Flirting with Disaster (24 page)

Dave knew he was fighting a losing battle. If only they’d been able to hand over the drugs voluntarily and tell their story as they’d planned, the agents would have assumed they were telling the truth. But once the agents approached the plane, guns drawn, their theory already in place, he and Lisa hadn’t stood a chance. And now, no matter what story they told, the customs agents could twist it around to fit any scenario they wanted.

“The truth is that you really don’t know where Adam Decker is, do you?” the agent asked. “For all you know, he could have died in that plane crash and Ms. Merrick is feeding you a line of bullshit.” He kept tapping that pencil against his fingertips until Dave wanted to rip it out of his hands. “Actually, when it gets right down to it, you don’t know a damned thing about this situation outside of what she’s told you. Isn’t that true?”

Yes. It was. And in Dave’s mind it didn’t change a thing. “What did Lisa supposedly do to make Douglas suspect her of being in the middle of a counterfeiting operation?”

“We don’t know the whole story yet. But when we get a tip from a credible source, we act on it. He’s a doctor running a humanitarian organization. I’d call that credible.”

“And I’m a cop, for God’s sake! Doesn’t that count for something?”

Another sigh, accompanied by a rub to the back of the neck. Then the agent leaned forward and dropped his voice.

“Just between you and me, DeMarco, I don’t think you’re a drug smuggler. I think you believed her story. I think you’re just one hell of a bad judge of character. In the future, you might want to think twice about the women you keep company with.”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Really?” the agent said, feigning surprise. “Tell me. How well do you know Ms. Merrick?”

“She was a friend of mine in high school.”

“Have you seen her in the interim?”

“No.”

“Then you’re not really sure what she’s been up to since graduation.”

“No. Not specifically.”

“Can you say for sure what she actually planned on doing with those drugs when you landed in San Antonio?”

“Yes. Turning them in to you.”

“You’re speculating.”

“Come on! Wouldn’t it be pretty stupid of her just to walk off with those drugs instead of handing them over as she said she was going to? Wouldn’t I have questioned that? I’m a cop, for God’s sake!”

The agent smiled knowingly. “But you’re a man first, aren’t you?”

“What the hell are you saying?”

“A hot little number like that could lead a man to believe just about anything, now couldn’t she?”

Dave stared at him evenly, willing himself not to react, when what he really wanted to do was vault over the table and take this sarcastic asshole by the throat.

“Tell me what’s going to happen now,” he said, barely able to grind out the words without adding a string of profanity.

The agent looked exasperated, but this time there was no faking it. “We did a field test of the drugs. As a police officer, you’re probably aware that on cursory examination we can identify only about six of the usual suspects—amphetamines, Valium, that kind of thing. So we found what we expected to find. Nothing. It’ll take further testing to determine whether they contain an illegal substance, but I fully expect that to be ruled out. I think they’re simply Lasotrex knockoffs, just as you and Ms. Merrick have been saying, and there’s a counterfeiting operation going on.” He tossed his pencil down on the table, blowing out a long breath. “Unfortunately, it’s not a crime to possess look-alike drugs. You can go to your basement and make as many phony Lasotrex as you want to. It’s only a crime if you choose to sell or distribute them, which is exactly what I believe Ms. Merrick intended to do. But since we have no evidence at this point to support that, we can’t hold either of you.”

Then the agent leaned toward Dave, a no-nonsense look on his face. “But make no mistake. There will be an investigation. And the moment that investigation implicates Ms. Merrick in a drug-counterfeiting conspiracy, which I fully expect it will, we’ll be back to see her. And if it turns out that you really are part of it, we’ll take you down right along with her.”

The good news was that Robert apparently hadn’t given the authorities any information to further implicate Dave and Lisa. But he had no doubt it was coming. Not only would Robert be covering his tracks, he’d undoubtedly be planting evidence to frame them. Once the heat was off, he could reopen business in another area and proceed as if nothing had ever happened, leaving them to take the fall.

Dave sat up straight. “I assume I’m free to go?”

“Yes. But I suggest you leave by the back door. Don’t know how the press does it sometimes. They’re already here asking questions about this one.”

“What?”

“Hey, it’s interesting news. A woman flying for a humanitarian organization supposedly dies in a plane crash, only to show up alive at a San Antonio airport with a stash of illegal drugs? Doesn’t get much better than that.”

Oh, that was just
great
.

Dave knew every government agency had its informants who made a buck or two on the side by tipping off reporters to any big story that happened to come through. Only now, unbelievably, he was part of one of those big stories. It would be all over town in no time. Hell, what was he saying? With cable news, it could end up all over the freaking world.

“Of course,” the agent added, “your superiors will be notified of the detention, along with the fact that you’re a possible suspect in a counterfeiting case. What they choose to do to you in light of that is up to them.”

Dave pictured this going right up his chain of command all the way to the chief, his name being dragged through the mud. The very thought of that made him sick with humiliation.

He stood up, ready to get the hell out of there.

“One more thing.” The agent came to his feet and circled the table, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. “Let me give you a little advice, DeMarco. Back away from her. As far and as fast as you can. Your attorney will be able to make a strong case for you not knowing Ms. Merrick’s true motive in this situation.” He paused. “Of course, if you’d like to go ahead and give me something I can use against her, anything she might have told you that could help us, I can virtually guarantee that you won’t be charged.”

“There’s nothing to tell. Lisa is innocent. Sooner or later you’re going to see that.”

