Sophie leaned back in the plush leather seat, putting her earphones back in. “
Then h
ow do you know I’m not right?”
The CSI got out of his chair. “I’ve got to take a leak
. . .
and it’s not condom.”
“Whatever you say. But if you’re going to act like that, I’m not going to help anymore.”
She winked at Manny and dialed up her music as Alex marched to the rest room, mumbling something about wise
-
ass detectives.
Never a dull moment.
He put his book on the floor,
beside the other one, a
Tim Ellis thriller, and
turned
on
his
laptop
,
wait
ing
for it to fire up.
So this is how the FBI worked, at least the BAU. Nothing seemed out of their reach, if it was needed. Like this jet, for starters. It wasn’t just your everyday, run
-
of
-
the
-
mill, executive plane. This one had all of the state
-
of
-
the
-
art communications
equipment
,
including
satellite links. It was comfortable, quiet, fast, and even the food was good. Not to mention all of the amazing criminal databases and latest forensic research
provided by the
b
ureau’s ERT units and NCIS case data
dancing at their fingertips. These types of resources would be an amazing upgrade to what Lansing had to offer
,
and he could be part of it. Josh had made him
an incredibl
e
job
o
ffer
with
more
leeway
than he
’
d ever
had
or
dreamed of
.
Extremely
appealing. But leaving Lansing, home
. . .
well that was the
conundrum
, wasn’t it?
Which way
is
the right way?
He gazed out the
curved window
and flirted with the star-filled night.
The stars
winked back a million times over as his thoughts turned to the rush
of
the last four hours
—
and what kind of hell
Katie Hayes
was now living
.
The e-mail she had sent was in response to one that came from Eric’s account, telling her to contact Manny right away, that
it
was a matter of life and death
, giving
her
Manny’s
e-mail
address. The message to Katie also had one of the pictures of Eric attached,
up
close and personal. He could almost hear her screams.
Gavin had volunteered to call her and do the best he could
to
explain the situation, as well as they knew it anyway, and shooed Manny out the door. As he was leaving, he heard Gavin tell Katie as soon as the cruise ship’s security staff could locate which suite Eric was in, or at least had been in, they would contact her.
He asked if Kat
i
e had anyone
close by
.
Gavin
was
still talking in that quiet, comforti
ng voice
,
contradicting
the
gruff exterior
that
Manny had heard so many times before. All the while,
Gavin tried
not to show
his own
tears already add
ing
twenty years to his
face
.
As he left the office and climbed into his Ford Explorer, it occurred to him that
i
n this day and age of
M
e
F
irst
,
he
was grateful to work for a man
who
didn’t operate that way. Gavin Crosby truly cared about others.
When
Manny had
arrived
home
to get his travel case and tell Louise he was on the way out
,
he could smell her
famous spaghetti and meatballs. The smell of garlic and tangy tomato sauce swirling through the modest ranch
home
was
amazing, but he wouldn’t be eating any of it tonight.
Louise had been a cop’s wife too long
. W
hen Manny put his hands on her shapely waist and found her eyes, her look turned from
“
glad to see you
”
to
“
what’s going on
?”
He explained as much as he could, grabbed the already
-
packed travel bag from the closet, and walked to the front foyer. She hugged him ferociously, told him to be careful, and pushed him out the door.
She
knew there wo
uld be no peace for the Williams family
as long as Argyle was out there and wanted him put away, or in the ground
, as badly as anyone
.
The
lap
top blinked
brightly
into existence
, bringing
Manny
out of his deep thoughts just as
Alex plopped back in his chair. Manny had a message from Agent Corner
saying
that he
and his people
would meet them in Miami
,
and they wo
uld fly to St. Thomas together.
The ship’s security people had
found the suite where Eric Hayes had been murdered
,
and the reporter
was
still
there, just like the last gri
s
ly picture had depicted. No Argyle to be found, of course.
The cruise line was going to wait for them, but at least
security and some of the local detectives
would do the leg work of interviewing passengers and staff. Manny knew there wouldn’t be much to act on. That’s how Argyle operated. But maybe this time
. . .
After shutting the top on his computer, he rubbed his e
yes with a thumb and forefinger
and reclined the seat. They had a couple hours
to sleep,
and sleep was a precious commodity.
