Hard to Handle

by Diana Palmer

  The police lieutenant gave him a pointed look. “Can I ask why?”

  “Because the oil corporation isn’t the only entity that’s harboring an inside informant,” Alexander replied flatly. “And that’s all I feel comfortable saying.”

  “You can count on us,” the Texas Ranger assured him. “We won’t blow your cover. The person you’re watching, can you tell us why you’re watching him?”

  “In order to use that warehouse for storage purposes, the drug lord has to have access to it,” Alexander explained. “I’m betting he has some sort of access to the locked gate and that he’s paying the night watchman to look the other way.”

  “That would make sense,” the customs agent agreed grimly. “These people know how little law enforcement personnel make. They can easily afford to offer a poorly paid night watchman a six figure ‘donation’ to just turn his head at the appropriate time.”

  “That much money would tempt even a law-abiding citizen,” Alexander agreed. “But more than that, very often there’s a need that compromises integrity. A sheriff in another state had a wife dying of cancer and no insurance. He got fifty thousand dollars for not noticing a shipment of drugs coming into his county.”

  “They catch him?” the policewoman asked.

  “Yes. He wasn’t very good at being a crook. He confessed, before he was even suspected of being involved.”

  “How many people in your agency know about this?” the deputy sheriff asked Alexander.

  “Nobody, at the moment,” he replied. “It has to stay that way, until we make the bust. I’ll depend on all of you to back me up. The mules working for the new drug lord carry automatic weapons and they’ve killed so many people down in Mexico that they won’t hesitate to waste anyone who gets in their way.”

  “Good thing the president of Mexico isn’t intimidated by them,” the customs agent said with a grin. “He’s done more to attack drug trafficking than any president before him.”

  “He’s a good egg,” Alexander agreed. “Let’s hope we can shut down this operation before any more kids go down.”

  “Amen to that,” the FBI agent said solemnly.

  Alexander showed up at Jodie’s office feeling more optimistic than he had for weeks. He was close to an arrest, but the next few days would be critical. After their meeting, the task force had gleaned information from the informant that the drug shipment was coming into Houston the following week. He had to be alert, and he had to spend a lot of time at Jodie’s office so that he didn’t miss anything.

  He took her out to lunch, but he was preoccupied.

  “You’re onto something,” she guessed.

  He nodded, smiling. “Something big. How would you like to be part of a surveillance?”

  “Me? Wow. Can I have a gun?”

  He glared at her. “No.”

  She shrugged. “Okay. But don’t expect me to save your life without one.”

  “Not giving you one might save my life,” he said pointedly.

  She ignored the jibe. “Surveillance?” she prodded. “Of what?”

  “You’ll find out when we go, and not a word to anybody.”

  “Okay,” she agreed. “How do you do surveillance?”

  “We sit in a parked car and drink coffee and wish we were watching television,” he said honestly. “It gets incredibly boring. Not so much if we have a companion. That’s where you come in,” he added with a grin. “We can sit in the car and neck and nobody will guess we’re spying on them.”

  “In a Jaguar,” she murmured. “Sure, nobody will notice us in one of those!”

  He gave her a long look. “We’ll be in a law enforcement vehicle, undercover.”

  “Right. In a car with government license plates, four antennae and those little round hubcaps…”

  “Will you stop?” he groaned.

  “Sorry!” She grinned at him over her coffee. “But I like the necking part.”

  He pursed his lips and gave her a wicked grin. “So do I.”

  She laughed a little self-consciously and finished her lunch.

  They were on the way back to his Jaguar when his DEA agent, Kennedy, drove up. He got out of his car and approached them with a big smile.

  “Hi, Cobb! How’s it going?” he asked.

  “Couldn’t be better,” Alexander told him complacently. “What’s new?”

  “Oh, nothing, I’m still working on that smuggling ring.” He glanced at Alexander curiously. “Heard anything about a new drug task force?”

