Dangerous Alliance

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Dan smiled. “We agree.” He had only half an hour to spend with this woman. Suddenly he wanted a lot more. Conversation seemed highly personal between them, which struck him as unusual. For the first time in two years, Dan realized he felt lighter, happier, as if the heaviness he’d carried in his heart for so long had dissipated at Libby Tyler’s unexpected and sunny entrance into his life. Well, maybe she wasn’t exactly like sunshine, he amended. More like a hot thoroughbred racehorse being asked to stand quietly in a stall when all she wanted to do was run.

“Okay, let’s get on with this report. Please understand it’s going to take me a while to move on this investigation.”

“No problem,” Libby assured him. He cares. The discovery, and accompanying emotion, flowed through her like a warm spring wind after a very cold winter. But the undeniable concern showed in Dan’s eyes, in the tilt of his head when he looked up at her. Libby swallowed convulsively. Her pulse seemed to be jagging through her, she realized with dismay. No man since Brad had ever set her heart to skittering this way before.

“So what’s the problem?”

Libby leaned forward, her hands resting on her thighs. “Captain, someone’s been using five horses from the stable. They’re riding them at night, after the stable’s shut down. No one except dependents who board horses there are allowed to ride after hours. But these are owned by the Marine Corps’ Special Services branch. The horses are ridden by off duty marines who can’t ride worth beans, and they’re exhausted at the end of the day. They’re not available for evening rides.”

“What time does the stable close?” Dan asked, struggling to act official when all he wanted to do was stare across the desk at Libby like a lovesick kid. She was so alive, so vital in a way he’d never seen in a woman.

“Nineteen-hundred hours,” Libby responded, offering the military terminology for 7:00 p.m.

“Five or seven days a week?”

Libby liked Dan’s attention to detail, and she felt a bit more reassured that he might actually be able to solve the mystery. “Seven days a week. The marines can go out on trail rides, in groups of twenty-five, with an instructor during the day. All kinds of riding activities are going on all day long. After that, the stable is available only to those who own horses here on base. And everything is shut down by 2100.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“For the last four months I’ve noticed something really strange, Captain Ramsey. The five horses I mentioned are being illegally ridden after hours. Now, it doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, these poor animals are being ridden to death. Yesterday I came in to work early, at 0700, and there they were—heads hanging down, their feet spread apart so they wouldn’t collapse and fall down from exhaustion. Not only that, but their coats were still damp, and they were covered with sand. You know how the dust and sand is at Reed. No, I guess you wouldn’t, since you just got here. Anyway, for a horse’s coat to gather that much dust, the animal would have to be ridden for an awfully long time and a very long way.”

Dan scowled as he recorded her story. He liked the husky timber of Libby’s voice, and her concern and sincerity touched him. When he looked up and saw the fire and care burning in her emerald eyes, something walled and hidden deep in his heart seemed to break loose. He hadn’t been interested in any kind of an intimate relationship with a woman since his divorce from Janna, two years ago. But the fierce determination and anxiety in Libby’s eyes was toppling his defenses.

With a shake of his head, Dan forced himself to get back to the business at hand.

“What’s wrong, Captain?”

“Nothing….”

“You shook your head.”

He smiled wryly. “It had nothing to do with your case, Libby.”

“Oh…good. Well, as I was saying, these same five horses have been used like this at least four months in a row. I’ve been at the stables for three years now,” she added.

Dan glanced up. “Who’s in charge of the stables?”

“Stuart Garwood. He’s very well known and respected in eventing circles.”

“Eventing?”

“Yes. You know—a cross-country jumping course, a dressage competition and stadium jumping—the three events that test a horse and rider on all levels of stamina and ability.”

“Right…”

“Captain, do you know very much about horses?”

“I know you ride them.”

Libby groaned and rolled her eyes.

Ramsey laughed outright and sat back in his chair, enjoying her spontaneity. Where had this sprite of a woman come from? Time was running out. He only had ten minutes left with Libby Tyler.

“I have a feeling that anything I don’t know about horses you’ll teach me,” he told her, trying to maintain an air of gravity. He caught a whiff of her perfume, a distinct odor of cinnamon combined with a subtler spicy fragrance. Without thinking, Dan inhaled deeply and felt the stirring of dormant longings he’d thought had died years ago.

“You can’t realize the seriousness of my charges unless you know about horses.”

“I’m sure you’ll fill me in.”

Libby frowned, not at all sure he was taking her allegations seriously. There was something magical about Ramsey. He had an inner flame that Libby had never encountered. “Are you making fun of me?” she demanded.

“No.”

“Then why are you laughing? I see it in your eyes, Captain.”

Dan moved uncomfortably in his chair. Libby’s insights seemed as sharp as his. “The truth?”