The agent gave Dave a sarcastic little smile of indulgence. “To tell you the truth, I think you’re the one who needs to see things a little more clearly.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” the agent said, “that I’m not sure you know her as well as you think you do.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I might have cut her a little more slack. Maybe even been inclined to think there was a possibility she was telling the truth.” He paused. “Then we ran her priors.”

Dave felt a shiver of dread. “What?”

“Eleven years ago. She was convicted of cocaine possession.”

At four o’clock that afternoon, Sera parked her car in the lot behind Esmerelda’s, a tidy little bar and grill whose name was a holdover from three owners ago. The proprietor now was Ario Delmiro, a large man with a booming voice and a big heart who had owned the place for a year and a half but was probably going to lose it in a matter of months if he didn’t start collecting bar tabs. She hoped that didn’t happen, though, because he’d always been good to her, allowing her to slip away whenever one of her mothers-to-be went into labor.

She’d stayed close by Adam all day, monitoring his vital signs, becoming more hopeful the more alert he became. But she knew that his condition could turn around quickly if he developed any complications, and she was desperate to get him to a hospital as soon as possible. He still had a bullet in his chest. And what about his head wound? Was he as stable as he was trying to make her believe? Or was he a ticking time bomb waiting to explode?

I’ll stay in this room the rest of my life before I’ll let that
kid die.

She knew Adam meant every word of that. But every moment he stayed in Santa Rios was another moment he could be discovered, so time was not on her side. She had to find Gabrio as quickly as possible and get both him and Adam out of here.

She went in through the kitchen door and grabbed an apron. Ario saw her and came over, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

“Sera! Thank God you’re back! Full house out there. I need you. Feeling better now?”

She’d felt bad lying to Ario about being sick so she could stay with Adam, especially since several of his other employees routinely feigned sickness for no other reason except that they didn’t feel like coming in.

“A little,” she said. “But I’m missing those tips, you know. Had to get myself back in here.”

She slid out the swinging door into the bar and immediately spotted Ivan sitting with a couple of the usual suspects— Enrique Flores and Juan Atilano. They were all good-for-nothing men who spent their afternoons and evenings drinking and playing cards, charging themselves up for late night mayhem. Unfortunately, she didn’t see Gabrio with them.

She edged up next to Gloria, one of the other waitresses, and told her she’d take over Ivan’s table. Gloria practically kissed her. The big tips they left rarely compensated for their sexual come-ons, and Gloria had clearly had enough of their wandering hands for one shift.

Sera went over to Ivan’s table with an offhand hello and an offer to bring them another round. Ivan gave her a protracted stare, shifting his eyes up and down, a lecherous smile seeping over his lips. He was one of those men who looked at a woman with one thing on his mind and one thing only. That little up-and-down glance was designed to intimidate her and at the same time indicate his considerable sexual prowess. Or so he thought.

“Where you been?” Ivan asked. “Haven’t seen you around here in a couple of days.”

She picked up the empty beer bottles from the table. “I’ve been sick.”

“Well,” he said, slinking his hand around the back of her thigh. “You’re looking pretty good now.”

Sera eased away from him, fighting the disgust that swelled inside her.

“Come on, now,” Ivan said, his voice low. “You’ll like what I’ve got to offer.”

“I’m a busy woman,” Sera said. “No time for fun, you know?”

Ivan took a sip of his beer. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

No. Sera knew exactly what she was missing. And she intended to keep on missing it.

She emptied an ashtray. “So where’s your kid brother? He’s usually here with you.”

“Funny thing. He’s been sick, too. Flu or something. Hasn’t left the house in a couple of days.”

He didn’t run. Thank God.
“So he’s at home?”

“Yeah. He’s at home.”

Sera felt a surge of optimism. This was better than she could have hoped for. She knew Ivan’s pattern. He’d spend a couple more hours drinking and maybe playing a few hands of poker, then head out for whatever evening activities he and his buddies had planned. If she left right now, she could slip over to their house and talk to Gabrio before Ivan even thought about returning home.

“Hey, Ivan,” Enrique said. “She sure seems interested in your kid brother. Think maybe she’s looking for a real man?”

Enrique and Juan laughed, and Ivan glared at them.

“A woman throws you over for your baby brother,” Juan said, shaking his head. “Pitiful, man. That’s really pitiful.”

The men laughed again. Ivan sat back in his chair with a scowl, gripping his beer bottle with white-knuckled intensity. He slid his hand along the back of Sera’s thigh again, but this time his fingers were spread, holding her in a bruising grip.

“So what’s the deal?” Ivan said. “Do you like boys, or do you like men?”

“I was just concerned that Gabrio was sick. Are you taking care of him?”

“I told you. It’s just a bug. What’s there to do? Stand around and watch him throw up?”

“I suppose you’re right.” She extricated herself from Ivan’s grip. “I’ll bring you another round.”

She could feel Ivan’s gaze boring into her as she walked away, but she wouldn’t be around much longer to have to deal with him. After she brought them their drinks she slipped into the kitchen and found Ario.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, putting on a pained expression at the same time she was pulling off her apron. “I thought I could handle working today. But, Ario, I feel lousy. Really lousy. I’m afraid I’m still just too sick.”

His face fell. “No! Sera! We’re so busy! I need you out there!”

“I really am sorry,” she said, grabbing her purse and heading for the back door. “Really. I hate to leave you like this, but I’m sure I’ll be fine again by tomorrow. I’ll see you then, okay?”

She hated lying to him, but she had no choice. Over his protests, she slipped out the back door and headed for her car.

In minutes, she’d reached Gabrio’s house—a tiny rundown cinder-block structure in a neighborhood nice people would take great pains to avoid. She parked out front and stepped up to the porch.