Undercover Marriage (5 page)

Once in the car, Serena sat back with a sigh. “That was stressful.”

“You’re going to have to stop acting like a skittish colt every time I touch you.”

Her defenses rose. “I don’t.”

But she had. And she didn’t know how to stop. For the past year and a half she’d harbored so much animosity toward Josh that letting it go was hard. Especially when his touches sparked such delicious shivers and tingles.

Josh snorted.

Hoping to steer the conversation back to the situation, she said, “I snapped photos of a couple pages in the ledger. Though the woman’s handwriting is nearly impossible to read. I also got some shots of the baby collage on the wall.”

“She was a bit of an odd duck,” Josh commented.

“I’m not sure what to think of her,” Serena said. “She seemed a little confused. Yet I saw glimpses of a sharp intellect.”

“An act? Or old age?”

“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”

“We’ll find out.” Josh’s gaze traveled over her face and softened before meeting her eye. He turned back to the road. “She picked up on how uncomfortable you were.”

Serena blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m sure she attributes my nervousness to wanting to adopt.”

“Maybe.” He changed lanes in the heavy St. Louis traffic. “One way or another she and her husband are going down, and I don’t care if she is certifiable.”

“You don’t mean that, do you?”

Josh pulled up to a red light. “The illegal adoptions have been going on for a long time. We’ve barely scratched the surface. And there’s no way I’d believe the woman doesn’t know what’s happening within her own company.”

He had a point. The agency belonged to her, while her husband brokered the deals on the back end by securing babies for adoption. She had to know what her husband was up to. Didn’t she?

Didn’t husbands and wives share everything?

She mentally scoffed. She had no idea what a successful marriage entailed. All she’d ever seen of her parents’ marriage was the bickering and fighting, which had escalated to all-out war by the time she was ten. Then a messy divorce that left her feeling adrift.

If she hadn’t had Daniel as her anchor... Her heart compressed with grief. Her fists curled as her sorrow morphed into simmering anger. Daniel shouldn’t be dead. If only Josh had answered his phone!

When Josh pulled up to the cover house, she jumped out and hurried inside as fast as her wedge sandals would allow. A stab of guilt for leaving Josh in the dust impaled her. She mentally took a step back. She needed to get a grip on her emotions around him.

“Hmm, something smells good,” he said as he stepped into the entryway behind her, filling the room with a low-level buzz that set Serena’s blood to humming.

The house smelled of savory spices and grilling meat. Suddenly, her mouth watered. She could get used to having someone preparing meals for her. Her culinary skills barely included scrambled eggs and toast. Learning to cook had always been a low priority on her list of things to accomplish. Good thing they had Linda around to cook or they might starve.

“How did it go?” Linda came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a bright blue apron with yellow ducks all over it.

“It could have been better.” Serena dug out the smartphone. “I took some pictures of a ledger that was on Mrs. Munders’s desk. Do you think you could try to decipher it?”

“Of course.” Linda made no move to take the phone. “My hands are greasy. Set the phone on the desk in the office.”

She pivoted, nearly toppling over Josh, and headed for the office with her phone, eager to get away from him. She heard Linda say, “So I hear it could have gone better.”

“You could say that.”

Serena made a face and dropped the phone onto the desk. She didn’t like the idea of their discussing her behind her back, but she had no intention of joining them so they could analyze her behavior. Especially when she herself didn’t understand why she reacted the way she did around Josh and was struggling to control her reactions.

She headed upstairs to her room at the end of the hall. Kicking off the sandals, she sank down on the window seat and stared out over the lush backyard. She could picture a play structure in the corner and a sandpit near the edge of the patio. What would it be like to have a house full of children? And a husband to love?

Josh’s image rose in her mind. His brown eyes so warm and inviting. His strong jawline and his straight nose so appealing. With a little thrill she remembered the way he’d looked at her when he’d told her she was beautiful. As if he’d meant it. And she’d wanted to believe him.

Her pretend husband.

The man she blamed for her brother’s death.

She tried to banish Josh from her thoughts but he wouldn’t go.

No matter how much she wished otherwise, she was stuck with Josh as a partner, and she was going to have to figure out a way to deal with it.

She bowed her head and whispered, “Lord, give me strength.”

* * *

“You need to go talk to her.”

Josh inhaled sharply. Easy for Linda to say. She could never understand how each time he looked at Serena, his guilt over Daniel’s death dug a deeper trench through him. He opened his mouth to protest.

