Diamond Legacy. Monica McCabe

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СКАЧАТЬ that’s a problem.” Graham looked like he wanted to sneer. “You opened this pipeline. Shutting it off won’t be easy.”

      “We are done after this drop.” Keyes slammed the safe door shut. “Tell them.”

      “These aren’t the kind of people you tell what to do.” Graham’s face sharpened and Matt caught a shadow of worry. “It ends when they’re ready.”

      “This agreement was never indefinite.” Keyes grabbed the books off his desk and returned them to the shelf. “Both sides knew there were limits. I’ve kept my end of the bargain. They need to keep theirs.”

      “You’ve obviously no idea who you’re dealing with,” said Graham.

      Keyes straightened to his full diminutive height and stared at his personnel manager. “I expect them to do as agreed, and I expect you to deliver the message.”

      “Fine, I’ll deliver it,” Graham snapped. “But I wouldn’t be holding my breath if I were you.”

      This was exactly the break Matt needed. Only two things were worth that kind of down payment. Diamonds or weapons. And in most cases, the two went hand in hand.

      As much as it pained him to admit, Graham was right. The diamond cartel had a ruthless underbelly. Keeping promises didn’t come high on their list of priorities. But keeping money flowing did. Keyes lived in a fantasy world if he thought there was any code of honor they would adhere to. This was a one-way street.

      “Call me when you have the drop time,” Keyes said as they crossed into the outer room. Graham’s response grew muffled.

      His fruity-smelling companion tried to reach for the door but Matt grabbed her shoulders, holding her still until he heard the telltale click of the outer door. Then, with an exhale of relief, he let her go.

      Miranda bolted out of the closet like he had the plague. “I knew it!” She set the monkey on the floor and looked up at him, eyes full of indignant anger. “I knew the minute I saw you something’s wrong.”

      Well, damn. Hiding the reason he was here was useless. She’d plainly heard the deal go down. “Okay, so I’m on a minor investigation. Don’t get worked up over it.”

      His biggest problem right now was keeping her quiet. He’d spent months tracking the diamond flow this far. Stopping now was out of the question.

      “That’s it?” Her tone was incredulous. “That’s all you have to say about it?”

      “What else is there?” He leaned back against Keyes’s huge desk. “I’m doing a job just like you. No need for anything to change.”

      “Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you”—her arms crossed over her chest—“but I saw the way you do your job. There’s nothing delicate about it.”

      He pushed off the desk. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

      “This isn’t the airport where you can thrash about recklessly. Katanga is fragile and vital to this community. What’s your plan to protect it?”

      The woman had lost her mind. “Did you just hear that conversation? That kind of money brings trouble, sweetheart. Something wicked this way comes.”

      “I heard it.” The toe of her boot began tapping against the carpet in annoyance, just like his tenth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Pegram. “Katanga is not to blame for the greed of one or two employees,” she lectured. “Don’t you have judgment enough to see that it must remain intact, despite an unscrupulous director? And what if that money is actually for something legitimate?”

      “Nobody pays a hundred grand in cash!” How could anyone be so naïve? “That payment is under the table. As in not legal, and I’m putting a stop to it.”

      “I don’t dispute the possibility of corruption.” She pointed to Roz as the chimp tugged on a side table’s brass handle. “Look at her. That’s what’s at stake. Even if what you say is true, under no circumstances can you jeopardize the work done here.”

      “That’s hitting below the belt. I like animals, too.”

      “Then keep Katanga out of it.”

      He shook his head. “Not possible.”

      “I’ll help you find a way.”

      No. Absolutely not. The last thing he needed was a busybody dentist with Nancy Drew tendencies. “Stick to polishing hippo teeth and stay out of this.”

      “Too late.” She stared him down. “I’m already involved whether you like it or not.”

      “Well, I don’t like it. Not one bit. This isn’t a game, Miranda Parrish. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be. You and your husband need to do whatever you came for and go home.”

      “I’m not married,” she said coolly. “I believe you’re referring to my assistant, Jason.”

      She still remained unimpressed with his hard cop attitude. And she wasn’t married.

      “Doesn’t matter,” he replied. “We have a problem. I’m now compromised. Your silence is necessary to the success of my mission. The only question is…what to do about that?” He stared at her with his best intimidation tactic, hoping to scare some sense into her.

      It didn’t work.

      “Think about this,” she cajoled. “I’m on the inside, have access to things you don’t. Your investigation could be resolved twice as fast with my help.”

      “I don’t want your help. I want your silence.”

      “And I want to preserve Katanga.”

      This wasn’t working. “You obviously don’t understand the serious nature of the situation. Dangerous men are involved, and you can end up hurt, or very, very dead.”

      “Or maybe it’s a hollow threat from a man who doesn’t like interference. Either way, I won’t be brushed off.” She rescued a glass paperweight from Roz and put it back on the desk. “If you can’t promise Katanga remains unscathed, then you’ll have to accept my help.”

      “I’ll have to—” He couldn’t believe her. “What does it take to get through to you?”

      “How about a better explanation?”

      They were getting nowhere. He glanced at his watch. Not much time left before the lunch crowd returned. Okay, something simple and watered down then.

      “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He rubbed at his chin, scratching the day’s growth of beard. “Botswana has a small smuggling problem. It’s my job to track crime rings and break them up.”

      “If you mean diamonds, I know. It was a side note in my college thesis regarding the perils of African wildlife.”

      Great, she probably knew just enough to be trouble and too little to make her wary. “Don’t get ideas of some grand conspiracy. If its diamonds, and I’m not saying it is, it’s probably small potatoes.”

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