As Kate leaned against the wall and listened to the hurricane outside, she wondered why she’d agreed to return to Florida after she’d spent twenty years of her life living elsewhere. She’d been days away from resigning and going to work in the private sector. Her resignation was typed and printed and in her purse. She’d given the DEA twelve years of her life, and because of people like Lawrence Tyler, she wasn’t where she wanted to be. That was the bottom line. That, and the money sucked. She could make twice as much as she earned now with less danger to her person in the private sector. She had no social life, and at thirty-eight, her biological clock was ticking faster than she’d like; it was time to make some hard and fast decisions and stick to them.
Yet here she was. One last shot? Her swan song? Maybe one last time to get into Tyler’s face? More than likely agreeing to come here was the stupidest thing she’d ever done. Not that she’d had much of a choice. The only way she could have avoided this assignment was to have handed in her resignation. Then again, maybe it was the fact that Tyler had said he might lend her out to the Coast Guard. Why me? she’d asked herself a hundred times since leaving Phoenix. She smiled at the thought that maybe Tyler planned on drowning her in the Gulf. An evil smile twisted her lips. He could try. Kate shined the beam of the light onto her wrist. Tyler was five hours late. “Which just goes to prove,” she muttered, “if you want the job done and done right, send a woman to do it.”
Two hours later, Kate’s legs gave out, and she slumped to the floor. Not knowing if there were any rats in the abandoned building, she opted to keep the high-powered flashlight on, knowing she had spare batteries in her go-bag. Eventually, her eyes closed, and she dozed. From time to time she’d jerk to wakefulness to listen to the storm, which gave no indication it was abating. With no sleep the night before and traveling cross-country, she finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Hours later, Kate woke to an eerie quiet. Something had wakened her. Her hand immediately went to the gun in her shoulder holster. She looked around at the brilliant sunlight blasting through the louvered windows to see what it was that had pulled her out of her deep sleep. She crab-walked, one eye on the doorway and the other on what she could see through the windows. She blinked at the elegant palms that were uprooted and piled in a pyre as though a bonfire were imminent. Crumpled aluminum lawn chairs were scattered over the narrow stretch of beach. A child’s skateboard stood upright in the sand. An ice chest, the lid hanging drunkenly from one of the still-standing palmettos, lay on its side. She craned her neck and saw a motorcycle farther down the beach, the front wheel in the water, the back wheel buried in the sand.
Kate wheeled around; the Sig Sauer in her hand was steady, the safety off, when the door opened. Disgust whipped across her face when she saw Lawrence Tyler standing in the doorway. “A little late, aren’t you?” she snapped. “Fifteen hours to be exact.” Her hand dropped to her side, but she didn’t holster her gun.
Lawrence Tyler was GQ handsome, with black hair that she’d happily noticed was thinning and clear blue eyes. Six-two, 170 pounds, and impeccably dressed, he was soft-spoken and as hateful as anyone she’d ever met. Classic nose, dimples, and a dentist’s dream. Basically, Tyler was a wuss in every department except when it came to women. He was a deadly combination for the weak-willed women who were dumb enough to be taken in by his phony charm and good looks. She thanked God she wasn’t one of them.
Tyler waved his hand toward the bank of louvered windows. “Hurricane. The roads were blocked.”
“Amazing that I got through, isn’t it, Lawrence? I’ve been hanging out here for fifteen hours. You had me fly across the country and threatened me with my job if I didn’t get here on time even though there was a hurricane warning. You told me Florida was about to get a little storm, but you obviously were unwilling to venture out into this particular little storm.” Kate saw the smirk on Tyler’s face, and it stirred her to throw caution to the winds. “This is your revenge. This is all about your getting even with me for getting you transferred here. Admit it, and we can go on. Otherwise, I’m outta here.”
Tyler looked around, distaste written all over his face. “You’re being ridiculous, Agent Rush. Obviously, you are PMSing, so I’ll overlook your little outburst this time. The only thing I expect from you is professionalism and doing your duty to the country. Threaten me again, and you go on report.”
Kate bit down on her lower lip. She thought about the resignation letter in her purse, which she’d shoved into the bottom of her go-bag. Tyler had to pay for that PMSing comment. She debated pulling out the letter and ramming it down his throat. She could do it, too. Every one knew what a wuss he was. He even got manicures. She realized at that moment how much she really hated the man standing in front of her. Still, she’d come all this way. The least she could do was hear him out before shoving her resignation down his throat or up his ass, whichever target presented itself first.
“Let’s cut to the chase, Tyler. Why am I here? Why is this meeting taking place in this . . . this hellhole? There are hundreds of hotels in Miami. I know you set this up to spite me no matter what you say.”
“Your problem, Agent Rush, is that you’re a drama queen. And you will address me as Special Agent Tyler and not by my last name. Is that understood?”
“It’s understood,” Kate said coldly.
“The reason, the only reason I picked you for this job is because you grew up in Miami. You lived here for eighteen years.”
So the little shit remembered after all.
“You know the area, the people, you have friends here. You were the logical choice.”
“The logical choice for what?”
“We have it on good authority that something big is going to go down on one of the Keys.”