Linda held up a hand. “You two have to work this out. If she’s jumpy around you, people will notice and start to ask questions. You two have been partners for over six months now. I don’t understand what the problem is.”

“She blames me for Daniel’s death and sometimes it gets the better of her,” Josh said, putting it baldly. “The truth is, I
am
to blame. I should have been with him that day.”

Linda laid a hand on his arm. “I read the case file. You could no more predict what happened than you could have prevented it.”

Josh appreciated her attempt at assuaging his guilt but if he’d answered the phone that day, if he hadn’t taken a personal day, if Lexi hadn’t picked then to break up with him, if he’d been able to give his heart to Lexi, then Daniel would still be alive.

He shook his head at the futility of his thoughts.
If
s would only drive him crazy. He had to stay focused on the moment and on the job. And that meant figuring out a way for him and Serena to work together to build a believable cover as a happy couple. But how?

Obviously, he’d failed with Lexi.

The only example he had of a happy, loving couple were his grandparents on his mother’s side. Both were long gone now, and his memories had faded to general impressions. Grandpa helping Gran in the kitchen. Bringing her gifts. Holding her hand as they walked through the neighborhood.

His own parents’ marriage had dissolved when he was too young to have paid much attention.
Dissolved,
that was such a polite way of putting it. More like his father had destroyed their lives, and a whole lot of other people’s lives, when he embezzled from the company he worked for and died in prison two years later.

Josh ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to make her comfortable with me.”

“I’ll go talk to her.” Linda untied the apron and headed for the stairs. “My suggestion, Josh, is to court her,” she said over her shoulder and then walked away.

Josh blinked at the older agent’s retreating back. Court Serena?

For a pretend relationship in a pretend marriage.

Trouble was, how did he do that without either of them getting hurt?

* * *

The light tap at the door jolted Serena to her feet. Josh?

Tension tightened the muscles between her shoulder blades. She supposed they would have to talk and figure out how to keep this charade going at some point. But did it have to be now? Couldn’t he wait until tomorrow or the next day? She knew she wasn’t being realistic.

The sooner they worked out the kinks in this farce of a marriage, the sooner they could bring this assignment to fruition. Which was the ultimate goal. A goal she believed in.

She padded barefoot to the door and cracked it open.

Linda smiled at her. “May I come in?”

Relieved, Serena opened the door so Linda could enter.

“So what’s the problem?” Linda asked without preamble.

Moving back to the window seat, Serena said, “Which problem?”

Linda followed her to the window. “There’s more than one?”

“We have a leak in the department.” Serena held up one finger. “Babies are being taken from their mothers and sold illegally.” She held up a second finger. “I have to pretend to be Josh’s loving wife.” She held up a third finger. “And I can’t seem to figure out how to solve any of these problems.” She dropped her hand to her side.

“The leak in the department is a quandary that will eventually be resolved,” Linda said, holding up one finger. “That’s Chief Harrison’s responsibility, not yours. You and Josh are doing something about the illegal adoption ring.” She held up a second finger and then a third. “But the success of the assignment before you depends on your ability to play the loving wife.”

Serena groaned and jumped to her feet. “I know. And that’s
the
problem.”

“Because you blame him for your brother’s death.”

Meeting Linda’s steady gaze, she nodded. “Yes.”

Linda sat on the window seat and patted the bench next to her. Sighing, Serena sat and prepared herself for a lecture on how to do her job.

“Look, I can’t pretend to understand why you blame Josh, but I do know Josh is a good guy.”

Serena frowned. “He didn’t answer my brother’s call for help. If he had, Daniel wouldn’t be dead.”

Linda shook her head. “Honey, you don’t know that. They
both
could have ended up dead.”

Acid roiled in Serena’s gut. She didn’t like the thought of them both gone. “But why? That’s what torments me. Why was Daniel in that alley? What led him there without backup?”

“We’ll never know until the perps are caught,” Linda stated. “Right now our concern has to be
this
assignment. You have to put your anger and grief away for now.”

“I’ve been trying to ever since I was partnered with Josh. But I’m struggling to trust him. Trust he’ll be there for me if I need him.”

“Ah, I see.” Linda narrowed her gaze and stared at Serena with an intensity that made Serena want to squirm. “Has he given you any concrete reason to distrust him?”

Frustrated with the question and the only answer she could give, she blew out a breath. “No.”

Linda inclined her head. “That’s a start. What was your relationship with Josh like before Daniel’s death?”

