can promise Marc…and his family…that I’ll protect his life with my own. However, his complete safety will be partially his own responsibility. He must do exactly as he is told, or the FBI cannot promise anything.” She stopped and took a breath. “As for total immunity…I will put your request through the proper channels.”
Abraham steepled his fingers in front of his face. “I expect that you will.” He turned to face Marc. “Are you willing to temporarily go along with the FBI’s plans without having their assurances on your ultimate deal?”
“Yes. I’m more than willing,” he truthfully told his father. “I have to do something, Dad. I can’t just sit around and let other people decide my fate.”
His father smiled at him—one of Abraham’s very rare smiles. It was so unusual to see the man with anything but a fierce expression on his face, that the whole table was speechless.
Everyone but Nicola. “Please tell us your immediate plans, Dana. We’ve been arranging a statewide campaign swing but perhaps we should stay in town to help Marc.”
Dana relaxed her shoulders. “I talked to my boss right before dinner, and he is still convinced that for the time being Marc and his family should go about their business as if nothing unusual has happened. SAC Simon thinks the cartel will be more likely to contact either Marc or Ian if they think things appear normal.
“Apparently Marc’s brother, Ian, is willing to have him pretend to come into work everyday,” she continued. “As long as I’m there to give him protection.”
Dana hesitated for a second in order to give everyone time to absorb that information. “We’ll be using some of the Danforth office space to set up our investigation. But…” She hesitated yet again. “The biggest problem with the scheme will be the tabloid reporters. I haven’t had a chance to speak to Marc about this, but he’s going to have to find a good excuse for why I’ll be with him at all times and…make it seem normal.”
“You could be his new administrative assistant,” Jake offered.
“No,” Larissa contradicted her husband. “That’s no good. They could be seen together anytime, twenty-four hours a day. The gossip would begin immediately.”
“Well, speaking from an image standpoint, your best defense is a good offense,” Nicola said softly. “Marc and Dana will have to appear to be lovers, about to be engaged, and so much in love they can’t leave each other’s side…even for the work day.
“I’ll schedule a press briefing for first thing in the morning,” Nicola offered. “The tabloids have been trying to find out what Abraham thinks of Marc’s arrest. A good way to deflect it will be if he begins by declaring his son’s innocence and then goes on to announce Marc’s engagement. That’ll change the focus for a while.”
Dana had been afraid someone was going to come up with that solution. There was no way she could ever pass as someone Marc would marry. She didn’t belong to the same social circle. Not even close.
“But…I’m…not prepared to do that kind of undercover operation. I don’t have the right clothes or…the right training. How in the world are we going to convince the paparazzi?”
Everyone at the table smiled at her, but it was Larissa who made the most sense. “I can tell you from personal experience that the tabloids aren’t strictly interested in the truth—as long as it makes a good story.”
Larissa swiveled around to take her new husband’s hand in her own. “But we just happen to have someone in our extended family who’s an expert in ‘scandal’ journalism …not that she’s personally into that kind of thing.”
Jake smiled at his new bride. “Of course.” He turned to Marc. “I’ll bet Jasmine will be willing to help you with the tabloids. You might want to check with her on the information she’s accumulated about the cartel, too. Wes tells me her files on them are quite extensive.”
Marc stuck his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Jasmine,” he began. “I should’ve already thought to ask her about the cartel. I’ll give her a call tonight.”
“Who’s Jasmine?” Dana asked.
“Jasmine Carmody Brooks,” Jake told her. “She recently married Wesley Brooks, my old roommate and my partner in the D & D Coffeehouse chain. It’s a long story. Get Marc to fill you in.”
“And about getting you prepared for this operation,” Nicola said, with a smile in her eyes. “Image consulting is my job. I’ll give you a short lesson this evening.”
She tilted her head and studied Dana, then turned to question Jake. “Do you know if your sister, Imogene, could break away from that gorgeous new husband of her’s tonight? She’s forgotten more about clothes and makeup than most women will ever know.”
Dana’s head was spinning. The names of family members were running around in her brain. And the idea of being anyone’s fiancée, even just for pretend, was making her sweat.
Then Marc reached under the table and squeezed her hand, and everything changed.
Six
On the way back to his farm, Marc wasn’t sure of what to say to her. He’d wanted to apologize for subjecting her to his family, particularly his father. But on the other hand, this kind of thing was probably in Dana’s job description.
Anyway, not knowing what to say kept him quiet on the long drive home. Dana seemed to be off in her own world, and the silence between them apparently didn’t bother her at all.
Tomorrow morning, during Abraham’s press conference, the papers would be notified of their upcoming marriage. The idea was to make the cartel believe he was so unconcerned about his arrest that he’d chosen this time to become engaged.
One possible outcome would be for Escalante to believe the ruse and start pushing Marc and Ian all the harder. Another possibility was Escalante would not believe it, and instead would believe that Marc was running scared—hopefully leading the cartel into thinking that they had the upper hand and should relax their guard.
Either way, the cartel might make a mistake. That looked like his best shot at the moment. But a pretend engagement, especially to someone as spectacular as Dana, left Marc depressed and shaken. His last engagement turned out to be such a monumental disaster that the very mention of it embarrassed him no end.
When he drove up to the chain-link fence surrounding his farm and stopped, Marc glanced quickly over to the sexy FBI agent who was about to become his pretend fiancée. “I’ll get the gate.”
“No,” Dana snapped back. “Don’t exit the vehicle until I can cover you. I’ll take care of the gate. Drive on through when it’s open and I’ll lock up.”
A few minutes later they were dragging the mountain of clothes and boxes of makeup that Imogene had lent to Dana out of the back of the SUV. “Jeez,” he said as he hefted one of the boxes into the house. You’re too beautiful to need makeup at all. What’s all this junk for, anyway?”
She didn’t answer him until they were safely inside. “I need it for…” she stuttered, then stopped and stared at him. “Do you really think I’m beautiful?”
“Sure.” It took a minute for her question to register
