What You Can't See (24 page)

“Dan—” Mark started.

“
Don’t.
I don’t want to hear it. Get out!”

“He’s under arrest,” Mark said, looking at Zach. “If you let him go, I’ll arrest you for aiding and abetting.”

“You’ll need backup for that.”

She caught Zach’s smile. “Don’t try that on me, Garett. Once you leave here you’re on your own. I hope this time IA nails your ass and the boys in Quentin finally get to make you their bitch.”

“Dani, he’s lying.”

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “But I have no problem with you taking the rap for all the times you didn’t get caught.”

“Danica, I’ll go,” Mark said, his voice suddenly weak. “I need to get to the hospital.” He reached down and picked his thumb up from the floor.

Danica blanched at Mark’s casualness. He’d just had his thumb sliced off and he acted as if he had a splinter. She’d always had a strong stomach but the absurdity of the scene made her belly queasy.

The least she could do was call an ambulance. “I’ll call AMR,” she offered.

Mark vehemently shook his head. “I’ll drive myself.” He turned then and sprinted down the hallway.

Zach turned to Dani and began his plea in earnest.

“T
AKE ME
to the shipment.”

Danica turned both weapons on him. “No.”

Her fighting stance didn’t impede him. He stepped closer. “Danica, please, you
must trust me.
We need to move. Now, before Santos comes back with friends.”

“I’m not taking the fall for you again. Get out of here, Zach.”

Zach stood still for a moment, thoughts crashing in his head. How could he convince this woman of this crazy-ass tale he had no explanation for? He swiped his hand across his face, unsure how to proceed with her.

But there were several facts he was crystal clear on.

First and foremost he needed to keep Danica away from Santos, and he needed to get his hands on the scabbard. What happened afterward he was unclear about, but he knew both he and Danica would be involved. He focused on Danica, who stood silent, angry, wielding two very dangerous weapons in front of him.

Zach looked down the long corridor that led to Dani’s office. Miraculously it remained empty. It didn’t really matter, he reasoned. The entire staff could show up at that moment and it would not change what he had to do. Get the scabbard. With Danica or without her.

He swooped her up into his arms and threw her over his shoulder. Danica’s size and the fact her hands were full didn’t stop her from kicking and screaming all the way down the hall.

“Danica, stop acting like a spoiled little girl.”

“I’m going to stab you then shoot you!”

“Slide the sword down between my belt and back, and do the same to yourself with the Sig.”

In classic Dani fashion she didn’t listen. But at least she didn’t slice and dice him either. And despite everything that had happened to him in the last seventy-two hours, Zach’s strength mushroomed. He tightened his arm around Danica’s legs. With his free hand, he grabbed the sword from her flailing hand and sheathed it behind him. Her pummeling fists on his back did nothing to deter him from snatching the nine mil and sliding it alongside the sword.

“Zach, you
will
regret this!”

He slapped her hard on her right ass cheek and squeezed the firm flesh. “Never.”

For the moment she shut up.

Guided by instinct, Zach turned down one hall, pushed through a door, and strode down another hall until he stepped out onto the loading dock. He said a silent thank-you to whoever had orchestrated the lack of inquiring eyes or ears along the way. His luck ended, however, when the truck driver shifted the forklift into reverse, stopping several feet away.

Zach smiled at the man, who returned his gesture with raised brows.

Zach released his tight grip on his ex-fiancées bottom and let her slide down his body to the floor. As their hips met, he grinned when her angry eyes flashed at him.

“Danica, you know the curator wants the Caladian crate opened. Now, stop playing around,” Zach chided. His reward for the charade? A murderous glare.

Her patience pushed to the limit, she steered him several feet away from the truck driver, who pretended not to be interested in their hijinks.

“I swear to God, Zach, if you don’t knock this off, I’m going to start screaming.”

“I need you to trust me, Dani!”

“Last time I trusted you I got fired!”

“Look, if I’m wrong about all of this and we’re on a wild-goose chase, I’ll go to the chief and tell him I lied.”

She gasped at his confession and looked harder at him, searching his face for the lie she was sure he told. “Why would you do that?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do?” she shrieked. The truck driver coughed; she flashed him a look that said, mind your own damn business. Then she lit into Zach. “I haven’t seen you for three years, and now you come waltzing back into my life and expect me to help just because you want me to? After you set me up to get fired?”

