The Puppeteer

CHAPTER 13



“SO, TELL ME AGAIN why we think this kid is the link between Eagle's Wing and a shitload of drugs?” Alicia Gordon asked from the passenger seat. Doubt laced her voice, but she never took her eyes from the high-powered glasses she had trained on Savendra's house several blocks away.

“I could but since we've gone over this six times already, I think I'll pass,” Dani said from her position behind the wheel.

“God, I'm being annoying aren't I?” Alicia acknowledged.

“Believe me, it's nothing I haven't done or said at leastas many times to my team director. He won't listen. Well, that's not really true. He listens, I think he even agrees, but he can't really run the investigation on my intuition. And wouldn't we all look stupid if it turned out the kid fooled us.”

“At least you'll see some action tonight when he meets his friends,” Alicia offered.

“Yeah, we'll get to go to the bowling alley,” Dani said. All of Savendra's friends had jobs—like good little college graduates. Savendra was the odd one out, so if he wanted to play with his friends, he had to play on their schedules.

“Yeah, well at least it will be cool,” Alicia pointed out as she tugged at her shirt trying to get some air flowing over her body.

“Wrong. Buster is putting two other agents inside. He wants me and Diamond in the van,” Dani countered.

Alicia laughed and Dani cast her a look. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I just can't get used to you calling the captain ‘Buster,’ though, I admit, he does kind of look like one,” she conceded with another smile.

“So, if it's not Savendra. Who do you think it is?” Alicia asked, turning serious. Dani kept her eyes on the street, debating how much to tell the other agent. She liked Alicia Gordon, and her instinct said to trust her, but Dani's training said not to. She decided to hell with training; she had a niggling sense Alicia might be able to help in some way.

“We've got another potential. His name is Sonny Carlyle. We refer to him as Sonny. Sonny and Savendra has a better ring than Carlyle and Savendra or Sonny and Joe.” Dani explained conversationally why they referred to one suspect by his first name and the other by his last.

“And you think Sonny is the man—or rather, boy, I take it?”

“I do,” Dani answered.

Alicia took her eyes away from the glasses and glanced at Dani. But before she could ask why, Dani's phone rang. Glancing at the screen and seeing Drew's name, she hopped out of the car and walked several feet away.

“Dani. We have some news on Keogh I wanted to pass on.” Drew spoke the moment she answered, also explaining why Ty wasn't calling. “The crate with the weapons was already in the hanger at the airport when Smythe's belongings were prepped for shipping.”

“So they were never at his house?” She walked a little further away.

“It's looking that way. Adam is searching for footage in the storage area to see if we can either figure out who dropped the crate, or at least a time frame of when it was dropped.”

“I would think the hanger would have twenty-four-hour security footage.” As she commented, Dani's gaze caught on a little girl riding a tricycle in a driveway, her mom watching from the porch.

“They do, but it's not reliable. As in, there are several key hours missing at interesting times.”

“So is Smythe still on our list?” It would make things a hell of a lot easier if they could strike the ambassador off the list of potential arms dealers.

“Despite the fact that we can't find any additional intel linking the two together, none of us like those missing hours so we're all leaning that way.”

“And the daughter? Nelly?”

“Her father is on the list because we can't find any reason to take him off, but Nelly is a different story. Given her background and behavior, if either Smythe is involved most of us here would place our bets on her.” Drew's voice fell flat.

“So, we're not out of the woods?” It would be better if it was Smythe's daughter that was involved, but it would still be an interesting negotiation between the intelligence organizations in the US and the UK.

Dani sighed and looked away from the little girl. The valley sprawled below her, bleeding into the ocean beyond. “I know I sound like a broken record, Drew, but we're missing something. There are too many pieces moving with too much precision. It's almost as if there is someone pulling strings somewhere, orchestrating the whole thing. How else can we account for a drug dealer and militia hooking up, or Getz getting into arms dealing?” Her voice trailed off.

