The Puppeteer (14 page)

“A sixty-four thousand dollar question.”

“Maybe Ty will have some insight.”

Dani turned at the comment. Drew was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, watching her.

She picked up the plates and glasses. “Maybe. I'll let you know.”

She made her way back to the front room contemplating the interaction. No doubt it was a test. But he wasn't revisiting their argument from the night before. He seemed more curious than anything. Frowning to herself, she pushed open the door to the front room. Ty looked up from his position on the floor, then held out his hands to take some of the dishes from her.

A few minutes later they were situated on the floor, files and food scattered across the coffee table.

“Any questions?” she asked.

He frowned and shook his head. “No, not yet. I'm still reading the background on Sonny Carlyle. I don't think I'll have much to offer on him or Savendra, but it's still good to know the players.”

Dani passed the time flipping through files and watching the shadows on the floor shorten as the sun moved west. Every now and then Ty would ask a question. At one point she got up to get them another snack. It was heading into the evening when Ty closed the last file and looked up.

“Thanks for sharing.”

“Not a problem.” Dani rose and stretched. Ty did the same. “So, have any insights? Find any magic words that tell us where the drugs are coming from and when?”

“I could pull my magic eight ball out for you.” A smile tugged at his lips. Dani gave him a rueful smile back as she walked to the window. The lawn was cast in shadows now as the sun had moved far into the western part of the sky. She could still hear the ocean. And she could feel Ty approaching. She looked up when he was just a few feet away.

“We don't know how Eagle's Wing and Getz got connected in the first place, do we?”

Dani shook her head.

“Or why Getz's is suddenly expanding into weapons?” Ty took a step closer. Looking lost in thought, he stared at a point over her head for a long moment before meeting her gaze again. They were alone and now just inches apart. He must have recognized it at the same moment she did. His pupil's dilated and his jaw twitched.

For what felt like forever, Dani stood stock-still. The breeze from the window slid over her face and her bare neck. And Ty's eyes stayed locked on hers. He raised his hand, brushed a thumb across her lips and cupped her face with the palm of his hand. Without taking his eyes from hers—giving her every chance to turn away—he lowered his lips to hers.

This
was a test. She could feel it in the tension of his body, in the deliberateness of his actions. He was waiting for her to turn away, to pull back, to slam the emotional wall back up between them.

He brushed his lips across hers once. Then again. This was not the flaming passion from their one night together. This was soft and gentle. About the present. The future. When he raised his head up his eyes searched hers. She stood, accepting his touch. She still wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. It was too new. It was too different. And it was coming at a really bad time. But she wanted it anyway.

And then he moved away. Turned his back on her and faced the window. Dani blinked then ducked her chin. Turning away, toward the door, she searched her mind for an excuse. Then she saw Drew enter the room.

She glanced back at Ty, who met her gaze. Understanding dawned on her. She hadn't heard a thing, but he must have. He'd moved away to save them from being found by Drew.

“Drew,” Ty said in greeting.

“Ty.” Drew nodded then scanned the room. “Find anything interesting?”

Ty moved back to the coffee table and began picking up files. “A lot of interesting parties involved in this.”

“You could say that again.”

“Like I told Dani, Sonny and Savendra are outside my jurisdiction and the reach of my intel, way outside. As is Eagle's Wing. But I can focus on Getz. Maybe see if I can find out how he got connected to the militia, or why he's moving into weapons.”

“That would be good. Any insight you can dig up will be appreciated.”

“No problem. Dani, do you need help with these boxes?”

She shook her head. “No we've got them.”

“Then I'll be leaving. I'll put some feelers out tonight. See what might pop up. I'll come back by tomorrow morning.”

Dani and Drew both nodded. Ty gave her one last look on his way out.

“You good?” Drew asked. She turned and faced her boss and friend.

“Yeah. I'm good.”

Chapter 11

“ALUMINUM FOIL?” TY ASKED.
His brother's laugh carried over the phone. Coffee in hand and back in his office after a long night putting out feelers on Getz, he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

“Confuses the hell out of the system,” Cam commented.

“A million dollar system thwarted by
aluminum foil
. Shit, I don't even know what to say about that,” Ty shook his head, setting his cup, none too gently, on his desk.

“I'd pay a million bucks to see you and your SEAL buddies decked out in full gear and foil,” Cam teased.

“It would cost twice that, I guarantee,” Ty shot back, still not accepting the fact that the best underwater audio surveillance system, the Hunley, could be thwarted by a common household product. And it was even better than that. The system didn't even recognize it as an error. So you could swim right up to the monitor and scream your head off but, if you were surrounded by enough foil, the monitor wouldn't pick up a thing, not even an error in the system.

Ty shook his head again and closed the folder that contained a printout of the email his brother had sent about the Hunley. “What about the Abram system? The visual monitor?” he asked, picking up another folder. This folder held an email from Jay with info about the secondary system set up around Getz's peninsula.

“The good news is it's not that reliable. We don't use it much around here because of that.”

“What's the bad news?”

“Bad news is that, because it's not used that often, the only information we have on it is a couple of years old. I'll send it right over, though,” he added, and Ty could hear him clicking away on the keyboard as they spoke.

“Well hot damn, imagine that,” Cam murmured, catching Ty's attention.

“Something I should know about?” Ty asked. Cam was silent for a while but the keyboard was now clicking away at rapid speed.

“You didn't tell me you were working with the CIA,” Cam commented, more curious than anything.