He took one last look at Alex and remembered his question.
“
Minder,
”
he said.
“What?” asked Alex.
“The word is
‘
minder.
’
”
The CSI squinted and then nodded. “Good one, Williams. It fits and beats the hell out of your partner’s guess.”
Manny thought
Alex
was right
: it
was
a
much better word. But he wondered how to convert the concept of guardian and protector into action with animals like Argyle roaming the world.
Chapter
-13
The FBI’s jet skidded along the runway at Miami International and rattled to a manageable speed. Manny threw a quick glance Sophie’s way
, grinning
. “How you doin’ there
,
partner? How was that landing? I personally like
d
that bouncing part.”
“Not funny
,
Williams
. You know I hate the landings,” answered Sophie, obviously reli
e
ved that the plane was tax
i
ing up the runway. “We could have died really
.
Twenty-five percent of all airplane accidents happen during the landing
, you know
.”
“Yeah, and fifty-seven percent happen while the plane
is
in the air
,
so I’ll take the landings
.
”
“Are you lying? If you are, I’m going to shoot you
r ass
, right here.” Sophie released her grip on the seat as the jet settled at the private gate
,
and
she
patted her holster. Manny could see her finger impressions imbedded in the tan leather.
“When was the last time I lied to you? And I’ve seen your targets at the firing range. No
worries for my ass
.”
“You’re not kidding? Are
y
ou? Just great. I’m walking to St. Thomas
.
”
“Long walk,” stated Alex.
“Sharks too,” added Manny.
“You guys suck.”
“Just trying to help,” smiled Manny.
“Okay. I’m renting a car. How deep can the ocean be?”
T
he passenger
door
swung up and open. Josh
walked through
the door
followed by two agents
. O
ne Manny recognized as the very talented forensic expert, Max Tucker, who had teamed up with them on the
Ocean Duchess
. The third agent was a woman in her
early
thirties
:
long
,
red hair
;
demanding
,
green eyes
;
curvy build
;
wearing a dark pant
s
suit
;
and a serious look clouding her pleasant features. Very pleasant
features
.
S
he walked with a
barely discernable
limp.
Agent Corner zeroed in on the Lansing crew and broke into a huge
smile
, accented by those startling, pilot
-
blue eyes.
He stuck his hand out, moving to greet
them
.
“Manny. How the hell are you?”
“Al
l
right, under the circumstances. You’re looking well.”
“Thanks
. Been working out,” he laughed.
Corner turned to the other two. “Alex. Good to see you. Sophie, glad you could make it.”
Alex shook his hand and nodded. “Always good to see you guys.”
Sophie took his hand. “I can tell.”
“Tell what?”
“You’ve been working out, big boy.”
Manny watched as Josh’s face shaded red
,
and he
tried to
release Sophie’s hand quickly, except she wouldn’t let him
. H
is partner
held on for a second or two
longer,
then reluctantly let go. Manny nudged her. She ignored him.
Josh
cleared his throat. “You remember Max Tucker
,
and this is Chloe Franson. Chloe
recently
transferred into my department from Domestic Terrorism. Lots of experience in the field
,
and we’re happy to have her.”
Chloe
greeted everyone with a tight, professional smile
and a slight grimace
, which
she almost succeeded in hiding
,
b
ut not from Manny. She caught his eyes and allowed a slow grin to come to life.
“Gunshot,” Chloe said
, a
trace of
Irish
lilt filtering through
her voice.
“Western Ireland
?
”
“Galway Bay.” Her quick smile
, the real one,
was brilliant.
Sophie and Alex looked
at
him and shook their heads in unison.
“You’re doing it already,” said Alex.
“Doing what?”
“Profiling the new help.”
“I’m not either. I just noticed
the accent and the
limp
, and s
he was in a little pain.”
“I didn’t,” said Sophie.
“Me either,” said Alex.
“That makes three,” said Max.
Manny rolled his eyes. “You call yourself cops?”
Chloe turned to Josh. “He’s better than you said.” Then she turned back to Manny. “It happened about two months ago. A raid in New York City. My calf is still sore, but getting better. I’ll be back to normal in no time.” She glanced to the floor
and
then back to Manny. “Don’t worry
,
I won’t be a liability
.
I’m able to do everything I could before, physically, but it hurts
a wee bit
.”