Illegally Wedded

by Jennifer Griffith

  “I’m Agent Dinwiddie, and I’ll be your detaining officer.” The uniformed official said this in a tone as if he was going to be her waiter at an expensive restaurant. “Come with me, Mrs. Travis.”

  Piper let herself be handcuffed, a cold sweat forming on her upper lip. Through her fear, she thought to tell Birdie one last thing.

  “Call Zach,” Piper said, her voice trembling.

  “I don’t know his number.” Birdie’s face contorted with concern, but then she went steely, all her years of experience quelling fear. “I’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

  Now Piper paced the small, glassed in office where at U.S. Border Patrol, unsure of everything on earth. Did Birdie reach Zach? If so, how had he reacted? The trial was in a few hours. If she and Birdie got out now, they could still—barely—make their flight back, if they sped back to Seattle. However, another fifteen minutes’ delay, and they missed not only the flight but the hearing.

  And Piper would lose Zach’s trust. She should have listened to his advice. He’d been wise. Wisdom should have overruled compassion in this one instance.

  “Hey?” She pounded on the plexi-glass. “Is my friend Birdie all right? Can you make sure she gets something to eat? She needs granola or yogurt or something. She’s nearly eighty and has had a long night out. Please?”

  No one was listening.

  Piper prayed Birdie was okay.

  Piper felt sick. Maybe she was the one who needed the granola and yogurt.

  “Even prisoners get one phone call. I need to call my lawyer.” She needed to get word to Zach where she was, and why, even if her call woke him in these wee hours of the morning.

  No one on the other side of the Plexi-glass responded to her.

  Weird how they let people out of the U.S. at this checkpoint, but getting back in was nearly impossible, even with a U.S. driver’s license. All she could think was ICE must have flagged Piper’s because after she handed it to the agent in the booth, he’d taken a long time in returning to them, and the gate back into America never came up. Not for Piper.

  Such a bad omen.

  Agent Dinwiddie came into the room, smirking. “We just need you to answer a few questions.”

  “I said I want my lawyer present.” She’d seen enough TV shows to know she shouldn’t answer, especially considering how guilty she was.

  Piper tried another tactic. “I need to get the rental back to the airport. My neighbor is a nice lady. She’s elderly; she’s tired; she needs to make her flight home, people. It’s not like she has extra cash lying around to rebook a flight. Come on.”

  “To answer your question, your friend is sleeping comfortably.”

  At least there was that.

  “Ma’am,” Agent Dinwiddie said, unfazed and as though he hadn’t heard any of her arguments on Birdie’s behalf. “What exactly was the nature of your business in Canada?”

  “I told you. Neil Diamond concert.” That she would say without her lawyer-husband present. Why wouldn’t they let her call him?

  The clock passed midnight, and the window for getting on their plane slid closed, which meant she’d never make it back in time for court now.

  “You? You’re the wrong demographic for Neil Diamond. My daughter is your age. She’d never—” He shook his head a firm no. “Look, you’re making this more difficult than it needs to be by lying.”

  “I’m not lying.”

  He cleared his throat. “Never mind. The point is you have no travel papers to reenter the United States. Your ID has been flagged, as you are likely aware, considering you also have court dates scheduled for later today.”

  She tried to stifle her gasp. How did he know that?

  “What makes you say that?” She phrased it carefully, so as not to give anything away that he’d divined the truth about her potentially fugitive status. How did he know about the court date? Either this fellow was omniscient, or the government had suddenly gotten a lot better at coordinating information about private citizens, not that she could claim to be one officially anymore.

  “We cooperate from state to state. Washington and Texas both being border states, we have to. We have a Border State Coalition that collaborates. It keeps everyone safe.”

  “Do I look like a terrorist to you?”

  “This is not about profiling. I’m sure you understand that.”

  She desperately needed to be able to get to court to prove her innocence.0

  “What’s going to happen to me?”

  “I’m afraid we’re going to have to detain you down at headquarters.”

