Special Agent's Seduction

by Lyn Stone

  He rolled his eyes. "Of course I tried. Part of it was withdrawn within seconds of the transfer, and most of it was transferred again. It stands to reason there would be an accomplice waiting at the other bank to move on it quickly. It was split. Looks like the man at the other end took his cut." He paused. "But I can follow the money they moved."

  "You can do that?" she asked. "How?"

  "Well, shift funds around all you want, but it always leaves a trail. As you probably know, there's really no such thing as an anonymous account anymore. I have connections that could furnish names and leads to follow. It's a place to start."

  Dani recognized competence when she saw it. "My people can call on the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty the offshore banks signed with the UK and the U.S."

  For the first time, he smiled. "That would help. As you pointed out, a few million's not much in the grand scheme of things. But if you multiply it by a number of small banks like this one, terrorists could secure an absolute fortune before anyone recognized what they were doing." He shrugged. "Or I could be wrong. This could be a setup to ruin me and my bank."

  "You have enemies who would do that?" she asked, almost smiling at the thought. He appeared so benign, so likable. "Look, no one believes you were involved in this. Insurance will take care of the losses. Why not let it go at that?"

  "You're kidding, right? Let it go?"

  "You seem to be taking it very personally," she said, wondering how far he'd work this theory of his.

  He planted a fist in his palm and bared his teeth in a grimace of frustration. "Of course I do. This bank is my responsibility and my reputation was threatened."

  After a pause, she said, "Okay, let's word this for my boss so I can run it by him and I'll make a call." She poised her pen over the little notebook she always carried in her pocket. Michaels cleared his throat and began. He dictated clear, concise sentences, like Dani had read in many official government incident reports. Dani noted the way his dark gray eyes narrowed as he drew to a close. "If those funds are meant to support terrorists, we need to make sure that doesn't happen. I mean to make certain it doesn't."

  His last sentence brought back some doubt to her. Was he a glory seeker trying to get his name in the papers by making up some fictitious plot? All the agencies got scads of those. So many they were now having to prosecute the "witnesses" when fraudulent intent was clear. False claims tied up too many people in useless investigations and took time away from real cases.

  Or did Michaels really have something? It was never wise to consider any citizen's suspicions frivolous, no matter how outrageous they sounded. And, unfortunately, his sounded feasible.

  "What if this was just a little more sophisticated than your everyday bank job?" she suggested. "Our boy probably knew all the tricks about tracing stolen money when a thief actually carries it out in a sack, like the dye, the tracking devices, marked bills and so forth. Crooks do watch a lot of television."

  He acknowledged with a wry smile. "Add to that the fact that few banks actually keep three million in cash lying around. And even if we did, extremely large bills are too hard to spend without raising questions. And a cache of small ones in that amount would be too damned heavy for one thief to carry."

  He dropped the smile and looked away. "Besides, I haven't mentioned the clincher, the thing that convinced me this was no regular heist. Make sure this is in your notes."

  Dani turned the page in her notepad and clicked her pen.

  Michaels met her gaze with one of pure fire. "He muttered something immediately after the transfer, just before you acted. Did you hear it?"

  "Sounded like a curse," she replied. "To tell you the truth, I was too busy concentrating on what I was doing."

  "It was a phrase in Arabic," Michaels told her. "He said Death to America. Then the rat bastard smiled."

  Dani's eyes widened and she sat silently for a moment. "You speak Arabic, Mr. Michaels?" Now this seemed a lot less far-fetched than it had before.

  He shrugged. "That particular phrase is one I heard enough times to engrave it on my brain."

  She leaned forward. "And just what did you do in the service?"

  If he was surprised that she had guessed he was former military, he didn't flinch. His beautifully sculpted lips tightened into a line before he relaxed them. He promptly reverted to the stillness that signified his stolid banker image before he replied. "I picked up phrases like that one."

  "Ah. Okay," she said, clicking her pen rhythmically, watching his eyes. "Did you mention your theory to the chief?"

