Читать книгу Undercover Husband - Cindi Myers, Cindi Myers - Страница 9

Chapter Three

Protests rose from all sides of the conference table after Graham’s pronouncement. “We need to go back to the judge and try again,” Michael Dance said.

“I can talk to Child Welfare and Protection,” Carmen said. “Ask them to take another look.”

“Unless we have CWP on our side, we’re not going to get anywhere with this,” Randall Knightbridge said.

Walt raised his voice to be heard over the clamor. “There’s still something we can do, even without a warrant,” he said.

Conversation died and everyone turned to look at him. “What do you have in mind?” Marco asked.

“I think we should do what Hannah suggested and infiltrate the group.” Walt said.

“You mean, send someone in undercover to determine if the baby is really there?” Carmen asked.

“And maybe find out what really happened to the child’s mother,” Walt said. “Hannah said her sister was afraid for her life—maybe there’s more to this story that we need to find out.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Graham said. “I’ve thought of it before, if only to get a better sense of what Metwater is up to.”

“It could backfire, big time,” said Simon Woolridge, tech expert and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. “If Metwater figures out what we’re doing, he could take it to the press and gain a lot of traction with his claims that we’re harassing him.”

“He won’t find out,” Walt said. “Not if we do it right.”

“By ‘we’ you mean who?” Graham asked.

Walt squared his shoulders. “I could go,” he said. “I’ve done undercover work before.”

“They’d recognize you,” Marco said. “We were just at the camp this morning.”

“I’d dye my hair and grown out my beard, and dress differently. They wouldn’t recognize me as the lawman they saw one time.”

“How are you going to know you found the right baby?” Carmen asked.

“Hannah Dietrich could come with me. I could say she’s my sister.”

“That won’t work,” Simon said. “You two don’t look anything alike.”

“Say she’s your wife,” Randall said. “From what we’ve seen, couples sometimes join Metwater’s Family together.”

“I could do that,” Walt said. “If she agrees.”

“You heard her,” Marco said. “She’ll do anything to save her niece.”

“Talk to her,” Graham said. “See what she says. But she has to agree to follow your lead and proceed with caution. And if you get in there and learn there’s a real danger, you get out. No heroics.”

“Yes, sir.” He didn’t want to be a hero. He only wanted to make things right for Hannah and her niece.

* * *

HANNAH HAD LOST the plot thread of the movie playing on the television in her hotel room an hour ago, but she left it on, grateful at least for the background noise that helped to make the room a little less forlorn. She glanced toward the porta-crib and the diaper bag in the corner of the room and felt a tight knot in her chest. Had she been naive to believe she would be bringing Joy back here last night, before heading back home to Dallas today? Now she was trapped in this awful limbo, not knowing when—or even if—she would see her niece.

A knock on the door startled her. She punched the remote to shut off the TV and moved to the door. A glimpse through the peephole showed Walt Riley, dressed not in his khaki uniform, but in jeans and a white Western-cut shirt. With trembling hands, she unfastened the security chain and opened the door. “Has something happened?” she asked. “Do you have news?”

“Hello, Ms. Dietrich,” he said. “Can I come in? There are some things we need to talk about.”

“All right.” She stepped back and let him walk past her into the room. She caught the scent of him as he passed—not cologne, but a mixture of starch and leather that seemed imminently masculine.

He crossed the small room and sat in the only chair. She perched on the edge of the bed, her stomach doing nervous somersaults. “Were you able to get the warrant to search the camp?” she asked.

“No.” He rested his hands on his knees. Large hands, bronzed from working in the sun, with short nails and no jewelry. “The judge didn’t feel we had sufficient grounds to warrant a search. Metwater has complained we’re harassing him, and the court is taking that complaint seriously.”

“What about Child Welfare and Protection? Would they support you? Or go to the camp to look for Joy?”

He shook his head. “CWP says there aren’t any problems at the camp. They would have no reason to be there.”

She felt as if she had swallowed an anvil. The weight of it pressed her down on the bed. “What am I going to do now?” she asked.

“We’ve come up with a plan.”

She leaned toward him. “What is it?”

“It’s your plan, really. We’ll send two people in, posing as a husband and wife who are interested in joining the Family. That will give us the opportunity to determine, first, if there is even an infant matching the description of your niece in the camp, and if her mother is there or not. We also hope to determine the circumstances surrounding your sister’s death.”

“I want to go. I want to be the woman.”

“We’re not talking a quick overnight visit,” he said. “It could take weeks to gain their trust and learn anything of real value.”

“I’ve taken a leave of absence from my job. I have however much time it takes.”

“You said you’re a chemist? Is your employer willing to let you off work indefinitely?”

“I’m very good at my job and I’ve been there a long time. I have savings and not many expenses. And when Joy comes to live with me, I intend to take family leave to spend time with her.” She hoped that would give her enough time to adjust to being a mother—something she had never planned on being, but now wanted more desperately than she had wanted almost anything. “I want to do this, Agent Riley. I want to help find my niece.”