“When? What?” Kate asked.
“We don’t know. It could be money laundering, it could be drugs, or it could be human trafficking. It could take as long as two years. Don’t look at me like that, Agent Rush. You know how it works. We get in place, set up our surveillance, then wait it out. You’ll also be working with the Coast Guard on a limited basis. There’s a man we want you to watch. You’ll be set up with accommodations that will give you access to the man in question.”
“How did you come by this information, Special Agent Tyler? Which one of the Keys?”
“That doesn’t matter. The source is reliable, that’s all you need to know. The old maps call it Thunder Key, but these days it’s known as Mango Key.”
Was it all she needed to know? Nah.
Kate took a deep breath. This was where the rubber met the road. She turned around, picked up her go-bag, yanked out her purse, then reached in and grabbed her resignation letter. She whirled around, and said, “Let me make sure I have this right. You have a tip from someone who is more or less reliable who tells you something might or might not happen in approximately two years, and you need someone to babysit some man who lives on Mango Key. Do I have that all correct? Ah, yes. I can see by your expression that I got it right. Nah, I don’t think so. Based on all of the above, I think I will pass on this gig, Lawrence.” In the blink of an eye, she thrust the resignation letter into his hand, turned, grabbed her bag, and was out the door and headed to where she’d parked her rental car. But it was gone, thanks, no doubt, to the hurricane, which just meant she’d have to hike to the hotel she’d checked into on arrival.
“Agent Rush! Stop right this minute!” Kate thought he sounded like a squealing wild pig caught in a rainstorm. She kept on going but did call over her shoulder, “Don’t call me that again. I just quit. What part of that don’t you understand ?”
“You can’t quit! I need you! The DEA needs you! You’re an ace in this type of case. Look, I understand you’re ticked off about yesterday, but these things happen. I said I’m willing to overlook the PMSing you’re going through. Now stop, and let’s talk this through.”
Kate’s eyes narrowed. She stopped in her tracks, dropped her go-bag, a
nd got in Tyler’s face. “Listen to me, you bastard. I despise you. For ten long years you’ve made my life miserable just so you could make yourself look good. I’m sick and tired of watching you take credit for other dedicated agents’ work, my own included. I’d also like to know where you get all your money. That’s a Hugo Boss suit you’re wearing. I know how much a suit like that costs. You drive a Porsche. You have fancy digs. Where does the money come from, Lawrence? Daddy? The only reason you’re still at the DEA is that your daddy is the governor of this state.” She’d worked herself into such a rage, she drew back her balled fist and coldcocked him square on the nose with all the force she could muster. “That’s to remember Sandra Martin by, you son of a bitch!” Then her foot snaked out and found his groin. “That’s for stealing Levinson’s hard work and taking credit for it.” She whirled around and kicked again, this time the blow landing deep in his side. He’d be peeing green for a week after a hit like that. “That was for Jacobson and how you put the screws to him.” Then her fist shot out and landed in the middle of his throat. “That’s for me and every other agent you screwed over. No witnesses, Lawrence. Now, if you’d been smart and had this meeting in some hotel or public place, you could sue me for assault and battery or have me brought up on charges.”
“You bitch!” Tyler croaked, as he tried to staunch the flow of blood spewing all over his expensive suit.
“Goddamned bastard!” Kate said as she slogged through the sand to the road. She didn’t look back.
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Prologue
Martine Connor hung up the phone. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. She slid off her chair onto her knees and hugged the dog, which was looking at her expectantly. She had come to love this dog more than anything in the whole world, more than her absentee brother and sister, more than her job as president. And the dog loved her, she was sure of it. She was at her side twenty-four/seven, even in security meetings. She slept at the foot of her bed. Cleo was the first thing she saw in the morning when she opened her eyes and the last thing she saw at night when she closed them.
The tears she’d been trying to hold in check trickled down her cheeks and fell onto the big dog’s shoulder as the president cupped Cleo’s head in her two hands. She wanted to say something, but the words just wouldn’t come.
The big dog suddenly stiffened. She looked around, turning her head this way and that, then ran to the door. The president sighed and got to her feet and walked over to the door. She opened it, and Cleo moved like lightning, shrill happy barks filling the halls of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The president swiped at her tears a second time. She waited as she remembered all she knew about Master Sergeant Gus Sullivan. A remarkable man in all ways according to what she’d read. A career soldier. He’d called himself a foot soldier. When she met him, he’d already put in twenty-six years, which made him forty-six years of age, and now, a year later, he was looking at retirement, something that hadn’t been in his plans. What was it he’d said? “My life is the military, it’s the only home I’ve ever known.” How was a wounded soldier, possibly handicapped for life, going to make it when he was suddenly thrust into a world he hadn’t lived in for twenty-seven years? The president shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Master Sergeant Gus Sullivan could be seen guiding his wheelchair down the hall, with a Marine on each side of him, Cleo frolicking and dancing ahead of the trio.
“Welcome home, Gus,” the president said as she held out her hand.
“Thank you, Madam President! And thank you for seeing me on such short notice. They let me out of Walter Reed to come and see Cleo. I hope that was okay. You did say when I got back to stop by anytime.”
