Last Ride on the Merry-go-round

by Judith Rochelle

  "If you do get pregnant..."

  She turned her head away. “I don't want another Ethan Caine situation."

  "Nor do I.” He brushed gentle fingers across her forehead and stroked her cheek. “There's so much I want to say to you. Tell you. But first I want to make sure I've taken care of the devils on your tail. This isn't the sex talking, Jen. I really do want to talk about a future. With you and Deanne."

  She felt tears leaking from her eyes. Dino leaned over and caught them with his tongue.

  "It will be all right, Jen. I'm going to take care of this. I promise you.” He tucked her against him and pulled the covers over them both. “Meanwhile I think we need to get what sleep we can in what's left of the night."

  Jen tucked her head on his shoulder and snuggled her butt up against him. In seconds she was asleep, and this time she didn't dream.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Ten

  They were gathered in the den again, and the expression on their faces could best be described as grim. Henry had poured drinks for everyone, sensing they would need the cushion of alcohol when they heard what Mac had to say. When he was seated behind the desk, he looked at Mac and said, “Okay. Let's have it."

  Mac took a slow sip of his drink before he spoke. This was not a conversation he'd been looking forward to. He'd just spoken to his man in Florida again, with frustrating results. Everything was falling apart and he knew he'd be the scapegoat. He got an extra share of the money for handling situations like this, and he couldn't believe how this one had gotten away from him. He hated being the bearer of bad news, and there was nothing good about what he had to say tonight.

  "I wondered if we shouldn't have everyone here for this meeting,” he began. “This affects them, too."

  "That's for me to decide. Let's hear what you have to say first."

  Mac jiggled the ice cubes in his drink. “All right. Here it is. This whole thing is turning into one big goat-roping disaster,” he began, “and to say I'm unhappy about it is an understatement."

  "What's happened now? You're the go-to man, the mechanic who fixes everything. You've told us over and over again there isn't a problem you can't handle."

  "Let's start with the two missing pieces,” he said. “We're all aware of their origin, as well as that of the four others Charlie Waters has for us. We're not dealing with a few pieces from some archeological dig.” He took another sip of his drink. “This is a hot topic everywhere, and somehow it seems word of our little ... organization ... and our latest acquisitions has leaked."

  "Leaked?” Shock flashed across Henry's face. “But how? We've been so careful."

  "Maybe Charlie isn't as careful as he has been. Maybe there are just more people with eyes on this situation. Maybe too many governments have turned up the heat. It could be any or all of those."

  "I can't believe Charlie would be so careless. Take such a risk. Not with what's at stake."

  Patsy, her artificially enhanced ash blonde hair slicked back into a French braid frowned at him, creasing her impeccably made up face. “We've used him for a long time. He's always known enough to keep his mouth shut before."

  Mac looked slowly from one to the other. “That's only an assumption I'm making. I'm checking everything. Remember, we all knew from the beginning how risky it was being involved with these particular artifacts."

  "But that's why they're so valuable,” she argued. “Why we can get so much money for them. The sale of the antiquities from—"

  Mac held up his hand. “No names, all right?"

  "Wherever he obtained them will set us up for life."

  Monica snorted. “Like we already aren't? Face it. We're just greedy."

  "Our items might not even be part of the big search going on,” Patsy protested.

  Mac's lips thinned. “Guess again. These items are hotter than your fancy barbecue. If we aren't careful we could all end up in a federal prison."

  "Aren't you being a little melodramatic?” she asked. “We all discussed these particular items and agreed they were worth the risk."

  "That was before word of our group somehow got out on the street,” Mac pointed out.

  Monica took a large swallow of her drink. “I think you're exaggerating. We're very careful with the way we process these. There's never been a whisper of our operation anywhere. What makes you think there is now?"

  Mac leaned forward. “Let's go back to John Sutherland and the two missing pieces. We ended up ... disposing of him before we got any answers. And Jennifer Sutherland has gone to ground somewhere with friends who are keeping her very well-concealed."

  "What does that have to do with the leak?” Patsy demanded. “Was John peddling information as well?"

  "And have you found out about his wife's friends yet?” Henry asked, an acerbic note in his voice. “How hard can it be to trace a little nobody like her?"

  Mac snorted. “A little nobody? You'll change your mind when I tell you what I learned. And no, I don't think John was the leak, but his wife may be more involved in this than we think."

  "I knew it,” Patsy smirked. “I knew that little bitch had a hand in this."

  Mac shook his head. “That's not what I meant. She's linked in a different way.” He got up, refilled his glass and sat down again, tension in every line of his body. Mac didn't back away from too many things in his life, but all the information he'd discovered in the past twenty-four hours was giving him serious heartburn. “Coincidence is everything in life, you know. I've always believed that. Jennifer Sutherland, nee LaCroix, and the late Jack Smiley who was nosing around the museum, had a friend in common.” He paused. “You have no idea whose arms I had to twist or the favors I had to call in to get this information. And I don't say that lightly. None of this is what it looked like at first."

  "What do you mean?” Monica wanted to know.

  "I mean the lady in question has some serious connections, the kind people don't talk about."

  "Well, spit it out,” Patsy snapped at him.

