Undercurrent: A P.I. Munro Crane Romantic Suspense Thriller

by Louise Rose-Innes

  “I heard the men talking about some sort of explosion,” Crane said, once they were back in the car.

  “Not now,” barked Kaz, casting a glance at Sergio, who appeared not to have noticed.

  Their next stop was at Sarah’s gym.

  “You can wait outside. I won’t be long.” Kaz marched into the building. Sarah would probably still be around, but her husband wasn’t here to see her. He was meeting with his distributors. First Tobin, now Robson. Did the gym owner know the police were onto him too, or was Kaz here to discuss the arrangements for the shipment? There was no way of finding out.

  He had to get closer to Kaz. He wanted to be there when the shipment arrived, but in order to do that, Kaz had to trust him. It was time to take a leap of faith.

  Back home, several hours later, Kaz confronted Crane in his study.

  “You mentioned the explosion.”

  Crane nodded. “Yeah. I heard two mechanics discussing an explosion Tobin thought may have been for him. Is that true?”

  It was a risk, laying his cars on the table like this. Kaz didn’t trust him a hundred percent yet, why would he? So if he didn’t want to take him into his confidence, he could just shoot him. But then Kaz didn’t’ like getting his hands dirty. He’d get someone else to do that part.

  A pause. Then Kaz replied, “There was an explosion two nights ago. Outside Gary’s house. His neighbour was killed. The police don’t know who was responsible.”

  Now for the kicker.

  “It sounds like the Mexicans’ M.O.”

  Another pause. Longer this time. Crane felt the heat from his bosses gaze burning into his head.

  “You mean the cartels?”

  Crane nodded slowly. “That’s what they do when they want to issue a warning…” he hesitated. “Or take out the competition.”

  Kaz gestured for Crane to sit down. “So how much do you know?”

  There it was. The question he’d been waiting for.

  He eased his body into the chair facing Kaz, who’d also sat down. The shiny mahogany desk stood like a chasm between them. Crane leant back and stared at Kaz who watched him intently.

  “It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. I know you’re not only importing textiles, although that’s a pretty good front. It’s not a leap to figure out what you are importing, given our recent trip to Pakistan and your connections over there.”

  Kaz said nothing. He simply watched Crane, his hands folded over his chest, his head tilted to one side.

  Crane continued. He could be digging his own grave here. “Those guys in the garage were installing false compartments into those cars, weren’t they? To distribute the drugs? And maybe that bomb was meant for Tobin. The Mexican cartels would be your direct competition, wouldn’t they?” That would explain where Kaz had raced off to the other night. He nodded towards the window. “I’d suggest beefing up security around here too. It’s not going to be much of a stretch to work out where it’s coming from, especially if they’re watching the auto repair shop.”

  Kaz unfolded his arms and said quietly, “I’m impressed.”

  Crane shrugged. With a bit of luck, Kaz would appreciate his honesty and reward him by bringing him into the inner circle. On the other hand – and this might be the easier option – he could just have him shot.

  “You’re right on all counts. We have a shipment due to arrive…well, soon. My distributors are getting ready.” He frowned. “The Mexicans are a new threat. We haven’t had any problems with them before. I don’t know how they found out about us but it was bound to happen eventually, I guess.”

  He leant back in his chair and rolled his head from side to side, stretching his neck. “Perhaps it’s time to call it a day. Who knows? I’m not crazy enough to take on the cartels.”

  Crane nodded in agreement. The cartels were too wide spread, too established. They had men in every state, ruthless men and desperate men, men who would do anything to protect their loved ones, who would be most certainly be slaughtered if they didn’t cooperate. No one messed with the cartels.

  “I’m amazed you haven’t had trouble with them before now,” commented Crane, arching his eyebrow in a show of respect.

  “We have a different target market, you could say,” replied Kaz with the hint of a grin. “Our paths don’t often cross.”

  Except now they had.

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “That’s a good question.” Kaz drummed his fingers on the table. “Like you said, increase security, be vigilant and hope to God we get this next shipment through. Then it might be time to disappear for a while. Take some time off.”

  “Probably wise,” agreed Crane, with a casual nod.

  Inside he was seething.

  Damn.

  If Kaz disappeared, they’d lose their only chance to bust his operation. He could quite easily hole-up somewhere like Mexico, or even the Middle East, indefinitely and that would be the end of this assignment. Sarah and her child would remain at risk, and it wouldn’t stem the flow of heroin, it would just postpone it for a few years. The poppy growers didn’t stop producing and there was no shortage of crooks willing to buy and distribute their produce.

  It had to be now. It had to be this shipment.

  Kaz got to his feet and walked around the desk. Crane stood up too. The meeting was over.

  “I know I can count on your discretion,” his boss said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  Crane looked him in the eye. “Of course.”

  “I want you to be in charge of security around here. Double it. No, triple it. I don’t want any trouble in the next few weeks. If a Mexican comes within a mile of my property, I want to know. And get my wife a bodyguard. She’s not to go anywhere without him.”

  “Understood.”

  Thank God. His gamble had paid off. Kaz trusted him and was upping his responsibility. If he played his cards right, he’d be right there when the shipment came in, ready to catch the drug baron red handed.

