Christy began to shake so hard that Curt pulled her back over to the chair, sat himself down in it, and pulled her to his lap. “I’m supposed to wait for his phone call,” Christy said be-tween chattering teeth.
Curt nodded, acting as though they had all the time in the world.
Christy continued, “I have his money, and I’ve already paid all the hospital and funeral bills.”
“Were those also part of his demands?”
Christy nodded. “He wanted the money so he could leave and start over.”
“Did he want anything else?” Curt asked, never taking his eyes from Christy’s tear-streaked face.
Christy thought for a moment, realizing that she needed to ex-plain the drugs to Curt. She and Grant had only discussed them at the mall, not over the telephone. Curt might have monitored every single call she’d received, but he couldn’t possibly know about her conversation at the mall. She hesitated, wanting to tell him, but knowing that if she did and he didn’t allow her to meet Grant, Sarah would be lost to her forever.
She searched his face for a moment, looking for something that would tell her what she should do. Curt’s eyes were filled with love and patience, and Christy wanted to wrap her arms around him and forget all about Grant and Sarah.
“Christy,” Curt spoke her name in a low, hypnotic way. “You can’t trust a man like Grant to live by his word. Whatever he’s promised you, whatever he’s demanded, you have to realize that he’s dangerous and evil. Men like him never play by our kind of rules. Chances are better than not you’ll show up with his money, and he’ll leave you with nothing.”
Christy started to protest, but Curt put a finger to her lips.
“I’ve dealt with Grant’s kind before. He’ll use Sarah as long as he can benefit by it. What’s to keep him from returning from time to time to demand more money from you? This isn’t the end of anything,” Curt said in a voice betraying weariness. “It’s only the beginning.”
“But he promised,” Christy finally remarked.
“Sure he did, honey,” Curt said gently. “Look, I know you want to believe him, but ask yourself why you should. I know I’ve deceived you in the past, Christy, but everything is on the level now. I only did what I did because of the investigation. I didn’t know you then—even if I was falling in love with you. I’m not lying to you anymore. I risked it all to confide in you, to solicit your help. Please, Christy, tell me everything. Did Grant demand anything else?”
Christy realized the moment she’d dreaded had finally come. To continue, she would either have to lie to Curt and betray her love for him, or she’d have to tell him about the drugs and hope that he’d help her. Dear God, she prayed silently, please show me what to do.
Christy got to her feet and walked over to the crate. Struggling with her emotions, she paused. Taking a deep breath, she pushed aside the lid and looked back at Curt.
“He wants this, too,” she whispered. “It seems there’s a great deal of cocaine in here, and Grant says it belongs to him.”
Curt got to his feet, his eyes penetrating Christy’s heart with their warmth and admiration. “I know,” he said with a bit of a smile.
“You knew?”
“Yeah,” Curt nodded. “In fact, I arranged it.” He reached out and touched her face with his fingers. “Thank you for trusting me, Christy. I love you so much, and now I know you really love me, too.”
Christy threw her arms around his neck. “Of course I really love you, but what are we going to do?” she questioned fearfully. “Grant says I’m to pack the drugs in my car and meet him later. He’s going to call me, and if I don’t do everything he says, Sarah could get hurt.”
“Christy, I want you to listen to me,” Curt began. “The DEA is going to work with you on this exchange, and maybe, if we all do exactly as we’ve planned it out, nobody will get hurt, and Grant will go to prison for a very long time. Are you with me on this?”
Christy refused to lift her head from his shoulder, but she nodded. “Then I want to go over every detail of this with you. There will be a lot of lives at stake, not just Sarah’s. I’m not at all happy about letting you participate in this exchange,” Curt said, and Christy jerked away from him at this.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Curt quickly hushed her. “I know you have to be involved. I don’t have to like it, though. Just as you’re feeling rather protective of my life, I feel five hundred times more protective of yours. I’ve had training, and I know how ruthless these people can be. You haven’t, and you don’t know the ropes the way I do.”
