Secret Agent Groom (The Bridal Circle #2) Read online

  “There’s got to be.” Her nervous laugh came real easy. “Maybe you need to look around.”

  He gave her a look, his eyes dark and dangerous. She’d never seen him that way before and her stomach tensed up even further. He looked about as far from a literature professor as possible right now, and soon that angry look would be directed at her.

  “You just stay here,” he ordered and got out of the car, watching all around him as he did so.

  Heather’s heart crept up into her throat so breathing was almost impossible. She watched as he walked carefully over to the house. It wasn’t too late. She could just tell him it was a mistake and they could go. He’d be annoyed, but that would be all.

  He disappeared around the corner of the house and Junior whined softly, nudging her shoulder with his nose. She thought of Alex in that awful neighborhood in Chicago where he’d gotten mugged. And last night when someone had been after him. No, she was not going to chicken out. Alex was in trouble and this was going to give him a chance.

  Taking a deep breath, she bent down and pulled the cover off the car’s fuse box. Holy cow, there was a dozen of them here! Aunty Em said to take the ignition fuse, but which one was that? Heather popped her head up and glanced around the car. Alex was still out of sight. She dove down again and just pulled all the fuses out. Better safe than sorry.

  Then she sat up, keeping one eye out for Alex as she dumped all the fuses into a little plastic bag and sealed it up.

  “You have to help me out here,” she told Junior and reached around the seat to get at his collar. “Under no circumstances are you to let him have these.”

  Junior just sat still as she unbuckled his heavy leather collar, duct-taped the fuses to it, and put it back on. It was done. She breathed a heavy sigh, then climbed out of the car. The rain had stopped and the air smelled of wet earth and pine. It really was very pretty here, a secluded little paradise. The rest of the world might not exist, for all she could tell. It was a wonderful spot to spend the weekend. Hopefully Alex would agree—sooner or later.

  She let Junior out of the car and went around to get Bonnie’s carrier. “Come on, sweetie. I bet you’re tired of being cooped up in here. Let’s get you into the house.”

  Carrying the cat carrier and a box of supplies, she climbed the steps and opened the door. It was open, just as Dorothy had said it would be. Junior raced up to join her and she let him go in first. A musty, dusty closed-up smell rushed out to greet her.

  The cabin looked no larger inside than it had from the outside. A small living room was furnished with rough wooden furniture and a stone fireplace graced the far wall. Beyond that was a kitchen. To her right—she peeked in—was the bedroom. The only bedroom.

  Her face flushed as she turned back to the sofa. It was short, and very hard-looking. Now what? She hadn’t even thought about sleeping arrangements. What a dummy she was! Did she offer to sleep in the car?

  Bonnie protested her confinement and Heather shook off her dilemma. Other things to worry about first.

  She opened the carrier so Bonnie could come out when she dared and fixed her litter box. then poured some water she’d brought from home into a big dish for both Bonnie and Junior. While the animals were investigating their supplies, Heather went over to the west end of the living room. As she was pulling aside the curtains to let in the last rays of the sun, she heard Alex’s steps on the porch. She turned toward the door, her heart all but stopping.

  “Heather?” He pushed open the door, his face looking like thunder about to crash. “I thought I said to stay in the car.”

  She shrugged and wiped her hands nervously on her shorts. “They needed to get out,” she said, waving at the animals. “It was a long drive.”

  His frown didn’t lessen as he looked around. “This place is deserted,” he pointed out sharply. “There’s no sign of Ida or any other human being.”

  “No?” Heather shrugged. “I guess she didn’t come up after all.”

  “She didn’t come?” Even though his voice was quiet, it seemed close to a bellow.

  Junior looked up, a soft growl in his throat. Alex just glared at the dog, then back at Heather. “I think we’d better get out of here while there’s still some light left,” he said. “If we go now, we should get almost to the road before it’s really dark.”

  She clenched her hands behind her back, steeling her whole self as if preparing to take a blow. “No,” she said.