“Nothing but. I’ve been accused by my friends and enemies alike of being too blunt and direct, but above all else, Captain, I value a person’s honesty. I want the truth, even if it hurts.”

“Well,” Dan said blandly, “this shouldn’t hurt you at all. I was smiling to myself because I was enjoying you as a person. I’ve never met a woman like you in my life.” He held her startled gaze. “That’s a compliment, in case you were wondering. And I take your charges about these horses very seriously.”

“Oh…” He liked her. Flustered, Libby looked away. He didn’t wear a wedding band. Neither did she. Was he making a pass at her? Taking her case for personal reasons rather than professional ones? She suddenly stood up and began pacing around the boxes in the small office.

“Captain, I care for the horses. All horses. Too many people treat them poorly out of ignorance. These five have been ridden into the ground! Yet Mr. Garwood doesn’t seem to care about it, which I find highly unusual. He’s always had the horses’ care high on his list of priorities. Why not these five? I’ve brought them to his attention, but he ignored me.” Libby swung around and held Ramsey’s azure gaze. “I’m not going to let this drop. If you don’t help me, I’m going to go to the civilian paper in Oceanside and make waves.”

“You don’t have to threaten me, Libby. I’ll assign someone to investigate as soon as I can get moved in. Fair enough?”

Libby stopped pacing, her gaze mercilessly probing his. “I know Mr. Garwood and Colonel Edwards think I’m some kind of flaky idiot for bringing this up. Many things in my life touch me, but kids and animals are especially important to me. If one of the children in my classes has a problem, I try to help. If one of the horses in my classes is hurt, I make sure it gets vet attention.” Her voice lowered with even more feeling. “I want to find out who is ridingfj those horses after hours. One of these days, those poor animals will end up lame, or worse. It’s not fair. They need someone to fight for them.”

Dan rose and nodded. “I like your concern, Libby. I promise I’ll get someone from the PM’s office on this as soon as humanly possible. Deal?”

Libby wondered if Ramsey was just giving her words she wanted to hear. “How long?”

“How long what?”

“How long before someone comes to investigate?”

“Within the next forty-eight hours. Is that soon enough for you?”

Relief flowed through Libby. “Yes.” She moved forward suddenly, extending her hand. “Thank you, Captain. You’ve been very patient and understanding.” She gripped his hand and shook it with feeling. “Mr. Garwood and Colonel Edwards think I’ve gone off on a tangent or something….”

The last thing Dan wanted to do was release Libby’s artistic fingers. Her hand was long and lean, like her, the nails cut no-nonsense short. She wasn’t the type of woman to use hair spray, nail polish or much makeup, he thought. No, Libby Tyler was a wildflower who thrived on fresh air, lots of sunshine and a demanding physical job.

“Perhaps they’ve misinterpreted your care for something else,” Dan told her quietly. Her eyes widened beautifully, and he had the powerful urge to take her in his arms and kiss the hell out of her. Shocked by the intensity of the feeling, Dan stepped back, afraid he’d really do it. Libby was like a magnet, inviting spontaneity and erratic behavior. He was sure the children in her classes loved her fiercely, because she’d never lost her own ability to be childlike.

Libby walked to the door and opened it. “Thank you, Captain.” She hesitated. For some reason, she wanted to stay. She liked Dan Ramsey’s ability to put her at ease, as well as his sincerity. Gripping the doorknob, she walked out.

Dan stood, hands on hips, and shook his head. His first case. Although he wasn’t supposed to get into normal PM investigative matters, he didn’t mind taking Libby’s case. The real reason he’d been transferred from the Yuma Marine Air Station to Reed was his unceasing efforts to eradicate drugs from the marine base. Colonel Edwards had heard about his success in Yuma and had pulled strings to get him here, to set up the same kind of program. So why had Edwards assigned Libby Tyler’s case to him? It certainly wasn’t drug related.

Then Dan laughed, something he hadn’t done often in the past two years. Maybe Libby’s tornadolike presence had so discombobulated Edwards that he’d foisted her off on the first person he could think of. Well, Edwards’s loss was his gain.

“Sir? Did you say something?”

Dan looked up. A marine staff sergeant stood in the doorway dressed in his summer uniform. “Uh, no…I was muttering to myself.” And then Dan became all-business. “I’m Captain Ramsey, the new assistant PM.”

The marine stepped forward and offered his hand. “Sergeant Joe Donnally, sir. I’ll be working with you. In fact, I’ll be your right-hand man around here.”

“Good, you’re just the person I wanted to see,” Dan said, turning around to pick up the report. “I’ve got a case I want you to investigate for me.”

“A case? Already, sir?”

