Dangerous Alliance

“Yes.” Rose had worked in Reed HQ for eighteen years, and Dan was finding her indispensable for the straight scoop on what was going on around the base.

“Trouble with a capital T. His wife was formerly married to a marine sergeant. Unfortunately, the sergeant died and she married Parker on the rebound, six months later. The chief has never forgotten his wife’s first love was a marine. He’s always been the jealous type.”

Mouth quirking, Dan leveled a stare across the desk at Rose. Her black hair was pushed up into a haphazard knot on top of her head, and she wore long, dangling red earrings that matched her red-and-pink cotton blouse. “And so,” Dan said, “he doesn’t like marines very much at all and is a pain in the rear in any working relationship with marines. Right?”

Rose beamed. “Go to the head of the class, Captain Ramsey.” She grinned impishly. “They said you were a tough officer. But I think you’re smart and tough.”

Grinning, Dan leaned back. “Being tough isn’t going to smooth out this problem, Rose. Do you think a little diplomacy will work with Parker?”

“Captain Jacobs hated the police chief, and vice versa. But then, Jacobs couldn’t get along with his own shadow. I think if you appear willing to work with Parker and let him think he’s running the show, there’ll be room to maneuver.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Rose. Okay, so handle Parker with kid gloves and pull his strings without him knowing it. Can do.” He frowned. “I just wish my own people weren’t so damned sluggish and morale wasn’t so low.”

“Joe Donnally’s squared away,” Rose assured him. “He and Captain Jacobs got along like a dog and cat. He’ll level with you the way I do. But he needs your permission to speak frankly, while I don’t. Ask him for his opinion and use his suggestions. He’s been at Reed for two years. As a brig chaser and a people manager, he’s the best. I think if you shower your people with a little attention and pats on the back for a job well done, they’ll snap back into line real quick.”

Laughing softly, Dan nodded. He picked up a pen and tapped it against the desk. “At least there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.”

“You got handed a can of worms when you came here, Captain.” She grinned lopsidedly. “But then, I feel you’re just the kind of man to handle a can of worms. My money’s on you.”

Glancing out the venetian blinds, Dan saw a police car pull into the parking lot. A heavyset man in a dark blue uniform stepped out. He had a bulldoglike face, jowls and all. “Keep telling me that, Rose. I think Parker’s arrived.”

“Uh-oh.” Rose got nimbly to her feet. “I’m outta here. Want me to send him in and get coffee?”

He nodded. “Yes, thanks.”

“Good luck.”

Dan smiled and watched her leave as silently as she’d come. Rose must weigh at least two hundred and fifty pounds, he thought, but for all her bulk, she was surprisingly agile and quiet. As he pulled the blind aside a bit more to take a good look at Parker, Dan’s mind shifted unexpectedly to Libby Tyler. Her file was still sitting in his Out basket. He just hadn’t had time to contact her yet with the results of Donnally’s investigation. That was one woman he wanted to see, but the pressures and demands of his job were drowning him. She probably thought he’d buried her investigation in the circular file. He’d have to get the report over to her soon.

With a sigh, he released the blind and went over to his desk to tidy up the piles of work. Might as well make a good first impression on the police chief. At least his summer uniform was perfectly pressed, the ribbons on the left side of his chest in order and straight.

Rose knocked on the door and opened it. “Captain Ramsey,” she sang out, “Chief Parker’s here to pay his respects.”

Dan rose and smiled. “Thanks, Rose. Chief, come on in.”

Parker glared as the door shut behind him and Dan offered his hand. Grudgingly, he shook it.

“Captain.”

“Sit down, Chief. Rose will bring us coffee.”

“I’m not staying that long, Ramsey.” He took off his cap and tucked it under his left arm. “I’m making this call because it’s necessary, not because I want to do it.”

Resting his hands on his hips, Dan coolly held the chief’s belligerent stare. “Okay, Chief. What can I do for you, then?”

Parker stared at him. “I hope you’re nothing like Jacobs.”

“I didn’t know the man.”

“We didn’t get along.”

