The Danforths: Marc, Tanya & Abe: The Laws of Passion / Terms of Surrender / Shocking the Senator

Two

“Laddie, heel!” Marcus shouted. “Get off of her, you big lummox.”

Dana rolled out from under the collie and got to her feet. She checked her weapon and reholstered it while the oversize dog sat on his haunches, wagging his tail and breathing hard.

“I’m sorry about that,” Marcus quickly told her. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. What made him jump me that way? Is he a guard dog? I’ve never heard of anyone using a collie for that kind of thing.”

“Laddie? No. He’s a big wimp. But he’s good with the sheep.” Marcus bent low to rub the dog’s head and gave him a quick hug. “Did you miss me, boy?”

Marcus stood and turned back to Dana. “He’s really just a big puppy. I’ve tried to train him not to jump up on visitors, but obviously we have some more work to do.”

She lowered her chin and nodded once. “Right. Well, no harm done.”

He took a second to study her again. Dana was much more than just a bodyguard. Marc was sure of it.

“That was some quick action with the gun, slick,” he chided her. “Where’d you learn to draw like that?”

Dana adjusted her jacket down over the holster again before she answered. “Would you believe anyone can do that with a lot of practice?”

He narrowed his eyes at her.

“No? I guess you wouldn’t,” she sighed. “Let’s just say that handling weapons is one of my many talents.”

“Uh-huh. And driving is another one of your many talents?” The minute he said it, his mind wandered off to what other kind of talents she might possess. Or which ones he could bring out in her…if he had a chance to do all the things with her that he’d been imagining.

“I learned to drive that way in bodyguard training. It’s a good thing to know if you anticipate a potential kidnapping.”

That stopped the images. “Do you anticipate a kidnapping?”

She shook her head. “It’s not something a bodyguard can ever ignore. But in this case, I think that an execution-style killing might be more likely. Either way, we’ll be prepared.” She headed toward the front door.

Man. Talk about throwing a wet blanket on his ardor. “I’ll open up the house for you and give you a quick tour, but then I have to see to the animals,” he finally managed after swallowing hard a couple of times.

Her eyes widened and her brows shot up. “You take care of them yourself?”

“Sure I do. Who else?” He suddenly thought back on the last couple of days. “Well, there is my neighbor who looks after them if I’m gone. He’s a full-time farmer, not a hobby farmer like most of the rest of us around here.”

“I need to stay with you while you tend your animals,” she told him. “If you want to do that before you clean up, then I’ll go with you. What exactly do you have to do?”

She was too much, this tough cookie with curly soft hair and a spine made of steel. Intelligent and athletic to be sure. But she also had a tiny hint of softness behind those big brown eyes.

“You’ll see.” Marc unbuttoned the top button on his shirt and threw his jacket over the little bench beside the front door.

Then he turned to Laddie. “Come on boy. Time to work for your supper.”

As they walked toward the sheep pasture, he began to wonder about Dana and her background. “Have you ever had a pet to take care of?”

“Never. I don’t have time for such things.”

“Not even when you were a kid?”

She looked away and hesitated, apparently trying to decide how much of herself she was willing to reveal.

At last she gave in and shrugged her shoulders. “Where I was raised, animals were too much of a luxury. I knew a couple of kids from the block who had dogs.” Her eyes were dark and stormy. “But my father always used to say pets were a waste of money and that their families would be better off eating them rather than feeding them.”

Marc winced at the thought. “Where were you raised?”

“Somewhere far removed from where you were brought up,” she replied with sarcastic fervor. “Not all of us are lucky enough to have mansions and luxuries while we’re growing up. The place where we lived was smaller than one of your guest bathrooms, I’m sure.”

“Hey. Take it easy. I didn’t mean to insult you. It’s just that the thought of eating a pet is a little hard for me. I have enough trouble thinking that someday I’ll have to sell off some of my sheep. So far, all I’ve managed to do is have a man come in to shear them in the spring.”

“My father…thought about things a lot differently than your average man.” A couple of beats went by in silence. “So, you think of your sheep as pets?” she asked with an abrupt change of topic.

“I try not to, but sometimes it isn’t easy to treat them like a business proposition, either.”

They’d arrived at the gate between pasture and pen. Marc swung open the gate and whistled for Laddie to get around behind the small herd and begin moving them toward the pen.