  He’d bent down to pick up the water dish, and stopped. The look of thunder in his face deepened. It set Heather’s knees trembling and stole every drop of moisture in her mouth.

  “No?” he repeated.

  She shook her head, trying to find a way to speak “No.” It came out hoarse and gravelly, but audible.

  “We’re staying the weekend here. It’s for your own good.”

  Chapter Ten

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Alex snapped. Something was going on here, something that felt like a stupid game. And he had never liked games.

  Heather was standing in the middle of this dusty, dirty, deserted cabin, trying to look brave and failing. Her blue eyes were wide with worry and she kept biting at her bottom lip. His anger faltered a bit under her nervous regard.

  “We’re staying here,” she said with enough bravado to look him right in the eye. Her voice was strained, but clear enough. “You and I. Away from all temptations and evil influences.”

  “Evil influences?” He felt as if he had stumbled into someone else’s dream and it irritated the hell out of him. He didn’t have time for this. “What are you talking about?”

  “You have a serious gambling habit, Alex. Don’t bother to deny it. I know you do.”

  “No, It” He stopped. Damn. He couldn’t defend himself without breaking his cover and he couldn’t do that. “So what if I do? What does that have to do—” He paused, understanding coming slowly. “Ida Crawford never was up here, was she? You made it all up.”

  Heather nodded. “You needed a place to stay where there would be no temptations. And this seemed perfect.”

  The pieces were falling in place, though he could hardly believe what picture they were forming. “You brought me up here so I wouldn’t gamble?”

  “Not just gambling,” she told him. “So you could see that you don’t need constant excitement to be happy.”

  This was unbelievable. He was in the middle of a huge undercover investigation and innocent Heather was giving him more trouble than all the crooks put together.

  “I’m not staying,” he pointed out.

  “You have to. I’m not letting you leave.”

  The idea that she could stop him was laughable, but he was polite enough not to. “Heather, keeping me up here isn’t going to stop me from gambling. I can gamble any place I am. All I have to do is pick up the phone and call a bookie.”

  “If you had a phone,” she said amiably. Too amiably.

  Double damn. The hell with being polite. “What did you do with my cell phone?” he snapped.

  “Nothing,” she said. “It’s perfectly fine. Just sitting on your dresser back home. I took it out of your bag while you were getting your razor from the bathroom.”

  “You what?”

  Junior growled, and Alex took a step back. Not that he needed the warning, but he sure needed the space to get himself under control. He could not believe she had done that.

  “You mean we’re up here in this godforsaken place without a phone? What if something happens and we need help?”

  “I have my cell phone,” she told him. “But it needs a security code to be used.”

  Thank goodness. At least they weren’t without some basic protection. He took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. It was time to regroup.

  “Heather, I appreciate your concern,” he said carefully. “But I really don’t need your help.”

  “Denial will do you no good,” she replied. “You can’t get better until you admit you have a pr
oblem.”

  He just stared at her, then sank onto the sofa. If he spoke, he would shout and Junior would growl and Heather would get even more stubborn. There had to be a way to convince her. Maybe he should—

  “You’re overdue on a loan,” she said. “You were lucky last night, but that doesn’t mean you will be next time.”

  “How—” He swallowed all his arguments hard. She must have heard them talking in front of her house. Damn. She knew there was violence involved and still let herself get caught up in this. Why? The Heather he knew should be at home hiding. Why was she trying to rescue him?

  Oh, no. This time it really became clear. “Heather, I am not some cat needing rescue.”

  “You need help.”

  This was unbelievable. They were getting out of here even if he had to drag her.

  “Come on,” he said. “We’re going back home.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I’m going out to start the car,” he said. “Give me the keys, please.”

  She just kept looking at him, those wide eyes still trying to save him. Except, hell, he didn’t need saving. Then she held out the keys.