Both she and Drew were silent for a long moment. She was conscious of the heat radiating up from the sidewalk, the sounds of birds and children's laughter, but her mind was mulling over what she had just said. It wasn't anything that had formed in her mind before she'd spoken. But now that she'd vocalized it, it felt right. There had to be someone manipulating the whole mess. Who and why was a whole other question.

Drew sighed. “I think you might be right on this. Which is f*cked up. The last thing we need is one more player, but without a central person, someone calling all the shots and making the connections, there's no way this level of operation, with this many players, would get off the ground.”

Dani didn't answer, knowing Drew was figuring out next steps.

“F*ck,” he swore.

“You want me to come home?”

“No,” he said after a pause. “Stay there, do your thing. If someone is orchestrating this whole thing, we need to at least keep up the pretense of going along with it. I'll talk to Marmie and Adam. We'll have some changes to discuss when you get back.”

And, once again, she knew he was right. Even though she didn't like it. They hung up after she agreed to stay put, as planned. She took a few minutes to breathe before heading back to the car.

Alicia gave her a quick glance when she slid back into her seat.

“So why do you want Sonny to be the one?” she asked, returning to the conversation they were having before the call.

Dani stared out the window and didn't answer for a long while. With the idea that someone was manipulating the whole web of events, she forced herself to accept what she had always known. She had wanted Sonny to be the drug source as an excuse to get to him. But whether or not he was didn't matter. In her focus on him, she'd lost sight of the bigger picture. And now that they were considering the possibility of a conspiracy, a conspiracy on the scale of what they were looking at—one that involved European diplomats and South American drug cartels—it put things in perspective. Yes, she'd like to have her chance to talk to Sonny. But what they needed to do was find the person who had the level of power, influence, and access required to pull this off.

Dani sighed. “It's a long story. But not as relevant as it was when we first started this investigation. I'll have my chance to talk to him when the time comes.” She picked up her glasses and looked at Savendra's house. She could feel Alicia's gaze on her. Already unsettled by her conversation with Drew, Dani didn't want the extra scrutiny.

“So,” she said, changing the subject with a pointed look at Alicia's belly. “Do you know if it's a boy or girl?”

“Girl. I'm going to name her Carolina,” Alicia replied, going along after a moment of hesitation.

“That's a good name. I have two nieces and a nephew. Kids are great, but I don't know how my sister does it.”

“You don't have any kids,” Alicia commented.

Dani shook her head. “Nope, not married either.”

“You and me both.” Alicia's tone suggested she'd long ago accepted this fact, but didn't necessarily like it.

“I'm prying, I know. So don't feel the need to answer if you don't want to, but is there a reason the baby's father doesn't want to get married? Or do you not want to get married?”

“The father doesn't even know. And before you judge—not that you would,” she added as Dani opened her mouth to protest just that. “I would tell him, but I don't know how to find him. We worked together six months ago. I was undercover with the LAPD at the time and I have no idea who he worked for, other than knowing he was definitely a government man. It was a classic cliché. We were riding the high of an extremely successful bust and we ended up in bed. At first I attributed it to the adrenaline but then—” Alicia paused and looked out the window.

“But then you thought it might be something more,” Dani suggested, sympathizing with the woman's confusion. She was just beginning to understand what it meant to have that kind thing sneak up on a person.

“Yeah, maybe. It was an amazing night but in the morning he was gone, so then again, maybe it wasn't as amazing as I thought. I just…well, I thought there was more. But, we never bothered exchanging names. I figured it would be easier to go at this myself than to try to track him down only to find out he wouldn't want the baby anyway. And that's the one thing I do know for certain—I want this baby. I already love her and can't wait to meet her.”

Dani smiled at the affection in Alicia's voice. She had a long road ahead of her but Dani had to admire the way she was embracing the challenge. Doing what she did for a living, the thought of having a family had never really crossed Dani's mind. But looking at Alicia's smile and thinking of Ty, for the first time in her life, Dani began to let herself wonder what it might be like.

* * *



“You're going to get skin cancer,” Fawkes said as he lounged next to her on a big beach blanket two days later.