“Come on,” he urged her. “I’ll show you how to set out their feed. And then you can learn how to clean out a chicken coop. Won’t that be fun?”

She threw him such an incredulous look that he had to laugh. Wherever she’d grown up, she certainly hadn’t been raised on a farm.

But the surprise was that she was willing to get her hands dirty. She dug right into the chores. He’d never met a woman quite like her.

Dana was so far removed from the last woman in his life that it was almost a joke. Nothing, however, about that miserable affair had been a bit funny.

Dana took the last dish from Marcus, dried it and put it in the cabinet. She turned and watched him clean the counters. He was such an intense kind of guy that this domestic scene seemed slightly off.

While he’d been in the shower, she’d done a cursory search of the house. No one else was here at the moment and, judging by the absence of anyone else’s personal effects, he lived alone. She hadn’t had the time to go through his papers or files, but she’d noted that his answering machine had an even dozen messages blinking.

She wanted to find out more about him, before she did anymore digging. “Whatever made you decide to live on a hobby farm?”

When he turned to her with a slightly embarrassed smile, she felt a lump forming in her throat. She couldn’t figure out why the handsome and outgoing man’s sudden red flush should bother her so much. But she felt her own pink-tinged blush rushing up from her chest and spreading over her neck and face.

He looked good enough to eat for dessert. His hair was still wet from the shower and had darkened to a deep coffee color. He’d changed into a pair of jeans. No shirt. No shoes. Just a worn pair of work jeans.

His well-earned muscles rippled with the slight sheen of sweat, making her want to touch him—to learn the ins and outs of every crevice on his body. He was the first man that had ever made her tremble at the sight of a bare chest.

But she couldn’t allow herself to dwell on his formidable body, she chided herself. He was her suspect and a potential informer. She had to play this smart.

“I don’t quite know how to answer you,” he replied. “I work hard at my job and don’t have many hobbies…anymore. I bought this place a couple of years ago because I thought it would make a good place to raise a family.”

He hung up his dish towel and sat on a stool at the kitchen counter. “About a year ago I…uh…changed my mind about the family. But then I thought the place seemed lonely without youngsters around, so I bought a few lambs. And here we are—a real working farm.”

“You don’t mind the work?”

“Not at all. It relaxes me. I’ve found I love to work the ground and care for the animals. It’s so basic. So elemental and idyllic. And a small place like this doesn’t take much time.”

She hung up her own towel. “I like working my body hard too. When I’m concentrating on the work, the rest of the world disappears. It’s quite powerful.”

“Exactly.” Marc tried not to react to her words, but the image of her working her powerful body while on top of his body just wouldn’t go away.

The silence between them was tense for a minute.

Finally, Dana broke the ice. “I checked your security system while you were in the shower. It’s a fairly good system. It should keep you safe.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I had it installed when I moved in, but I keep forgetting to set the darn thing.”

“Not while I’m on the case, you won’t.”

“Will you be staying here with me?” It hadn’t occurred to him that this was a twenty-four hour a day job.

“Of course. Kidnappers and assassins don’t exactly operate in broad daylight or when it’s convenient for you.”

“But I’m going to be…uh…searching for evidence to prove my innocence.” He didn’t want anyone around if he had to break into someone’s office looking for evidence.

“Not a problem. I’ll be right there with you.”

“But…”

She didn’t let him finish his sentence, but waved him off instead. “That’s my job. I intend to keep you alive until the trial. And I don’t care what it takes.”

He thought she was the most adorable “tough guy” he’d ever laid eyes on. If he was really in more danger than merely being framed, he couldn’t have picked a better person to watch over him.

“Do you receive mail out here?” she asked.

“No. I have everything sent to my office.”

“That’s good. It might take them a little while to figure out where you live. We have some time.”

“Time? Time for what?” Now if that wasn’t a leading question, he didn’t know what was. But he knew exactly where he wanted it to lead.

“To prepare ourselves for an attack…more than just the alarm system. Do you own any weapons?”

“Guns? No way. I’ve always figured that in case of a break in, I’d probably get shot with my own gun.”

“How about Laddie? Will he bark if someone comes around to let us know there’s danger?”