  Where was that, exactly? Piper’s blood ran cold. Headquarters might mean a cell with iron bars and locks. She’d rather stay here, where she could keep an eye on Birdie. It was still dark outside, so Birdie couldn’t even go catch the plane. Piper sickened.

  “Come on, man. Let’s be reasonable. Yes, I made a mistake by venturing out of the U.S., but it was an accident.”

  That did nothing. In fact, his demeanor hardened. Apparently Agent Dinwiddie had no sympathy for idiotic failure to notice laws.

  Piper had to think of a way to persuade this guy that letting her go was in his best interest. There had to be something. She bit her nail while he scrawled on some paperwork.

  Aha. An idea hit.

  “And what’s going to happen from there? Surely not deportation to New Zealand.” She leaned forward, attempting her most reasonable and persuasive voice. “Who’d pay for the ticket? That’s expensive for your office. Have you seen those prices, especially last minute flights? What will it do to your budget?”

  “Our budget can handle it.” He said this, but he didn’t sound as confident as he had a moment ago. His eyes flickered to the side. Yes. She’d made a hit, if not a direct one. Agent Dinwiddie knew budgets were tight. Perfect. She could work with that.

  “But as you already know, I have a court date in Texas this afternoon. The court systems are already set to work it out. My being detained here would only bog down your system, cost your office money and time, not to mention the paperwork hassle, when the U.S. Border Patrol’s Texas outfit is already set to handle all that burden.”

  Dinwiddie blinked. She’d made yet another dent. Money and paperwork and time and hassle—now she was speaking his language fluently.

  “I’m not a flight risk.”

  “Everyone’s a flight risk.”

  “No, really. I have a job I’m totally committed to.” Yes, but there was more, much more now. “And a husband I love.”

  There it was—the naked truth. She loved Zach. In fact, she’d even said it aloud to someone. Piper’s soul soared at admitting the truth at last. Unfortunately she’d spoken it to Agent Dinwiddie first, but the admission broke the dam that had been holding her back up until now. The second she saw Zach, she could tell him at last, no hesitation, no fear, that she loved him.

  Assuming she ever saw him again.

  “Look, sir. If my friend and I leave this office right now and don’t make a single stop,” and they broke the speed limit and possibly the sound barrier, “there may still be time for us to catch our flight in Seattle, so that I can make it to that hearing in San Antonio. We’d be out of your hair and back into the hair of the Texas agents who are set to take care of my situation.”

  “I can’t release you.” The substance of Dinwiddie’s comment was firm, but his voice contained a wavering. “Or let you make a phone call. Those are the regs.”

  “Do it for my friend’s sake, then. She’s elderly. It’s dark, and her license has been made provisional. Unless you have someone who will drive her to the airport so she can at least catch the flight? Come on, she’s got that rental car that needs to be returned to its rightful owners at Honesty Rental Cars.” Piper hoped the need for justice and property ownership was strong with this guy.

  “That’s a detail you won’t have to concern yourself with.” It looked like he’d suddenly tuned her out. He was scribbling something on a sheet of paper.

&nb
sp; “Come on, Agent Dinwiddie.” Desperation drove her to babbling now. “They can’t send me to New Zealand. It was an honest mistake. I bet people stray over the border to Chilliwack for concerts all the time, right? Thinking they’re still in the U.S. In fact, we should just issue a free pass the first time someone gets confused. A Mulligan. Do you play golf, Agent Dinwiddie? You’ve heard of the do-over when you just have a bad moment, right?” Desperation tinged her voice.

  “Since you refuse to cooperate with my questions, and resist being taken to headquarters, you leave me with no other option.”

  She looked over at the paperwork he was already signing: Recommendation: Deportation to Country of Origin. IMMEDIATE.

  ∞∞∞

  Despite being home for the night rather than holed up in his office for the fourth night in a row avoiding the temptation of Piper Quinn Travis, Zach couldn’t sleep. The morning’s interview loomed, as did the court case—and the disturbing information leaked to him by that jerk Mike. No wonder Piper hadn’t married before now; she kept getting trapped in relationships with bait-and-switch guys, who seemed upstanding at first but underwent personality changes she couldn’t have predicted.

