Scent of Danger

by Judith Rochelle

  A The Lotus Circle Publication

  www.thelotuscircle.com

  Scent of Danger

  ISBN 9781419980701

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Scent of Danger Copyright © 2008 Judith Rochelle

  Edited by Helen Woodall.

  Cover art by Syneca.

  Electronic book Publication November 2008

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may notbe reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without writtenpermission from the publisher, Jasmine-Jade Enterprises., 1056 Home Avenue,Akron, OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of thiscopyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded ordistributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, withoutthe publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, includinginfringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and ispunishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or printeditions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy ofcopyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons,living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. Thecharacters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Scent of Danger

  Judith Rochelle

  Dedication

  To the wonderful ladies of SARA (San Antonio RomanceAuthors), without whom I’d still be staring at a blank computer screen; toMarilyn Campbell who continues to provide such great encouragement; to EllenWulf, whose friendship and comments smooth a very bumpy road; and as always, tomy husband, David, with whom all things are possible.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarkedstatus and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this workof fiction:

  AK47: IzhevskMechanical Works

  Baccarat: Baccarat Corporation

  Bangor Daily News: Bangor Publishing Company

  Bell Ranger: Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

  Ford Expedition: Ford Motor Company

  Fox News: Fox Newscorp

  Glock: Glock Inc.

  Google: Google Inc. Corporation

  Gulfstream C-32A: Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.

  Heckler & Koch: Heckler & KochGmbH Corporation

  Hercules C-130J: Lockheed Martin Corporation

  Humvee: AM General Corporation

  Interpol: International Criminal Police OrganizationInterpol Association

  Jack Daniel’s: Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc.

  Jeep: DaimlerChrysler Corporation

  Lincoln Navigator: Ford Motor Company

  Lincoln: Ford Motor Company

  Chapter One

  “Granddad?” Kelly Monroe finished checking the air pressureon her truck tires and called out to her grandfather standing by the hangar.The vacation in Key West had been great and the visit here in Maryland with hergrandfather even better. But now it was time to get home and back to work.Maine was still many long hours on the road away.

  Harry Monroe disconnected the call he was taking, shoved hiscell phone in his pocket and jogged slowly over to the truck. At seventy he wasstill fit and jogging didn’t even wind him. ”I sure wish you’d stay longer,” hetold her. “I don’t get to see you nearly enough.”

  “I’d try to coax you up to Maine but I know being in chargeof the Phoenix Agency airfield and running security on their craft doesn’tleave you much time for visiting.”

  The Phoenix Agency, a top security agency that took jobs forboth the government and private industry, was based in Maryland. Headed by thecharismatic Dan Romeo, he and his four partners had built its reputation on thequality of their work. All former military, they each brought an area ofexpertise to the business. Harry had been recommended to them by Dan’s formercommanding officer in the Marines and it had given the retired sergeant a newlease on life.

  “They could spare me for a few days,” he protested.

  She grinned at him. “We’ll see. You were there for me whenMom and Dad were killed but I wasn’t a kid, Granddad. And you needed to dosomething besides rock and read. I’m glad you have this.”

  “Me too,” he chuckled. “And the guys are very good to me.”

  “As well they should be.” She turned to a large dog sittingquietly by the hangar, watching them intently. “Hey, Xena. Come on, girl. We’vegot to get going.”

  Kelly had bought the Caucasian Ovcharka from a breeder sevenyears ago as a gift to herself on her twenty-first birthday. Unlike any otherdog she’d ever seen, Xena had deep-set, dark eyes and ears densely covered withfur. The hips were slightly raised from the back and the tail had a heavyfeathering of fur. With long forelimbs and large heavy paws, she looked exactlylike what she was—a guard dog. And she guarded Kelly well, in many ways.

  “Come on,” Kelly called again. “Quit stalling.”

  “I think she wants to stay,” Harry said.

  “Oh, honestly.” She started toward Xena at a slow trot,motioning to the dog as she moved. She hadn’t taken ten steps before the onehundred thirty pound body flew through the air like a boomerang and landeddirectly in front of her.

  Kelly pulled up short. “What the heck?”

  “You nearly tripped over that hose you didn’t see,” Harrypointed out.

  “Is that it, girl?” Kelly knelt and threaded her fingersthrough the dog’s fur. “Were you taking care of me again?” She fixed her gazeon the dog’s. “Yes, you’re right. I need to pay more attention.”

  “I swear.” Harry scratched his head. “You and that dog readeach other’s minds. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Don’t joke. Ovcharkas are known for certain psychicabilities. Xena’s have saved my butt more than once.”

  “You were always like that with animals. Knowing what waswrong with them. What they wanted. Having silent conversations with them. Butwith Xena?” He shook his head. “It’s the weirdest thing. That’s just somethingelse.”

  “She’ll take good care of me on the way home too. Don’t youworry.” She kissed the dog’s black nose. “Come on, girl. Into the truck. Timeto hit the road.”

  “Don’t you even want to meet any of the guys? They alwaysask about you. The one time you show up they’re all busy with something.”