“Hmm.” He thought of the overgrown, fluffy puppy and grinned. “Maybe. If we can keep him out of the house. He likes to sleep on the suede sofa. And he’s a pretty heavy sleeper, too.”

Dana threw her hands on her hips and grimaced. “For crying out loud. Haven’t you ever considered the possibility of a kidnapping before? You’re a wealthy and intelligent man, Marcus. That sort of thing can easily happen if you don’t pay attention.”

An unwelcome memory snuck up and jabbed him. “Yeah, I know that. One of my cousins disappeared a few years back. Victoria was a pain in the neck when we were kids, but she had turned into quite a beautiful teenager. The family figured when she was missing for a while that it was a kidnapping, but no ransom demand was ever made.”

“Disappeared? Was she ever found?”

He slowly shook his head. “Maybe she just ran away from home. But I doubt it. She didn’t seem unhappy.” Marc stood and stretched. “I guess I have been a little careless. But somehow you just don’t think things like that can ever happen to you.”

“Well then, I’d like to suggest that we spend no more time here at your farm than we have to. I’ll go out in a while and move my car out of sight. I’ll put it into the barn next to your SUV for the night. And we’ll keep the drapes drawn and lights dim. Tomorrow we can make other arrangements. All right?”

“Yes, I guess so. I do have the animals to worry about, however. But maybe I can ask my neighbor to keep an eye on them again.”

“Good idea. And I think you should let your answering machine pick up all your calls from now on.” Dana stood and shook the kinks out of her arms and legs.

She looked like a raw bundle of energy packaged into a long and beautiful body. The very air around her shivered with the powerful and electric vibes she threw off. Man, would he like to capture a little of that energy. She seemed so vital and sensual.

Marc couldn’t remember lusting after a woman the way he’d been lusting after Dana…not since…way back as a horny teenager. He’d been aroused since the first moment he’d seen her standing in the parking lot.

“By the way,” she interrupted his thoughts. “When I was checking your security, I noticed that you had a few phone messages on your answering machine. Maybe you should listen to them so you can clear the machine for more.”

“I imagine that’s my family wondering how I’m holding up after my unfortunate incarceration.”

“You have a big family, don’t you?”

“Enormous. There were five kids in my immediate family. And my aunt and uncle have four kids…plus a great guy they took in, who seems like just another brother now.”

He headed toward the den, but kept talking over his shoulder. “A couple of months ago we found out about an adult sister that none of us had known anything about. And just lately we’ve had a rash of weddings and engagements, adding spouses and potential spouses, with kids and babies coming along faster than you can think.”

“Whew! How do keep them all straight?” She tagged behind him down the hall.

“It’s easy when you’re born into it. I’m not sure how all the newcomers are going to get along with everyone else, though.” Marc flipped on the light in the den and went to his desk. “Do you have any siblings? Or were you lucky enough to be an only child?”

Dana wasn’t sure how to answer that. Just how much of herself did she dare lay open to him? Strangely enough, she really wanted to tell him the truth about herself.

This wasn’t a deep undercover operation. She’d been on several of those in the past. But her boss was convinced that Marcus was truly just a pawn of the drug cartel’s and not a major player in their operation.

Her job here was to find a way into Marcus’s confidence so that he would turn over any evidence he might have and then testify against the cartel in court. The more she was around him and the better she began to know him, though, the less she wanted to be undercover at all.

There were some things about the man that intrigued her. Things like a deeply injured look in his eyes that appeared whenever he thought no one was watching.

So…was he on the take from the mob? After all, the state’s attorney thought there was enough evidence against him to charge him with racketeering. But something about him—maybe it was the gentle way he had with his animals, or the rough and hungry looks he’d been throwing in her direction—just didn’t seem like most of the criminals she’d known in the past.

She’d been so sure at first that he was a spoiled rich man’s son who’d signed on with the bad guys to get what he wanted. Her training led her to make quick judgments about people and get to their real motives later.

Sometimes a special agent had to make life and death decisions based only on a cursory observation. And she had been observing Marcus—a lot. Now she just didn’t know what to think.

As the silence began to grow awkward, she opted to tell him the truth. “I was an only child. My parents are both dead now. I’m all the family I’ve got.” She took a moment and made a snap decision to trust him with another small piece of herself. “I like the solitary life. I’ve never been impressed with the way most families interact.”

