DeliciousDanger (18 page)

“Well,” Mark drawled, “someone sure as hell thinks you know
something. I’d say you were supposed to die in a ‘conflict’ with your fellow
thieves and that would be that.”

“I know Janet’s got better security here than the White
House does,” Dan brought up, “but I’m not willing to take any risks. They’ve
had two chances and missed both times. We need a lot more than an army around
him.”

“We could always take turns,” Ed suggested. Although not
really a partner in the agency, as Dan’s brother he was still considered a full
member of the team. “And Troy’s here. Most of the men working for us aren’t as
finely honed as we are.”

Dan shook his head. “Good idea but not necessarily a good
use of resources. Let’s think about this.”

“What did Charlie Grainger have to say?” Mike asked,
changing the subject.

“After he handed me my ass?” Dan snorted. “We either get his
goods back or he’s pulling his contracts with us and suing us for his loss.
Clusterfuck doesn’t even begin to describe—”

He was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. The
others watched and waited while he completed a short conversation. When he hung
up he looked at each of them.

“That was Harry,” he said. “You’ll never guess who’s coming
to town and what she wants.”

* * * * *

For Greg Jordan his under-the-radar return to the States was
accomplished with very little fuss. Amin, still grinning at his financial
windfall, had ferried him to a landing strip outside Baqubah where a private
jet with no markings waited for him. The only other person on the flight, a
short, dark man with an olive complexion and a quiet presence, said little but
fed him when he was hungry.

He slept off and on but mostly his mind was busy trying to
come up with a plan. He couldn’t just run around the United States asking
questions as to the whereabouts of Eric Latrobe. And even when he found him,
he’d have to do some fancy thinking on how to accomplish his assignment.

Shit!

His boss wasn’t the only one who couldn’t afford to leave
Latrobe alive. How could he possibly have missed? He had the man at dead range.
He could kick himself for not checking the body but he was too anxious to get
the hell out of there. Well, he was paying for it now. His lifetime of luxury
was dangling just out of reach until his mission was fully accomplished.

Okay. First things first. He had the number for Zarife
al-Dulami. He’d start with him. As the point man for the weapons deal and his
family’s representative, he had a vested interest in resolving the situation.
And making sure they had a dead man to take the blame. The man had wormed his
way into the right circles in D.C. He could help ferret out the information
that was needed. He’d call him just as soon as he was bunkered down in the
anonymous house that had been arranged for him.

Swallowing the bitter taste in his mouth, he closed his eyes
and tried to fall back asleep.

* * * * *

Kelly pulled up to the gate at the airfield and honked her
horn. Leaning out of her window, she pressed the button on the speaker and
said, “It’s me, Granddad. Open up.”

She was tired from the drive and cranky from anxiety. Xena
was still driving her nuts, not just with her restless behavior but again the
dog was connecting with her mind. Every signal she had taught Xena to use as a
warning sign of danger popped up over and over again. She’d feel a lot better
when she laid eyes on Rick Latrobe herself. Preferably with armed guards
surrounding him.

Driving to the small building that served as the flight and
maintenance office, she climbed wearily from the truck, giving Xena in the seat
next to her a reassuring pat first. Her eyes popped wide open when she saw Dan
Romeo walk out onto the tarmac.

What on earth is going on?

She poked her head back into the truck. “Stay,” she told
Xena and signaled the dog not to move for anyone but herself.

“Miss Monroe,” he greeted her, holding out his hand. “Nice
to see you again.”

She shook his hand briefly, then dropped it. “If you came
here to tell me I can’t see Rick, forget it. I want to lay my eyes on him.”

“I’m not—” he began before she cut him off.

“Not only that, he’s still in danger and it’s apparent you
guys can’t protect him properly.” She stood with her hands fisted on her hips,
chin jutting out. She wasn’t going to be put off by any of their double talk.

The slow smile that crept over Dan’s face both puzzled and
infuriated her.

“You think this is a joke?” she demanded, feeling her anger
heighten.

