Beauty and the Badge

by Lyn Stone

  He pursed his lips and thought about it. Mary could almost see him going over the conversation between her and Antonio.

  “Okay, I’m not saying that I buy your story, but suppose I give you the benefit of the doubt for right now. Some things he said didn’t quite jibe with a transfer of the diamonds. But I will have to check out those dolls. It may be that you’re an unwitting courier.”

  “Fine.” She sat a little straighter. She hated to see any antique deliberately torn apart, especially dolls. But if Antonio had hidden the gems inside them, the discovery might exonerate her as his accomplice. Or it might not.

  “Where are they?” he asked.

  “At the school m my purse,” she said with an impatient glare. “Which I would have now if you hadn’t yanked me away without any warning!”

  “Why did you have them in your purse?” he asked, suspicion even more evident.

  Mary threw up her hands in dismay. “I was going by the bank to put them in my safe-deposit box until I had a weekend to work on them. They are very valuable items, not something you leave lying around!”

  He snorted. “So you take them to school where they’re subject to a roomful of toddlers?”

  “My purse is safely tucked away in my cubby,” she argued.

  “Your cubby?” He laughed out loud. “Never mind, I know what that is. I guess they’re secure for now, but we’ll have to get them soon.”

  He got up for more coffee, dumped hers, and refilled her cup with hot. “Better drink it. You look a little peaked.”

  Mary didn’t eavesdrop when Ford made the call. She didn’t care what he was saying. She would show the agents what Antonio had given her and they would know she had nothing to do with those missing diamonds, even if the stones did happen to be concealed inside.

  She gulped the coffee, ignoring the food, which had grown cold. Her appetite had disappeared completely the moment Ford Devereaux had become the dispassionate investigator who seemed utterly certain of her guilt.

  Mary liked him so much better as the happy-go-lucky daredevil who ate catsup on his eggs.

  Chapter 3

  Mary hated this whole nightmare. Her mother would have loved it, had she lived. Danger, adventure, intrigue. Better than rock climbing or bungee jumping.

  Her father would eat it up, even now. Maybe she should call him, she thought wryly, if she could figure out where in the world his latest fiasco had taken him. He would die for a chance to jump right into the investigation, wear wires and dodge bullets.

  But people like herself were meant for car pools and cookie baking. Junior League. Faculty teas and lunch with friends. And her teaching, of course. She craved a normal, ordinary life.

  That was her vision of the future and she’d been getting there, too. Until Tarzan, here, had swung in on his vine and scooped her off into the jungle. Yet the predator had already been encroaching on her nice, safe utopia, hadn’t he?

  Mary shot Ford Devereaux her most piercing look, hoping he would turn around and get the full force of it.

  How in the world had she allowed herself to get caught up in all this? Well, she wouldn’t stay caught up in it, that was for certain. This had gone on long enough.

  Why should she have to tolerate these accusations? “Benefit of the doubt,” indeed. Surely, either the police or the FBI would have had her locked up already if they had anything more than supposition. Even with that tape, they didn’t have a case against her. Or did they? Circumstantial evidence might work for them.

  Ford Devereaux was fishing. All that cuddling in the wagon, all those gentle pats on the back and words of comfort weren’t real. He had used them to butter her up, make her trust him.

  Saving her life hadn’t been all that heroic, after all, now that she thought about it, because he didn’t really care whether she lived or died. As long as she didn’t die before he got his hands on the stolen goods. He had only kept her alive so he could find the damned diamonds.

  Well, she didn’t need him. She knew how to hide herself. Her paper trail would end with a visit to her ATM and a plane ticket. Nobody would find her once she reached another country.

  She had visited places no American had ever seen before, and she’d be welcomed there. He wanted her safe, he said? She would find her own safety—from the jerk who was out to kill her and from this one who thought her a felon.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded as she marched past him to the door.

  “Fun’s over, Agent Devereaux. Either arrest me, take me home, or call a taxi.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “But you can’t leave.”

  Mary saw that he meant business. He could physically restrain her. She was exhausted, angry, and more than a little frightened, almost as much of going to jail as she was of the man who had chased them. “Look, I just want to go home.”

  “You are home. At least for the time being. We’re probably safe enough here. I called in with Perry’s last location. Described the car. They’re looking for him now.”

  “Perry? The man who was following us, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  Mary shivered and began to rub her shoulders to generate some warmth. Despite her bravado of a few moments ago, she worried that she might not live to buy that plane ticket. She couldn’t do it without funds or credit cards, anyway. That meant going home or back to the school for her purse.

  “And if this Perry does find out where we are? Do you have a plan?”

  “We evade and run if we can,” Ford said as simply as if he were suggesting an alternate TV program. “If not, I might have to shoot him.”

  “You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you?” The thought of another shooting made her stomach quiver.

  “Not particularly. You did ask.”

  Mary backed up and flopped down on the pillowy leather sofa.

  He came over and sank down beside her, linking his hands behind his head. “Sorry if it upsets you, but it could happen.”