Marcus scowled at her. “Not even your own?”

“Especially my own.”

He stepped closer, lifted a hand and grazed the line of her jaw with a knuckle. “That’s a sad commentary, Dana. It can be a wonderful thing to know there are people who care about you no matter what.”

A soft and concerned look moved into his eyes. Up this close, she could smell his tangy, fresh-sage scent and feel the heat emanating from his bare chest.

He kept on gently stroking her face and gazing into her eyes. Soothing and stirring. She felt her pulse begin to jackhammer and her senses went on hyperalert.

When he leaned closer and his eyes zeroed in on her mouth, the heat between them exploded. With a shake of her head, she caught herself before she fell into his arms. She had to remember that he was just part of the job.

Dana took a step back and averted her eyes toward his desk. She’d never before given herself over to a man. And she would definitely not be starting with someone who was a suspect in a case she was working.

“You’d better check your messages,” she said in a raspy voice. “Is it too warm in here for you?”

The dreamy look disappeared from his eyes, but he smiled and cocked his head toward her. “You’re hot? Why don’t you take off some of those clothes.”

Okay. She might be a virgin, but she wasn’t totally naive. That was a come-on she’d heard often enough before.

She rolled her shoulders and narrowed her eyes at him. “Just check your messages. I’ll be fine.”

He shrugged a shoulder, but the smile stayed put as he turned to punch the Play button on the machine.

The first couple of messages were from various family members asking him if he needed anything and to please call if he wanted company or a place to stay. The distress and genuine concern in their voices was quite evident.

Dana wasn’t sure how such obvious love amongst family members made her feel. It was an interesting side note to Marcus’s character profile. But deeper than that, and on a personal level, it almost made her feel…lonely.

“Marc? We need to talk.” A deep voice boomed out of the machine. “I just got a call from…well, it was about you. And it’s important that we discuss this as soon as possible. I’ll be at the office until ten or eleven o’clock tonight. I’d rather not talk about it over the phone, so why don’t you come over? Give me a call.”

The message clicked off and Marcus touched the button on his machine that erased the previous messages.

“Who was that?” she asked. If it was one of the cartel members, this might be the break she’d been waiting for.

“That was my brother, Ian.”

“It was? He sounded worried.”

“Yeah, he did, didn’t he?”

“Is he the one that heads up the family company?”

Marcus nodded. “I think I’d better go to the office and talk to him. Do you mind?”

Suddenly, it struck Dana that maybe their entire company was a front for the cartel. Were they all involved in money laundering? Perhaps the family was using Marcus as a scapegoat.

“I don’t mind at all,” she said. “In fact, I insist.”

“Great. I’ll go throw on a shirt and see you later.” He picked up his keys off the desk and started for the door.

“Hold on.” She grabbed his arm and swung him around. “You don’t go anywhere without me, remember? Like it or not, from now until your trial we’re stuck with each other as if we’d been put together with Crazy Glue. Get used to it.”

Three

Was he glad that Dana had insisted on coming along to the office? He couldn’t quite settle his thoughts when it came to her. But they were both about to leave for his meeting with Ian, just the same.

He wanted her to trust him and believe in him, though he had no idea why. But would she inhibit his efforts to prove himself innocent? He sighed, resigned to having her company whether he wanted it or not.

“How about if we take my SUV and I’ll drive?” he asked, as they locked the front door and set the alarm system.

She shook her head and headed for the driver’s side of her small, bland sedan. “No thanks. You don’t have the training, and the whole world already knows what kind of car you normally drive. In the protection business, the idea is to vary your routine…change cars, times and the routes to your regular haunts.”

Well, Marc had certainly found one thing he was not happy about. He didn’t like riding in her car. He wanted to drive himself around like usual, and he liked his normal routine. This whole business was really starting to suck.

He directed her to the Danforth corporate office building via the back roads and downtown side streets. The parking lot was all but empty at this time of night. A security van patrolled the exterior grounds and Ian’s car was parked in his normal spot.

“Nice office,” Dana said as she parked the car where he’d directed. “These brick buildings that are so common in old Savannah are very efficient. And I imagine all the trees and flowers make a nice impression on clients. Do you have many muggings or break ins in this part of town?”