CIA? Ty's feet hit the floor and he cursed under his breath. He
knew
there was something Dani and her team were hiding. Silly him for thinking it might be something minor, not the fact that they worked for the fucking CIA—and they were working inside the United States.

“They claim they're DEA,” Ty commented.

“Hm, probably are, for now anyway,” Cam responded.

“Meaning?” Ty asked. After ten years in the military, he knew a thing or two about intelligence agencies all over the world, but he wasn't as savvy as his brother, who worked with them more often than not.

“Agencies loan agents out to other agencies, or in this case, the CIA probably directed the DEA to bring on the team so that there aren't any questions about their operating in the US. Unless of course this is a counterintelligence operation, that might confuse things a bit more.”

Counterintelligence? Ty frowned in thought. He didn't think so. He didn't think Dani and the team were lying to him about their objective when it came to Getz and the Eagle's Wing. But knowing they didn't work for the DEA, knowing they'd lied to him once—well, anything was possible.

“Are you sure?” Ty asked.

“Sure they're CIA or sure you're working with them? Well, let's just say the same information I'm faxing you has already gone out today to another number in the Portland area, attention: Dani Williamson. What are the odds that you and Agent Williamson would be working on the same system in the same town? I put
two and two together, but if you want to be sure, I can describe her to you. Tall, blonde, looks like a playmate that carries a gun? Sound familiar?”

“Shit,” Ty sighed. “You know Dani?”

Cam paused. “Dani?” he asked with a laugh, not missing the subtle shift in his brother's tone of voice. “Yeah, I know Dani, and Drew, and the whole team. We've done some work with them over the years. Probably why they contacted us for information about the Hunley.”

“I thought the CIA wasn't allowed to operate in the United States? And why would an intelligence agency be running an investigation?” Ty asked, relying on his brother's knowledge of the intelligence world.

“As to the first, it's a common misperception, perpetrated by poor research. The CIA is generally not allowed to gather intelligence information directed against
US citizens
. But collecting intelligence information directed against foreign citizens or governments can happen anywhere, even here in the US.”

“You said ‘generally not allowed.’ Does that mean, in some circumstances, they can?” Ty asked, thinking about the players involved in the Getz bust—as far as he knew, they were all US citizens.

“With proper authorization, under some circumstances, they can gather intelligence about US citizens. But, it's pretty limited to things like espionage and international terrorism. And as to your second question, the CIA runs investigations all the time. But most don't require law enforcement or pop up in a court of law. There is very little public record on them.”

“Okay, so given we've got some potential international arms dealing going on and we don't know the target of the Eagle's Wing, Drew's team might have been authorized.”

“They might have been but, based on what I've heard, the information they have probably isn't enough to justify the authorization, which is why they are there as DEA. Mind you, that's just a guess,” Cam added.

“Hmm, well, hot damn,” Ty murmured. “This bit of information opens a whole new realm of possibilities.”

“You going to call them on it?” Cam asked.

“Do you think I should?” Forcing himself to be fair and logical, he knew that if the CIA was running an operation in his town, chances were he didn't need to know everything—even if they agreed to tell him. And chances were, whatever they were doing was way above his pay grade.

And, in all fairness, focusing on Getz and the drugs
was
his area. Ty was going to be glad to see the end of him. One less drug distributor on the streets meant less lives at risks. Part of him wanted to let the CIA do their thing and accept the good fortune in having help with Getz. But another part of him wanted in. A part of him wanted Dani to tell him.

“It's bigger than you or the Portland Vice,” Cam answered, echoing his own thoughts. “And if you bring it up, they have two options. Read you in, or—”

“Or push me out.”

But still, it would be interesting to see Dani's reaction if he told her he knew the truth. Something had changed with her yesterday afternoon. She'd treated him more like a partner. Her rough edges were softer and she'd been less guarded, more open. And she had let him kiss her.

Would calling her on it bring back her walls? Would it be better to let sleeping dogs lie to ensure he stayed part of the investigation? Ty let out a huff of air.

“No, I won't say anything. I think it will be a whole lot more interesting if I let them continue to think I think they're DEA.” Interesting in more ways than one, he thought.

“Of course by now, they probably know you know,” Cam responded. Then he added, “Drew's team is top notch, Ty. Keep your eyes open but remember, it's their operation. If they've gone to the trouble of using another agency, I'd say let them.”

It was a fair warning from his big brother. Ty appreciated the sentiment and insight from a man who probably knew more about Dani and the team than he did.

“Thanks, I'll keep that in mind,” he answered. “Thanks for the information,” he added.

“Anytime. And, Ty?” he paused, “Watch out for Agent Williamson. I've seen her make grown men cry.”

Whether or not Cam was kidding was a toss-up. Ty could well believe it. In the few hours they'd shared, she'd made him all but beg.

*   *   *

“What's this?” Drew asked picking up the file Ty tossed down on the desk.

“Information on the Hunley's weaknesses and more specifics on the Abram system,” Ty answered.

Drew picked up the folder, flicked through it, and put it down. Confirming what Ty suspected, the director didn't need to study the information—he already had it.

“Thanks, Ty. I'll hand that to Cotter,” Drew responded with a nod to the documents. “Thanks again for showing us those sites. Dani and Cotter have already set up shop. We wouldn't have known about them if you hadn't offered.”

It was an interesting compliment. A bit forced—as if he wouldn't have bothered had Ty been part of his team, but he was trying to play nice.

“Oh, hi Ty,” Dani said, entering the room.

“Dani,” he acknowledged. She gave him a second, curious look, then frowned. He wasn't quite at peace with the fact she, and her team, were keeping things from him.