Free Undercover by Danielle Steel

doing better than it had in a while, and felt secure with Phillip Armstrong at its helm.
    The kids went back to school in September, and Marshall met with Bill Carter to discuss the end of his leave from the DEA in a month. He looked healthy and well in mind and body, and he appeared to have thrived during his eleven months protecting the president. Bill Carter had a strong feeling he wasn’t coming back to the DEA, which he suspected would be better for him than the life he had led before. He had paid a high price for that life.
    “So what do you want to do? You know you can resign from us, and become Secret Service. This was a good chance for you to decide if you want to work for the Secret Service full time. You gave us the best you had to give for a long time.” He didn’t want Marshall to feel guilty about quitting and moving on, and he was doing so well with the Secret Service that it seemed a shame to leave. But Bill was stunned by his response.
    “I want to come back,” Marshall said quietly. “It’s what I was trained to do. I’ve had a great time for the last year, and I guess I needed the break more than I realized. I love the Armstrongs—they’re a fantastic family. But my heart is with the DEA.”
    “You still want undercover?” Bill Carter stared at him. What he had just heard was hard to believe.
    “It’s where I can do the most good. This is a great job, but all my skills, training, and experience are for the DEA,” he said simply. He’d been thinking about it a lot.
    “They’re crazy about you, Marshall. Every report you’ve gotten is gold star. And he’s a shoo-in for the next election. You’ve got five sure years working for a president you like.”
    “I know, but that’s not where I belong. I don’t want to waste six years of everything I learned in Ecuador and Colombia. Raul may be dead, but there are waves of others to take his place. We have work to do down there. It’s where I serve my country best. I want to come back. And I don’t care where you send me, as long as it’s Central or South America. That’s who I am. I know I can’t go back to Colombia or Ecuador, but Mexico is getting hotter by the day, and in the right setup, I think you could use me there. All my work for Raul in Mexico was done through third parties. No one will recognize me there.” He was totally clear on what he wanted. “I have six more weeks left in my commitment to the Secret Service. I can push it till the end of the year if you want. But they don’t need me, and the DEA does. Lots of Secret Service agents want the job I have now. I want another assignment in the field, no matter how rough it is. It’s time. I’m getting soft sitting around at state dinners and playing with the kids. I’m thirty years old, I have no attachments here. I know this is right for me.”
    Bill Carter couldn’t disagree, but he was surprised anyway. Marshall seemed so happy working with the Secret Service, and they were thrilled with him, although in some ways he was overqualified for the job, and they knew it. They didn’t need any of his drug enforcement and undercover experience for what they did. And he wanted to use all his skills again.
    “Give us a little time to find you the right spot.” There was a huge operation that had been growing exponentially in Panama, even bigger than Raul’s, where Bill thought they could place him. And Mexico was an option, just as Marshall said. It was a decision that would have to be made by committee, and the assignment, whether in Panama or Mexico, would be even more dangerous than the ones he’d had before. But Bill realized now more than ever that Marshall was one of those men who thrived on the danger and the challenge. When Bill told Marshall’s superiors at the Secret Service, they were disappointed, but the agent he had replaced on family leave was ready to come back, so it would work out. His wife had done well on chemo and was in remission, and he could resume