He opened his car door and “tsked” at her. “You look at a beautiful historic building and fantastically lush landscaping and think of muggings? You’ve been in the bodyguard business too long, Ms. Aldrich.” He breathed deep and took in the sweet smell of honeysuckle that he’d loved since he was a kid.

She shrugged her shoulders, climbed out and locked her car. “To be the best at my job, you have to work at it twenty-four hours a day. Everything I see has some significance to the…uh…protection business. I don’t pay attention to the superficial things in this world.”

“You never take any time off to just enjoy yourself—to smell the flowers?” He slid his key into the door lock at the employee entrance and opened it. “What’s that old saying about all work and no play…?”

She grimaced and stepped ahead of him into the darkened downstairs hallway. “I don’t mind being dull. The job has all the excitement I need.”

While he led her down the hall toward the elevator behind reception, his heels clicked loudly against the polished-pecan floors. Again, Marc began to wonder about the intelligent and strong woman who’d become his bodyguard. Just what kind of person was she?

There seemed to be so much hidden about her. Did she have any kind social of life? Like, for instance, a husband or a boyfriend somewhere? When she’d talked about not caring much for family, he’d thought she had only meant her parents. Now he was becoming convinced that she was a real loner. With no one in her life who mattered.

And it was becoming very important to him to figure her out. If she’d let him, he wanted to be the one to show her how to relax and enjoy herself. To appreciate history and learn to see the beauty of the world around her. She was beginning to matter. But for the life of him, he couldn’t pin down the reason he cared so much.

That kind of reflection would have to come after he’d cleared his name. And kept himself out of jail. First things first.

The elevator reached the fifth floor and they stepped out onto the Persian carpet runner and headed in the direction of the CEO’s office. Marcus pointed out his own office down the hall the other way.

Ian was waiting for them at his desk. He stood when they came in and shot Marcus a wary glance.

“Ian, this is my new bodyguard, Dana Aldrich.”

“Yes, I heard all about her from Adam.” Ian turned to her. “How do you do, Ms. Aldrich. Michael Whittaker tells me he doesn’t know you personally, but he speaks quite highly of your reputation. Thank you for taking this job on such short notice.”

She shook his hand. “I’m glad to help.”

“Good.” Ian turned back to his desk. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a few things to say to my brother in private. You may wait in my reception area. I don’t think there’ll be any attempts on Marc’s life while he’s in my office.”

Dana straightened her spine and stood her ground. She turned to Marcus for his word on the matter. Marcus looked hesitant but didn’t jump in to ask her to stay.

“I won’t be in your way, Mr. Danforth,” she insisted to Ian. “But I believe a good bodyguard should know where all the threats are coming from. If what you have to say to Marcus pertains to his arrest or the charges against him, I’d like to be made aware of it at the same time.”

“Yes, Ian. I want her to stay,” Marcus finally urged. “She’s going to be with me as I find the evidence to prove my innocence. She might as well know what we’re up against.”

Ian laid a hand on his arm. “All right, baby brother. I guess you need as many people on your side as you can get right now. If that’s what you want, she can stay. Both of you have a seat.”

Ian eased into his huge leather chair and drove his fingers through his hair. “You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

Marcus leaned his big six-two frame toward the front of the high-backed visitor’s chair. “What’s wrong? Is it the family? Are they all okay?”

“Yes,” Ian told him. “Everyone is fine at the moment. Everyone but you.”

“It’s not Dad then? He can’t be happy about my arrest when he’s just about to swing this election. He’s still running ahead, isn’t he?”

“Dad’s not concerned about how your arrest will or will not affect his election chances. He’s concerned about you. We all are.” Ian hesitated a moment, then bit his lip.

Dana was astounded. Everything she’d ever read or heard about Ian Danforth said he was the self-assured and competent president of a national firm. But at the moment, he looked stung and unsure of himself. She sat back and waited to hear his story.

“I had a phone call a little while ago, Marc. From…”

“Don’t tell me. I’ll bet it was from our nemesis, Sonny Hernandez. I don’t have any doubts that he’s in on this frame-up. What did he want?”

“Excuse me,” Dana interrupted. “I know I said I’d just be quiet, but who’s this Sonny Hernandez?”