  No wonder she had trust issues. The men in her life had spurred them. No wonder Piper had decided to wait before giving herself fully in a relationship. Zach admired and respected her for that, for valuing herself enough to put the brakes on and not get carried away without a true commitment.

  As time had gone on with her, he’d grown to know she deserved that type of committed, full, rich relationship, based on security and honesty and fully giving of one’s heart.

  I’m actually ready to give mine.

  Which fact didn’t help with his insomnia. If she were here now, lying beside him in her Neil Diamond concert t-shirt, instead of at the actual Neil Diamond concert half a continent away, he’d tell her. Why hadn’t he before? He should have. And now, tomorrow, he could lose her forever.

  Why hadn’t he heard from her yet? She should be home by now, right?

  ∞∞∞

  Piper’s mind screamed. Immediate deportation to country of origin! But Texas was Piper’s country of origin, not New Zealand. How could she be sent to a place she had no memory of? Hot and cold anger at herself for her stupidity washed through her alternately, with intermittent waves of pure, icy fear.

  “A phone call at least, please? Agent Dinwiddie? Even murderers get one phone call. I haven’t killed anyone.”

  “Sorry.” He pronounced it like a Canadian, not a Washingtonian. The culture must have bled the two inches across the border to where they now sat.

  Speaking of Canadians, why were the Canadians always so sorry? It didn’t make any difference. They did nothing but apologize. In Agent Dinwiddie’s case, apologies didn’t change anything or denote leniency—or even common courtesy—or friendly forgiveness.

  “No, Agent Dinwiddie, I’m the one who’s sorry.” Piper’s voice hitched. Immediate deportation meant never seeing Zach again.

  Just then, a pounding came at the window of their little booth of sorries. Birdie, wild-eyed, demanded entry.

  “Let her out of there. She’s one of the greatest chefs in the whole country of Texas, U.S.A., and she has a restaurant to run in just a few hours. You cannot keep her prisoner like this.” Birdie had cracked. This happened once before when the neighbor above them took up clogging and tap, and Birdie hadn’t slept for three days. Her delirium made her irrational. “If you don’t let her out, I’m bringing in the big guns.”

  Agent Dinwiddie turned toward Piper with a mixed look of alarm and skepticism. “You didn’t say anything about a gun. Do you have a registration form for it? Concealed carry may be legal in Texas, but it’s not in Washington.” He looked ready to draw his sidearm on her, and she froze.

  Piper had had enough of guns and threats in the past twenty-four hours.

  “No, not a literal gun!” Birdie still shouted through the glass of the booth. “I mean the big guns. If you don’t let her out, I’m calling Neil.”

  Dinwiddie turned toward Piper. “Don’t tell me.”

  “Yup. Neil Diamond.” Piper grimaced. “One concert and she thinks they’re best friends. Come on, Dinwiddie. Look, I’ll cooperate with all your questions if I have my lawyer on speaker phone.”

  Not only haven’t I told Zach I love him, I haven’t shown him.

  And that was grounds for annulment.

  Annulment. The word made her gasp inwardly. Piper could lose him. Forever. He could annul the marriage faster than it had taken them to get hitched, and it would all be over. Even if she did get to return to the States someday, she’d have no claim on him.

  But he’d have a claim on her heart forever.

  The tip of her nose tingled, and her eyes misted up.

  “Oh, dear. You’re not planning on crying, now are you? Crying. It’s a tactic—and if you’re trying to manipulate me, I’m resistant, I swear to you. Even to the giantest green eyes this side of the Rockies.”

  “I’m sorry, Agent Dinwiddie.” Oh, great. The sorries were contagious. She sniffled. “It’s just—I might not see my husband again. Maybe you’ll understand this: that unspoken things hang between us that have to be said in person. I can’t leave him without saying them. If they deport me, I could lose him forever.”

  Now the tears fell in earnest, big and hot and splashing.

  Dinwiddie stared at her, and Piper swiped at her face. His chin wrinkled and his lips formed a flat line.