  “Just rumors,” Alexander assured him, and noticed a faint reaction from the other man. “Nothing definite. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

  “Thanks.” Kennedy shrugged. “There are always rumors.”

  “Do you have anybody at Thorn Oil, just in case?” Alexander asked him pointedly.

  Kennedy cleared his throat and laughed. “Nobody at all. Why?”

  “No reason. No reason at all. Enjoy your lunch.”

  “Sure. I never see you at staff meetings lately,” he added. “You got something undercover going on?”

  Alexander deliberately tugged Jodie close against his side and gave her a look that could have warmed coffee. “Something,” he said, with a smile in Kennedy’s direction. “See you.”

  “Yeah. See you!”

  Kennedy walked on toward the restaurant, a little distracted.

  Jodie waited until they were closed up in Alexander’s car before she spoke. “You didn’t tell him anything truthful,” she remarked.

  “Kennedy’s got a loose tongue,” he told her as he cranked the car. “You don’t tell him anything you don’t want repeated. Honest to God, he’s worse than Margie!”

  “So that’s it,” she said, laughing. “I just wondered. Isn’t it odd that he seems to show up at places where we eat a lot?”

  “Plenty of the guys eat where we do,” he replied lazily. “We know where the good food is.”

  “You really do,” she had to admit. “That steak was wonderful!”

  “Glad you liked it.”

  “I could cook for you, sometime,” she offered, and then flushed at her own boldness.

  “After I wind up this case, I’ll let you,” he said, with a warm smile. “Meanwhile, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  She wondered about that statement after he left her at the office. She was still puzzling over it when she walked right into Brody when she got off the elevator at her floor.

  “Oh, sorry!” she exclaimed, only then noticing that Cara was with him. “Hello,” she greeted the woman as she stopped to punch her time card before entering the cubicle area.

  Cara wasn’t inclined to be polite. She gave Jodie a cold look and turned back to Brody. “I don’t understand why you can’t do me this one little favor,” she muttered. “It isn’t as if I ask you often for anything.”

  “Yes, but dear, it’s an odd place to leave your car. There are garages…”

  “My car is very expensive,” she pointed out, her faint accent growing in intensity, like the anger in her black eyes. “All I require is for you to let me in, only that.”

  Jodie’s ears perked up. She pretended to have trouble getting her card into the time clock, and hummed deliberately to herself, although not so loudly that she couldn’t hear what the other two people were saying.

  “Company rules…” he began.

  “Rules, rules! You are to be an executive, are you not? Do you have to ask permission for such a small thing? Or are you not man enough to make such decisions for yourself?” she added cannily.

  “Nice to see you both,” Jodie said, and moved away—but not quickly. She fumbled in her purse and walked very slowly as she did. She was curious to know what Cara wanted.

  “I suppose I could, just this once,” Brody capitulated. “But you know, dear, a warehouse isn’t as safe as a parking garage, strictly speaking.”

  Jodie’s heart leaped.

  “Yours certainly is, you have an armed guard, do you not? Be
sides, I work for a subsidiary of Ritter Oil. It is not as if I had no right to leave my car there when I go out of town for the company.”

  “All right, all right,” Brody said. “Tomorrow night then. What time?”

  “At six-thirty,” she told him. “It will be dark, so you must flash your lights twice to let me know it is you.”

  They spoke at length, but Jodie was already out of earshot. She’d heard enough of the suspicious conversation to wonder about it. But she was much too cautious to phone Alexander from her work station.

  She would have to wait until the end of the day, even if it drove her crazy. Meanwhile she pretended that she’d noticed nothing.

  Brody came by her cubicle later that afternoon, just before quitting time, while she was finishing a letter he’d dictated.

  “Can I help you?” she asked automatically, and smiled.

  He smiled back and looked uncomfortable. “No, not really. I just wondered what you thought about what Cara asked me?”

