Covert Alliance (7 page)

“Anyone seeing us will just think we had a great enough time that we don’t want our evening to end.” His deep voice was low, but she could hear it just fine in the cool outdoor air. They soon reached the sidewalk by the bar and liquor store, and Alan led her to the left, in front of the bar. A roar of noise emanated from it, but the sound was muffled by the closed door. “But you and I are going to talk,” he added, stopping to look down at her with as sexy a grin as she had ever seen. To get her turned on—or to make anyone watching them think they were actually attracted to each other?

Oh, Kelly was attracted to Alan, all right, but she didn’t trust him.

What did he really want?

Apparently the games he’d mentioned previously were now about to actually begin.

Well, no sense just waiting for him to start. Kelly also knew how to play the game—or so she hoped.

“Great.” She clutched his hand even harder. “So what do you want to talk about?”

“You, Kelly. And Shereen Alsop.”

Even though she’d expected this, at least somewhat, she flinched—but didn’t stop walking.

“Who’s that?” she asked. Part of her training when provided with a new identity was to admit nothing, so she wasn’t about to tell Alan she recognized that name. Her real name.

“That’s good,” he said. “You’re at least complying with some of the instructions you were given. But you shouldn’t have come here. That was completely against what you were told.”

“Oh, really?” She kept her tone light. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The hand holding hers moved enough to swing her around, and suddenly Alan was looking down at her. Despite the lack of streetlight, Kelly could still see the anger on her companion’s face.

“I... I...” Before she could figure out how to finish, his mouth came down on hers.

His kiss was startlingly sexy, and so was the way his body soon molded to hers.

Get away from him!
something inside her screamed. They might be in public, where they could be observed, but nobody was near them now. She could be in danger.

And yet she didn’t believe that. She threw herself even more into the amazing kiss.

When he finally pulled away, he said perhaps the last thing she’d have expected from him then. “Go home, Kelly. To your real home now, the one you were given.”

She hesitated before answering. “I understand what you’re saying and why.” She ignored the absurd hurt she felt over him kissing her like that, then tossing her away as if it had meant nothing to him.

It should have meant nothing to her, too—just a means for them to continue pretending to stay in character here.

“Then—” Alan said.

But Kelly continued, her voice very soft and trembling. “I gather you’re from the ID Division.” She looked up into his face once more and saw him give a brief, curt nod. “And you clearly know who I am. You must know why I ran away in the first place.”

Another nod.

“I came back here because I learned that my nephew, Eli—you’ve met him—he’s in danger here, being abused by his father.”

“If you’re familiar with how the ID Division works, you know that I’m here to find the hard evidence against Stan that you weren’t able to gather. I’ll work on protecting Eli, too. But you need to leave.”

“Not until I’m certain that Eli’s okay.” No matter who Alan was and what discipline he might be able to get the ID Division to rain down on her, she had to do this.

She had to save her beloved nephew, notwithstanding any consequences to herself.

“That’s your final answer?” he demanded, still staring down at her.

“It has to be. I—”

He leaned down and stopped what she was going to say with another hot, incredibly wonderful kiss. This was ridiculous. This was wonderful.

Did he really think she’d start obeying him because she was turned on by him?

“Here’s what we’re going to do, then,” he said, holding her close and whispering into her ear. “We’re going to work together to find that evidence and bring Stan down. But if you’re here, you’re going to have to listen to me so I can both train you and protect you. Got it?”

He punctuated it with another kiss that took her breath away.

On one level, she wanted to shout “No!” and run away.

But on another level, she realized that two of them working directly together might be more effective than either of them working alone.

“Got it,” she said and reached up to pull his head down to hers for another kiss.

* * *

This was merely adding to their cover, Alan assured himself as he finally pulled his head slowly back, away from Kelly’s mouth. Her kiss. And then he took a step backward, too, to distance his body from her soft, enticing curves.

He had to think. To make himself remember a similar situation between a CIU operative and the person the ID Division was protecting that had worked out, even though the result of that case would be quite different from this one.

“As enjoyable as this is,” he said, “and as helpful as it may be to ensure that anyone paying attention to us believes we’re together now and thinks they know why, it isn’t helping us accomplish what we need to.”

“You’re right.” Kelly sounded breathless, but as he regarded her in the low light between street lamps, he saw that her smile was wry. “I agree that, since I’m staying here, we need to work together. Your main goal is to get proof against Stan, and I’m all for that. But my real focus now is to make sure Eli’s okay, then I’ll go after Stan.”

“I get that.” He reached out for her hand once more and started walking slowly down the wide sidewalk again, away from the bar since a few patrons had just come out. “And you’re right. Young Eli needs a guardian angel.”

She stopped, pulled herself in front of him. Her lovely face twisted into an expression of concern and fear. “What do you mean?”

Maybe he shouldn’t reveal this to her here. Maybe he shouldn’t reveal it to her anywhere.

But she had a right to know.

“There’s actually a good reason for you to be here,” he said in a tone that was more compassionate than the one he usually used. “Let’s walk some more and I’ll explain.”

“No,” she said. “Explain now.”

He’d suspected it wouldn’t be easy to work with this woman. For one thing, he had been affiliated with the military, and now government agencies, long enough to believe that orders were orders, and disobeying them only brought trouble. You could discuss them, maybe, depending on the circumstances and factors like time, in case there were better alternatives or ways to comply. But disobey them completely—never.

And here he was, about to risk his career to work with a woman who disobeyed a direct order that she’d had to expressly agree to in order to get the benefits and protections offered to her by the ID Division.

Yet as much as he disliked the concept, he could understand, under these circumstances, why she did it.

She needed to know that, and why he was actually considering making an exception in her case.

“This isn’t the right time or place to get into detail,” he said. “If necessary, I’ll do so later, when we’re truly in private and can talk.”

