Receptionist Under Cover

by C. J. Carmichael

  He frowned slightly, then leaned in toward her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Do you know who’s speaking tonight?”

  He named a local dignitary who had been a friend of her family’s for as long as she could remember.

  “Anyone else?”

  “Well, there’s that action-adventure travel writer, Patrick O’Neil. But you wouldn’t have heard of him.”

  Patrick O’Neil. Oh, Lord. Nadine could feel the skin at the back of her neck tingle. She had to get out of here before he noticed her.

  But no sooner did she have that thought than Patrick turned around—and with an uncanny instinct, as if he’d sensed her thinking about him—looked her square in the eyes.

  CHAPTER THREE

  PATRICK HAD EXPECTED TO BE bored, and he’d been prepared for it. What he hadn’t remembered was how damn uncomfortable formal attire could be. His feet—used to cushioned, merino wool socks and thick rubber soles—ached in these thin leather shoes. And the buttons on his tuxedo shirt seemed to tighten their hold on his neck with every minute.

  He scanned the room in search of something that might distract him from his misery. Drinking wouldn’t be smart. Not when he had to speak in about an hour.

  Definitely lots of beautiful women here. But he felt little interest in trying to meet one of them. That letter from June…it had really knocked him for a loop.

  Wait a minute. Over in the corner. He couldn’t help staring at the pretty brunette with sparkling dark eyes. She was slender and utterly feminine…like a modern-day princess in a strapless dress that showed off flawless skin and an intriguing hint of cleavage.

  She had a delicate beauty that set her apart from the many other gorgeous women in this room. But that wasn’t the only reason she’d caught his attention. He had the feeling he’d met her before.

  And then it hit him. Hell. She was the investigator from Fox & Fisher. Nadine Kimble.

  At the very moment he recognized her, she glanced through the crowd, making contact with his eyes. Or maybe he imagined it, because now, a second later, she was looking just slightly to his left. Lowering her eyes, she took a very long drink from her champagne flute.

  She’d looked completely different earlier today in a conservative skirt and high-necked sweater. Her hair had been straight and controlled and her makeup subdued.

  But he was now quite certain she was the same woman.

  He was already moving through the crowd, curious to find out why a detective from Fox & Fisher was mingling with New York City’s wealthiest and most influential citizens. The tickets for tonight’s event were a thousand bucks a head. Not something that fit into the average woman’s budget, that was for sure.

  Perhaps she had a rich boyfriend.

  And at just that moment Patrick spotted him—a tall, academic-looking man in his late twenties, with dull eyes and an expression devoid of good humor. As Patrick watched, Nadine stood on her toes to speak into his ear. He nodded, then took her champagne flute and headed off, presumably for a refill.

  She was alone now. And though she was no longer looking in his direction, he sensed she was aware of his approach.

  Patrick wondered why he felt it was so important to speak to her. Not enough time had passed for her to have turned up any information about his son. Yet, he pressed on, weaving through the knots of people, drawing nearer, finally close enough to touch her lightly on the shoulder.

  “MR. O’NEIL.” NADINE SHIVERED, though the man’s touch on her skin was warm. She swiveled ninety degrees, so she was almost, but not quite, facing him. “This is a surprise. I didn’t realize you were tonight’s speaker until just recently.”

  She clasped her hands behind her back to hide her trembling. She had to get rid of him. Fast. It wouldn’t take Trenton long to refill their glasses, and when he returned she’d be obligated to make introductions, and her cover would be blown.

  She could just imagine what her client would say when he found out her father was one of the owners of this hotel, her mother on the fundraising committee for this event.

  “Call me Patrick. Please. Believe me, this isn’t my usual habitat.” He gave a desultory tug to his bow tie. “But my publicist went to a lot of work to arrange this gig and threatened to feed me to lions if I didn’t show up.”

  “I guess it’s good timing. With your new book coming out soon and all.” She glanced over his shoulder, relieved to see that Trenton wasn’t yet in the vicinity.

  “Exactly. Still, it’s ironic, isn’t it? A big, fancy bash like this—everyone in expensive duds, eating exotic food. If we really cared about the rain forest, we’d be consuming less, not more.”

  That was exactly how she felt about the situation. But she couldn’t afford to exchange political and social views with this man. She had to leave. Now.

  “I must admit, I was surprised to see you here,” Patrick continued.

  She knew he was waiting for an explanation. Suddenly one came to her. She stepped closer to him and in a low voice said, “I’m attending on business. I’m sorry I can’t explain further.”

  “Oh.” Patrick’s eyes widened. “You’re undercover, then?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to mess things up.”

