Bonaparte's Belle: A SEALs of Honor World Novel (Heroes for Hire Book 24), Dale Mayer [read an ebook week .TXT] 📗

“We came here under Commander Conrad’s instructions,” the head tech said, frowning at her.

“And I get that, but I still can’t give you access.” She gave him a cheery smile.

“Surely this isn’t a jurisdictional issue,” he said, his hands on his hips. “You don’t have the equipment or facilities to even begin to handle something like this.”

“You’re right,” she said, with a gentle nod. “Absolutely correct. And most of this stuff should go to Denver theoretically. The trouble is, I don’t know who I can trust at this point.” At that, she could see the shock rippling through the team, as they looked at each other, then looked at her. “You see? Some of this information leads right back to Denver and beyond,” she said. “So we have to make sure that this material stays in the right hands.”

“Well, that would be us. That was the whole point of us coming out here personally,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning against one of the vehicles.

“Yes, and maybe no,” she said, looking over at Bonaparte. “You want to keep him here for a few minutes.” He nodded, and she walked back inside. He didn’t know what she was doing but assumed she was probably checking to see where the hell Stone was. When the men started toward him, he held up a hand and said, “Uh-uh-uh.”

“Look. We came here to do this job,” he said. “If you want, we can call in our own bosses.”

“Oh, absolutely,” he said, “please do.” One of the men stepped off to the side, pulled out his phone, and made a call.

Bonaparte just waited because, of course, there would be a lot of official red tape and people who were really pissed off to get through to finally get anywhere.

“I don’t get it,” one of the other techs said. “Didn’t you call us?”

“Well, not necessarily,” Bonaparte said. “Somebody did. We just have to figure out who’s pulling the strings here.” As he watched the horizon, a cloud of dust rose, heading their way. He relaxed slightly, thinking it was Stone. But, as it got closer, he looked grim. No way that black smoky vehicle would be his guys. At least he didn’t think so, although it did have a government look to it. As it pulled up, a stranger hopped out.

“What’s going on?” asked the guy in the suit, eyeing six forensic techs standing idly on the front lawn.

“You know what’s going on,” Bonaparte said. “You’re not taking anything from this house.”

“No, that’s not quite true. I don’t know who you are,” he said, with a wave of his hand. “You may well be some big muscle-bound idiot,” he said, “but, in the end, you’re just a deputy. You have no authority here.”

At that, Angela stepped out from inside the living room. “No need to insult my deputy,” she said. “I’m the sheriff here, and this is my jurisdiction. Shall we discuss just what it is you’re trying to pull right now by showing up here?”

“You know exactly what I’m trying to pull,” he sneered.

She shook her head. “I really wouldn’t go there if I were you. You see? I’m looking to identify just who is crooked in Denver and participating in this scheme.”

At that, the techs stopped, looked at each other, and visibly stepped back, as if not wanting to get in the crosshairs.

The man glared at her. “You’re stepping into very big boots right now.”

“My boots are plenty big,” she said. “I’ve been on the job for a long time, and I’ve seen an awful lot of politicians come and go.”

He stood there, his hands on his hips, and said, “I can order you to stand down.”

“Well, you could,” she said, “except you’re not my boss.”

“You’re out of your jurisdiction.”

“No, this is very much my jurisdiction. And you’re not coming in this house until you are properly vetted and then cleared,” she said, her arms over her chest, as she stood at Bonaparte’s side.

“And who do you think you are to stop me?” he said. He looked over at the techs and said, “Get in there, and get your job done.”

The techs looked at each other, looked at Angela, then shook their heads. “No, sir, we don’t have her permission to enter.”

“You don’t need her permission.”

“Well, actually they do,” she said. “I have a legal and proper warrant for this property. Do you?”

He looked at her and said, “You do know we’re on the same side, do you not?”

“That hasn’t been determined yet. So get your own warrant,” she said smoothly. Glaring at her, he took a few steps to the side and pulled out his phone. He had a conversation that nobody could hear, but they saw his frustration, evident as he stormed around in a circle, waving his hands, as he tried to get the answers he wanted.

Bonaparte looked at her and said, “Wow, I never realized being a deputy was this much fun.”

She grinned. “Stick around, buddy,” she said. “I could show you all kinds of fun times.”

He stopped and looked at her. “Now, if only you meant that.”

She looked up at him and said, “Hey, you’re the one who promised me barbecued ribs and didn’t deliver.”

He groaned. “My poor ribs.”

“Will they be okay?” she asked, a bit worried.

“They’ll only get better,” he said.

“Good,” she said. “I doubt we’ll get out of here any time soon.”

“No, probably not,” he said, “and we could have Stone wanting ribs now.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” she said, “then we definitely don’t have enough. I know what that’s like. Stone eats everything, including the kitchen sink.”

Bonaparte burst out laughing at that, and all the techs stared at him sideways.

“We’ve got them flummoxed. You know that, right?” she murmured.

“Absolutely,” he said, “but you’re in the power of right.”

“Well, I hope so,” she said, “but I could lose that position very quickly.”

“Got it,” he said. “Let’s just hope