“I know the feeling. I’ve only been here two hours.” Dan smiled slightly, liking the alert, predatory look in the sergeant’s eyes. “Think my name precedes me or something, Sergeant?”

Donnally tentatively returned the smile and perused the carefully printed report. “Must have, sir.” He frowned. “Is this a drug case?”

“No. Just a pedestrian one, Sergeant.”

“But…I was told you were going to set up a drug-rehab unit here on base.”

Dan waved his hand. “That’s correct, Sergeant. Read the report, and if you have any questions before you begin the investigation, come and see me.”

“Yes, sir. But I could send this over to Captain Adams’s people to handle. He usually deals with stuff like this.”

“No, don’t do that. We’ll take care of it.”

“Sure, sir?”

“Positive.” Libby would think he was passing the buck if he did that to her. And for some reason, Dan cared what she thought of him. “I’m sure it’s going to be a simple matter to clear up, Sergeant. No, we’ll handle it here through our office.”

Joe shrugged. “Fine with me, sir.”

Dan sat back down. “Stay a minute, Sergeant. If you’re my assistant, I’d like to know a little about your background. Have a seat.”

Joe did as he was ordered, sitting at attention in the seat facing the desk. “Colonel Edwards chose me to work with you, sir, precisely because of my background. I was born and raised in National City, close to the Mexican border.”

“A lot of drug activity around your hometown?”

“Yes, sir. I ran with a Hispanic gang growing up, and I know the southern-California territory.”

“Did you sell drugs?” Dan knew the man could lie to him if he chose to, but he wanted to gauge his reaction.

“No, sir,” Joe returned steadily.

“Why?”

With a shrug, Joe said, “I lost my sister, Maria, to drugs. I saw what it did to her and what her death ended up doing to all of us. No, sir, I never used drugs. I hated them. And I hate the people who sell them to the kids.”

“I’m sorry about your sister, Sergeant,” Dan said, meaning it. Donnally’s story hit too close to home. He’d lost Janna to cocaine addiction. Since then, all his anger toward the drug culture had been turned into a personal war that included cleaning up the Yuma air station, and now Reed.

“Sir, if I can be bold, there are a couple of other good men who really hate drugs that could be assigned to your office.”

“Excellent. Give me a list of names, Sergeant. We’ll be building this rehab clinic and an undercover interdiction unit from the ground up. I can use all the good men I can get.”

Joe nodded, liking his new officer immensely. Word had come down that Ramsey was a tough officer. Well, Joe didn’t mind that type, as long as they were fair-minded. Hope rose in him. Ramsey seemed a hell of a lot better than his predecessor, Captain Jacobs. Suddenly, excitement thrummed through him.

“Sir, when will you let us in on your plans and ideas for the base?”

Dan hid a smile, liking the sergeant’s intensity and enthusiasm. “Just as soon as we can get a pool of people who hate drugs as much as you and I do.”

Joe jumped up and came to attention. “Permission to leave and get started on this, sir?”

“First things first, Sergeant.” Dan motioned to the report in his hand. “Let’s get Ms. Tyler’s investigation out of the way, shall we?”

“Yes, sir. This’ll be a piece of cake.”

“I hope so. Dismissed, Sergeant.”

Dan pushed his fingers together in a steeple as he thought about Donnally. He liked the staff sergeant, who seemed to couple intelligence with enthusiasm—the combination Dan was searching for in the team he’d put together for Reed. Brig chasers were big, mean marines who reminded him of the old corps before all the changes. As a group, they had one hell of a reputation, and no one messed with them. Not even the highly vaunted recon marines. No, brig chasers were the perfect instruments to use against the drug world.

Glancing at the phone on his desk, Dan wondered how long it would be until it would be ringing off the hook with drug-related problems. Once he’d put his drug unit together in Yuma, the phone had become a living being, stalking him twenty-four hours a day.

Reed was a lot bigger than Yuma, boasting 48,000 military personnel and 4,200 civilian employees to the Arizona air station’s 12,000 military personnel. He exhaled heavily, wondering if the drug problems at this base could be corralled and eradicated. No matter what happened, Dan knew he had to give it his best shot. If people such as Donnally were available to him, his job would be a lot easier. Still, from what Rose, his new secretary, had told him, his office and personnel were in dire need of being shaped up. Captain Jacobs had left the unit in shambles, the morale low. It would only make his job tougher if he had to whip his men and women back into line.

As Dan continued to ponder, his thoughts revolved back to Libby Tyler. If she was this upset about those five horses, why wasn’t her boss, Stuart Garwood? Or was she one of those people who did, indeed, go off on a tangent and make mountains out of mole hills? Dan grimaced, wishing mightily that he was the one going out to the stables to investigate Libby’s allegations rather than Donnally. Somehow, Dan had to figure out a way to see her. Somehow.