Dani didn't bother turning around. “I'm not letting you rub more sunblock on me. Besides, we're sitting under an umbrella.”

“Okay,” Fawkes continued, sounding way too cheery. “Maybe you could rub some on me.”

The comment earned him a look. “I've already done that. Twice,” Dani replied.

“Yeah but you like having those lovely hands on this hot body. Admit it,” he grinned at her. His outrageous flirting was nothing but an act and she had no doubt Fawkes would be on the phone to Ty as soon as the day ended, telling him all about how he'd rubbed sunblock on ‘Folsom's girl.’

“If you really want to get your ass kicked, we don't have to wait for Ty. I could do it,” she offered with a laugh and shake of her head.

“You are a girl after my own heart. Come on,” he pleaded with her. “Forget Fuller and run away with me.”

“You need to shut up. I am on a job,” she reminded him, her smile taking the sting out of the rebuke. “I have no idea what Ty was thinking when he recommended I bring you with me today,” she added as she pulled out her phone and, looking like every other tourist on this stretch of beach, began taking some pictures.

She snapped a couple more photos of Savendra and his friends surfing. She was sure to capture a good facial picture of each of his friends. Marmie probably had them all identified by now but she took a few more for the sake of it.

The phone rang just as she decided to take a break and watch the surfing. She'd take more photos when they left the water.

“Hey,” Ty said.

“Hi,” she replied with a smile.

“The beach looks nice. Fawkes with you?”

“It is and yes, you want to talk to him? He wants me to run away with him, by the way. I think he's thinking Vegas.”

“Give him the damn phone,” Ty snapped with an irritated resignation.

Dani handed Fawkes the phone; he winked at her and took it.

“Hey Folsom. Your girl looks hot in a bikini, by the way,” he taunted. Dani rolled her eyes at his shameless teasing.

“You mean, I can't do this?” Fawkes asked as he placed his hand Dani's shoulder. She glanced around at him and he clicked a picture. She could imagine the shot that appeared on Marmie's screen and she had no doubt Ty was watching it download in real time.

Dani assumed the photo had come through when Fawkes covered the phone and doubled over laughing. “You should hear him,” he finally said to her.

“Dear god, I bet you were a menace to have as a report,” Dani replied as she swiped the phone back with a quickness that left Fawkes surprised.

“No wonder you're so good at dealing with me,” Dani interrupted Ty's tirade. He stopped as soon as he heard her voice. “How many years did you have to deal with Fawkes?”

Ty sighed. “Four. Four long years.”

“Oh, you poor baby,” she crooned as Fawkes made little kissy noises in the background. She smacked him on the arm like she used to smack Jason and Drew. When she was six.

“Ouch,” he made a show of rubbing his arm.

“You hit him?” Ty asked.

“Yes, but not hard enough, he's still waggling his eyebrows at me.”

“Tell him you'll rip them off,” Ty suggested.

“I think not,” Dani laughed. “Is there something going on?”

“Nope, just checking in.”

“It's boring here, in case you didn't figure that one out. The best part of this whole trip has been getting your friends to rat you out.” They both knew this wasn't true. “Savendra hasn't done anything but sleep, watch TV, bowl, and surf. He's on vacation; this little trip has nothing to do with business.” And sitting on the beach with Fawkes was heaven compared to the hours she'd spent the two previous nights in the van at the bowling alley with Agent Diamond. It was sheer force of will that had prevented her from pulling her own gun on him.

“Drew agrees. Good thing Savendra is going home the day after tomorrow, you can come back and be bored here. Nothing new is developing on our side of the country, if that makes you feel better,” he offered, probably knowing it wouldn't, and it didn't. But she also knew a lot more was going on than Ty was privy to.

Dani sighed. “It doesn't, but I will be glad to be back home. Maybe something will crop up during Adam's trip to Florida. Is Marmie getting anything from the pictures I'm sending?”

“It's the usual suspects. Wait—” Dani heard Ty say something to Marmie but it was too muffled to hear.