  "No, it's not within local scope. That's why I wanted to speak to you about it."

  She nodded her approval. "Could you step out and give me a few minutes to make a call?"

  He stood, then paused before leaving the room. "Just so you know, I plan to follow through on this. Nobody...I mean, nobody, rips off my bank and gets away with it. Especially not for the purpose of bankrolling the bin Ladens of the world. I can track the money." He shook a finger at her. "You tell your people that. They can work with me or around me, I don't really care���but there's no way I'll be camping out behind some desk while someone else tries to straighten this out."

  Whoa. The man didn't come off like a mild-mannered banker when he got his dander up. But Dani knew what her boss would say to having a civilian muddying up the waters of an international financial investigation. "We have experts who follow up on things like this, Mr. Michaels."

  "And by the time they decide who and how many to send, get the travel approved, orders cut, run everything through their computers and bureaucrats, and settle on what to do first, the money will be spent. And if I'm right, people will die."

  The fire in his eyes told her he'd had some experience with that. She could also see that her words would have little effect on his actions. Plus, he was right about the systemic delays. That was one reason her own team had been formed.

  Whoever investigated this would certainly need the cooperation of a banking expert, and Ben Michaels did have all the particulars of the transaction and perhaps knew how to trace it, if that were possible. She would at least call the boss to see what he thought about Michaels, his suspicions and his plans to pursue this. Maybe the investigating operatives could use him.

  "How are you with team work?" she asked, suspecting that he might have a lone wolf personality.

  "Depends on the team," he replied. "But I can work alone." He paused, again with that narrow-eyed glare that hinted at hidden hard edges and left Dani assured of his resolve. "And I will if need be."

  Dani took out her cell phone and raised her chin to indicate he should leave her to make her phone call in private.

  "Ben Michaels, you are one lucky son of a gun," Mike Talbert said with a roll of his eyes. "Guess you been living right lately."

  "Has Mary Ruth calmed down yet?" Ben asked, changing the subject. He was concerned about the young, newly hired teller who had thrown up all over the inside of the vault and fainted. Her every waking moment since this whole thing started, she had spent crying. She looked about the same age as Agent Sweet. He couldn't help comparing the two women and wondered what had forged Sweet's ironclad nerves.

  "Aw, Mary Ruth'll be okay," Mike said. "Probably need some counseling, though. Doc gave her a little something to take the edge off and I sent for her daddy to come get her."

  "And George?"

  "He's fine. Gave us the details on what happened right up until the vault clicked shut on him." Mike smiled. "George is good with details. Prob'ly already writing a book about it."

  Ben tried to smile back.

  "Where's our little agent?" Mike asked, then peeked around Ben's shoulder. "Oh, there she is. This COMPASS team she's on? I've heard of it through channels. Started out as one of those secret, specialized forces called Sextant, which has branched out to include this new one."

  "Not so secret now?" Ben asked.

  "Publicly, they are, but in law-enforcement circles they're growing their
legend. See, they took the best of the best, so I've heard, from the Bureau, CIA, NSA, ATF and the like. Supposed to stimulate cooperation between the agencies. Must be working because that first bunch has made quite an impact, heading terrorists off at the pass. COMPASS was involved in some real dicey deals with stolen missiles, bombs and such."

  He nodded toward the office and smiled. "Hard to believe Miss Sweet's up to things like that, the way she looks and all. Kinda dainty."

  Ben clicked his tongue. "You didn't see her disarm the robber. She's gutsy. And quick."

  "Like a bunny," Mike said, laughing. "Yeah, she whipped our asses on a car theft thing here a couple of years ago. Made us look like a buncha yokels. It was all over before we even knew what was going on.... I ought to be mad at her for that, but I never been one to hold a grudge. Besides, she's a real looker."

