

“I wouldn’t bank on that if I were you.” She wrangled a flashy gold pen from Roz’s grip and placed it on Keyes’s desk. “How about telling me what you’re doing here and why you’re in this office?”

She was a five-foot-five bundle of defiance in a sexy tank top and shorts, and not in the least intimidated with his display of bad attitude. He’d be impressed if he weren’t so damn mad. “Listen, sweetheart. I’ve got—”

The sound of keys rattling in the outer door sounded a warning. Matt sprung into action, grabbing Miranda’s arm and propelling her, the monkey, and himself into a coat closet.

He slid the shutter style doors closed and inwardly cursed his turn of bad luck. This investigation was sliding downhill faster than a stampede.

And that wasn’t the half of it. Crammed together in tight quarters, Miranda stood alongside him, slightly angled with her soft backside pressed against his thigh. Heat from that tender part of her seeped through his better sense and distracted him with startling swiftness.

“Don’t make a sound,” he whispered into her ear.

She shifted Roz to her other hip and put a finger to her lips, as though telling the chimp to be quiet. Great. Just flipping great. This insanity could only end in disaster.

He forced his attention outside the time-bomb of a closet, peering through the slats as two men entered the office. Victor Keyes and the arrogant Warren Graham. If by some miracle they weren’t discovered, this may prove the break he’d been looking for.

Graham dropped a briefcase on the desk, clicked it open, and slid it across toward Keyes. “This is just a down payment, mind you.”

Keyes wasn’t a tall man, but what he lacked in stature he obviously made up for with oversized furniture. Reaching across the monstrosity of a desk, Katanga’s director lifted a banded chunk of cash and shuffled through it.

“A hundred Gs American, as promised.” Graham reached into his pocket for a cigarette pack and with a sharp tap popped one up. He grabbed it with his teeth and patted his pockets for a lighter.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Keyes voice rang harsh. “You will not light up in my office.”

Graham gave a flippant shrug but obeyed the command. He tapped the stick back in the pack.

Matt’s interest spiked another notch when Keyes turned to the bookshelves behind him and removed several large volumes, revealing a small metal safe in the wall.

“When’s the shipment due in?” Keyes asked as he worked the combination.

“Soon.” Graham dropped his heavy weight into a plush upholstered chair. “This one’s going to require some serious maneuvering. When my contact calls, I’ll set the drop.”

Miranda leaned closer to Matt as she shifted Roz again. Wayward strands of her dark hair tickled his nose, and he brushed her ponytail from his face, but not before he caught a whiff of something fruity. And must she stand so damn close? Her shapely ass teased his thigh, and he reached down to shift her hips aside. She snatched his hand in fierce but silent protest, squeezing his fingers with more strength than he gave her credit for. He got the warning. Hands off.

Matt forced his attention back to the scene outside the closet.

“This is the last time,” Keyes said as he emptied the contents of the briefcase into the safe. “Our deal served its purpose in the beginning, but I mean it when I say your contact needs to make other arrangements.”

“You and I both know that’s a problem.” Graham looked like he wanted to sneer. “You opened this pipeline. Shutting it off won’t be easy.”

“We are done after this drop.” Keyes slammed the safe door shut. “Tell them.”

“These aren’t the kind of people you tell what to do.” Graham’s face sharpened and Matt caught a shadow of worry. “It ends when they’re ready.”

“This agreement was never indefinite.” Keyes grabbed the books off his desk and returned them to the shelf. “Both sides knew there were limits. I’ve kept my end of the bargain. They need to keep theirs.”

“You’ve obviously no idea who you’re dealing with,” said Graham.

Keyes straightened to his full diminutive height and stared at his personnel manager. “I expect them to do as agreed, and I expect you to deliver the message.”

“Fine, I’ll deliver it,” Graham snapped. “But I wouldn’t be holding my breath if I were you.”

This was exactly the break Matt needed. Only two things were worth that kind of down payment. Diamonds or weapons. And in most cases, the two went hand in hand.