“If you do this, you have to agree to follow the direction of the male agent who would be posing as your husband,” he said. “You can’t take any action without his knowledge and you have to agree to abide by his decisions.”

She stiffened. “I’m not used to other people making decisions for me.”

“Obviously not. But in this case it would be vital. As law enforcement officers, we’re trained to put together a case against someone that will stand up in court. If Daniel Metwater and his followers have kidnapped your niece, or if they had anything to do with your sister’s death, we want to be sure we can build a solid case against them that will lead to a conviction.”

What he said made sense, and she had always been good at following rules, as long as she saw a good reason for them. “All right. I can respect that,” she said. “Who is the male agent?”

“That would be me.”

She sat back a little, letting the words sink in. Relief that she wouldn’t have to work with a stranger warred with the definite attraction that shimmered between them. She didn’t need to be distracted right now. She had to focus on Joy, and the future they were going to have together. But what choice did she have? If she refused to work with Walt Riley just because she could imagine sleeping with him, wasn’t she being foolish, and maybe even a coward? They were two adults. Surely they could control themselves. In any case, he had given no indication that he felt the same attraction to her. “All right,” she said. “What do we do next?”

“Why don’t we start by going out to dinner?”

Yet again, this man had caught her off guard. “Are you asking me on a date?”

“If we’re going to pass ourselves off as husband and wife, we need to know more about each other and get comfortable in each other’s presence.”

He was right, of course. “All right.”

He stood and held out his hand. When she took it, he pulled her up beside him. “Why don’t you start by calling me Walt?”

“All right. Walt.” It wasn’t so hard here, in the intimacy of her hotel room, to think of him by his first name. A simple and strong name, like the man himself. “You should call me Hannah.”

“It’s a nice name.”

“I think so. I don’t understand why so many of Metwater’s followers feel compelled to take new names.”

“It could be the symbolism of starting over, taking on a new identity,” he said. “It’s also a convenient way to make yourself harder to track down if you’re wanted for a crime, or have something else in your past that you don’t want to come out.” He held the door as she walked through, then followed her outside. “Did your sister take a new name when she joined the group?”

“I don’t know. She never mentioned it.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I feel terrible that I don’t know more about what my sister was doing in the last months of her life. A year ago, I would have said I knew her well, but so many times now, she feels like a stranger to me. It’s depressing. You’d think if you could know anyone well, it would be a sibling.”

“I think we’re most surprised when family members behave in unexpected ways,” he said. “It feels more personal, I guess. More like a betrayal.”

“Yes.” He opened the passenger-side door to his Cruiser and she climbed inside. He put a hand on her shoulder, as if making sure she was safely settled before he shut the door behind her. Again, she felt that current of connection with him. She hadn’t felt anything like that—or rather, she hadn’t allowed herself to feel it—for a very long time. Maybe losing Emily had made her more vulnerable. Or finding Joy. So many things in her life felt out of control these days, it shouldn’t have surprised her that her emotions would betray her, too.

* * *

THERE WERE DEFINITELY worse ways to spend an evening than sitting across the table from a beautiful woman, Walt thought, once he and Hannah had settled into a booth at a local Italian place. More than one male head had turned to watch Hannah walk across the room, though maybe only Walt saw the fatigue and worry that lurked in her sapphire-blue eyes. He wished he had the power to take that worry and fatigue away from her.

“Tell me about yourself,” he said, once they had placed their orders. “How long have you lived in Dallas?”

“Ten years. I took the job there after I got my master’s at Rice University in Houston.”

“So you’re beautiful and brilliant. I’m already out of my league.”

She sipped her iced tea and regarded him over the rim of the glass. “I don’t know about that.”

“Trust me, it’s true,” he said. “I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and was solidly in the middle of my class. And while I’m sure there are a few professions less glamorous than law enforcement, patrolling the backcountry of public lands is about as far away from a corporate suite as you can get.”

“Your job doesn’t sound boring, though.”

“You might be surprised how boring it can be sometimes. But mostly, it is interesting.”

“What drew you to the work?” She relaxed back against the padded booth, some of the tension easing from around her eyes.

“I like the independence, and I like solving puzzles. And maybe this sounds corny, but I like correcting at least some of the injustice in the world. It’s a good feeling when you put away a smuggler or a poacher or a murderer.” His eyes met hers. “Or a kidnapper.”

She rearranged her silverware. “Do you think this will work? Our pretending to want to join up with them?”

“It’s the best way I can think of to learn what really goes on in their camp. I figure you can get to know the women—especially the mothers with children. I can talk to the men. We might be able to find Anna Ingels—the woman who witnessed your sister’s will. If your niece is there, someone will know it and eventually they’ll let something slip.”