  He glanced sideways and raked her with a slumberous gaze. “Hey, you’ll be fine, doll. Don’t wimp out on me now. Okay?”

  “Don’t call me ‘doll.’ It’s disgustingly chauvinistic.” He was baiting her again, and Mary wanted to slug him. She’d seen a friend murdered, somebody was trying to kill her, the FBI might haul her in for grand theft or worse, and he was telling her not to wimp out? This idiot definitely had a screw loose.

  The weapon he drew from behind his back made her wince. When he began checking it out, Mary felt the blood drain from her head. Quickly she leaned over so that her head was between her knees. “I won’t faint!” she declared: “I refuse to faint.”

  “Glad to hear it,” he said. “Why don’t you lie down? In that position, you might do a forward roll onto the floor.”

  She turned her head to one side and glared up at him. “Go to hell.”

  The phone rang.

  Mary watched as he picked up and listened, his face darkening with anger as the seconds passed. The voice on the other end sounded clipped and angry, though she couldn’t hear the words distinctly.

  “I’m not ready to cut her loose yet. Yeah, yeah, I know that. But what if—”

  After a few moments of listening, Mary tuned him out. She went over and over the contents of the tape in her mind, trying to decide whether the diamonds could really be concealed in those dolls Antonio gave her.

  Suddenly Ford slammed the phone down with an epithet that made Mary cringe.

  “Damned bureaucrat!” He pounded his fist on one thigh. “I swear if I didn’t need this job—”

  He halted his tirade and looked down at her, his eyes softening, clearly showing regret and helplessness. “He says they’ve located Perry and will be picking him up any minute. I’m supposed to let you go.”

  She relaxed on the sofa, letting her head rest against the cushiony back and crossing her arms over her chest. “And follow me again? So I can deliver the damned diamonds to somebody?”

  He stared at her silently. �
�You really don’t know anything about the gems, do you, Mary.” It didn’t sound like a question.

  She answered anyway. “No, I don’t. You’re afraid this Perry might escape and come after me again, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted softly. “I’m afraid.” Then he moved closer and took her by the shoulders. “I just don’t understand Blevins’s reasoning on this. He ordered me to release you and tell you that it’s safe to go about your business. I can’t lie about that. You are not safe, Mary.”

  She watched him closely as she questioned, “Did you tell him about the dolls?”

  “He doesn’t know you heard the tape, or that you know we suspect you. I mentioned I’d asked you if Antonio gave you anything that night. I told him you said it was two dolls, but I don’t even think he heard me,” Ford admitted. “He kept insisting I turn you loose and let you make the contact.”

  Mary scoffed. “Well, I’d be stupid to do that now, if I did have the diamonds. Which I don’t.”

  Ford paced, grinding one fist into the opposite palm, as though it helped him to think. “We caught the perp who shot the owner of the gems. An undercover agent took his place and passed them on to Antonio so that we could follow through and catch the couriers. Antonio didn’t leave after he took possession of them from our agent. We have that on tape. He closed shop and had no customers that night or the next day.”

  Then he turned and shook one long finger in her direction. “No one but you and his killer came there that evening, and you say you don’t have the gems. And Perry didn’t have time to search for them before the police arrived.”

  “So?”

  Ford regarded her with one brow raised. “So, they must either be inside your dolls or in that shop somewhere.”

  “Didn’t your people search the place?” Mary asked, finding it hard to believe such an oversight. Wasn’t a murder scene always inspected for clues?

  “Two of our guys did,” Ford answered, “but maybe not as thoroughly as they should have. We were convinced you had the gems.”

  “‘They?’” Mary scoffed. “Didn’t you search? You’re an agent, too! Just where were you when all this was going on?”

  His lips tightened in a wry smile. “Following you, of course. We were so sure you had possession after hearing that conversation. I was supposed to detail your every move the minute you left the interrogation room. I did, too.”

  “How commendable of you,” she remarked acidly.

  He ignored that. “For what it’s worth, your story does make sense. To me, anyway.”

  “So what do we do?” she asked, willing now to help in any way she could. It seemed he might be sincere, after all, about giving her the benefit of the doubt.

  “I guess our best bet is to hang loose here and hope they’re located. Then you’ll be in the clear. At any rate, you can’t go on your merry way until Perry’s behind bars. He can’t know for sure that you didn’t see his face when he shot Antonio.”

  “Cheery thought,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “Look, Perry’s slippery as mercury. He’s already been picked up a couple of times in other cities and released. Even if they do haul him in, they don’t have enough to hold him without a positive ID from you. He located where you teach. He’ll know where you live.”

  She held up her hand. “You’re right, I know. But he won’t find me unless I go home. Suppose you take me to my fiancé’s apartment. I’ll be as safe there as here.”

  Much safer, she thought, since Ford Devereaux stirred up feelings she didn’t welcome at all. Every time he touched her, she tingled. Every time he smiled, her knees went weak, even when she was angry with him. It was probably just adrenaline or some such nonsense, but she could certainly do without it.