  A real looker. "And you're a real master of understatement," Ben said with a laugh. Agent Sweet was a natural beauty with a perfect, tawny complexion, clear amber eyes and rich dark hair so shiny it reflected her red sweater. She filled that out magnificently, even though he doubted she weighed much over a hundred and ten pounds. A five-five bundle of energy with a good head on her shoulders. The view from the rear in those gray slacks impressed him, too, as she turned her back on them, still talking on the phone.

  Too bad she'd turned, though, because those mobile lips of hers were her best feature, Ben decided. God, they were something.

  "She might be good at what she does, but you're the one who was really on the ball today, man." He slapped Ben on the shoulder. "You sure you're okay? Still look a little tense."

  "I'm fine and I'd appreciate it if you'd downplay my part in this," Ben replied, his gaze still focused on Agent Sweet.

  "Oh, 'cause of your mama, right?"

  "Right." He watched Agent Sweet pace behind the glass window of the office. She gestured emphatically with one hand as she talked into the phone.

  He wondered if he would see her again after today. He hoped not, he reminded himself firmly. There was already one woman in his life he had been jumping through hoops to keep happy for the last year and a half.

  All that aside, nothing prevented him from enjoying Agent Sweet aesthetically. She was a work of art, that one. Through the window her dark golden eyes met his and locked like lasers. Then with a curt motion of her hand, she beckoned him to join her.

  Even her frown was intriguing.

  Despite finally being able to leave the scene, Dani felt anything but relief when they exited the stifling bank into the cold air. Vacation was over. Mercier had decided she should follow up on this since she was already familiar with the situation. And, surprisingly, her boss had not discouraged Michaels's involvement, at least as far as the Cayman bank.

  She could feel one of her premonitions coming on and this one felt like a doozy.

  Everything had happened so fast. Capable as Ben Michaels had seemed in the crunch today, she did not want to work with a civilian, even if he was a former soldier. She had only the bare bones of his career; Mercier had run a quick check on him, then read her the high points over the phone, assuring her Michaels was qualified to act as an agent of opportunity.

  Michaels had been out of the army for almost two years after serving for seven, an officer nearly halfway to retirement, now a bank manager. Medical discharge, Mercier said. Probably high blood pressure, Dani figured.

  "Follow me," Michaels ordered as he reached his vehicle, a fairly new Mercedes SUV sporting snow chains. The boy must make pretty good money, Dani thought.

  "We'll go to your sister's house to drop your car. Since I have chains, we'll take mine from there. My dad can drive us to the airport."

  Mercier was arranging for their tickets to Grand Cayman. Even though the account there was closed out now, she'd been ordered to collect any surveillance tapes or paperwork that might be important, conduct some interviews and back up Michaels in his attempts to collect info on where the money went. Back up. Ugh.

  He was already trying to take charge, but Dani decided to pick her battles���no point sweating the small stuff. This type of op was new to her, so she would have to follow his lead in some respects. But she was in charge and he needed to understand that. If it had to do with anything other than locating that money, he would damn well have to do what she said.

  "Bud could drive us to the airport," she offered, a little reluctant to offer the services of her brother-in-law when he had a new baby at home to help care for.

  "We'll see. It depends on how my mother reacts to the news that I'm leaving," he replied.

  Dani frowned as she slid into her rented sedan and slammed the door. It sounded very much like she might be dealing with a mama's boy. One of her few forays into relationship territory had pitted her against a proprietary mother turned tigress. What a disaster that had been. Soon as Mama had found out about Dani's Gypsy roots, she'd started applying weed killer.

  Funny, Dani would never have figured Ben Michaels for a guy who hung on the apron strings. Showed how clueless she still was about men. Too bad her famous premonitions didn't extend to profiling. Her gust of frustration produced visible vapors in the freezing air. Oh well, it was nothing to her. She wasn't interested in him that way.

  Still, the little frisson of disappointment wouldn't go away. Maybe she was a bit more interested than she wanted to admit. With more force than necessary, she twisted the key in the ignition, jerked into Reverse and backed out of her parking space.

  If Mama said he couldn't go, Dani would just leave him the hell at home. Not as if she needed to play nursemaid to a damn banker anyway.