Marcus turned to her. “He a scum gopher for a drug cartel and a local coffee bean importer. Nasty piece of work he is, too. He’s been pressuring us to do business with the importer exclusively.”

“What kind of business?”

“He doesn’t just want to do business with our shipping company,” Ian told her. “He wants our help with laundering their dirty drug money.”

“Ah. Drug dealing is nasty stuff. What kind of pressure?” she asked, in as innocent tone of voice as she could manage.

“The threats started back in February,” Marcus replied. “Then in April they got a lot more personal when they blew up one of our warehouse offices.”

“Blew it up? An explosion? Was anyone hurt?” Dana had read about it in the files, but she wanted their take on who had done it.

Ian shook his head. “No. And so far the police haven’t found any clues as to who set it off. But we know who’s behind it.”

“You mean you think the importers blew up your building to coerce you into doing what they want?”

Ian scowled. “Yes and no. Yes, the explosion was meant to scare me into doing what they want. But no, it’s not coming from the local coffee bean people. Like Marc was saying, they’re just a front for a Colombian drug cartel. The cartel has threatened my life several times, and went so far as kidnapping an innocent woman who they mistook for my mistress. And when those tactics didn’t work, they framed my brother.”

Marcus stirred in his chair then addressed Ian. “So what did good old charming Sonny have to say tonight?”

“It wasn’t Sonny this time,” Ian told him. “The call was from the kingpin himself. Ernesto Estoban Escalante.”

Dana’s jaw dropped opened, but she covertly closed it and swallowed hard. Escalante? The most notorious drug lord in the world? The FBI had been hunting the man for nearly a decade. Every time they thought they had him, he’d drop back into the oblivion of the Colombian rain forests where his cartel ruled supreme.

And he had personally called Ian Danforth tonight? Suddenly everything changed for Dana. If what Ian and Marcus had told her was true, the Danforths were in big trouble. And she had stepped into something much larger than Marcus and his racketeering charge.

But she still wasn’t positive that the Danforths were innocents. What if Marcus had given in to the cartel to protect his brother? He could still make a good informant.

Dana kept her mouth shut and listened.

Ian was speaking to Marcus and shaking his head sadly. “I don’t know how to fix this for you, Marc. Escalante plainly told me that if I would help them launder their money through the coffee supplies that he’d get you off the hook. But…”

“The bastard as much as admitted to you that he framed me?” Marcus snapped.

“Yeah. I thought I’d lived through the worst they could throw at me. But…I can’t sit back and let you go to jail for something you didn’t do.” Ian grimaced and took a breath. “Besides, they won’t stop at that. Next they’ll probably start murdering all of us…one at a time.”

“You can’t be thinking of giving in to them now?” Marcus sounded stunned. “You can’t do that. I’m not going to jail for something I didn’t do. Don’t worry. I’ll find the evidence to prove my innocence. Just give me a little time.”

Dana just had to interrupt again to make a comment. “By any chance did you happen to get tonight’s phone call on tape?”

Ian narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t normally tape my phone conversations, no.”

“Are you going to try getting the police involved with this again?” Marcus asked his brother. “They have to believe you by now.”

“They do believe us. But there’s nothing they can do without proof. All the leads we’ve given them have turned cold. The cartel is too powerful.” Ian took a deep breath and ran the back of his hand across his mouth. “And too dangerous. I’m not going to let any more of my family suffer out of some misguided sense of righteousness. I can’t. It’s not worth it.”

“Ian, please,” Marcus begged. “Give me at least a few days to find the proof. I promise you, I’m not going to jail…and we’ll find the evidence to stop this once and for all.”

Ian clenched his fists on his desk. Then he turned to Dana. “Can you guarantee me that you’ll keep him alive while he investigates this damned murdering drug lord?”

Dana hesitated for one second then answered him sharply. “I can guarantee you that as long as I am alive, Marcus will be fine. Nothing will happen to him.”

“Yeah? Well, I’d just as soon you didn’t die over my stupid pride, either.” Ian stood and started to pace. “All right, Marc,” he finally agreed. “I can put them off for a couple more weeks. But after that I give up. You are not going to do time for a crime you didn’t commit. Not as long as I can stop it.”

Marcus stood and went to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Ian. We’ll beat them.” He turned and smiled at Dana. “And I’ll be all right. I have a guardian angel at my side.”