Zach lowered his voice and steered her away from the nosy driver. “Things are different now. And while I understand your reluctance to help me, you have to admit, there is some weird-ass stuff going on around here. Give me the benefit of the doubt, Danica. Help me and I swear on my sister’s grave I’ll do everything in my power to get you your job back.”

“I don’t want my job back!” she spat. “I don’t want anything to do with Oakland PD.” She shoved away from him. “Or you.”

“Twenty-four hours, Dani. Give me twenty-four hours and I’ll give you your life back.”

She punched him as hard as she could in the chest. “Why did you do it?”

“Does it matter?”

She choked back a sob. “Yes, damn it, it does!”

“See this through with me, Danica, and when it’s over I’ll resign. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” Zach stood rigid, hard, unyielding. Despite his refusal to give her answers to questions that had haunted her for years, his determination to see his crazy scheme through wore on her. That, and as angry as she was with him, she hadn’t felt this alive in more than a thousand days.

“How can I trust a murderer?”

“I told you. I’ll swear on my sister’s grave. I’ll resign and give up the info if you just do what I tell you.”

Arms crossed, brows jammed together, Danica angrily tapped her foot on the floor. All this time she’d thought if the PD came crawling to her, begging her to come back, she would kick dirt in their faces. But given the chance, slight as it was…and even if the chance was contingent on helping the man who had more to do with her getting canned than not…Her heart rate accelerated. In her gut she wanted to be back on the streets of Oakland again—even if it meant working with Zach Garett for the next twenty-four hours.

“Promise me you won’t kill anyone.”

“I can’t.”

She shoved past him. He grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him. “I promise not to kill anyone unless they try killing me first.”

For a long moment Danica contemplated him. He looked so serious. More serious than the day he proposed to her. More serious than he had when he sat in a courtroom and testified against drug dealers, murderers, and pedophiles. And more serious than on the anniversary of his sister’s suicide when they visited her grave site.

She looked up at him and really took him in. His tawny eyes compelled her to rethink. He stared at her, unwavering in his cause. How could he just walk back into her life after three years of no contact and expect her to skip along with his half-baked schemes?

Her brows furrowed. But how did he know about her mother’s birthmark? And the Caladian shipment? Then there was that sword…

“Danica, if I’m wrong what do you have to lose?”

“My job. Time wasted with you.”

He moved closer, so close the warm percussion of his breath touched her cheek. He reached out and touched her shoulder. “Our time was never a waste.”

Despite the alarms shrilling at capacity in her brain, and her heart twisting in indecision, she felt herself giving in to his pull.

“I swear to God, Zach, if you screw me again I’ll kill you myself.”

He smiled, the gesture lighting up his face. Her belly did a slow roll.

“You always were the bravest girl I knew,” he said.

“Save it. What do you want from me?”

“The scabbard. Open that crate.”

Danica nodded.

Although the packing slip was ambiguous, and didn’t list the contents in exact terms, they went through the crate. Half an hour later with the entire container emptied, it was obvious there was no scabbard among the varied artifacts. Danica sat back on her heels. She called to the truck driver who was taking a smoke break and asked, “The manifest says there were two parts to this shipment. Where is the other crate?”

He shrugged and answered, “Fellow at the docks said customs tagged it for inspection.”

“Is it customary to give this information to the people you’re delivering to, or withhold it until asked?” Zach asked, all guise of pleasantries gone.

The teamster flicked his butt to the ground and crushed it under his boot. “My union says I only have to deliver.”

Danica flashed Zach a glare then smiled at the driver. “Please ignore him, Roger, he’s temporary.”

“Do the shipments come in to Oakland or San Fransisco?” Zach asked.

“Oakland.”

Zach prodded Roger. “Dock number?”

“Sixty-six.”

“We need to go, Danica.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“I can’t just leave.”

“Grab whatever credentials you need. I can’t explain. I just know we need to get there before anyone else does.”

Danica shook her head then pulled her Nextel out and alerted a number.

“Fredrickson.”

“Jimmy, I need to leave the premises for a few hours, I need you to put this Caladian shipment in lockdown for Manfred.”

“Will do,”

“Who’s Manfred?” Zach asked.

“The curator.”

“Do you trust him?”

“Trust him how?”

“To not give the artifacts away?”