  Mercier had agreed the banker's assessment of the terrorist funding deserved checking out. More manpower would be on it shortly, he had assured her. She was to get a jumpstart by going to the Cayman bank and hopefully getting a lead on whoever had been there in person.

  Mercier had spoken on the phone with Michaels at some length and decided the former army officer ought to lend his expertise in banking operations and contacts in the field to Dani's investigation, at least to the preliminary portion of it.

  When Dani turned into the driveway at Bud and Carol's house, Michaels pulled up behind her and got out. He had her door open before she even had her seat belt unlatched. "Mind if I come in with you? I haven't had a chance to congratulate them on the baby. Bud's an old friend."

  So he knew Bud. She wished there were time to grill her brother-in-law for the local skinny on Michaels. "Sure," she said, slipping a little when she stood on the icy cement.

  He clamped an arm around her waist. "Careful there."

  Dani didn't jerk away from him. She knew she should have, would have automatically, as a rule, but there was no point risking a fall. And, to tell the truth, she didn't mind a bit that Bud saw the embrace through the window where he was watching them approach the porch. He was always teasing her about her badge putting men off, but Dani figured he was just worried that she would influence Carol to be more independent. Men could be so insecure.

  Bud met them at the door. "Are you all right, Dani? Ben? I just heard the bank was robbed! Come on in and sit down!"

  Now she felt guilty for her sniping thoughts about Bud. He really did love her like a sister, and he had a big brother attitude. "Where's Carol? We need to talk."

  When her sister appeared, Dani wasted no time relating what had gone on at the bank. Ignoring Carol's worried frown, Dani laid out her plans to leave while Michaels sat quietly next to her on the sofa. "Ben has agreed to assist with tracking the stolen funds, so he'll be coming with me."

  "I can not believe this," Carol said, rolling her eyes. "What is it with you, Dani? Every single time you show up..."

  "Not every time!" Dani argued pleadingly. She sensed that she and Carol were about to take up their age-old conflict again and wished she could avoid it. The visit, up until now, had gone so incredibly well.

  For two women whose features were so much alike, they were polar opposites other
wise. Carol the peace lover, versus Danielle the daredevil. They had gone through life that way.

  "I'll take you to catch your plane, Ben," Bud declared. "Your dad's gonna have his hands full." He shook his head at the thought.

  Michaels declined. "Thanks, but I've actually decided to drive us and leave my car at the airport."

  Dani exchanged a look with Carol, who had obviously decided not to fuss anymore. Her sister merely raised her eyebrows and gave Dani a tight-lipped grimace.

  "Let me say goodbye to our Little Buddy first," Dani said, heading for the nursery. "I won't be but a minute."

  "I'd like to see him, too, if it's okay," she heard Michaels say. She sensed him follow her down the hall.

  The baby slept, his tiny rosebud of a mouth slightly open, the multicolored knit cap slightly askew on his bald head.

  Dani couldn't resist picking him up. Her maternal instincts fired up again as she held the sweet-smelling bundle against her chest, enjoying the waking squirm, the mew of protest at his nap being disturbed.

  She laughed softly and whispered, "No rest for the weary, huh? You be a good boy while I'm gone and Aunt Dani will bring you a surprise when I come back." She swayed gently, soothing him back to sleep. "Bye, sweetie." She placed him back in the crib, touching the soft blanket with her fingers in a last caress.

  Michaels stood beside her, looking down with something that read like yearning. "I always forget how small they are when they're brand new."

  She smiled up at him. He had not mentioned a wife or children. There had only been a photo of an older couple in his office, probably his parents. "You have any kids of your own?"

  "No, no children." His words were slow, somehow sad.

  "This one's a little miracle, isn't he?" Michaels nodded, his gaze fastened on Buddy. "A new life. Always a miracle."

  Dani left him standing there in the nursery, hands clasped behind him and looking at the baby. As she went to pack what she needed for the trip, two questions bugged her. Did he want children all that much? And, why should she care?