Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine 03/01/11 Read Online Free PDF Page A

to? Who are you, Aliana? Why are those feds dogging you?”
    “I’m truly not an important person, Mr. Falk, but . . .” She took a deep breath. “My father is an international arms merchant who deals in surplus munitions. He lives like a prince in Damascus, in a villa that once belonged to the Sultan of Oman. But the Arab world is stifling for a modern woman. I prefer to live in the West.”
    “Why all the bodyguards?”
    “I’m not a dilettante, Mr. Falk. We were not always rich. I have worked in my father’s business since I was a child. And please spare me the ‘merchants of death’ speech. Americans are our best customers.”
    “Lady, I’m the last guy on the planet who can criticize your trade. I’ve worked at it myself. But why are the feds so interested in you?”
    “Your government wants to make my father a double agent. But their track record in such matters is terrible. They would only get him killed. So he stays in Syria, a prisoner of his own success. And because I could be a valuable hostage to his enemies, I am always guarded.”
    “Seems to me you’re practically a prisoner yourself.”
    “Sometimes, it seems so to me, too,” she said with a wan smile. “But not today, out here on the water. I feel free here. Or I would if I didn’t have my two shadows along. It was very . . . considerate of you to provide my security people with a motor launch.”
    “I’m sure Deacon thinks so, too. But then, he doesn’t know much about boats, does he? For instance, in a light chop like this with a quartering breeze, the Penny ’s one helluva lot faster than that dory. With a bit more sail she’ll rise on her outriggers and dance across the waves like a gull. If a person wanted to feel really free for a while, she could zip in amongst those offshore islands and disappear.”
    “You think?” Aliana asked, grinning as she cranked the mainmast winch, raising the sail another eighteen inches. The Penny responded like a quarter horse coming out of the gate, rising on her pontoons, scampering over the wave crests.
    “Oooh, look at her go,” Aliana cooed, enraptured by the speed. “She can almost fly.”
    Laughing like a schoolgirl, Aliana quickly left the powerboat far astern. The two bodyguards cranked the outboard motor wide open, but they only pounded the dory into the surf harder, soaking themselves with spray as the heavy craft plunged and bucked in the rough water.
    Nearing the south end of the cove, Aliana artfully guided the Penny in among a cluster of wooded islets. Green alder and cedar, cloaked with wild grapevines, quickly closed in on both sides of them like a forest curtain.
    Without thinking, Luke reached across and tugged her scarf loose. She shook her hair free, then glanced at him curiously.
    “Why did you do that? Was this a trick to get me alone?”
    “We’re not really alone. One of those ATF goons is parked in the state forest across the cove. He can probably see us from there.”
    “Then let’s give them something to look at,” she said, leaning across the helm, kissing Luke hard on the mouth. Leaving him staring as she resumed her seat.
    “What was that for?”
    “Curiosity,” she admitted. “I’ve wondered what that would be like since the first day. Now I’m sorry I waited.”
    “How did you know I wouldn’t be grievously offended?”
    “I negotiate million-dollar deals for a living, Mr. Falk. I’m quite good at reading people. Were you offended?”
    “I’m not sure,” he said, kissing her back, and holding it a bit longer.
    “Nope,” he said, softly as he drew away. “Definitely not.”
    She cocked her head, reading his eyes. And listening to the motor launch drawing closer.
    “I suppose we’d better go back,” she said wistfully, wheeling the craft about. “Pity.”
    She waved gaily at her bodyguards as the Penny flew past them, heading back to the dock. And Luke couldn’t keep his eyes off her.
    “You have to come back,” he said