“So what will it take for us to mend some of those bridges, Chief? We don’t have a choice in this matter.”

Parker looked around the office and then back at the marine. “You got any background in law enforcement?”

“I’m a lawyer.”

Parker’s eyebrows rose and fell. “What else?”

“Drug enforcement is my jurisdiction, Chief, which is why I’ve been assigned to Reed. I’m interested in stopping any trafficking going on inside the base or around it. I’ll need your support and, sometimes, your help.”

“Captain Jacobs didn’t give a damn about anything except how much time he had left before he got out.”

“I’m looking at a thirty-year career, Chief, and I can promise you I’m in for the long haul, particularly in regards to drug enforcement.” Dan saw Parker’s face turn a dull red. “Have a seat, Chief,” he coaxed. “I’m interested in your assessment of drug traffic through your city. And I want to know how we can help you. Of course, I’m primarily interested in marines either selling or using drugs, but I’ll work just as hard to see to it we help you nail civilian drug pushers, too.”

“Humph, sounds like a lot of bull to me, Ramsey.”

Dan sat down. “Try me, then. I don’t mind being put on the hot seat. I’m used to being there,” he offered, letting a grin leak through his professional demeanor. Gradually, Parker was losing the chip on his shoulder. Dan was confident of his diplomacy skills. What excited him most was getting the best out of each person he met. Parker was no exception, so Dan took up the challenge of changing the chief’s perception about working with the marines of Reed.

* * *

Rose poked her head around his door after Parker had left. “Not bad, Captain. He stayed a whole hour. What’d ya do? Hog-tie him?”

“Almost,” Dan said dryly. He pulled his sack lunch out of a drawer in his desk. “I’m starving to death.”

“Sorry, Captain, but you’ve got another visitor.”

Frowning, he unwrapped the beef sandwich he’d fixed for himself earlier that morning at his apartment. “Who now?”

“Don’t get that unhappy look on your face. This one will make you smile. Libby Tyler’s here.”

Libby. Dan set the sandwich aside. “God, I promised her I’d get back to her before this.” He started rummaging frantically through the teetering stack of files on his desk. “Send her in, Rose.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Locating the file, Dan pulled it out. Just as he opened it, Libby entered his office and suddenly his pressured, demanding day melted away. Her sable hair was caught in a loose ponytail tied with a yellow ribbon, and she looked like a freshly scrubbed college girl. Escaped tendrils curled at her temples, and the thick bangs across her brow emphasized her large green eyes. She wore a long-sleeved, pale yellow cotton blouse that complemented her canary yellow riding breeches. More than anything, Dan liked the flush to her freckled cheeks and her sensual mouth.

He stood quickly, nearly tipping over his chair as he rose. Grimacing, he caught it and dropped the file on the desk. “Hi, come on in.”

Libby hesitated in the doorway. Yes, Dan Ramsey was still just as pulverizingly handsome as she’d remembered. For three days now, she’d been trying valiantly to push him out of her mind—and heart. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop by, Captain.”

“Sure, no problem,” he said, bending down to retrieve the file. “Sit down. I’m glad you dropped by.” He liked the way she walked, with a fluid kind of grace. Despite her height, she reminded him of a quietly flowing river. Did horseback riding impart that ballerinalike quality? It must. “I’ve got to apologize,” he said, motioning to his overflowing investigation files. “I think everyone on base heard I was here. The cases coming in have been more like an avalanche than a dribble.”

She nodded and sat down. “Then you must be very good at what you do.” Her pulse bounded when he smiled ruefully and sat, opening the file in front of him. Libby found herself wanting to stare deeply into his amused azure eyes. The crow’s-feet around Dan’s eyes were deep, as were the lines around his mouth. This man knew how to laugh, how to find the positive in life, she thought, violently fighting the desire to like him even more.

Seeing the opened sandwich and paper bag at his right elbow, she felt bad at having interrupted his late lunch. “What did you find out about the horses?” she asked eagerly.

Dan rapidly read Joe’s typed report. “Mr. Garwood feels it’s a group of teenage dependents doing it, Libby.”