Serena thought back to those days. “We were friends.” She dropped her gaze to her clenched hands. “I sort of had a crush on him.”

Linda chuckled. “Really?”

Serena’s gaze shot to the older woman.

Linda’s eyebrows rose. “Well, that’s something we can work with.” She laid a hand on Serena’s forearm. “Let’s tap into those feelings.”

Serena started to shake her head. Those feelings were long dead. She froze. Or were they? Memories of all the little ways she’d reacted to Josh screamed through her brain. Ways that had nothing to do with her anger or resentment over Josh’s part in her brother’s death, but everything to do with an attraction to her
pretend
husband she couldn’t deny.

Fine. She could tap into the attraction for the sake of the mission and nothing else. But she wouldn’t let her heart become involved. That would be a huge mistake she was determined not to make, no matter how much she melted every time Josh was near.

FIVE

T
he chime of the doorbell echoed through the house. The sound jarred through Serena, rousing unease. Who would be visiting them? No one knew they were here.

“That’s my cue,” Linda said and hustled from the room to answer the front door.

Serena glanced out the bedroom window overlooking the front of the house. There was no car in the driveway and no new vehicles parked at the curb on the street. Curious and cautious, she retrieved her service weapon from her purse and hurried out of the bedroom. She paused on the landing, her gun tucked behind her leg in the folds of her skirt.

Josh stood at the bottom of the staircase with his back to her, his weapon held at his side, his finger against the slide. Linda’s hand curled over the doorknob. She glanced at Josh and then at Serena, gave a sharp nod, then opened the door wide enough to talk to the person outside, but not wide enough to reveal Josh’s or Serena’s positions.

“Can I help you?” Linda said.

“Hi, I’m Trina Johnson from next door,” a female voice said from the other side of the door. She had a bit of a Texas twang in her tone. “I thought I’d stop in and introduce myself and say welcome to the neighborhood.”

“How kind,” Linda said. “I’m Linda Andrews. Won’t you come in?”

Serena rolled her shoulders, letting relief sweep in. She walked back to her room to put her piece in the top dresser drawer. When she went downstairs she found Josh and a blonde-haired woman in the living room. Serena guessed the woman to be in her mid-thirties. Her green eyes regarded Serena with curiosity and friendliness.

Josh held out his hand to Serena as she entered the room. “Ah, here’s my wife.”

Taking his hand, she noted how his palm fit snugly against hers and sent a little shiver up her arm. She swallowed and produced a smile that she hoped didn’t look fake.

“Susan, this is Trina Johnson from next door,” Josh said.

Serena held out her free hand. “Hello, Trina. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Trina said, giving Serena’s hand a shake. “Your husband was telling me you’re from Alaska. I’ve never been that far north.”

Neither had Serena. “Yes, it’s lovely. Are you from St. Louis?”

Trina shook her head. “Dallas. My Darrell and I moved here four years ago. You’ll like the neighborhood. Everyone’s real friendly.”

“Are there many kids in the neighborhood?” Josh asked.

“Young children?” Serena added.

“Oh, my, yes. I think almost everyone has kids, from infant to late teens in age. Ours are six and eight. Both boys. Do y’all have little ones?”

Josh squeezed Serena’s hand. Serena smiled at Trina. “Not yet. But we’re in the process of adopting.”

“How wonderful,” Trina said. “I believe one or two of the Frellners’ kids are adopted.”

Serena’s heart rate picked up. She tightened her hold on Josh’s hand. They exchanged a glance. “How old are their children?”

Trina scrunched up her nose. “I don’t know which ones are adopted and which are their biological kids. They’re a blended family, so some are hers and some his and then they have one or two together.”

“How many kids do they have?” Josh asked.

“Six or seven.” Trina waved a hand. “You’ll meet them all on Saturday at the neighborhood get-together.”

“Get-together?” Serena said at the same time as Josh said, “Saturday?”

Serena met Josh’s gaze. His mouth tipped up at the corner.

“At the start of every summer we have a neighborhood barbecue,” Trina explained. “We ask everyone to park in their driveways or garages, and close off the streets. We gather in the intersection. Bill and Judy and Garry and Charlene drag out their barbecues. The homeowners association provides the hamburgers and plates, utensils, et cetera. Then each family brings a side dish to share. It’s a great time, and it gives us all a chance to build community into our busy lives.”