“There's a new guy in the group,” Ty came back on the line.

“Yeah, the tall blond guy.” Dani had noticed him earlier. She hadn't gotten a good face shot until a few minutes ago, which is the picture she assumed Ty and Marmie were looking at. “I haven't seen him before; he looks a bit older than the others,” Dani added. Style-wise, the man looked like the other kids—dressed in a wet suit with sun bleached hair, carrying a long board. She was too far away to see how much older he was than the others, but by the way he moved, she'd put him a few years older.

“He is,” Ty responded, having the benefit of being able to see the photo in zoom. “By at least eight or ten years, I'd say.”

Dani frowned and watched the man chatting with one of Savendra's friends, straddling his board about thirty feet from shore.

“You want me to follow him?” she asked. More muffled talk came through the phone and she picked up Drew's voice as well.

“No, Drew wants you to stick with Savendra. He'll call Buster and have him put someone on the blond.”

Dani sighed. “I was kind of hoping for a little excitement here, guys,” she half jested. “Is there anything else?”

“Nope, that should do it for now. Don't get too burned,” Ty added and she could hear the smile in his voice.

“No worries about that. Fawkes has already slathered two layers of sunscreen on me,” she tossed out, having a little fun at Ty's expense. Ty let out a not-so-silent curse. “Call you tonight?” she suggested.

She'd talked to him every day since she'd left Maine, but he had always called her and it had always been during the day, always when she was on duty. But what she'd just suggested was a private conversation, a personal one. When she recovered from this discovery, she found she more than liked the idea. She wanted to talk to Ty when she was alone, when he was alone, when they could talk about anything—the case, his friends, the weather—anything they wanted to, without having other people listening.

“You have my home number on your phone. Don't worry about waking me up,” he answered.

Dani smiled to herself. “Got it, lieutenant,” she answered. As soon as she hung up, Fawkes's voice interrupted her thoughts

“Ty and Dani sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love—ouch! You have a mean slap, woman.”

* * *



After another uneventful night and day, Buster, with Drew's permission, had pulled her from the surveillance team and given her a night off. Dani didn't really need it, but was enjoying it anyway.

“He's a good kid,” Fawkes said, referring to Savendra as he leaned against the railing of the pier and looked out on the Pacific Ocean.

“You mean aside from joining a paramilitary militia,” Dani pointed out, turning her back on the view and letting the fading sun hit her shoulders.

“He's misguided,” Fawkes countered. Dani thought someone had to be a little more than 'misguided’ to join a group like Eagle's Wing, but she couldn't summon the argument—she actually agreed with Fawkes.

“You'll be glad to get back tomorrow?”

Dani nodded. “It's a bitch of a flight, military transport and all,” she shrugged in acceptance. “But, yeah, I'll be glad to be back.”

“So, it's your last night here, sure you don't want to jump into bed with me?”

Dani shook her head and rolled her eyes at his shameless grin.

“Guess not.” He gave a dramatic sigh.

“I'm trying to protect you. Ty would surely kill you,” she bantered back.

“Yes, he would,” Fawkes admitted with a smile. “But even if he wouldn't, you wouldn't sleep with me anyway. You two have it bad. Or maybe good, depending on the way you look at it. I'm inclined to think it's good, since it's Fuller and all.”

Dani looked at Fawkes. “I have no idea what you just said to me.”

Fawkes shrugged, like he'd just turned shy. Dani continued to look at him. She knew from experience that most men caved under her scrutiny. This big bad SEAL was no different.

“It's the real deal for Fuller. He's a good man. The best. And from what I can tell, I think you guys are a good match.”

“What makes you think it's the ‘real deal,’ and what does that mean anyway?” Dani couldn't help but ask. She knew she shouldn't delve into such a personal topic, but the words were out before she could stop herself.

“See, if I was dating you, I'd make sure everyone on the planet knew you were mine,” he cast her one of his trademark grins. “In every way, of course,” he added. “But Ty doesn't say anything—other than to post big no trespassing signs.”

