“You told me once that contact was good. You even demonstrated. Now be quiet and let me return the favor.”
She stiffened and then suddenly relaxed. He was warm and strong and she could feel the corded muscles against her softness. She needed that strength. “I was right: Contact is good.” She cuddled closer. “Thank you, Lassiter.”
“My pleasure.” He held her tighter. “And though I’m tempted to make you the additional offer you made to me, I’ll refrain because you’re so vulnerable at the moment. Now hush and relax. When you stop shaking, I’ll get you a cup of coffee and then take you up to the cockpit to meet Mandell.”
“The man who chose the beach house,” she said, remembering the name. “And could hit a target at over a thousand yards.”
“Yes, and someone you may get to know very well in the coming days.”
“That’s good.” But she didn’t want to meet anyone right now. She wanted to stay here and be held by Lassiter for just a little while. She did feel vulnerable. Sharing that story of Rosa with him had been both painful and cathartic, but it had also been draining. It had left her feeling exposed. But somehow she knew that Lassiter would not take advantage of that vulnerability. Strange, when they had started out light-years from either trust or belief.
But he had saved her today, so accept the comfort and tentatively embrace the trust as she was embracing his arms holding her.
Because his holding her was making her forget Nicos for the moment, and that was indeed an excellent thing.
*
“You’re Margaret Douglas?” Nick Mandell grinned at her as he reached out to where she stood at the cockpit door to shake her hand. “I behold the legend? I’ve been hearing about you, I’ve known you were working in the background, I knew that Lassiter was scheduling everything around plucking you away from Nicos, but I admit it made me uneasy that I’d never set eyes on you.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Margaret said. “I never make anyone uneasy. I don’t have the presence for it.”
“You could have fooled me when I saw you streaking across the tarmac toward the plane,” Mandell said. “You reminded me of that comic book hero the Flash. You were definitely making a statement.” He paused. “And you had enough presence to cause Nicos to fall flat on his face back there. I just got a report from my operative at Montego Airport that there was turmoil galore after you left, and Nicos actually ran into customs to see what the hell went wrong.”
“I’m sure he didn’t stay long,” Margaret said. “Nicos always keeps out of the limelight. But this shipment was important to him and he was probably very angry.”
Mandell nodded. “He said something low and venomous to that goon who let you get away and then stalked back out to his car. There was security all over the place and arrests were being made after they found that explosive device in the suitcase. Not safe for a kingpin like Nicos to be hanging around.”
“What about the dogs? Taro took Ricardo down when he tried to get to his gun. He wasn’t hurt, was he?”
“Are we talking about the dog or your slimeball guard?”
“The dog. I don’t care about Ricardo.”
“I thought as much. No, the dog was fine and quieted down after his handler got to him with the leash.” He grinned. “Though it took a while to make him get his teeth out of this Ricardo. And by that time the police were arresting him for carrying a concealed weapon. Do you think Nicos will bail him out?”
“I think he’ll probably have him killed,” she said bluntly. “He failed and Nicos won’t want him to talk to law enforcement.”
“You don’t want a report on the other dog?”
“No, Pedro will be fine. He caught the bad guy, retrieved the smuggled shipment, and his only fault was making a ruckus at customs. That’s a breach of training. The handlers are supposed to have their dogs be accurate but as unobtrusive as possible.”
“But the black Lab didn’t care?”
“Taro is smart and dominant and I was able to make him see my point of view.” She turned to Lassiter, who was coming down the aisle with two cups of coffee. “But he attacked and hurt someone. Even though the police may consider Ricardo a threat and Taro a hero for disarming him, that’s serious stuff. In the end, Ramirez may think Taro too volatile to work at the airport.”
“You’re worried what will happen to him.” He handed her the coffee. “And what do you want me to do?”
“Buy Taro from Ramirez. He won’t be happy unless he has work to do. We’ll have to find him someplace where he’ll have duty and a challenge.”
Lassiter smiled as he handed Mandell his cup of coffee. “And you have an idea where that somewhere will be?”
“Eventually. It will take time for him to adjust.”
Mandell chuckled. “Are we sending him to the K-9 Corps? You warned me the dogs would be her first priority, Lassiter.”
“Why not?” Margaret said. “They helped us. Why shouldn’t we all care?”
Mandell held up his hand. “I’m not arguing. When I saw Cambry with Juno back at the beach house in Cancún, I understood that we might all have to adjust our viewpoints. K-9?”
“No, they do good work, but Taro needs more challenge.”
“Summer Island?” Lassiter asked.
She nodded. “If Devon will take him.”
“I believe she will. She’s very protective of both you and her dogs.” He turned to Mandell. “Get back on the phone and have your man in Montego buy that Lab from Ramirez. I want him in our hands within twenty-four hours.”
“It shall be done.” His hand made a gesture of mock obeisance. “I take it price is no object.”
“No.” He smiled at Margaret. “You heard her. He helped us. We have to return the favor.” He turned and started back toward his seat. “Now why don’t you come back and stretch out on the couch and take a nap, Margaret? God knows when you’ll get another chance.”
And she had gotten very little sleep last night, she remembered. Now that the adrenaline was fading, the exhaustion was beginning to set in. She followed him down the aisle. “And what are you going to do?”
“I’ll try to nap later. I live on power naps. There are a few calls I have to make. First, I need to phone Cambry and check on Patrick.” He pushed her gently down on the couch and took the soft fleece throw and covered her. “You have at least three hours, maybe more. Make the most of them.”
“We need to talk.” She covered a yawn. “You know that Nicos won’t be sitting still. By now he’ll know that I didn’t do this alone. You have to admit this plane is very recognizable. Even Devon was able to trace it to you.”
“We’ll worry about that when you wake up.” He brushed the hair away from her forehead and dropped a light kiss on the tip of her nose. “Using the dogs might have confused him a bit. They’re definitely your signature, Margaret.”