“No.” He shook his head, still smiling. “Far from it. I’m
not only going to take you to see Rick, I’m going to ask you to stay with him.
You and Xena.”

Her jaw dropped. “What? What are you talking about?”She’d
come here prepared for a battle that wasn’t going to take place but she had no
idea what Dan Romeo was asking of her.

“It’s very simple.” He took her arm and led her into the
office where her grandfather was waiting, a mixture of humor and trepidation on
his face.“Harry, how about some coffee for our girl here while I fill her in on
the details. She’s had a long drive and she looks like she could use some
caffeine.”

Kelly allowed herself to be lowered into a chair and
accepted the mug her grandfather handed her. “Can you please tell me what’s
going on?”

“It’s very simple.” Dan explained as briefly as he could
without compromising any information, the situation with Rick. The accident.
The situation in Baghdad. The severity of his injuries.“We agree with you.
Someone’s still after him. Maybe more than one someone. And another rotten
apple’s been added to the pile. Have you seen this?”

He opened a copy of the morning paper to the front page.

Feds Probe Phoenix Agency in Arms Dealing Case
,
screamed the headline.

Washington, D.C.… The mysterious Phoenix Agency, flying
under the radar as they perform top-secret missions for both public and private
contractors, may have finally stumbled over their own feet. The major cargo of
weapons and equipment they delivered to a private security force in Iraq has
mysteriously disappeared and those in the know say Eric “Rick” Latrobe, one of
the partners, worked a high-dollar deal with the enemy.

Kelly brushed the newspaper away. “That’s a lie,” she
stated. “I barely even know Rick but I can tell you someone wants him to take
the fall.”

“More than that,” Dan told her. “Whoever’s responsible
apparently wants to get rid of him before anyone has a chance to question him.
He’s a danger to someone and not just the guy we think planned the actual
removal of the weapons. Right now he’s in a very secure medical facility but we
don’t think having just an armed guard will handle the situation. We need
Xena’s special abilities. And yours.”

She stared at him. “You want me to
stay
with him?”

“It seems the best solution all around. After your
grandfather called me, I cleared it with the facility’s owner. I’m prepared to
offer you any fee at all to do this. Money isn’t a problem.”

“But—”

“Miss Monroe. Kelly.” His voice was filled with measured
patience. “While many people would turn up their noses at just the mention of
the paranormal and the psychic, as we told you in Maine, within our own agency
we have two very good examples of why that would be a mistake. It’s why we’re
developing a Psi department. Why Mia’s so anxious to meet with you. Work with
you. Explore the possibility of obtaining and training other Ovcharkas for
individuals.”

The smile went away. “But one thing at a time. If you can do
this, we’ll want to hire you and are prepared to pay you any fee you name.”

Kelly set the coffee cup down on the desk next to her and
held up her hand. “First of all, I appreciate the offer of money. It’s
something that’s always good to have. But this…is personal with me, not a job.
Xena and Rick connected. That means he and I connected also and I wouldn’t be
able to live with myself if I walked away and left him in danger. I came down
here because, like you, Xena believes—and therefore so do I—that Rick is in
great danger. Secondly, I still feel that if I’d gone with him to Iraq this
might not have happened.”

“I keep telling her she’s wrong,” Harry broke in, his first
contribution to the conversation. “But she won’t listen to me.”

“Your grandfather’s right. And if you’re going to be of any
help to us, you need to get past that. Okay. What’s your situation in Maine?”

“All my dogs have been signed out to the clients. I came
here prepared to find Rick and be with him. Thank you for the opportunity.”

“Would I be off base, or prying, if I said I sense something
a little more than a psychic connection here?” Dan asked.

Kelly bit her lower lip. “I think you might want to ask Rick
about that.”

Dan smiled.“I’m going to say that’s probably not necessary.
This is all good.”

Kelly rose from her chair. “Okay. When do we leave?”

* * * * *

They left her pickup at the airfield and choppered Kelly and
Xena onto the grounds of Dogwood House to avoid the possibility of being
followed. Since Rick’s accident had happened right after he left the airfield,
at the exit closest to that location, Dan and Mark agreed someone might still
be keeping an eye on that spot.