  “Just don’t mention this to anyone.” Dinwiddie shoved a phone at her and turned his back. “Two minutes. Or less. I can’t cover for you longer than that.” He turned back toward her. “I have a daughter, you know. Just your age. And there are unspoken things—things that I have to say in person but can’t.” His voice cracked, but he cleared his throat. “Ninety seconds.”

  ∞∞∞

  Too keyed up about her absence to rest, Zach got up to pace the room. He’d called her number a dozen times in the last hour, but with no answer. Something must have happened to her. If he didn’t hear from her soon, he was going to blow his interview this morning. No way could he concentrate on whatever Crockett would ask him if Zach didn’t have assurance about Piper’s safety, especially considering what a wild card Chad had turned out to be, and the revenge fires burning between Stone Face Mike and Agent Valentine.

  The world was not a safe place for Piper Quinn Travis tonight. He needed to warn her that there would be unpleasant surprises at the hearing—if she made it back.

  Where was she? Why wouldn’t she pick up?

  He paced again.

  With a glance into the bathroom, Zach spied her bottle of honey and almond shampoo on the rim of the tub. Would it smell just like her hair? He flipped the cap and held the bottle to his nose, the scents of nature taking him to wherever Piper was.

  Yeah, he might be a big, tough guy who could scare off an attacker with a gun, but Zach Travis was one whipped puppy when it came to Piper. A goner.

  In love.

  As soon as he saw her again, he was going to tell her. He’d propose all over again, this time with no idiotic business deal, no end date in mind. He’d be sincere, he’d show her he wanted her for real, wanted this life with her.

  A rattling sounded from the bedroom. Teacup stirred and gave a few yaps then quieted. It came again, and he realized it came from his phone on vibrate on his nightstand.

  “Hello?”

  “Zach?” Piper’s voice quavered. He glanced at the clock. Three a.m. Why was she calling now? His heart clutched, and then she said the three most fearsome words, “I’m in trouble.”

  ∞∞∞

  Borrowing the corporate jet at zero notice last weekend for a honeymoon had been one thing. Cora had been complicit then, willing to schedule things for him, line up the pilot, make the necessary paperwork happen. Tonight, time simply didn’t allow leeway for the niceties of permission forms and calendaring.

  Nor was there time
to find a dog sitter. Teacup, snoozing in her basket, would have to come along. Dogs were probably frowned upon on corporate jets.

  On the outside chance Zach wrangled the flight, the bigger question remained: could they even make it back in time for court?

  “Destination: Seattle. My wife is in trouble. How soon could you get me there?”

  “Wheels up in fifteen, if you can meet me on the tarmac.” Dave the pilot’s voice was scratchy, as if he’d been sleeping. Of course he’d been sleeping. Every sane person was at this hour of the morning.

  “Just so you know, I don’t have anything lined up with CBH, no permission slips, anything, so I probably shouldn’t ask you.”

  “Your wife’s the sweet young lady who sent me the gift certificate, right? It came with a note thanking me for the trip to Puerto Rico.”

  Zach didn’t know.

  “A coupon for lunch for two at that place on the Riverwalk.”

  “Du Jour?” Had to be. Wow, very thoughtful. It hadn’t even crossed Zach’s mind to thank Dave for the flight.

  “Yes! I took my wife and it was delicious. My wife fell in love with me all over again during that lunch. We’d been going through a rough patch, and I can’t thank your wife enough for her insight. How did she know?”

  Good question. “She always seems to know. She’s pretty special.”

  “I’ll say. I owe her big time. Meet me there in ten minutes. If she’s in trouble, we have to do something about that. It’s our bounden duty. I’ll get you to Seattle faster than you can say fried green tomatoes at the Riverwalk café.”

  ∞∞∞

  The tight wire of worry winding inside Piper loosened a fraction when she heard Zach’s voice. He would come for her, she knew.

  However, whether Border Patrol would release her into Zach’s custody, she had no idea. Kneading her palms together like yesterday’s bread dough, she racked her brain for a solution.

  Unfortunately, the only idea that presented itself was too awful to consider: no way would Piper stoop to contacting Agent Valentine for an assist.