  "Before she married Sutherland, our little Jennifer hung out with a group of people who worked off and on for various government agencies before striking out on their own. Agencies that operate well below the radar. Do you know what that means?"

  Everyone stared at him. Finally, Henry took a deep swallow of his drink and answered him. “Her friends were covert agents who were probably also assassins."

  Mac nodded. “Of course, the government doesn't call them assassins, and in their line of work that's probably correct. They do a job, using whatever means it takes. And they've handled some really nasty people over the years."

  "Are they still working for the government?” Henry asked. “If so, how did you get information about them? I thought that stuff was buried deeper than Davy Jones."

  Patsy twisted her glass in nervous fingers. “I want to know exactly how involved that little bitch is with them, anyway."

  "And how did you get this information?” Monica demanded.

  Mac held up a hand. “One at a time. Please. To answer the first question, they all met at some party where the men were between missions and she became what you might call an item with one of them. That arrangement lasted for quite a while. The man is Ethan Caine, and he's not someone you want to get on the wrong side of."

  "We've dealt with some pretty nasty people in this business,” Patsy said. “How much worse can they be?"

  Mac's lips thinned in a grim line. “This guy has worked for more alphabet agencies than you can imagine. His file is buried so deep that only some heavy blackmail got it opened for me. None of his enemies are alive to talk about him. He's not someone you want to screw around with."

  "Is he still with the government?” Henry asked.

  Mac shook his head. “He runs a security training school that even Uncle Sam uses. He also takes contracts now for both the United States and high profile corporations. Even some small foreign countries. This is the man who set Jack Smiley on us."r />
  "And what does that have to do with the information leak about us?” Patsy asked again.

  Mac gave a humorless laugh. “Like I said, coincidence is everything in life. It came to my attention, almost accidentally, that a scumbag named Martin Van Dine picked up the tidbit and was getting ready to peddle it. He's a man who's tempted fate once too often and needs to disappear. That takes money, so he needed a buyer who could come up with a lot of cash. The man I had on him learned he was meeting someone to do just that. And I believe the person he was meeting is somehow connected to Ethan Caine."

  "What makes you think that?” Monica's brows drew together as she sipped from her glass.

  "Van Dine got caught in a mission that Caine was leading years ago. The only reason he's alive today is because one of Caine's men had to make a choice. Someone else drew the short straw and Van Dine was able to get away."

  "And?” Henry prompted.

  "And, it's entirely possible that Caine was reaching out to Van Dine in an effort to find information that would get us off Jennifer's back at the same time Van Dine was looking for a buyer. One of them could be hiding Jennifer Sutherland while they look for a way to take us down."

  "Well.” Monica made a sour face, but the hand holding her glass trembled. “That certainly puts us in the middle of the cesspool."

  No one else spoke for a very long time. Finally, Henry lifted his glass, looked at it, and put it down without taking a sip. “I guess getting drunk isn't going to solve our problem. How do we find this man and check to see if the woman is with him?"

  Mac shrugged. “I don't think she's with Caine."

  "Why not?"

  "Because a little arm-twisting gets his location and he knows it. He wouldn't put her in such a vulnerable position, no matter how secure his facility is. But I do think she may be with one of his friends. The one who was meeting with Van Dine."

  "Why didn't we stop them and get rid of them?” Patsy asked.

  "We did, but we almost made a mistake. My man set a bomb rigged to blow on Van Dine's boat out on the water. However, he didn't know we wanted the woman alive, and he nearly blew up both boats."

  "Jesus.” Henry expelled a long breath through his teeth. “That would have been a damned disaster. So we got rid of Van Dine but where's the other boat? And do we happen to know which friend of Caine's is involved?"

  "We're making a good guess.” Mac looked at each person again before resuming his report. “I have someone running down the list of the men Caine had on his missions with him to see who did or does have access to a large boat. And that information cost a bundle, you can believe."

  "But we've lost the trail for now,” Monica said into the silence.

  "Only for the moment. My source couldn't tell me who Van Dine was meeting, but I think it's just a process of elimination."

  "You'd better make sure we're well-covered in this,” Henry said. “We can't afford any more mistakes."

  "You're right. Finding her is our first priority,” Mac said. “But we might want to forego this next shipment. Cool it for a while. Maybe even take what we've got and shut it down. All of this is beginning to unravel."

  "No.” Patsy slammed her glass down on the coffee table. “Absolutely not. This may be our last strike and I for one don't want to pass up all that money. We have buyers waiting. I say let's do it.” She looked around the room. “Anyone disagree?"

  No one said a word. Finally, Mac set his glass down and unfolded himself from his chair. “I think this is a big mistake, but I'm only one person. I guess I'd better ramp up the efforts to find the woman. And keep in mind. It might be more to our advantage just to dispose of her than worry about those two pieces. Think about that. Someone needs to get this message to the others. I'll call you when I have news."

  The others in the room watched silently as he let himself out.

  * * * *

  Jen came out of sleep slowly, eyes still closed as she held on to the remnants of the pleasant feeling clinging to her. Burrowing into the pillow, she tugged the covers up to her chin.

  The bed next to her dipped and a hand whispered against her cheek.

