No Hiding Behind the Potted Palms! A Dance with Danger Mystery #7 (28 page)

“We’re not ready to arrest
them,” Chen announced. “We need more information on the
network.”

“But I could get killed!” I
pointed out, my voice rising with the level of my panic. “How many
other people already got killed here today?”

“Actually?” Chen looked at
me with a smirk. “None.”

“But all that shooting! And
the explosions!”

“We arranged all
that.”

“I don’t understand.” I was
baffled by the turn of events. “You let them shoot up the
train?”

“No. We drew their attention
by letting them think we were Homeland Security and not some
competing organization,” Agent Devry explained. “It was enough to
make them back off on killing you. We bought ourselves some time,
so we can control the operation once we get to Lorton.”

“This is crazy!” I decided.
“It’s utter madness.”

“Hey,” said the guy with the
ice blue eyes, striding up to me. “We made sure you stayed alive.
If it wasn’t for us, you’d be dead now, Princess. You were
transporting a quarter of a million dollars in heroin in that
package.”

“Oh, lordy.” I sank back
down on the seat of the ambulance. “This can’t be
happening.”

“Here’s the problem, Ms.
Dunham,” Agent Devry told me as he sat beside me. “This cartel has
made inroads in recent months. They have a new way of bringing in
their merchandise through the Florida Keys. Until we know how they
do it, we can’t find a solution to block them.”

“But why can’t you do it
without me?”

“Because you walked in that
art gallery. Because these people are ruthless and they know who
you are. We need to convince them you’re not a threat,” Agent Devry
reminded me yet again. “When you were attacked last night, the
conductor called Amtrak security, to let him know that something
was going on. He and his fellow employees were concerned when you
were attacked and your purse was taken, but then returned. When it
turned out your keys were missing, folks were worried this was a
little more than just a crime of opportunity, especially when they
found someone deliberately shut off the electrical power on the
train. That automatically kicks off a terror alert. That gave us a
chance to coordinate with Homeland Security. The media has been
told this was potential terror attack that was thwarted. We want
those guys to believe it.”

I looked at all the faces of
the government agents as they crowded around me. A big part of me
wanted to get into Uncle Jack’s car, drive off the auto train and
keep going to St. Michaels, without ever looking back. But another
part of me realized that it wouldn’t be that hard for Raul and Mr.
Cañizo to wait a week or so to come calling on me in the middle of
the night. I had security at my new Arlington condo, but I was
pretty sure the staff wasn’t prepared for an armed attack from
determined drug traffickers. I was about to say yes when Mr. Blue
Eyes went and spoiled it.

“Forget it, sir. She’s too
important to help us out. I say cut her loose and throw her to the
sharks.”

“What’s the matter,
Jacobsen? Did she turn you down and now you want to punish her?”
Chen gave his colleague a big, self-satisfied grin. “If you ask me,
she’s making a good decision not to work with the likes of
you!”

“Oh, let me guess. All of a
sudden you want the assignment?”

“I’d do a hell of a lot
better with it than you would!” Chen claimed.

“Like the Austin assignment?
That was a great job you did there, buddy!” Jacobsen shook his head
in disgust. It was time for me to break up this battle of the
testosterone.

“Wow,” I sighed. “I was
going to say I’d help, but you boys really know how to talk a girl
out of that. No way am I going to trust my life to a couple of
goofballs who can’t see straight.”

“What?” Mr. Blue Eyes was
incensed. I could see the flaring of his nostrils as he reamed me
out. “You have a hell of a nerve! I’ll have you know I’ve been a
DEA agent for fourteen years, Missy!”

“Then act like it,” I
snapped back. “You sound like a teenager with overactive hormones!
Very unprofessional, my friend.”

“Let me guess,” he sneered.
“You were a cheerleader and you spent a lot of time in the locker
room with the football team!”

“How dare you!” I
sputtered.

“Holy cow,” Chen groaned.
“Even I’m not that much of a jerk. Scale it back,
buddy!”