They had some reservations about transporting Xena but Kelly
just gave them an impish grin, hopped into the cabin and belted herself and
Xena into two seats. Looking up, she told them, “We’re ready.”

Xena barely moved during the trip, rock steady and erect in
her seat, Kelly murmuring in her ear now and then. Dan, who occasionally
glanced over the back of his seat, could have sworn the dog was actually giving
her silent answers.

They landed on the Dogwood House’s helipad where Janet
Houseman waited for them. Kelly led Xena over to the woman, held out her hand
to Janet and shook it. She whispered in Xena’s ear, the dog sniffed the air all
around them, then she held out her paw for her own handshake.

“I have to show her you’re friendly,” Kelly explained in
answer to Janet’s raised eyebrows. “But believe me, if she detected the least
scent of danger about you, you’d be flat on your back right now and I’d have to
keep her from grabbing your throat.”

“I guess it’s a good thing for Rick that she’s connected
with
him
,” Janet chuckled. “Come on. He’s been looking forward to your
arrival.”

Kelly kept a light hold on Xena’s collar as they all
followed Janet into the clinic and took the elevator to the second floor. When
they walked into the suite assigned to Rick she was floored at what she saw.
She could have been walking into a luxury suite at the most expensive hotel,
except for the medical equipment in the bedroom. Someone was forking out a lot
of money for this. Then she saw the man who had consumed her thoughts lying in
a hospital bed, and she felt something in her heart turn over.

Xena tugged hard against her restraining touch. She released
her and in two bounds the dog was beside Rick, sitting next to the bed, licking
the man’s hand that he held down to her. Greeting complete, she turned to face
the others and emitted a low growl.

“I guess we don’t have to worry about guard duty,” Dan
commented with a wry grin.

Kelly moved closer to the bed and took a hard look at Rick.
He’d lost a little weight, he was paler than she remembered and his face was
still lined with pain. He was bare from the waist up, his chest wrapped in
heavy bandages. Monitoring equipment was pushed into a corner, ready in case it
was needed again. Even whatever IV lines might have been connected to him were
gone.

“We took him off everything just this morning,” the tall man
on the other side of the bed told her. He held out his hand. “Troy Arsenault.”

“Troy’s one of our partners,” Dan told her.“He served as a
medic when he was with the SEALs. He’s been overseeing Rick’s care.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you and the wonder dog,” Troy said.
“I can see nobody was exaggerating.”

Kelly went through the same process with Troy that she had
with Janet, signaling Xena that this, too, was a friend. She’d been building
dreams on two nights together and some intense phone calls, only in her dreams
he wasn’t lying in bed wounded.

“You have no idea how good you look to me,” he said in a
soft voice.

He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, then lifted
it to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her skin. The jolt of electricity that
passed between them was so strong she was afraid others in the room would see
it. She tugged on her hand but Rick just held it tighter, refusing to let go.
“I want you right here next to me,” he told her.

Troy cleared his throat. “I think I’ll take a break for a
while. If nobody needs me, that is. Or anything.”

Vaguely Kelly heard Mike chuckle, then say, “I don’t think
any of us will be missed. Let’s go get some of Janet’s excellent coffee in her
cafeteria and see where we go from here.”

Neither Kelly nor Rick paid much attention to the outer door
closing. Xena, her Psi intuition working overtime, moved away from the bed,
allowing Kelly more room.

“I’ve missed you,” Rick told her.

“I missed you, too.” Then she sobered. “I was very scared
for you.”

“I’m too tough to kill,” he joked. “The important thing is
I’m here now. And rapidly getting better. Especially since you got here. You
know, some people you can be around all your life and never really know them.
Others it takes only seconds. I think we belong in the second category.” His
eyes flashed with shards of heat. “You don’t know how many times I’ve replayed
every minute with you over and over in my head. After I was shot they were the
only things that got me through the pain.”

Butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach and a
flush heated her cheeks.“
Every
minute?”