  "I saw you move, cara.” He smiled. “Time to wake up. We slept late, although not without good reason. But we have much to do."

  His voice reached through the fog of her sleep and she pushed her lids up. The first thing she saw was Dino's sexy, handsome face inches away from hers, his mouth curved in a smile that made her bones to turn to water. Her cheeks warmed as she remembered the night before—or was it early in the morning?—and the passion they'd shared. A tiny thread of panic grabbed her as she wondered what he would say. How he'd react. How things might change between them, good or bad.

  But when he leaned down and kissed her any lingering fear vanished. His mouth caressed hers, brushing against her lips, and his tongue traced the edges before plunging inside. She pulled her arms out from underneath the covers and wound them around his neck, answering him with heat of her own.

  He lifted his head and she could see desire flaming in his eyes.

  "If I had my way we'd stay in bed all day,” he told her. “But we have work to do. And Jen?"

  "Yes?"

  "Put this in your memory bank. Last night wasn't a mistake. Nor was it just exercise to relieve physical tension. I don't have one moment of regret and I hope you don't, either. This is a beginning for us, cara. We're going to get this situation fixed and go on from there."

  She stared up at him, trying to read behind his eyes. “You don't know how much I want to believe that."

  "Then do. Because I mean it. Now.” He yanked the covers back.

  Her nipples puckered as the air hit them and his eyes darkened at the sight.

  "I can't function without coffee,” she told him, grabbing the quilt away from him. “Give me five minutes to shower."

  "Five minutes and the coffee will be ready."

  She almost hated to shower, to wash away the traces of their loving the night before. She loved the scent of him on her skin, the imprint of his hands and mouth. The feel of his body. She hastily scrubbed and rinsed, knowing that if she let mind wander, she'd be lost in daydreams.

  Good as his word, Dino had coffee ready when she found him in the tiny kitchen alcove. He handed her a filled mug, placing a brief kiss on her forehead.

  "Drink up. We have some brain work to do. I'm expecting two phone calls, then we'll talk."

  As if on cue, the sat phone buzzed. He picked it up and clicked the button. “Yeah, Ethan. Got anything for me?"

  Jen watched him as he listened to whatever Ethan was saying, his face as usual giving nothing away. She had to bite her tongue to keep from asking about Deanne. When he nodded once more and handed the phone to her she nearly tore it out of his hands.

  "Mommy?"

  She dropped back into the chair, her legs too weak to hold her at the sound of her daughter's voice.

  "Hi, sweet baby.” She forced the tears out of her throat. “How are you?"

  "I'm good, Mommy."

  Her voice sounded so relaxed Jennifer's heart squeezed. The edge of fear was still there, but in two days Ethan and Lisa had apparently managed to work some kind of miracle.

  "Are you having fun with the Caines?"

  "Uh huh. They told me you're doing something really important so we don't have to be afraid anymore. And that Mr.... Mr.... “She paused and Jen could hear someone coaching her. “And that Dino is taking care of you."

  "That's right, sugar. He's a very nice man."

  "Jamie says he's his daddy's best friend. Did you know that?"

  Jen choked back the tears that threatened again. “Yes. Yes, I did."

  "Okay. I gotta go. Mr. Ethan wants to talk to you."

  "Mr. Ethan?” she asked, when Ethan's rough but warm voice came over the phone.

  "Well, I had to come up with something between Mr. Caine and you-know-what. It was Lisa's idea and works for now."

  "How is she, Ethan? Really?


  "Missing you, obviously. But all things considered, I'd say she's pretty good. Jamie's keeping her occupied and Lisa's going to have her baking cookies this afternoon."

  "I-I don't quite know how to thank you,” she stammered.

  "Jen.” His voice dropped. “She's a great kid. You've done a wonderful job with her."

  "Thanks.” She was surprised at the praise. “I hear a ‘but’ coming."

  "When we get things cleared up, I'd like to find a way to tell her the truth about us. About me."

  The knot in her stomach tightened. This was the chance she'd taken when she brought Deanne to him. And after all he was doing, how could she say no?

  "I think we can discuss this. I just want to do it without traumatizing her.” She swallowed, Should she say anything to him about the future?

  As if sensing her confusion, Dino sat down opposite her and took her hand. “Go with it,” he whispered. “Whatever it is, we'll handle it together."

  She blew out a breath. “Okay. We'll do it when this is over. But Ethan?"

  "Yeah?"

  "I may be introducing another person into her life, too."

  Ethan was silent for a moment, then he chuckled. “I always did think Dino would be better for you than me. Good luck to both of you. Put the lucky bastard back on the phone."

  Jen handed the phone back to Dino, this time letting the tears run unchecked down her cheeks. She was barely aware of the rest of the conversation until Dino hung up and began blotting her face with a paper towel.

  "Are those good tears or bad?” he asked, his voice uninflected.

  "Good tears.” She sniffled, then took a healthy swallow of coffee. “Okay. I'm together. What's going on?"

  "Someone's been checking into Jack Smiley's background,” he told her. “And getting unauthorized access to files that should be dead and buried. Ethan's on a rampage."

  "But who can be doing this?"