Danica laughed and shook her head. “Garett, I have no idea what happened to you in the crash but you have seriously lost it.”

In answer his temple began to throb. He took Danica by the hand and pulled her behind him. “We need to get to the dock and open the other crate.”

“First we have to wait for customs to go through it.”

“How long does that take?”

“Depends on how backed up they are.”

“Let’s go see if we can hurry them along.”

After a quick stop at her office for her purse, Danica said, “I’ll drive. I’m not getting on the back of that bike of yours without a helmet.”

“How did you know I rode the hog?”

“I just do.”

And that was how it was between them. Even after three years and a terrible breakup they were still as attuned to the other as if they were attached at the hip.

They exited through the back entrance. Just as Danica unlocked her Jeep the wail of sirens disturbed the quiet of the back parking lot. Danica caught Zach’s gaze. “Let me drive,” he said.

“No way. Get in.”

As she turned east on Stevenson Boulevard heading toward 880, three squad cars and several unmarkeds squealed into the front lot before splitting, no doubt to cover all exits.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this, Garett.”

Despite the direness of their situation, Zach flashed her a disarming smile. “I can’t believe I did either.”

Well into the rush hour, they hit the diamond lane and blew past the commuters who refused to ride share.

It was easy getting on to the docks. Zach simply flashed his badge. They were met with little resistance at the customs office. When the customs official informed them the crate had been cleared and was in the holding area hope flared.

“If possible, sir,” Danica said, “we’d like to check the manifest for the container.”

The officer nodded and pulled it up on the computer then printed it out. Zach and Danica moved to a corner of the office and scanned the list. While several vessels, jewelry, pottery, and other miscellaneous items were listed, no scabbard was mentioned. “Officer,” Zach said, stepping toward him. “We need to get into that container.”

“I’m sorry, Detective Garett, but the holding area is on a time clock. The gates are locked.”

“Open them.”

The officer shook his head. “No can do. I don’t have the lock code.”

“Who does?”

“Dock security.”

“Are they part of the customs office?”

“No, a private firm. And unless the cargo is in peril or there is some other type of emergency, we contracted for them not to open the area.”

“Where can I find the security office?”

The officer started to protest but Danica spoke up. “Look, officer, we’re all on the same side here. There is what could be a crucial piece of evidence in that container. We need to get our hands on it, like yesterday. Please, time is of the essence.”

Twenty minutes later Zach and Danica were carefully pulling packaged artifacts from the crate. It was obvious from the way the boxes were so intricately aligned, customs hadn’t done a complete check, only a cursory look-see and X-ray. Probably had the dogs take a sniff as well.

Good.

“Zach, we need to make sure every item is replaced exactly as we found it.”

“We don’t have time for that. We need to get what we came for and get the hell out of here.”

“But—”

“No buts, Danica. We need to get out of here while we can.”

“But—”

He moved around the gaping crate and grabbed her arms. For once she didn’t resist. “Call your curator, call his assistant, call anyone you want. Have them come take care of this mess.”

Danica nodded, still unsure exactly why she had agreed to this wild-goose chase with the one person on earth whom she had sworn never to speak to again, much less abet in what was surely an illegal endeavor. She was curious, however, about the scabbard and even more curious about what the discovery would mean.

It wasn’t until they got to the last container that Zach and Danica exchanged looks across the mess they’d made. Made of the same rough wood as the other boxes, this one’s shape gave them hope. It was about a yard in length, and approximately eight inches high.

Zach pressed his palm to the lid. The sword at Zach’s back hummed. Danica’s eyes widened. So, she heard it too.

“I don’t know what the hell you’ve gotten yourself into this time, Garett, but, God help me, it had better be good.”

Together they lifted the container from the crate to the floor. With a small pry Zach opened the lid. Securely embedded in the container was a smoothly polished cypress-wood box. It looked—ancient. Odd symbols were carved into the smooth wood. Instead of nails sealing the lid shut, intricate grooves sealed it.

Zach looked expectantly at Danica then back down at the cypress box. Together they lifted it from the protective box and set it on the floor. Excitement pulsed through her. Like anticipating a gourmet meal, Danica licked her lips. Zach looked up at her from his kneeling position. Wonder lightened his eyes to pure gold. He touched his thumb to a smooth divot on the corner. A small sound like a door quietly opening alerted them.

He slid the lid back, exposing what appeared to be—wool?