  She gave him a blank look. “What she asked you?” she said. “I’m sorry, I’d just come from having lunch with Alexander.” She smiled and sighed and lowered her eyes demurely. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t paying attention to anything except the time clock. What did she ask you?” She opened her eyes very wide and looked blank.

  “Never mind. She phoned and made a comment about your being there. It’s nothing. Nothing at all.”

  She smiled up at him. “Did you enjoy the concert that night?”

  “Yes, actually I did, despite the fact that Cara went out to the powder room and didn’t show up again for an hour.” He shook his head. “Honestly, that woman is so mysterious! I never know what she’s thinking.”

  “She’s very crisp, isn’t she?” she mused. “I mean, she’s assertive and aggressive. I guess she’s a good marketer.”

  “She is,” he sighed. “At least, I guess she is. I haven’t heard much from the big boss about her work. In fact, there was some talk about letting her go a month or two ago, because she lost a contract. Funny, it was one she was supposedly out of town negotiating at the time, but the client said he’d never seen her. Mr. Ritter talked him into staying, but he had words with Cara about the affair.”

  “Could that have been when her mother was ill?” she asked.

  “Her mother hasn’t ever been ill, as far as I know,” he murmured. “She did move from Peru to Mexico, but you know about that.” He put his hands in his pockets. “She wants me to do something that isn’t quite acceptable, and I’m nervous about it. I’m due for a promotion. I don’t want to get mixed up in anything the least bit suspicious.”

  “Why, Brody, what does she want you to do?” she asked innocently.

  He glanced at her, started to speak, and then smiled sheepishly. “Well, it’s nothing, really. Just a favor.” He shrugged. “I’m sure I’m making a big deal out of nothing. You never told me that your boyfriend works for the Drug Enforcement Administration.”

  “He doesn’t advertise it,” she stammered. “He does a lot of undercover work at night,” she added.

  Brody sighed. “I see. Well, I’ll let you finish. You and Cobb seem to get along very well,” he added.

  “I’ve known him a long time.”

  “So you have. You’ve known me a long time, too, though,” he added with a slow smile.

  “Not really. Only three years.”

  “Is it? I thought it was longer.” He toyed with his tie. “You and Cobb seem to spend a lot of time together.”

  “Not as much as we’d like,” she said, seeing a chance to help Alexander and throw Cara off the track. “And I have a cousin staying with me for a few days, so we spend a lot of time in parked cars necking,” she added.

  Brody actually flushed. “Oh.” He glanced at his watch and grimaced. “I’ve got a meeting with our vice president in charge of human resources at four, I’d better get going. See you later.”

  “See you, Brody.”

  She was very glad that she’d learned to keep what she knew to herself. What Brody’s girlfriend had let slip was potentially explosive information, even if it was only circumstantial. She’d have a lot to tell Alexander when she saw him. Furthermore, she’d already given Alexander some cover by telling Brody about the company car, and the fact that they spent time at night necking in one. He was going to be proud of her, she just knew it!

  8

  The minute she got to her apartment, Jodie grabbed the phone and called Alexander.

  “Can you come by right away?” Jodie asked him quickly.

  He hesitated. “To your apartment? Why?”

  She didn’t know if her phone might be bugged. She couldn’t risk it. She sighed theatrically. “Because I’m wearing a see-through gown with a row of prophylactics pinned to the hem…!”

  “Jodie!” He sounded shocked.

  “Listen, I have something to tell you,” she said firmly.

  He hesitated again and then he groaned. “I can’t right now…”

  “Who’s on the phone, Alex?” came a sultry voice from somewhere in the background.

  Jodie didn’t need to ask who the voice belonged to. Her heart began to race with impotent fury. “Sorry I interrupted,” she said flatly. “I’m sure you and Kirry have lots to talk about.”