“That sounds like fun,” Josh said. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Serena nodded though her stomach dropped. Panic fluttered in her chest. It was one thing to pretend to be a married couple for an audience of one—but for the whole neighborhood? Her throat constricted. How could she possibly convince so many people at once?

“Great,” Trina said. She glanced around. “We’ll miss George and Marsha.” Her gaze came back to Serena. “The Zanettis were nice people. His transfer was so sudden, they didn’t even take their furniture, which I see you’ve kept....” She trailed off, her unease and curiosity palpable.

Josh jumped in. “They rented the house to us furnished, which worked out well for us. Moving a household from Alaska would have been very expensive.”

A smile of amusement twitched at Serena’s lips. Josh was so smooth and quick-witted. Traits that had drawn her to him when they first met. Traits she still found appealing. She averted her gaze.

“I could imagine so,” Trina replied. “The Zanettis always hosted the neighborhood Christmas party.” She pointed toward the picture window. “They’d put a tree there. Marsha made the best homemade eggnog.”

The expectant look in Trina’s eyes prompted Serena to say, “I’ll talk to Aunt Linda. She’s the cook in the family.” She shared a look with Josh. “I’m sure we could do a Christmas party.”

Josh lifted her hand to his lips. “Whatever you want, darling.”

An involuntary tremor raced up her arm and settled behind her breastbone. She blinked at Josh. He held her gaze with a soft smile. Her heart tripped over itself. A heated flush spread through her. Didn’t this house have air-conditioning?

Trina smiled. “Well, I’ll take my leave now, but I hope you know if you need anything, I’m in the house on the left.”

They walked Trina to the front door. Josh’s arm snaked around Serena’s waist and pulled her in close. She inhaled sharply as each muscle in her body tensed, and an unexpected thrill skated over her flesh. Forcing herself to relax, she leaned into his side like a loving wife would. The feel of him, the masculine scent of him, filled her head and made her knees weak.

“Thank you for coming over,” Serena said. “It was good to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Trina responded. She headed down the porch steps with a wave. “See you Saturday.”

“What time is the barbecue?” Josh called.

Trina stopped on the sidewalk. “We start gathering around four in the afternoon.”

“Perfect. We’ll see you then.” Josh tugged Serena back inside and closed the door.

Serena let out a pent-up breath. “That went well.”

She tried to step away but he held her firmly against his side.

“Thank you,” he said.

“For?”

“Doing such a good job pretending to like me.” He released her. “I hope it wasn’t too difficult for you.”

There was the faintest hint of sarcasm in his tone. Her eyebrows rose. He’d expected her to blow it, like she’d almost done in Mrs. Munders’s office. She was happy to disappoint him. “Not too difficult.”

One side of his mouth lifted. “Good. Then Saturday shouldn’t be a problem.”

Of course it would be a problem, but she held the words in. She couldn’t let on how freaked out she was by the prospect of performing for a whole group of people who would be expecting to see a couple in love.

After a heartbeat, Josh said, “We have work to do. I’ll check in with the chief and let him know we’ve made contact with Mrs. Munders and have Linda find out more about the Frellners.”

Pulling her focus back to the case, she nodded. “I’ll contact the Houston marshals to see if they’ve managed to extract any more information out of the suspect I shot.”

Josh gave an approving nod. “Sounds like a plan.”

She watched him walk away and wondered why his approval made her feel so good. His opinion didn’t matter. Not in the least. With grim determination, she squashed the swell of pleasure and made her calls.

* * *

“Good job,” Chief Harrison said. “Keep me apprised of the situation and be careful.”

“We will. Thanks, Chief.” Josh hung up the phone as Serena entered the den carrying a duffel bag. His heart squeezed tight within the wall of his chest. She’d changed back into her tailored suit, and there was a grim set to her mouth. Even her new hairdo had been tamed.

He missed the softer look she had adopted for their interview with Mrs. Munders. Though as he’d told her earlier, either way she was a beautiful woman. He’d have to be without a pulse to not be attracted to her. But he could, however, control that attraction, no matter how much he’d enjoyed pretending to be her husband when their neighbor had shown up unannounced.

He brought himself up short. The only reason he’d enjoyed the charade was because, for once, they had been free of the tension that was always strung tight between them.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“We’ve got a lead,” she said without preamble.

“On?”

“The two guys who escaped.” She walked over to the window and glanced out to the front street, checking the neighborhood.