The waiter delivered their food—ravioli for Walt, fish for her. They ate in silence for a moment, then she said, “Have you done anything like this before?”

“You mean undercover work?” He stabbed at a pillow of ravioli. “A couple of times. I posed as a big-game hunter to bring down a group of poachers. And I did a few drug buys, things like that.”

“Did you ever have to pretend to be married to someone?”

“No. That’s a new one. Does that worry you?”

“A little. Not you, I mean—well, I’ve never been married before.”

“Me either.” He laid down his fork and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Before we get too far into this, are you engaged? Seriously involved with someone? Dating a mixed martial arts fighter who’s insanely jealous?”

Her eyes widened. “No to all of the above. What about you?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend either. Or a girlfriend.”

She laughed. “Really? That surprises me.”

“Does it?”

“You’re good-looking, and friendly. I wouldn’t think you’d have trouble getting a date.”

“No, I don’t have trouble getting dates.” He took another bite of ravioli, delaying his answer. “I’m new to the area,” he said. “I transferred from northern Colorado just last month.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“And there’s something you’re not saying. I heard it in your voice.”

Was he really so easy to read? He searched for some glib lie, but then again, why shouldn’t he tell her? “The last woman I dated seriously is now married to my younger brother.”

“Ouch!”

“Yeah, well, he’s very charming and untroubled by much of a conscience.” The wound still ached a little—not the woman’s betrayal so much as his brother’s. He should have seen it coming, and the fact that he hadn’t made him doubt himself a little.

“So that’s what you meant when you said you understood about thinking you knew a family member well, and turning out to be wrong.”

“Yep. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”

“That must make for some awkward family dinners,” she said.

“A little. There are four of us kids—two girls and two boys. For the sake of family harmony, I wished the newlyweds well and keep my distance.”

“It was just Emily and me in my family,” she said. “I think it took my mom a long time to get pregnant again after me.” A smile ghosted across her lips. “I still remember how excited I was when she was born. It was as if I had a real live doll of my own to look after. After our parents were killed in a car crash when Emily was nineteen, all we had was each other. We were inseparable, right up until I went away to Dallas to work. And even after that—even though we lived very different lives—I always felt we were close.” She laid down her fork and her eyes met his. “I blamed Daniel Metwater for taking her away from me. After she joined his cult, I seldom heard from her. What kind of person encourages someone to cut off ties with family that way?”

“We haven’t been able to learn a great deal about him, other than that he’s very charismatic and seems to be offering something that some people find attractive.” He wanted to take her hand, to try to comfort her, but resisted the temptation. “There are probably experts in this kind of thing who could tell you more than I can.”

“He calls his followers a family—as if that could substitute for their real families.”

“Maybe this undercover assignment will give you some of the answers to your questions,” he said. He picked up his fork again.

They ate in silence for a while longer, until she pushed her plate away, her dinner half-eaten. “I’ve been thinking about what you asked me,” she said. “About what Daniel Metwater stood to gain from keeping Joy and claiming her as his own.”

“Did you come up with something?”

“It’s not much, but Emily had a trust from our mother. An annual stipend now, with the bulk coming to her when she turned thirty in two years. Under the terms of the trust, it automatically passes to any children she might have, and can be used to pay living and educational expenses in the event of her death.”

He considered this information, then shook his head. “Metwater supposedly has money of his own.”

“That’s what I understood from the research I did.” She took a sip of tea. “I told you it wasn’t much.”

“Still, having money doesn’t mean he might not want more. And we don’t have any idea what his financial picture is these days. Maybe he made some bad investments, or being a prophet in the wilderness is more expensive than he thought it would be.”

“I keep coming back to her last letter,” Hannah said. “Emily sounded so frightened—I thought maybe that so-called Family was holding her prisoner.”

“The death certificate said her cause of death was respiratory failure.”

“I know. She died in an emergency room. Someone dropped her off—they don’t know who. And people do die of asthma, but I can’t help thinking—what if they were withholding her medication, or the stress of traveling with this group brought on the attack?”

“It would be tough to prove murder in either case.”

“I know.” She sat back and laid her napkin beside her plate. “And none of it will bring Emily back. I have to focus on what I can do, which is to raise Joy and take the best care of her I know how.”

A light came into her eyes when she spoke, and her expression changed to one of such tenderness it made Walt’s chest ache. “You already love her, don’t you?” he said.

“Yes.” That fleeting smile again. “And that surprises me. I never thought of myself as particularly nurturing, but this baby—this infant I haven’t even met yet—I already love her so much.”

“If she’s in Metwater’s camp, we’ll find her,” he said.

She surprised him by reaching out and taking his hand. “I believe you,” she said. “And if I have to pretend to be someone’s wife temporarily, I’m glad it’s you.”

He gave her hand a squeeze, then let it go before he gave in to the temptation to pull her close and kiss her. As assignments went, this one was definitely going to be interesting, and a little dangerous—in more ways than one.