As much as it pained him to admit, Graham was right. The diamond cartel had a ruthless underbelly. Keeping promises didn’t come high on their list of priorities. But keeping money flowing did. Keyes lived in a fantasy world if he thought there was any code of honor they would adhere to. This was a one-way street.

“Call me when you have the drop time,” Keyes said as they crossed into the outer room. Graham’s response grew muffled.

His fruity-smelling companion tried to reach for the door but Matt grabbed her shoulders, holding her still until he heard the telltale click of the outer door. Then, with an exhale of relief, he let her go.

Miranda bolted out of the closet like he had the plague. “I knew it!” She set the monkey on the floor and looked up at him, eyes full of indignant anger. “I knew the minute I saw you something’s wrong.”

Well, damn. Hiding the reason he was here was useless. She’d plainly heard the deal go down. “Okay, so I’m on a minor investigation. Don’t get worked up over it.”

His biggest problem right now was keeping her quiet. He’d spent months tracking the diamond flow this far. Stopping now was out of the question.

“That’s it?” Her tone was incredulous. “That’s all you have to say about it?”

“What else is there?” He leaned back against Keyes’s huge desk. “I’m doing a job just like you. No need for anything to change.”

“Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you”—her arms crossed over her chest—“but I saw the way you do your job. There’s nothing delicate about it.”

He pushed off the desk. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“This isn’t the airport where you can thrash about recklessly. Katanga is fragile and vital to this community. What’s your plan to protect it?”

The woman had lost her mind. “Did you just hear that conversation? That kind of money brings trouble, sweetheart. Something wicked this way comes.”

“I heard it.” The toe of her boot began tapping against the carpet in annoyance, just like his tenth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Pegram. “Katanga is not to blame for the greed of one or two employees,” she lectured. “Don’t you have judgment enough to see that it must remain intact, despite an unscrupulous director? And what if that money is actually for something legitimate?”

“Nobody pays a hundred grand in cash!” How could anyone be so naïve? “That payment is under the table. As in not legal, and I’m putting a stop to it.”

“I don’t dispute the possibility of corruption.” She pointed to Roz as the chimp tugged on a side table’s brass handle. “Look at her. That’s what’s at stake. Even if what you say is true, under no circumstances can you jeopardize the work done here.”

“That’s hitting below the belt. I like animals, too.”

“Then keep Katanga out of it.”

He shook his head. “Not possible.”

“I’ll help you find a way.”

No. Absolutely not. The last thing he needed was a busybody dentist with Nancy Drew tendencies. “Stick to polishing hippo teeth and stay out of this.”

“Too late.” She stared him down. “I’m already involved whether you like it or not.”

“Well, I don’t like it. Not one bit. This isn’t a game, Miranda Parrish. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be. You and your husband need to do whatever you came for and go home.”

“I’m not married,” she said coolly. “I believe you’re referring to my assistant, Jason.”

She still remained unimpressed with his hard cop attitude. And she wasn’t married.

“Doesn’t matter,” he replied. “We have a problem. I’m now compromised. Your silence is necessary to the success of my mission. The only question is…what to do about that?” He stared at her with his best intimidation tactic, hoping to scare some sense into her.

It didn’t work.

“Think about this,” she cajoled. “I’m on the inside, have access to things you don’t. Your investigation could be resolved twice as fast with my help.”

“I don’t want your help. I want your silence.”

“And I want to preserve Katanga.”

This wasn’t working. “You obviously don’t understand the serious nature of the situation. Dangerous men are involved, and you can end up hurt, or very, very dead.”

“Or maybe it’s a hollow threat from a man who doesn’t like interference. Either way, I won’t be brushed off.” She rescued a glass paperweight from Roz and put it back on the desk. “If you can’t promise Katanga remains unscathed, then you’ll have to accept my help.”

“I’ll have to—” He couldn’t believe her. “What does it take to get through to you?”

“How about a better explanation?”

They were getting nowhere. He glanced at his watch. Not much time left before the lunch crowd returned. Okay, something simple and watered down then.