Christy realized that Curt was right. She would have to listen and learn, right down to the most minute detail, in order to keep blood from being shed. Blood that could be Curt’s.
“Tell me what I need to do,” she said softly. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
Curt smiled and gave her a wink. “Just keep thinking that way, and when this is all over, I’m going to cash in on those promises.” Then taking her hand, he led her from the room. “The plan goes like this…”
Christy had just finished loading her car with the drugs in just the way Curt had instructed her when the ominous ring of the telephone signaled Grant’s call.
“Do you have my stuff?” Grant asked, not even bothering to identify himself.
“Yes,” Christy said nervously.
“Good. Meet me back at the mall, south side. Be there at four sharp.” Before Christy could respond, Grant disconnected.
Christy turned back to Curt, who sat on the sofa, calmly waiting for her to tell him everything Grant had said. “I’m to meet him at the mall at four.”
“Same mall? Same place?” Curt questioned.
Christy looked surprised for a moment and Curt smiled. “I heard the first arrangement on tape, and I wasn’t about to let you meet that man without protection. I was only about fifty feet away when Grant made you sit with him on the bench.” He frowned at the memory. “I nearly blew my cover when he pulled you into his arms.”
Christy laughed out loud, a nervous laugh that betrayed her fear and anxiety, but helped to relieve her tension. “I should have known. You and God,” she mused. “Neither one of you will let me wander far, will you?”
Curt got up and closed the space between them. “Not on your life, Christy.” He kissed her soundly, then pointed Christy in the direction of the old railroad wall clock. “We have an hour and forty-five minutes. Wanna cuddle on the porch swing?”
Christy laughed and pushed away. “No!” she stated emphatically. “I want to wash all this mess off my face and start over with fresh makeup. Seems like I’ve spent the last few weeks crying day and night.” She wiped under her eyes, knowing she probably looked a mess. “Then I want to eat something, because I feel like I might get sick if I don’t. Then, if there’s still time, I might sit with you on the swing, Mr. O’Sullivan.”
Curt grinned. “I’ll make lunch.”
“I thought I proved to you that I could cook.”
“You did, but I figure if I fix lunch while you fix your makeup, we’ll have more time on the swing.”
Christy rolled her eyes, but Curt noticed that she wasted very little time scurrying up the stairs.
As soon as she was gone from sight, Curt’s grin faded and a look of worry crossed his features. Quickly he picked up the phone and dialed his team members.
“Debbie, it’s Curt. I take it you heard Burks’s call,” he said when his partner answered the phone.
“I heard. What about Christy? Is she with us on this?”
“Yes. She showed me the drugs and told me everything Grant had demanded of her. She’s going to be okay,” Curt replied. “She loves me, Debbie.”
“I never would have guessed,” Debbie said in mock sarcasm. Curt could imagine her smiling face as she continued. “A woman would have to be made of granite not to give in to a man who pursued her as hard as you have, Curt.”
“Well, I suppose I was rather enthusiastic. Anyway, the plan goes as scheduled. I’ll instruct Christy where to park. You know her car; the drugs will be in the trunk. Better get our hospitality team to update Denver P.D. while this goes down.”
“You got it,” Debbie answered confidently. “Oh, Curt,” she added hesitantly, “be careful.”
“I’ll most certainly do that. I’ve made it to twenty-seven, and now I have a woman who loves me and a baby who needs me. I’ve got too much at stake.”
Curt hung up the phone and went to the kitchen. After putting the coffee maker to work, he pulled out wheat bread and mustard and put together roast beef and swiss sandwiches, just the way he’d once seen Christy do for herself. He was cutting a cantaloupe into slices when Christy walked into the room.
“I feel famished,” she admitted and plopped down on the kitchen bar stool. “I suppose you’re used to all this and it doesn’t phase you much anymore, but this sneaking around detective work, isn’t for me. I’d gain forty pounds in a month.”
Curt laughed and put a plate of food in front of her. “You could stand a little meat on your bones.” He grabbed his own plate and joined her. “The coffee will be done in just a minute. Why don’t we pray?”