“The guy you shot gave them up?” That was a surprise. The guy had stonewalled them, and Josh had figured he’d keep up the silent act indefinitely.

She turned and shook her head. “No. But the Houston marshals checked the cameras in the area and caught a suspicious-looking van entering the McIntyre neighborhood a little before the three amigos broke into the house, and then the camera showed the van burning rubber out of the neighborhood a little while later.”

“Okay.” That was progress. “I assume they put a BOLO out on the van?” A Be On the Look Out notice would go out to all law enforcement agencies across the country. It would only be a matter of time before the van attracted attention.

“They did.” She gave him a smug smile. “And the van showed up here in St. Louis.”

“What?”

“Yep. A patrol over in the Sixth District spotted the van tucked in an alley. They have officers sitting on it.”

“Rough area.” Josh’s blood thrummed. “That’s why you’re in your own clothes.”

“Bingo. Let’s go.”

“We can’t,” he said. “You know that, right? It would blow our cover.”

“If we take these guys into custody and flip them, then this whole charade could end today.”

And that was what she wanted. He wasn’t sure why that stung. He wanted this to be over quickly, too.

“Just so you don’t think I haven’t thought about our cover,” she said, digging into the duffel bag and handing him a baseball cap with the U.S. Marshals emblem and a pair of dark sunglasses. Then she pulled out another set of the same. With the hat on her head, her hair tucked up under the rim and the dark glasses, she could be any number of female marshals.

Josh conceded her the point and donned the hat and glasses.

Serena tossed him a set of keys. “Linda said we could take her car. Less conspicuous.”

“Good thinking.” He led the way to the garage, where Linda’s older-model Buick sedan was parked next to Jack Andrews’s BMW.

Josh spared a glance at the luxury car before sliding in behind the wheel of the sedan. “You don’t suppose the chief would let me keep that car, do you?”

Serena barked out a short laugh. “Hardly.”

The drive to the Sixth District, north of downtown St. Louis, took longer than Josh had expected. The late-afternoon traffic was heavy as people fled their jobs, intent on returning to their suburban homes.

He found the address the patrol officer had given to Serena. He drove past the nondescript white van, which had been parked and half hidden behind a Dumpster. Its right back bumper stuck out, which was what attracted the officer’s attention.

Josh parked the sedan a few blocks down, and he and Serena climbed out. Keeping close to the building they made their way to the van. Josh saw the undercover car with two law enforcement officers positioned opposite the alley, where they had a clear view of anyone coming or going from the van. Josh and Serena crossed the street and went to the passenger side of the unmarked car.

The plain-clothed officer in the passenger seat rolled down his window. A badge hung around his neck on a leather string. “You the U.S. marshals?”

“We are.” Josh flashed his badge. “McCall and Summers.”

“Bergman and Trudy,” the officer said. “With the Sixth District patrol.”

Serena flashed her badge. “Has there been any movement?”

“None,” the older officer replied. “Could be abandoned or they could be holed up inside one of the buildings on either side.”

“What are those buildings?” Josh asked, studying the boxy brick structures that made up most of the business parks throughout the city.

“The one on the right is a warehouse for a manufacturing plant. The one on the left has a printing company downstairs and several financial offices upstairs.”

“Not likely the building on the left,” Josh said, as Serena said, “The warehouse is more likely.”

After a beat, Serena said, “Let’s check it out.”

“You want backup?” Bergman asked.

“Would appreciate it.” Serena turned and walked across the street.

Frustration crimped Josh’s stomach. She still didn’t fully trust him. After the past six months of working together, why hadn’t she figured out he wouldn’t let anything happen to her? He owed it to Daniel to keep his sister safe.

Josh watched as she strode away in this graffiti-tagged part of town in her uptown suit and squared-away hair. Something shifted and contracted within his chest. He owed it to
himself
to keep her safe.

“You two take the back entrance,” Josh directed the officers. “We’ll take the front.”

He jogged to catch up to Serena. “Hey, let’s be smart about this. We can’t bust down the door without probable cause.”

“The van was seen fleeing a crime scene. That’s your probable cause,” she said. Placing her hand on her weapon she approached the front entrance.

Shaking his head, Josh followed. She was rash and bold and amazing. If he weren’t careful he’d find himself falling for her. Something he couldn’t let happen. For her sake as well as his.

A square plate of glass provided a view inside. Josh gazed over Serena’s head. Inside, large shadowed shapes were barely visible in the unlit warehouse. Serena tried the knob. The door popped open.