“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He rubbed at his chin, scratching the day’s growth of beard. “Botswana has a small smuggling problem. It’s my job to track crime rings and break them up.”

“If you mean diamonds, I know. It was a side note in my college thesis regarding the perils of African wildlife.”

Great, she probably knew just enough to be trouble and too little to make her wary. “Don’t get ideas of some grand conspiracy. If its diamonds, and I’m not saying it is, it’s probably small potatoes.”

“How reassuring,” she said.

“Look, we need to get out of here before the secretary returns. Let’s cut to the chase and ease your mind. If Katanga is being used as a front, I’ll try to quietly take out those involved. As long as they cooperate. Agreed?”

“On one condition.”

“It’s not negotiable.”

“Everything is negotiable.” She grabbed Roz away from a bowl of plastic fruit and settled her on her hip again. “As a veterinarian, I have greater access to the database than a janitor. Which, by the way, you need to work on a little stronger. I didn’t buy your act. Most janitors I know don’t pick locks. Nor do they have razor sharp eyes with a calculating gleam. You might try toning that down a bit.”

Did she actually just insult him? “I’ll have you know several people have thanked me for the quality of my janitorial work!”

“Really? That’s more gratitude than I got at the airport when I saved your life.”

“Saved my life? Are you serious? I’ve faced bigger guns than that little firecracker he carried. I could’ve handled the situation without your help.”

“Well I saved you the trouble and never heard one thank you.” Roz squirmed in her arms, and she adjusted her hold.

He just stared in disbelief. “Interfering is a habit of yours, isn’t it?”

She looked like she wanted to throw something at him. “Of all the ungrateful—”

“We don’t have time to argue.” He headed for the next room and she followed.

“Admit it,” she persisted, “I can help you. Especially if you tell me exactly what you’re looking for.”

Man, she was stubborn. Whether he agreed or not, she’d get involved. It would no doubt be smarter to keep her occupied and under his watchful eye. Problem was, she’d be in real danger if discovered. And he didn’t know her. Trust was much too risky.

Still, he needed to come up with something. “You must promise not to do anything rash,” he said. “If you blow this investigation by snooping, there’ll be hell to pay.”

“I know how to be discreet.”

Things had now become way more complicated than he liked. But maybe, just maybe, she could stumble across something useful. “All right, then.” A sinking feeling told him he’d regret this. “I’d like a look at animal shipments. Names, dates, and origins would be helpful.”

“That I can do. How far back?”

“A year would be good, six months will suffice. And whatever you do, keep a sharp eye out. Don’t do anything stupid or attract suspicion. Got it?”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

He scowled at her, seriously worried about the wisdom of what he’d just agreed to. But there was no arguing the point now. Good or bad, the deed was done.

“Come on,” he said gruffly. “Let’s get out of here.”

Miranda thought she could sneak into the animal nutrition area, commonly known as
The Tank
due to metallic walls and a deep square shape, but should’ve known better.

“Where’ve you been?” Jason asked the second her foot crossed the threshold. “It’s not like you to be late.”

She opted for a convincing lie. “Got trapped in a conversation about the States.”

“Been there, done that.” Jason scooped up a glob of liver-colored vitamin paste and smeared it on chunks of raw meat for the big cats food supply.

She’d missed lunch, but the vile smell of that paste effectively killed her hunger. Miranda tied on a wrap-around apron and washed her hands before joining Jason and Mikal, Katanga’s nutritionist, at the wide stainless steel table. Letta pushed her way through the double doors just then, carrying another tray of meat cut in smaller chunks for the servals and young cheetahs.

“There you are!” Letta said, sliding the tray onto the table and shoving it in place with the others. “We feared you were lost.”

“I’ve learned my way around,” Miranda replied. “It’s names I struggle with.” She pulled on latex gloves and dug into the smelly paste. “It can be embarrassing.”

“Too many for you to remember.” Mikal waved off her worry. “For us this is easy, only you and Jason.”

“You’ll learn them all,” Letta said, “right about the time you’re ready to leave.”