“Oh, shut up!” Jacobsen
snarled.

“Well, this is going well,”
said Agent Devry. “I can see we’re going to get along swimmingly.
Now, on the count of three, I’m calling a truce, and the next
person who violates it is going down the rapids without a paddle.
Are we clear on that?”

“Yes, sir,” said Mr. Blue
Eyes, glowering at me.

“Yes, sir,” Chen agreed, a
slight smirk on his face. The group turned to me
expectantly.

“What?” I
snapped.

“Ms. Dunham, are you on
board or not?”

Chapter Five --

“Fine!” I snapped. “But you
should consider sending your people to charm school, because their
manners stink!”

“I’m sorry,” said a female
agent. “Am I missing something? Are you saying DEA agents are less
than civilized?”

“I didn’t mean you,” I
stuttered. “It’s those two!”

“Whitewater time!” Chen
chastised me.

“Somebody give her raft a
good shove into the water,” Jacobsen chortled, throwing his head
back with glee.

That was the straw that
broke the camel’s back. I drew myself to his chin and gave him a
piece of my mind.

“What is it about me that
you don’t like?” I demanded. “What exactly have I done to yank your
chain? I’ve got a boss who told me that if I’m not at his freaking
gallery opening on time, I’m fired. I’ve been sucked into an
absolute nightmare, with a deadly drug cartel chasing me. I’ve been
assaulted on a train in some twisted plot I don’t even understand.
And now I’m supposed to tolerate your snide comments because you’ve
decided I’m not worthy of your respect? What did I do to
you?”

“Lighten up, Durham,” he
sniffed, nose in the air. I was not some high school girl annoyed
because a boy yanked my pigtails.

“Lighten up?” I poked him in
the chest with my forefinger. “Hear me well, Agent Jacobsen. I am
not one of your buddies. I am not some informant you can drop kick
when you feel like taking your frustrations out on somebody. You
take a swing at me, I’m going to swing right back at you. I’m not
taking any of your crap, so pull yourself together and be a decent
human being! You can’t do that, then stay the hell away from
me!”

Mr. Blue Eyes looked down at
me with utter shock written all over his face before he crumpled
like a puppy, his tail between his legs.

“Point taken,” he muttered.
“Sorry.”

I was still fuming as he
walked away, seeking out some of his colleagues who were huddled
together.

“Let’s walk, Kelsey.” Agent
Devry took me by the elbow kindly and steered me away from his
agents. “Don’t let Axel get to you. He has a good reason for being
a jerk. His wife was having an affair with the guy down the hall
while he was off on assignment. He’s still pretty broken up about
it.”

“That doesn’t give him
license to take it out on me,” I retorted.

“No, it doesn’t. I’m sharing
this with you because I need you to work with the guy. He’s going
to get back on that train with you and finish the ride. I want you
two to act like you’ve got a thing for each other, so he has an
excuse to hang out with you. He’s going to be your
bodyguard.”

“Don’t you have someone else
you can send in?” I pleaded. “Anyone else?”

“Look, Kelsey,” he sighed,
“I know you’re a civilian and it’s not easy to absorb all the
reasons why we’re doing things this way. Axel’s one of my best
agents. He’s very experienced at undercover work and he’s the only
guy I have handy who has a decent cover that the cartel can’t
break. I don’t have time to bring in someone else. You two have to
get back on that train in a few minutes, because that train has to
get moving. You’ll get to Lorton and wait for your car. You’ll get
into your car and drive to a restaurant, where you and Lover Boy
will linger long enough to let the bad guys break into your car and
steal that heroin back. We’re hoping they’re smart enough to put
the gecko in your car in its place.”

“What does that
mean?”

“If they replace the package
with the right one, we’ll feel more confident that they believe it
was just a mistake. We won’t have to worry about them coming after
you. You and Axel won’t ever have to cross paths again. It will all
be over in about three hours. You’ll be on your way to St. Michaels
and your boss will understand.”

I shook my head as I stood
there, arms folded across my chest. Agent Devry waited for my
answer.