Christy nodded and bowed her head, waiting for Curt to speak. “Would you mind saying the blessing, Christy?”
She lifted her face for just a moment and met Curt’s eyes. “I’m not sure I know what to say.”
“Just speak your heart. God honors that kind of prayer over all the rhetoric and memorized poetry in the world,” Curt replied and closed his eyes.
Christy bowed her head again and opened her heart. “Dear God,” she whispered, “I ask You to bless the food, but even more I ask You to bless the people who are trying to help me. I ask that You guard them and protect them from Grant and his evil ways. I want so much for everything to work out. God, please don’t let Sarah be harmed. And God,” she paused, “please keep Curt safe. Don’t let Grant hurt him, because I love him, and I intend to see to it that he marries me like he keeps asking me to do. Amen.”
Curt coughed, trying to cover his amusement with Christy’s statement. “I take it that was a yes,” he mused.
Christy looked at him for a moment. “Yes.”
“You’re really going to marry me when this is all said and done?”
“Yes.” She didn’t even blink.
“And you’re going to love me forever and give me lots of beautiful children who look just like you?” he grinned.
“Yes,” she sighed.
“Good,” he replied in a rather clipped, smug way. “Just so we have that straight.” He had his sandwich halfway to his mouth when he glanced over and met Christy’s determined stare.
“You are going to be careful, aren’t you? You aren’t going to play the hero and try for this to be movie-of-the-week material, are you?”
Curt put the sandwich down and reached out to take Christy’s hand. “I’m going to be more careful than I ever have been in my life. Because until now, I really didn’t care if I stayed on this earth or went on to live with God in heaven. But now I do, and I want to get old with you.”
Christy let out a sigh of relief and glanced at her watch. Then with a mischievous smile, she began wolfing down her sandwich. She wasn’t about to spend time worrying, not when the porch swing awaited them.
The calm and peace passed much too quickly, and soon Christy found herself waiting at the south mall entrance for Grant to appear. She fidgeted with her briefcase and wondered how she would ever manage to remain calm. Curt had wired her with a minimum of audio equipment so that he and the other team members could keep track of what was going on. It was imperative that she act as if nothing were amiss.
“You’re right on time,” Grant said, sneaking in behind her.
Christy nearly jumped a foot. She turned with an angry retort on her lips, but found Grant’s arms once again empty.
“Where’s Sarah?”
“She’s outside in the car with a friend,” Grant replied.
“I want to see her,” Christy insisted. “And I want those papers.”
Grant patted his pocket and pulled the papers out. “They’re all signed, nice and legal. I told you, I don’t want the brat. I just want the money and my drugs. You did bring both, I presume?”
“Yes,” Christy replied. “I have the money here, but the drugs, of course, are in the trunk of my car.”
“Good. Let’s go get them,” he suggested and put his hand on Christy’s arm.
“No. Not until I have Sarah,” she demanded. “You may have the money now, and I’ll take those papers. Then when you produce Sarah, I’ll take you to my car and turn over the keys.”
Grant frowned at her forceful attitude. “It isn’t wise to try my patience, Christy.”
“Nor is it wise to play me for a fool, Grant. I’m done playing games.” She stared at him hard. “Now do we do this my way, or do I drive that shipment of coke to the nearest police station?”
“It’s of little consequence to me that you have Sarah first, last, or never. But my friend knows nothing about this deal. She’s innocent of everything, and you’d better not say a word to make it seem that we are doing anything out of the ordinary. I told her we were baby-sitting.”
Christy nodded and extended the briefcase. “Give me the papers. I want to look at them before we leave the mall.”
Grant did as Christy demanded, but glared at her severely. “You are testing me sorely, Christy. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were stalling. You did bring the drugs, didn’t you?”
Christy reviewed the papers and smiled. Grant’s signature was in place, and all the copies had been properly notarized. Sarah would soon belong to her.
“I’m ready to go,” Christy replied. “As soon as I have Sarah, I will take you to my car. And,” she added with a strained smile, “I won’t let your friend know that anything out of the ordinary is taking place.”