  “Next time,” she told him. “I promise we’ll stay a littlelonger.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” But he said it affectionately.

  * * * * *

  Eric “Rick” Latrobe was bone weary. He’d barely slept inforty-eight hours, his head throbbed and his eyes felt as if someone had rubbedgrit into them. The noise of the helicopter wasn’t helping his headache,either. In spite of Mike D’Antoni’s superlative skills, the ride from theairfield where the cargo plane had dropped him off was bumpy and only added tohis general pissed-off feeling.

  More than anything he wanted a hot shower, a cold beer and aclean bed. But he knew that none of those things would be forthcoming any timesoon. Before he could even think about going home he needed a sit-down with hispartners and a no-holds-barred conversation.

  He hadn’t wanted to get involved in the whole Iraq businessto begin with. Phoenix was busy enough as it was, with enough contracts tojuggle. But Grainger Caldwell had gotten some lucrative pieces of the pie torebuild Iraq’s infrastructure, the company was a high-dollar client and CharlieGrainger wanted—no, demanded—that Phoenix game plan the security they’d need,train the people who’d work the security details and set it all up.

  One of the biggest headaches was recruiting the rightpeople. Many of them they were able
to import from the States, especially thosewho filled specific requirements. The others came from local cities likeBaghdad. Rick thanked God every day that one of the languages he was trained inwas Arabic. Otherwise they’d have had more than the wool pulled over his eyes.

  But even so, he’d already made a mental note to tell Charliethey needed to cut back on the use of the locals. Communication was only partof the problem. Too many of these people were thugs looking for either a freeride or an excuse to shoot someone. That wasn’t what he needed, not when he wassupposed to train people to protect the construction workers and the staff whohad been sent there.

  And now they had to figure out what was going wrong with thesetup. Why little things were happening that shouldn’t. In a week’s time he wasshepherding a Hercules C-130J full of heavy arms and Humvees over to theGrainger Caldwell setup and he couldn’t afford to have any screw-ups.

  Not to mention the fact that a deep cover contact had passedalong information that a tribe of people in the north were quietly gatheringresources to reclaim their land and power. And planning to eliminate all thecoalition forces that got in their way. This also meant great danger forGrainger Caldwell’s contracts, as some of their projects were scheduled forthat area. He’d hinted that these small thefts might be nothing more than atest of the security at the GC compound.

  Damn! As if he didn’t have enough on his plate already.

  He’d told his contact he’d be back in about a week and madearrangements to meet with him again. These meetings had to be carefullyplanned. If the man’s associates had any idea he was feeding information to anAmerican he’d be killed in a slow and painful way and his family destroyed. Hewouldn’t even let Rick see his face, always wearing a hood pulled over it.

  Not to mention the fact that on the long trip back he’d beentrying to dig out of his mind some shadowy fact that insisted in hiding awayfrom him. Something someone had said. Or something he’d seen. The harder hetried, the more elusive it became.

  “Welcome back to Maryland,” Mike told him, as he set thebird on the ground. “Next stop, the office where everyone’s waiting. I guess weneed to see how we can pull our irons out of the fire and handle this operationproperly.”

  “You got that right, Ace.” Rick unstrapped himself andpushed open the door to the helo’s cabin. As he hopped down to the ground, hiseye was caught by a blue pickup truck at the far end of the area. “Who the hellis here? Harry knows we don’t allow strangers here.”

  The field with its three large hangars was home to the twohelicopters and three private jets Phoenix Agency owned. The nature of theirwork made them prime targets for every kind of nut. They had a state of the artsecurity system and no one came or went unless they had agency approval.

  “Relax.” Mike finished shutting down the machine and doinghis post-flight cabin check. “That’s Harry’s granddaughter. She’s been visitingfor a few days on her way back from Florida. He wanted to show her around and Igave the okay.”

  Then he took a good look at the female standing beside thetruck and his heart nearly stopped. Holy hell! Why didn’t Harry tell them hehad a granddaughter who was every man’s dream? She was tall and slim, with longred hair the color of burnished sunlight. She was in earnest conversation withHarry their caretaker cum maintenance man. As she talked she gestured sogracefully with her hands she could have been an artist sketching a picture inthe air. Rick could take or leave his women but this one, with just one look,reached a place inside him he’d had closed off forever.

  Then he blinked as the object in the back of the pickup cameinto better view. “What the hell is that in her truck bed? A horse?”

  Mike chuckled. “Close. It’s a Caucasian Ovcharka. A dog.”

  Rick stared. The dog looked to be half as tall as he was,with a large head and mostly black fur. Only part of its hindquarters and itsforelegs were whitish gray. Its jaws looked as if they could clamp onto a smallanimal with no problem.

  “Isn’t he a little much for her to handle?”

  “She, you chauvinist. The dog’s a female. I understand themales weigh a good twenty pounds more.”

  “So doesn’t she overpower her?”

  “Nah. They follow hand signals and voice commands almostlike a machine. You know, those dogs are rumored to have Psi abilities.”

  “No kidding. A psychic animal? Well, I don’t discountanything these days. Maybe we should look into working with them.”

