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

you’re my guardian, not my jailer!” Aliana flared, turning on him furiously. “I ordered a boat from these bumpkins and I want it properly fitted. If one agent hiding in the woods frightens you, maybe I should ask my father for a new security chief.”
    “Perhaps you should, miss. We can both fly home tomorrow to discuss the question in person. And see which of us your father believes.”
    Aliana went pale, reading the tall African’s face. But she didn’t back off an inch.
    “Deacon, I love you like an uncle, you know that. But if you drag me back to Damascus, I swear you’ll die in the desert with your mouth full of salt!”
    It should have been no contest, the seven-foot warrior glaring down at the tiny slip of a woman. But size and force of will have little to do with each other.
    “If you insist, miss,” Deacon conceded grudgingly. “One more visit.”
    “Thank you, sweetness,” Aliana said, reaching up to cup the giant’s cheek with her palm. “You’re my oldest and dearest. Shall we go?”
    But as the security team headed for the Navigators, Deacon glanced back at Luke. He didn’t say a word. Didn’t have to. The fury in his eyes would have spooked a lion off a fresh kill.

    “Maybe you should stay in town with Aunt Min for a while,” Luke said, standing with Gus, watching the Navigators roar round the cove into the forest.
    “Aw hell,” the old man groaned. “You’re not getting involved with that woman, are you?”
    Luke didn’t answer, which was answer enough.
    “She’s a pretty thing, I’ll grant you that,” Gus conceded, “but you can buy pretty in a bottle at Walgreens. Didn’t you hear that ‘die with your mouth full of salt’ business? There’s a difference between a woman with spirit and one with an evil temper.”
    “Which did my grandmother have?”
    “Both,” the old man admitted. “But those were simpler times.”
    “Better times,” Luke said. “That’s my point. We may have serious trouble coming, Gus. I can smell it on the wind, like a storm just over the horizon.”
    “I feel it, too,” Gus agreed. “Don’t worry about me, Grandson, I won’t get in your way. Nowadays, I’m almost invisible anyway. ”
    “So they kissed, so what?” Ridley said at the stakeout later that afternoon. “Why should we care about her love life?”
    “Because they went to some trouble to conceal it from her bodyguards,” Larkin said. “We could e-mail a warning to her father, stir things up.”
    “How does getting Falk stomped by Markovic’s goons help us? I know the boat builder ticked you off, but stay on point, Gordie. We only want the woman. Did you plant a stash on her boat?”
    “Haven’t had the chance,” Larkin admitted. “Falk’s up at first light, works in his shop until dark. He never leaves, and except for occasional customers, nobody visits. And that damned dog is around, twenty-four/seven.”
    “You’d better figure something out quick. I can’t cover your ass much longer.”
    “You won’t have to. I’ve got an idea.”
    “What idea?” Ridley asked. But when Larkin ignored the question, Ridley didn’t press it. He really didn’t want to know.
    The yuppie couple seemed a bit off to Luke, though he wasn’t sure why. They looked wealthy enough to be shopping for expensive toys. She was tall, slim, and blond, he was shorter and chunkier, but both dressed well and they were driving a vintage Mercedes 450SL convertible. They asked the right questions, or at least he did. She seemed a bit uneasy. Maybe they weren’t quite as rich as they looked.
    They walked through the workshop and oohed and aahed over the Penny , but didn’t ask to take her out, so Luke wasn’t surprised when they drove off without placing an order.
    “Who were those two?” Gus asked, wandering into the shop from the deck with Razzy at his heels. In the distance, the Mercedes was vanishing around the final curve into the forest.
    “Potential customers,” Luke grunted,