well better come with a good story.
Roz tugged on his hand, and he let her go. When the monkey marched straight to the woman and reached up, an itch began crawling across the back of his neck. The same one he’d felt for the last two days.
She lifted Roz to her hip without answering his question.
“Plan on talking?” he demanded. “What’s your name?”
“It’s Miranda Parrish,” she calmly stated. “Nice to meet you again, Matthew Bennett.”
Okay, so she knew his name. Not a bad sign, but not good either, given the situation. “Why are you following me?”
“What’s a cop doing posing as a janitor?”
“I already told you I’m not a cop,” he said with a frown. “And I’m the one asking questions here.”
“You aren’t the only one wanting answers,” she replied without hesitation.
“Too bad,” he snapped just as quick. “Why are you at Katanga?”
She seemed to consider her response, then shrugged. “They flew me in to work on a hippo with an abscessed molar.”
He snorted in disbelief. “You’re the crazy zoo dentist? You’re barely big enough to wrestle a meerkat, much less a hippo.”
“I wouldn’t bank on that if I were you.” She wrangled a flashy gold pen from Roz’s grip and placed it on Keyes’s desk. “How about telling me what you’re doing here and why you’re in this office?”
She was a five-foot-five bundle of defiance in a sexy tank top and shorts, and not in the least intimidated with his display of bad attitude. He’d be impressed if he weren’t so damn mad. “Listen, sweetheart. I’ve got—”
The sound of keys rattling in the outer door sounded a warning. Matt sprung into action, grabbing Miranda’s arm and propelling her, the monkey, and himself into a coat closet.
He slid the shutter style doors closed and inwardly cursed his turn of bad luck. This investigation was sliding downhill faster than a stampede.
And that wasn’t the half of it. Crammed together in tight quarters, Miranda stood alongside him, slightly angled with her soft backside pressed against his thigh. Heat from that tender part of her seeped through his better sense and distracted him with startling swiftness.
“Don’t make a sound,” he whispered into her ear.
She shifted Roz to her other hip and put a finger to her lips, as though telling the chimp to be quiet. Great. Just flipping great. This insanity could only end in disaster.
He forced his attention outside the time-bomb of a closet, peering through the slats as two men entered the office. Victor Keyes and the arrogant Warren Graham. If by some miracle they weren’t discovered, this may prove the break he’d been looking for.
Graham dropped a briefcase on the desk, clicked it open, and slid it across toward Keyes. “This is just a down payment, mind you.”
Keyes wasn’t a tall man, but what he lacked in stature he obviously made up for with oversized furniture. Reaching across the monstrosity of a desk, Katanga’s director lifted a banded chunk of cash and shuffled through it.
“A hundred Gs American, as promised.” Graham reached into his pocket for a cigarette pack and with a sharp tap popped one up. He grabbed it with his teeth and patted his pockets for a lighter.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Keyes voice rang harsh. “You will not light up in my office.”
Graham gave a flippant shrug but obeyed the command. He tapped the stick back in the pack.
Matt’s interest spiked another notch when Keyes turned to the bookshelves behind him and removed several large volumes, revealing a small metal safe in the wall.
“When’s the shipment due in?” Keyes asked as he worked the combination.
“Soon.” Graham dropped his heavy weight into a plush upholstered chair. “This one’s going to require some serious maneuvering. When my contact calls, I’ll set the drop.”
Miranda leaned closer to Matt as she shifted Roz again. Wayward strands of her dark hair tickled his nose, and he brushed her ponytail from his face, but not before he caught a whiff of something fruity. And must she stand so damn close? Her shapely ass teased his thigh, and he reached down to shift her hips aside. She snatched his hand in fierce but silent protest, squeezing his fingers with more strength than he gave her credit for. He got the warning. Hands off.
Matt forced his attention back to the scene outside the closet.
“This is the last time,” Keyes said as he emptied the contents of the briefcase into the safe. “Our deal served its purpose in the beginning, but I mean it when I say your contact needs to make other arrangements.”
“You and I both know 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