  It was a win-win.

  In his call to Doug that evening, Crane suggested an armed guard be assigned to Sarah’s kid. “Let the parents know. Just in case the cartel tries to get to Kaz that way.”

  It was unlikely they’d be aware of Sarah’s child, but in his business, he’d learned to expect the unexpected.

  The next few weeks flew by. As Kaz had requested, the new security measures were put in place. The FBI kindly supplied all the plain clothes agents.

  “Ex-soldiers and mercenaries,” Crane had informed Kaz. All of whom worked in the security game now. Loyal to no one but the money.

  Crane wondered what the drug baron would do if he knew his entire house was surrounded by FBI agents. The thought made him chuckle, but the stakes were still high. The agents had been thoroughly briefed. The threat from the cartels was very real. At any time they could expect a massacre. It was known to happen.

  Doug had made sure their weapons were ex-military stock, so as to look legit. The hardest part had been convincing the armed guards on the estate, all of whom would recognise an imposter in a heartbeat, should the agents make a mistake. So far, so good.

  Sarah got her bodyguard, much to her distress, until Crane told her he was actually an FBI agent. In order to keep up pretences, she’d argued the point with Kaz until he lost his temper, at which stage she shut up and pretended to except the inevitable.

  As well as arranging the security detail, Crane had been kept busy accompanying Kaz everywhere he went. Kaz had insisted on it and Crane was happy to oblige. To make it legit, he’d added an ex-army assault rifle to the arsenal in the compartment under the SUV’s trunk. “Just in case,” he’d told Kaz.

  The threat of an ambush made his blood rush. It wasn’t the Marines, and he was on the wrong side, well kinda, but the anticipation was there. He could feel the adrenalin shooting through his veins and for the first time in years, he felt alive.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Sarah knew the operati
on was reaching a climax. It wouldn’t be long now before her husband’s sordid drug business came crashing down around his head. The shipment was due in a week and for her, it couldn’t come soon enough.

  The man she’d married was a monster. It was hard to look at him without crinkling her nose in disgust. She despised every bone in his body. When he touched her she wanted to recoil. Living in the same house as him made her physically sick. It was an effort not to run away. Every fibre in her body wanted out. It was only Crane’s presence that kept her here.

  Every night after her husband was asleep, she slipped out of the house, through the kitchen door – conveniently located in the security camera’s blind spot – and masked by the trees, crept to Crane’s bungalow. It was dangerous. Insanely so, as Crane had told her several times, but she needed him, especially now. She needed his strength, his support and she needed the release. Without it, she’d never survive. He must have sensed this, because after the first few nights, he stopped chastising her. But she could tell he was worried. He always walked her back to the house, the same way she left, through the trees, to the kitchen door.

  “I could go to my parents for a week,” she suggested, after they’d made love and she lay wrapped in his arms. It was the only time she felt calm.

  “I don’t want your husband to suspect anything. It’s imperative we keep this operation on track. This is our one shot. If this doesn’t work, we’ve had it. Your husband will disappear and we’ll be back to square one. Sarah, I need you to be brave. You’ve come this far. Hang in there for one more week. That’s all.”

  “How can I refuse when you ask like that?” She kissed him on the lips.

  He wiped a stray hair off her face. “You’re an angel, you know that?”

  “I don’t feel like one. Ben will be okay, won’t he?” She was dreadfully worried the cartels might kidnap her son. Crane had explained it all to her.

  “He’ll be fine. I’ve already assigned him an escort. Your parents are aware of the situation.”

  She bit her lip. “Thank you. I don’t think I could cope if anything happened to him.”

  “Shh…” He kissed her trembling lips. “Nothing’s going to happen. Ben’s going to be just fine.”

  In response she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down to her.

  During the days, she kept herself busy by working out at the gym. She did gruelling aerobics classes, ran for hours on the treadmill and took long saunas, losing herself in the steam. At the gym she felt safe. No Mexican drug dealer could waltz in and gun her down. Besides, the FBI agent who had been assigned to her liked working out too. Even when she pounded her heart out on the treadmill, she could see him out of the corner of her eye. Ever watchful, ever present.

  He must think her mad but to be honest, it was only by pushing herself physically she could distract herself from the nightmare in which she was living. The panic attacks she’d had after Chris had died, had come back worse than ever. If she wasn’t at gym or in bed with Crane, she lay in her room and shook like a leaf. Her fingernails were bitten to the quick. Thank God Kaz hadn’t noticed. If he did, she’d say it was the threat from the Mexicans which unnerved her.

  Her mother, ever calm, appeared to be handling the situation far better than she was. “Benny is just fine, honey. Don’t worry about him. Look after yourself.”

  She hadn’t told her mother exactly what was happening, but her parents weren’t stupid. They knew Kaz was up to something, but if the FBI were involved, they were confident it was under control. “It’s about time someone did something about that husband of yours,” her mother had said during their last phone call. Sarah hadn’t replied. God willing, all would go according to plan and something would be done about him. Otherwise, they were all screwed.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  The night before the shipment was due to arrive was freezing. The temperature dropped dramatically as autumn finally gave way to winter. Most of the dirty-golden leaves had fallen off the trees on the estate and lay rotting on the ground, leaving a mulchy smell that reminded Crane of sniper training when all he’d smelt for hours on end had been wet leaves. The branches were bare, offering little in the way of covering. Luckily, the moon was only a slither like a silver scathe hovering above them in the night sky.