The president struggled to make her words light even though her heart was breaking in a million pieces. How could she keep this returning hero’s dog? She couldn’t, and she knew it. “I did say that, and I meant it. Please, come in and make yourself at home. Looks to me like Cleo needs a few hugs and some Gus Sullivan love.”
The moment the door closed, Gus rolled his chair to the center of the room. The president gingerly sat down across from him. A second later, Cleo was in his lap. The president fought her tears again. Not so, Gus Sullivan. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks as he nuzzled the huge dog. “I missed you, girl,” he said in a choked voice. Cleo whimpered.
The president looked on. She didn’t know what to do. So she did nothing. She rang for a steward to bring coffee. God, she wanted a cigarette.
It took a good ten minutes for man and dog to calm down. “It looks like it worked out for the two of you. I knew it would. And thank you so much, Madam President, for sending me all those pictures over the Internet.”
The president swallowed and nodded. “Everyone loves her. She visits all the offices, and I think it’s safe to say that everyone here is her friend. She loves romping on the South Lawn. She likes Air Force One, and she absolutely loves the helicopter. She adjusted well, but she did miss you. We talk . . . talked about you every single day. I promised you I wouldn’t let her forget you, and it looks to me like you’re front and center.” Her eyes started to burn again.
Gus finished his coffee, motioned for the dog to jump off his lap, which she did. “I have to get back. My nurses are waiting for me outside. I promised I wouldn’t . . . they just let me out because I . . . never mind, it’s not important.”
“You’re not taking Cleo with you?” the president blurted.
“Oh, no, ma’am. Is that why you thought I came here? I’d cut off my right arm to take her, but I can’t. I’ve got two more operations to go, then months and months of therapy ahead of me. Right now, I am so full of pain pills that I can hardly see straight. There’s no way I could take care of Cleo and these are her retirement years. She certainly doesn’t need to be taking care of me. I have way too much on my plate right now. The doctors told me that if there was a way for you to bring her by from time to time, they would allow it.”
The president’s insides turned to mush. “Consider it done. Would three times a week work for you?”
“Yessireee, that would work for me, Madam President. Lord, I can’t thank you enough for that.”
“Listen, Gus, how about if I leave you two alone for a few minutes. I think you might want to explain the situation to Cleo although I think she already knows.” The president literally ran to the small powder room off the sitting room and closed the door. Her shoulders heaved as she tried to stifle her sobs of gratitude that Cleo was going to stay with her. She dropped to her knees and offered up a prayer, a very short one but straight from her heart. Though her eyes were dry when she walked back into the room, they still burned.
“Gus, I know this is short notice, and I don’t know what kind of restrictions your doctors have you on, but I’d like to invite you to Camp David for Thanksgiving. Since this is August, I’m hoping you will be well on the road to recovery by then. If for whatever reason, we can’t make that work, how about we plan for you to join Cleo and me over the Christmas holidays at Camp David?”
Cleo pranced and danced around Gus, urging him to comment. “I’ll see what I can do, Madam President, and I thank you for the invitation. Thanks . . . thanks for everything,” he said, suddenly shy.
“Don’t mention it. In here, we’re just two people who love this dog. I’ll have my secretary make arrangements for Cleo to visit. You take care of yourself, you hear?”
Gus nodded.
“Cleo, I want you to give Gus a presidential escort out of this glorious building. Can you do that?” She hated seeing the look of pain on her guest’s face. She wondered if his medication was beginning to wear off.
Cleo looked first at the president, then at Gus, before she dropped her head and her two front legs and bowed. Gus laughed. “I taught her that litt
le trick in Iraq.”
“And she remembered.” The president opened the door. The two Marines who had escorted Gus to her quarters fell into line until the president said, “No, Cleo will do the honors, gentlemen. She can find her way back.”
The president waited in the open doorway for a full ten minutes until she saw her best friend trotting down the hall. Cleo let loose with a joyous bark and bounded into the room. She stopped in the middle of the sitting room, threw her head back, let loose with a howl, and flopped down and rolled over. She was on her feet in an instant as she waited for the treat she’d just earned. The president laughed and handed it over.
“Time to go to work, Cleo. We’ve got some serious business to deal with this morning. I think we’re going to be able to make it work. I-am-the-president, so it better work.”
Cleo made a short, high-pitched barking sound that said she understood perfectly, and it was time to get their respective shows on the road.
Martine Connor wondered if she’d made a mistake in holding this meeting in the Oval Office instead of the Situation Room. She could still change her mind. Actually, if it hadn’t been November, she could have held the meeting outdoors under one of the arbors. While it was brisk outside, the temperature, according to the weatherman, was in the high fifties. Definitely not too cold for a stroll around the grounds with no prying eyes and ears. And, Cleo needed to be walked. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of an outdoor meeting. She hated recording devices. No matter how many she dismantled, there would still be that one that would somehow find a way to come back and bite her.
Okay. She was going to switch plans. A nice brisk outside walk. Then a nice warm early lunch to take the edge off a meeting that wasn’t going to be recorded in any logs. She rang for her secretary, issued clipped orders in her best presidential voice, then broke the connection.
Plain Jane Page 38