  He took them, feeling almost bad about all this. She meant well, he knew. It wasn’t her fault that she was judging things on appearances and didn’t know the reality. But still, he had a job to do and he needed to be back in Indiana to get it done. And she needed to be in a safe location, not a deserted cabin in the middle of nowhere. He turned and walked toward the door. No one else moved.

  “Are you coming with me?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Heather, I don’t have time to play games.”

  “I’m not playing.”

  “I’m going to start the car and if you’re not out in thirty seconds, I’m coming back.”

  “I expect you will.”

  She didn’t look any less nervous, but there was something too calm and assured about her. He eyed her suspiciously, then looked down at the car keys. Had she given him the wrong ones? No, they were the same set she’d driven up here with.

  “Want me to take Bonnie’s stuff out?” he asked.

  “No, thank you,” she said. “She’s fine where she its.”

  “I’m not leaving you up here.”

  “I never thought you would.”

  This was getting them nowhere. He pulled open the door and stumped across the dirt yard to the car. He’d get it started and show her he meant business. Then she’d let him help her pack up the animals and start back.

  He climbed into the car and pushed the horn, just to make a point. It didn’t make a point because it didn’t make a sound. Not even a squeak.

  Damn. He jammed the key into the ignition and turned it. The silence was deafening.

  Double damn. He tried again.

  Nothing. Not a squeak or a flicker or a flutter. Nothing.

  Alex flung the car door open and strode over to the front of the car. After popping the hood, he stared at the motor. In the rapidly fading light, nothing looked unplugged or missing. He jiggled some wires, just to do something, and tried the motor again. Still nothing. The horn still wouldn’t make a sound and the lights didn’t work. She did something with the electrical system. Rats.

  He looked under the hood again. The battery was there so it had to be the fuses.

  He went back into the car and looked under the dashboard for the fuse box. He didn’t like what he didn’t see. It was almost dark in the car, but he didn’t need light to see there was no fuses there.

  Hell. He slammed the car door and stomped back into the house. Heather was putting some dry food out for the two animals, but stood back up when he came in.

  “You took the fuses out of the car. Give them to me, please.”

  “I don’t have them.”

  He really didn’t need this. It was bad enough that they’d be driving all night, but he at least wanted to .get out of this rugged area while it was still light.

  “Just give me the fuses or tell me where you put them.”

  “Junior has them.”

  Alex looked at the dog who was sitting on his haunches, grinning at him. It was still light enough in the room for him to see something was taped to the beast’s collar. But Alex took only a half step toward the dog before he started his low growl again. Alex stopped.

  Heather came over to put her hand on his arm, her eyes pools of caring and concern. “I know that we’re not going to totally cure you of your gambling addiction, but we need to stay here long enough to make a good start on it. We’re not leaving until I’m satisfied you’re on the road to recovery.”

  A tiny meow caused Alex to turn. Apparently Bonnie wanted to warn him how stubborn Heather could be.

  Alex sighed. Well, Heather wasn’t the only stubborn one here. Yeah, she had him boxed in right now. But that was only because he hadn’t realized what kind of game she was playing. Now that he knew the rules, nothing was going to hold him back. He was going to get her out of here and somewhere safe.

  “How are we going to know when I’m ready to leave?” he asked.

  “I’ll know and, in the meantime, Junior’s going to hold the fuses.”

  “What if I try to take them?” Alex said.

  Heather smiled sweetly. “I imagine he’ll just rip you to shreds.”

  The dog was grinning at them both, but he only gave Heather his adoring look. Since Junior was a trained police dog Alex doubted the beast could be persuaded to transfer his allegiance. Although, it might be worth a try. And Alex did know Junior’s weak spot—beer. He’d roll over and play dead for a can of suds. Lately Toto had him on near beer.

  “Man, am I thirsty.” Alex stretched his arms high over his head. “We got any beer in the place?”

  Heather didn’t even bother to grin. She just laughed out loud. “Not a drop.”