“What?” she demanded, but at least she continued walking with him.

“Well...since I’ve been here I have seen indications that Stan Grodon isn’t always kind to his son, Eli. I mean, I’ve seen—”

“That bruise on Eli’s face.” It wasn’t a question but a statement, and Alan wasn’t surprised she focused on that.

“Right. And more.”

“Like what?” She snapped to a halt and stared up at him.

“As I said, we’ll talk about it later. Right now, I’m just going to express regrets that I probably haven’t handled this as well as I should have.” He would never admit it to her—he even hated admitting it to himself—but his job here might become a little easier if Stan increased the cruelty to his son, particularly his criticisms while the city council security detail was in his presence. Alan had been around enough to observe some of that. And if the SOB did more, even if Alan hadn’t yet found evidence he could use against Stan for possible murder, he might obtain enough to have him arrested for child abuse.

Then, maybe more physical evidence of what had happened to his wife could be found when Alan got the right to enter Stan’s home to seek evidence of child abuse to keep the guy incarcerated for a while.

But really? He couldn’t, wouldn’t wish any more of that on the kid. He would find a way to succeed no matter what. And certainly would never admit to Kelly these cruel and nasty thoughts.

Even the idea would undoubtedly make her hate him enough to draw away immediately and refuse to work with him despite her own precarious situation.

Which would be justifiable, under the circumstances.

“What are you talking about?” Kelly demanded.

“Let’s just say that, on reflection, I can see why Eli Grodon needs someone on his side, no matter what else is going on around him—and around this town. I’ll certainly cooperate—”
now
“—but I’m probably not the right person to protect him. You, on the other hand, are—”

“The perfect person to protect him,” Kelly said. “And you can be sure I will. Now—are we meeting somewhere away from here for dinner tomorrow, on a supposed date if anyone asks?”

“That’s probably the best plan,” Alan acknowledged.

“Fine.” Without asking his permission, she turned, grabbed his hand and began leading him back to the bar.

He admired that she was, to some extent, playing the role he had created for her.

He only hoped she wouldn’t come to regret it—and make their working together here for a somewhat common purpose completely ineffective.

He regained at least some hope after they hurried back down the driveway and into the parking lot behind the bar. Kelly dragged him along to right beside her car, where she reached up, pulled his head down and involved him in one heck of a long, hot and sexy kiss.

He liked that she sounded completely out of breath when the kiss finally ended.

He didn’t do much better—especially when he couldn’t help pulling her back into his arms and kissing her again.

For show, he told himself, even as his body, which had already responded, grew even harder.

But soon Kelly backed off once more.

“See you tomorrow,” she said, then opened her door and got in.

Chapter 6

K
elly took her time starting her car, hoping it appeared to Alan that she was having a bit of trouble with the old and ailing vehicle—but it was mostly because she kept looking at him and smiling, even as she glanced beyond him to the door into the bar.

She hoped to see Stan, as foolish as that might be.

If she did, was she going to fling open the door and chase after him? Accuse him of doing horrible things to his own son, even though she didn’t fully understand the implications Alan had made to the kinds of abuse Stan might be subjecting Eli to?

No. She couldn’t do that. Besides, she knew from Eli’s web posts—and that spot on his face—that things weren’t great. Maybe what Alan had learned was just more of the same.

Much more than it ever should be...and she was going to fix it. Somehow.

For now, she made herself grab hold of her emotions and get the car started.

But she couldn’t resist glancing again toward the bar door, just in case...

No Stan. Good. She would have to get her emotions fully under control so she wouldn’t attack him physically or verbally next time she saw him, most likely at the Haven.

That was more his specialty, although subtly, very subtly—as he had done to Andi before she disappeared. Or less subtly to Kelly herself, despite her inability to prove it.

Plus, she intended to get more detailed information from Alan on the pretext, at least, of needing to know what Eli had recently gone through so she could find a way to fix it—despite being a stranger to him now.

Pretext? Not exactly. She definitely needed to know what was going on now. And as she’d considered before, if it took ruining her own cover to make things right for her poor nephew, so be it.

Okay. It was time. She opened her window and called to Alan, “Good night. See you tomorrow.” She smiled and waved.

“Good night,” he called back.

She blew him a kiss, staying in the character he was establishing for them, then backed out of the parking spot.

She pulled down the driveway between the two one-story buildings and onto the street. She took a deep breath, attempting to calm her nerves enough to proceed carefully.

The drive to the large Havenly residential development outside of town where her small one-bedroom apartment was located didn’t take long. There was no traffic at this hour—not that Blue Haven had a lot of traffic even during rush-hour times.

Her building was one of four arranged in a square, with a parklike area in the middle. Her apartment was on the top floor, with a view not of the pretty center but of the sometimes-busy street.

Those apartments were less expensive.

She parked in the spot designated for her unit and sat in the car for another moment, trying to chill her nerves once more. Hey, she was home—or what passed for home now. She’d had a long, emotionally draining day, as most were since she had returned to Blue Haven. Although this was the worst so far, partly thanks to Alan and his non-confrontation of her.

Was he right? Could they work together? Should they make it appear to people here that they had a romantic relationship so no one would think it odd if they happened to chat with each other now and then?

Most of all, could she trust him? Work with him to bring Stan down? Allow him to help her ensure that things would be okay for Eli?

Well, she wouldn’t figure all that out tonight. She exited the car with determination and entered the building, then headed toward her unit.

Trudging slowly up the apartment stairs, though, she couldn’t keep her mind completely on track.

It kept returning to Alan.

Heck, he was one sexy guy. He knew who she was, and he’d admitted to being with the CIU.

Could she trust him?

Or maybe she should do what she had been avoiding all along.