Dani laughed, feeling a little uncomfortable. “Maybe that's because Ty has more respect for women than you do.”

Fawkes straightened and gave her a wounded look as he placed his hand over his heart. “Trust me sweetheart, no one has more respect for women than I do.”

Dani arched a single brow at him.

“It's not that. You're right, Ty was never one to kiss and tell—although there was a time or two I really wished he would have,” Fawkes waggled his eyebrows at her. “But it's different with you. He knows I'm razzing him, but after he razzes me back he goes all silent on me. Not like an I'll-just-wait-Fawkes-out kind of silence. It's more like the silence that happens on horror movies right before the killer strikes. It's quiet and intense and deadly. Not that I think he'd ever actually kill me, or anyone else—unless they deserved it, of course,” Fawkes added. “But it's intense. Way intense,” he emphasized. “I wish I was going back with you. It would be really entertaining to watch the whole thing unfold. Ty wants it. You, well, you want it too, but something is holding you back. And Ty is not a man who accepts half-measures. You're doomed, just so you know.”

Not sure how to respond, Dani said “Did you just liken Ty, the man you claim is my boyfriend, to a horror movie slasher?”

“You're missing the point, woman,” Fawkes retorted.

Dani watched families on the beach packing up their belongings, couples taking walks, and others out just enjoying the evening. Fawkes's comments weren't a revelation to her. Though she'd never let herself think about it, now that Fawkes had vocalized it, she knew it was true. And it was a part of what scared her. From almost the first moment they met, there was something different about Ty, something different about the way they were together. It had niggled at her conscience that first morning and had scared the bejeezus out of her when she realized it wasn't going to go away. For a while she wasn't sure if it would be worse if Ty didn't feel the same way, or if he did. And then she realized it wasn't worth worrying about—she knew he felt the same way. They just had to figure out what to do about it. She had to figure out what to do about it. But trusting him, trusting whatever it was between them, meant giving up control.

Dani sighed and turned toward the ocean. “No, I got your point, Fawkes. Loud and clear.”

* * *



Ty lay back on his bed after hanging up the phone. He'd just finished a late-night conversation with Dani, for the second night in a row. He looked at the clock. Two in the morning. And his mind was racing. Talking to Dani did that, but the other reason had to do with the fact that he still couldn't figure out why in the hell Dani and her team were masquerading as DEA. It wasn't that the case didn't look like a DEA case—it did. And that was the problem. If it looked and smelled like a DEA case, it should be a DEA case. Why was the CIA interested?

Like good little DEA agents, their eyes were focused on the drug aspect of the case. They were keeping an eye on the weapons, for sure. And Getz was always on their radar; he would go down with the rest, that was a given. But their focus, as it should be, seemed to be on how the drugs were getting to the Eagle's Wing, who the contact was, what the channel was.

Ty's mind flipped through the people working on the case. He spent most of his time with Marmie and Cotter. He rarely saw Drew or anyone else on the team. Maybe he just assumed they were focused on Savendra and Sonny and the drugs. It was possible Drew had a whole team of people in the house researching the weapons.

But anything they were finding they were keeping close to the vest. Dani had talked a little about Getz during their conversation tonight. But her focus wasn't on the drugs or weapons, it was on how to get into Getz's place. She wanted to set up a mock-up of his house, with all the same security in place, and start running trials on how to get onto the property without triggering any of the underwater alarms. She wanted everyone ready in case they needed a silent raid. Which, given the set-up of the house, Ty thought was the best approach. They could go in with guns blazing but there were so many escape routes, people were bound to slip through the cracks. If they could get around the security and get the team in place, positioned over every damned inch of the peninsula, they'd have the best chance of bringing everyone in. Of accomplishing the goals of the mission—spoken and unspoken.

Ty sighed and rolled over, wishing Dani were there with him but knowing she wouldn't be, not for a while. Unable to sleep, and taking a gamble his friend would be awake, Ty grabbed the phone and punched in Jay's number. Jay was a devious bastard, maybe he would have some insight.