  Damn. That store in Watton was ten miles back. On this terrain that was a three-hour walk. He might get it closer to two if he ran, but if Heather told Junior to, he would run Alex down and drag him back before he even reached the property line.

  “I’ll be glad to make some lemonade,” Heather said.

  His first inclination was to tell her to forget it, but getting into a spitting match wouldn’t solve the problem and neither would telling her this was for her own good. He was going to have to play it by ear and see what developed. Something would present itself. Some weakness, some preference that he could exploit. For her sake, he couldn’t give up, no matter what he had to pretend.

  “Maybe later,” he said tightly. “I’d better unload the car while we still have a little bit of fight.”

  “This is going to be great,” Heather told him, giving his arm a squeeze. “You’ll see.”

  He just nodded and turned to the door, stopping at a small sound near his foot. Bonnie was there, chattering quietly. He had the feeling she was giving him advice on how to survive Heather’s forced-socialization.

  “Hey, kid,” he said to her. “How are you and Junior getting along? Think you could get something off his collar for me?”

  Heather took the lemonade mix and a pitcher from the box she had brought in from the car. She wasn’t at all discouraged by Alex’s reaction; it was what she had expected. This really was no different than socializing the cats. They didn’t like being caught and fought against it, just as he had. But little by little, the cats stopped fighting and learned to like being touched and held and loved. Then it didn’t take long to win them over.

  “Of course, that’s not what I’m trying to do with Alex,” she pointed out to Junior. The very thought of touching and holding him made her whole body blush. “I just want him to see that there are other ways to be happy. He doesn’t need to risk his safety and livelihood.”

  Other ways...like loving and being loved? The blush turned to fire and she hurried toward the kitchen. Now that Alex had been “caught,” the next thing was to give him a reward. Something to show him how good this risk-free life could be.

&n
bsp; “No, it’s not going to have anything to do with touching,” she told Junior, just in case the dog was getting ideas. “I was thinking of lemonade and brownies right out of the microwave.”

  She stopped in the kitchen doorway, feeling around the doorway for the light switch. She couldn’t feel one.

  She turned, and looked all around the doorway and beyond. Sometimes the wiring in old houses was really creative and the switches could be in odd places.

  But there wasn’t one near the door, or next to the pantry. Not even by the table. She frowned, clutching the lemonade mix and pitcher to her chest as she looked all over. Not only could she not find the light switches, she couldn’t see any lights! Could someone have broken in and stolen them?

  Suddenly she was seeing light-fixture-bearing hoodlums huddled in the shadows. Brigands with lamp fetishes lurking beyond the stove, ready to skewer her with a fluorescent bulb. Her mouth went dry as she took a step back. Behind her, Alex came in with another load from the car.

  “Alex?” she called out.

  There was a loud thump of a box being dropped heavily, then he was in the doorway. The anger and annoyance that had been there earlier was replaced by concern. “What’s the matter?”

  She felt silly then, faced with his strength and ferocity. “Uh, I wondered if you could turn on the lights for me,” she said. “My hands are full.”

  “Turn the lights on?” He looked around. “That’ll be a trick. It doesn’t look like the place has electricity.”

  “No electricity?”

  Oh, no. That meant no microwave and so no microwave brownies. What was she going to do for his reward? She had to reward him, it was absolutely necessary in the socialization process. Bonnie would never have come around if Heather hadn’t given her a treat right after she’d been caught.

  “A bummer, right?” Alex said, his voice a little too casual. “I can’t imagine not having any electricity. No coffeemaker making coffee before we get up. No radio to listen to.” He paused, then went on. “Can’t even have a night-light.”

  Part of her was disappointed, and another part was worried, but still another part was so relieved at his words she could have hugged him. He was following the predictable pattern. The feral cat kept fighting even after it was caught and so was Alex. But his combative attitude would lessen after his reward. And she could still give him one. She’d bought some cookies in Watton. They would have cookies and lemonade.