“You don’t know Warren,” I
told him.”The guy’s a real jerk.”

“Look, I’m not about to
dispense employment advice to you, but if your boss can’t see what
a good person you are, I have no doubt there are other bosses out
there who can. You strike me as an intelligent woman with a good
head on your shoulders. Get through this and give yourself a chance
to start a new chapter. I don’t want to see you live your life in
fear. I want you to go and have a good life. Can you do
that?”

“Sure.”

“So,” he said with a grin,
“how are your acting skills? Do you think you can convince people
you find Axel attractive?”

“I guess I can. At least
he’s not a gargoyle. But he should probably keep his mouth shut,
because he’s likely to say something dumb and get me all riled up,”
I admitted.

“I have no problem with you
two duking it out for the next couple of hours. I just want to keep
you safe.”

With that he led me back to
the circle of trucks, where the group was busy setting things up.
Mr. Blue Eyes was nowhere to be seen.

“Kelsey,” said a man dressed
in black, his curly hair going gray, “I’m Agent Horton. I’ll take
you back to the train. We’re going to make a big show of it. We
want people on the train to talk to you, to ask you questions. What
you’re going to tell them is that we asked you to describe the
terrorists, that you didn’t get a good look at them, and that we’re
still investigating. Can you do that?”

“Okay,” I
responded.

“Great. Now, hop on the back
of the ATV and I’ll ride you back. When you get there, don’t speak
to me. I want you to look like you’re stunned. There are some
reporters on the scene. They’ll try to get you to answer their
questions, but you should wave them off, like you’re too upset to
talk to them. They’ll race ahead to the Lorton station, because
they want the scoop. Expect them to be aggressive. We’ll keep them
away from the train before you disembark. Once you’re clear, Axel
following you, the press will probably try to corner you when you
stop to wait for your car. Let them. It will give the bad guys
plenty of time to get into your car and make the switch. We’ll be
watching them. If they only steal the heroin, we’ll grab you up and
take you to a secure location. Okey-dokey?” Horton walked me over
to the ATV. He threw his leg over the machine and waited for me to
climb into the rear seat behind him. He handed me his
helmet.

“Put this on,” he instructed
me.

“But what about you?” I
wondered.

“I’m a hard-headed guy. I’ll
be fine. You, on the other hand, took a blow to the head last
night. Wear the helmet. It’ll keep your hair all pretty for the
press.”

“Oh,” I sighed.

“What?”

“I don’t have my purse with
me. I can’t brush my hair.”

“Doulin! You got a brush and
maybe a little lipstick for the cover girl?” he hollered to a tall
redhead with an easy grin.

“Hold on!” Minutes later,
she was pulling out a comb and a tube of Vaseline. “This will have
to do. Oh, wait. Do we want to wipe the dirt from her face or let
the press see her as is?”

“As is,” Horton replied.
“Much more dramatic. It looks like she went up against a band of
terrorists.”

Once Agent Doulin fluffed me
up, I slipped my head into the helmet and fastened it. With my arms
securely wrapped around Agent Horton’s waist, I gave him a
thumbs-up and we were off, bumping along the same route back to the
train. By this time, the media had managed to overrun the area
beside the train. There were heavy-duty vehicles with satellite
dishes on the top and reporters talking as the cameras rolled.
Agent Horton pulled up to a group of Homeland Security officials
standing by one of the passenger cars. It wasn’t the one I was
assigned to ride.

“Ms. Dunham,” said a man in
a dark suit and sunglasses. “Come this way. We’re going to move
your seat. We want you to sit in the same car as our
agents.”

A short time later, I was
led a coach seat by the window, with a new group of passengers.
There were four men and two women sporting Homeland Security vests,
scattered throughout the car. The man who escorted me made a show
of pointing each of them out, emphasizing their status. After a
final conversation with the Homeland Security team, the official
exited. Moments later, he was surrounded by the press as he stepped
up to a microphone for an outdoor press conference.