  As soon as Crane stepped outside he knew something was wrong. The hairs on his neck stood up and his senses were on high alert. He placed a warning hand on Sarah’s shoulder. She stopped dead in her tracks.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure. Something though.”

  A shout echoed from across the lake.

  Fear flashed across Sarah’s face, but she didn’t question him. Over the past few weeks they’d grown extremely close. She’d learned to trust him, he knew by the way she gave herself to him so willingly, so passionately, night after night. And for the first time in his life, he’d allowed himself to be drawn into the fantasy. He was her protector, the one who would make everything alright. He was the hero that would save the day – and maybe even get the girl, an outcome he’d never even considered before. When he was with her he was free from the demons that plagued him. The nightmares went away. In many ways, she was his salvation too.

  He gestured for her to pull her hood up, which she did immediately, and he ducked back inside for his handgun, which he tucked into the back of his jeans.

  “Peter’s light is still on,” he whispered, studying the other bungalows. They were all in darkness.

  “Perhaps he’s just back from his rounds,” suggested Sarah.

  “No, something’s not right.”

  Peter always slept between the early morning patrols. Crane knew his habits by heart. Why would tonight be any different?

  They darted from the bungalow into the trees. “Stay here,” whispered Crane, taking her deeper into the forest than usual. “I’ll be right back.”

  She nodded, and sat down on a tree trunk to wait. In her black tracksuit with the hood up, she blended into the darkness.

  Crane crept around the bungalows and stared hard across the lake. It was too dark to see much, but there was a light emanating from the garage side of the house. He saw a black figure with a flashlight racing up the curving driveway towards the house. One of the FBI agents? He had to find out what was going on.

  “It’s not safe to go back now,” he told a shivering Sarah. “There are people all over the place.”

  “Do you think they know I’m here?” Her voice quivered.

  “I don’t know. I need to find out. Can you wait here?”

  “Don’t you think I should try to get back into the house?”

  “Not yet. It’s too dangerous. I’ll come and fetch you when I know what’s going on.”

  “Okay,” she whispered through clenched teeth. He hesitated. “Here, take my fleece.” He shrugged off his black fleece and draped it around her shoulders.

  “Thank you,” she said gratefully.

  “I can’t have you freezing to death.” He flashed her what he hoped was a reassuring grin, and ducked back into the trees. She’d be safe there for the interim. All the action was on the other side of the lake. If they’d discovered Sarah was missing, they hadn’t thought to look for her in his bungalow. That, at least, was something.

  He ran around the lake, keeping to the path. There was no point in hiding since he wanted to find out what was going on and the quickest way to do that would be to ask one of the FBI agents on the estate.

  At the gate, he came up behind one of the agents, a youngster called Phil. “Hey, what’s up?”

  Phil nearly jumped out of his skin. “Shit man, you scared the crap out of me. I didn’t hear you coming.”

  Crane frowned. “Keep it down. Tell me, what’s the fuss about?”

  “One of the guards saw someone sneaking around on the security camera. They’re doing a search of the premises.”

  “Does Erkel know?”

  “He’s been told, yeah.”

 
; Shit. That meant it was only a matter of time before he’d realise Sarah was missing, if he hadn’t already.

  “I’d better get up there.”

  He ran up the driveway towards the house. The door to the security room was open, light pooling outside on the gravel. He poked his head inside. Peter was there with a third man, one of the undercover FBI men. Together with Kaz they stared at the screen.

  “Can I help?”

  Kaz turned. “We have an intruder, Crane. Or had, but it looks like he’s gone now. Probably escaped into the woods.”

  “Did you see his face?” Relief washed over him. Kaz didn’t know Sarah was missing. Yet.

  The operator spoke. “No. He’s wearing a hoodie. We’re trying to see if we can enhance the image.”

  Crane peered over his shoulder. The image was grainy at best. The intruder was looking down, face obscured. There was no way they’d identify Sarah from that. He exhaled.

  “I’ll check the woods,” he offered.

  “I’ll come with you,” said Peter. Crane’s heart sank.

  Kaz nodded. “If you find the bastard, bring him to me before you shoot him. I want to know who’s behind this.”

  “Will do.”

  Crane exited the room with Peter behind him. They skirted the house, both on high alert. Peter moved like he was hunting the enemy in Bosnia. Half crouched, haft upright, rifle tucked into his shoulder, ready to pull the trigger. His gaze darted back and forth, staring into the darkness where the security lights didn’t reach. Crane was impressed. He only had his handgun with him, which he’d grabbed at the last minute. He held it loosely at his side, but moved stealthily beside Peter all the while trying to figure out how the hell he was going to get Sarah back into the house. He had to do it quickly, there was only a window of about fifteen minutes before Kaz would go back inside and realise his wife wasn’t in her bed.