  “Talk to Mia and Faith. That’s their department,” Mikereminded him. “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”

  Rick hitched the strap of his duffel over his shoulder andfollowed Mike to where Harry and the woman were standing. Up close she was evenmore striking. Her hair was wound into a thick braid that fell halfway down herback. Curls escaping at the sides framed a classic face with alabaster skin, atiny spray of freckles on her nose and eyes that flashed like emeralds in thesunlight.

  She turned in his direction as he walked up to her and thesmile she flashed nearly brought him to his knees. This was Harry’sgranddaughter? Good thing he was so tired or he’d be in big trouble here.

  “Hey, guys,” Harry greeted them. “Honey, you’ve met Mike.This is Rick Latrobe, one of the other partners. Rick, this is my granddaughter,Kelly Monroe.”

  She held out a slim hand. When Rick wrapped his larger onearound it flashes of heat shot through his body like flames dancing through hisblood. Good God. What was going on here? Maybe he’d been without a woman toolong.

  “Nice to meet you.” Her voice was low and soft, the kindthat made your body vibrate. She nodded at the dog, who looked even larger upclose. His eyes were fixed on Rick like twin lasers. “This is Xena. She doesn’ttake too well to strangers, I’m afraid.”

  But the dog, standing motionless in the truck bed, suddenlyleaped to the ground and sat at Rick’s feet, almost knocking him over. Shelooked up, her eyes telegraphing some kind of message.

  Kelly frowned. “That’s strange. She’s never done thatbefore. She almost never goes near anyone but me.”

  Rick reached out a tentative hand to pet the dog.

  “Be careful,” Kelly warned.

  But the animal sat without moving, accepting the caress. Hereyes never moved from Rick’s face.

  Kelly did her best to control her shock at Xena’s actions.The dog never, never ever, did this with anyone but her. Kelly knew how the dogfelt. She had an uncontrollable urge to throw herself at Rick Latrobe’s feettoo. Why didn’t her grandfather tell her all these men were so good-looking?

  She looked at the dog and frowned.

  “Xena? What’s going on here, girl?”

  “Maybe I do better with animals than I do with people,” Rickjoked. “She’s magnificent, by the way.”

  “Thank you.” She snapped her fingers once. “Xena. Truck.Now.” For emphasis, she opened the passenger door and gestured emphatically.

  The dog looked up at Rick, then at Kelly and almostreluctantly stood up and began to amble toward the truck. As she passed Kellyshe shifted her weight and nudged her owner with her massive hindquarters.Kelly pitched forward toward Rick, saved from falling only by six foot two ofhard muscular body and a pair of strong arms catching her. She found herselfpressed against his chest and when she looked up he was grinning at her.Ohmigod! His face was etched with heavy lines of fatigue but his penetratingelectric blue eyes danced with mischief.

  “Nothing to spice up the day like having a beautiful womanfall into your arms.” He winked at her.

  For a moment she was tempted to wrap her arms around him andpress herself even closer. Her nipples hardened instantly and every pulse inher body woke up. Then reality hit, heat flamed her cheeks and she pushedherself away.

  “I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s come over that dog.” Sheturned her head toward Xena who was sitting beside her now. Kelly could havesworn the dog was grinning.

  Please. Don’t apologize.” He grinned again and a dimplewinked at the corner of his mouth. “The pleasure was all mine.”<
br />
  Kelly labored to maintain some semblance of dignity. Lookinginto Xena’s eyes, she was sure she could hear the dog thinking, “You need a manand this one’s A plus. It’s my job to help it along.”

  She wiped a hand over her face. Impossible. She and Xena gotinto each other’s minds but this was beyond ridiculous. She snapped her fingersand pointed. “Xena. Truck. Now.”

  She swore the dog sighed as she lifted herself, thenobediently jumped into the cab and took her place on the passenger seat.

  “I apologize again,” she told Rick, then turned to Mike whocouldn’t quite keep the smile off his face or the laughter out of his eyes.“And you too, Mike. I think it’s time I got out of here.”

  Harry took off his cap and scratched his head. “That’s thedamnedest thing. That dog won’t even come to me but she sure took ashine to you, Rick.” He slapped his cap back on and gave his granddaughter ahug. “Well, honey, I guess you gotta get going and I know these guys have tohead for their office. Mike, the SUV’s all gassed up. Take it easy on Rick. Helooks like he’s been run over a few times.”

  “I feel like it too,” Rick told him. He turned thosesizzling blue eyes on Kelly again and she had to clench her fists to keep fromjumping into his arms again. “Do you live around here?”

  She shook her head. “In Maine. Tip edge of the states. I wasvisiting a friend in Key West and stopped to see Granddad on the way home.”

  “Maine?” He and Mike exchanged a look. “Well, you drivecarefully. Maybe we’ll see you again. You never know.”

  When Kelly cranked the engine and headed toward the gate,waving out the open window, she could see Rick in her rearview mirror, watchingher until she left the compound.

  “Well, Xena, you picked a winner.” She ruffled the dog’sears. “Too bad we live so far apart. That’s one male specimen I might evenbreak my ‘no date’ rule for.”