  She watched his troubled gaze rest on her left hand and then return to her face. “Shoot, I forgot about that. You’re engaged.” He looked disappointed and frustrated. For some reason, that gave Mary a jolt of pleasure.

  “Yes,” she said, rotating the two-karat solitaire around and around on her finger. “For six months.”

  “Six whole months? What’s wrong with him?”

  She ducked her head to avoid his probing glare. “He’s still working on his degree.”

  “A college kid,” he said, scoffing. “Damn, you would pick a kid.”

  “Jim is not a kid, he’s twenty-nine! He’s an assistant professor working on his doctorate in theology.”

  “Oh, great! You picked a preacher?” He laughed and slapped his forehead with the heel of one hand.

  “No, he plans to teach. And don’t you make fun of him!”

  “Tell me, Mary, what’s the Bible-schooler gonna do for you when he answers his door and Perry shoves a ninemillimeter up his nose, huh? Pray?”

  “That won’t happen! If I go to stay with Jim, that man won’t find me.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he said, shaking his head. “Tell me, if you’re so crazy about this fiancé of yours, why do you still live alone?”

  “That’s none of your business!” she declared, pushing herself up from the sofa. “But it would hardly be proper to live together, considering his chosen profession, now would it? Besides, Jim needs the solitude to work on his thesis. I stay where I stay because I choose to, and I do not choose to stay here with you! Your supervisor told you to allow me to go, so let me go!”

  “What about other family? Could you live with them for a while?” he suggested.

  “No, that’s not an option.” She stuck out her hand. “You’ll have to give me money for a taxi since my purse is still at the school.”

  “I’m not giving you squat!” he declared. “We’ll just go and see about this Jim guy and what kind of protection he can provide you. I’m not letting you out of my sight until I know you’re safe. You got that?”

  She turned away from him and threw up her arms in disgust. “Let’s just get out of here!”

  “Oh, all right. Come on.” He scooped up his jacket and the keys from the bar and headed for the door. “But just for the record, I don’t like this, Mary. I don’t like it at all.”

  Other than providing Jim’s address, she had nothing more to say to Ford during their ride. She noticed how he watched the mirrors and took numerous unnecessary detours across town. Not once did he increase his speed or show any sign of concern that anyone followed. Mary finally relaxed.

  When they arrived at Welton Towers, Jim Whalen’s high-rise apartment building, Ford parked in the underground lot. He got out and went around to open her door and then escorted her to the elevators.

  “You definitely are not coming up with me, Ford,” she said firmly.

  “Think the boy wonder will go berserk with jealousy? Maybe break a commandment or something?” he asked dryly. “Sorry, but I gotta meet this guy.”

  “No, you do not have to meet him! It’s just not necessary and I don’t feel like explaining you to him the moment we get up there. If you insist, Ford, I will complain to your superior. You have no right to do this.”

  “Suppose he’s not home?” Ford argued.

  “He’s here. You parked right next to his car.”

  “Then I’ll just go up with you and make sure.”

  Mary rolled her eyes and pushed against his chest to keep him out of the elevator. He pushed right back and entered to stand beside her, arms folded, calm as you please.

  She glared up at him.

  He shrugged. “Okay, I promise I’ll wait down the hall. The second his door opens, I’ll leave. He won’t even see me. Fair enough? I just don’t want you stranded here in case he’s gone out somewhere with a friend or something.”

  Mary nodded once. “All right, that sounds reasonable. Just don’t let him see you. I’ll explain it all to him myself, once I’m inside.”

  He grabbed her right hand and slipped a card into it. “My cell-phone number. Call me if you need me. I won’t be far away.”

  “Right,” she said, almost spitting the word.

  H
is face softened and he took her other hand, as well. “I mean it, Mary. Promise.” He refused to release his hold on her until she responded.

  “All right!” she said, exasperated.

  Before she knew what was happening, he leaned down and planted a firm kiss on her forehead. “You stay out of trouble, hear?”

  The elevator doors parted and she rushed out, unwilling to look back at him.

  She knew Jim worked at the college until four in the afternoon, then came directly home and rarely went anywhere in the evenings. His car was in the garage. He must be here.

  What would he make of all this, or should she even tell him at all? Yes, she supposed she had no choice. He would need to be prepared in the event there was trouble. Could he handle it if anything happened?

  Mary couldn’t help but contrast Jim’s polite, cautious nature with that of the man she had just left holding the elevator door. There was certainly nothing polite or cautious about Ford Devereaux.

  That devil-may-care charm of his probably attracted women in droves. She smiled wryly at her own reaction to it. Give her a safe, tame theology professor any day of the week. She’d had enough excitement today to last her a lifetime.

  It reminded her of the time she’d taken that Zugspitze slope on one ski. Not a planned thing, and certainly not an experience she would care to repeat.

  Mary rang the buzzer at Jim’s door and waited. The chain inside rattled, so she turned, nodded and waved Ford on his way.

  What would Jim think of her showing up here unannounced?