  She hung up and then unplugged the phone. So much for any feeling Alexander had for her. He was already seeing Kirry again, alone and at his apartment. No doubt he was only seeing Jodie to avert suspicion at Ritter Oil. The sweet talk was to allay any suspicion that he was using her. Why hadn’t she realized that? The Cobbs were always using her, for one reason or another. She was being a fool again. Despite what he’d said, it was obvious now that Alexander had no interest in her except as a pawn.

  She fought down tears and went to her computer. She might as well use some of her expertise to check out Miss Cara Dominguez and see if the woman had a rap sheet. With a silent apology to the local law enforcement departments, she hacked into criminal files and checked her out.

  What she found was interesting enough to take her mind off Alexander. It seemed that Cara didn’t have a lily-white past at all. In fact, she’d once been arrested for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and had managed to get the charges dropped. Besides that, she had some very odd connections internationally. It was hinted in the records of an international law enforcement agency—whose files gave way to her expertise also—that her uncle was one of the Colombian drug lords. She wondered if Alexander knew that.

  Would he care? He was with Kirry. Damn Kirry! She threw a plastic coffee cup at the wall in impotent rage.

  Just as it hit, there was a buzz at the intercom. She glowered at it, but the caller was insistent. She pushed the button.

  “Yes?” she asked angrily.

  “Let me in,” Alexander said tersely.

  “Are you alone?” she asked with barely contained sarcasm.

  “In more ways than you might realize,” he replied, his voice deep and subdued. “Let me in, Jodie.”

  She buzzed him in with helpless reluctance and waited at her opened door for him to come out of the elevator.

  He was still in his suit. He looked elegant, expensive, and very irritated. He walked into the apartment ahead of her and went straight to the kitchen.

  “I was going to take you out to eat when Kirry showed up, in tears, and begged to talk to me,” he said heavily, examining pots until he found one that contained a nice beef stew. He got a bowl out of the cupboard and proceeded to fill it. “Any corn bread?” he asked wistfully, having sniffed it when he entered the apartment.

  “It’s only just getting done,” she said, reaching around him for a pot holder. She opened the oven and produced a pone of corn bread.

  “I’m hungry,” he said.

  “You’re always hungry,” she accused, but she was feeling better.

  He caught her by the shoulders and pulled her against him, tilting her chin up so that he could see into her mutinous eye
s. “I don’t want Kirry. I said that, and I meant it.”

  “Even if you didn’t, you couldn’t say so,” she muttered. “You need me to help you smoke out your drug smuggler.”

  He scowled. “Do you really think I’m that sort of man?” he asked, and sounded wounded. “I’ll admit that Margie and I don’t have a good track record with you, but I’d draw the line at pretending an emotion I didn’t feel, just to catch crooks.”

  She shifted restlessly and didn’t speak.

  He shook his head. “No ego,” he mused, watching her. “None at all. You can’t see what’s right under your nose.”

  “My chin, and no, I can’t see it…”

  He chuckled, bending to kiss her briefly, fiercely. “Feed me. Then we might watch television together for a while. I’ll be working most evenings during the week, but Friday night we could go see a movie or something.”

  Her heart skipped. “A movie?”

  “Or we could go bowling. I used to like it.”

  Her mind was spinning. He actually wanted to be with her! But cold reality worked its way between them again. “You haven’t asked why I wanted you to come over,” she began as he started for the table with his bowl of stew.

  “No, I haven’t. Why?” he asked, pouring himself a cup of freshly brewed coffee and accepting a dish of corn bread from her.

  She put coffee and corn bread at her place at the table and put butter next to it before she sat down and gave Alexander a mischievous smile. “Cara talked Brody into letting her into the warehouse parking lot after hours tomorrow—about six-thirty in the evening. She said she wanted to park her car there, but it sounded thin to me.”

  He caught his breath. “Jodie, you’re a wonder.”

  “That’s not all,” she added, sipping coffee and adding more cream to it. “She was arrested at the age of seventeen for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and she got off because the charges were dropped. There’s an unconfirmed suspicion that her uncle is one of the top Colombian drug lords.”