  “Exactly. Thanks so much for understanding.” She squeezed his arm, in a gesture of farewell, and though she knew he was in excellent physical condition, she was still surprised to feel the tight resistance of muscle under the soft wool of his tux.

  “We’ll talk soon,” she promised, before slipping off into the crowd. Not five steps later, a friend of her mother’s called out her name, but she pretended not to hear as she hurried to put distance between herself and Patrick.

  She’d slipped out of that predicament, but only barely. She didn’t dare stick around for the entire evening. She was too well known here, had too many connections.

  She would find Trenton and make an excuse to leave. There would be hell to pay from her mother, but there was no way around it.

  THE NEXT MORNING NADINE WENT to the office early, despite not having slept well the night before. Granny Kimble had always said a clean conscience was essential to a good night’s sleep, and now Nadine knew that was true. She’d never in her life told as many lies as she had in the past twenty hours.

  Seeing Patrick last night had been an unexpected complication, requiring yet more little white lies on her part. She could so easily have been busted. Luckily she’d managed to exit fairly quickly after being spotted.

  But part of her wished she could have stayed. She would have liked to hear him speak. Then maybe later, after the dinner, he would have sought her out for a dance. She imagined the band playing something slow and romantic, Patrick’s arms tightening around her back…

  Oh, Lord. What was she doing? Daydreaming about her client was definitely not professional.

  She was up to her neck in deception, and the only way out was to solve this case, which meant finding Patrick’s son, the sooner the better.

  That was why she’d arrived so early. Hopefully she’d have the office to herself for at least an hour before the others arrived. Prior to her pregnancy, Kate had been an early bird, but these days she usually started her days at nine, like Lindsay and Nathan.

  Yesterday Nadine had mapped out a strategy and now she reviewed her notes. The first step was checking out Stephen’s mother—Patrick’s old girlfriend—June Stone.

  She located June’s obituary on the Internet and read it carefully. June’s parents had predeceased her, but she had been survived by a sister and her family, who lived in Boston, as well as her son, Stephen.

  Nadine copied out the sister’s name, then read on. The write-up on June’s life was short, highlighting her career as a professor at Columbia University, and citing her business and masters degrees from NYU. The obit ended on a personal note…“In her spare time June loved skiing with her son and hiking with friends in the Berkshires.”

  And that was all the obituary
had to offer.

  Next, Nadine tracked down June’s last-known address, the apartment in Chelsea. What had happened with her furniture and belongings? Nadine wondered. Did her son have them?

  Nadine tucked her hair out of the way as she tried to think what she should do next. Since Stephen didn’t have a listed phone number or address that she could find, it might be smart to try and reach the sister, who would be his aunt.

  She was about to start searching for a Boston phone listing, when the door opened and Kate stepped in, her freckled face pink from the cold, or exertion or possibly both.

  She paused and sighed, hand on belly. “God, I wish we were on the ground floor.”

  Nadine had a sudden urge to tell Kate what she was doing. The others often brainstormed with one another about their cases. But unfortunately, she couldn’t allow herself that luxury.

  “Only four more weeks,” she said encouragingly. “Then you’ll be on mat leave with your beautiful baby.”

  “I can’t wait.” Besides being smart, coolheaded and ambitious, Kate also had a huge maternal streak and Nadine doubted if this would be her and Jay’s only child.

  She was mildly envious of the other woman’s happiness. In her mind Kate had it all: a terrific husband, a great career and soon a baby, as well. Nadine wanted all those things, too, but she wanted to earn them, not have them handed to her on a silver platter by her parents.

  Her mother didn’t understand. She thought Nadine should be happy to work as an administrator for the family’s charitable foundation and date the suitable young men introduced to her by her parents.

  Both her mother and her father were still cool to the fact that she was working at Fox & Fisher, but Nadine hoped that eventually they would accept that this was her chosen path. Maybe, at some point, they would actually be proud of her.

  As soon as Kate was in her office, Nadine returned to her Internet search. She had to follow a winding trail to locate a phone number for June’s sister in Boston, but eventually she was successful. No sooner had she punched the numbers into her cell phone than Nathan appeared.

  Quickly Nadine shut her phone, then slid her papers under a stack of files.

  “Hey, Nathan. Where’s Lindsay?” They usually came to work together.

  “I talked her into sleeping late. She had a bad night.”

  He didn’t need to say more. Nadine nodded sympathetically. While Lindsay was strong, brave and capable, she and her sister, Meg, had been orphaned very young. The scars from their parents’ violent deaths had left a mark on each of the girls.

  For Lindsay, her personal demons included nightmares and insomnia—though from what Nadine had heard, both were becoming less frequent. But moments of high emotion could bring on a relapse.

  “Is it the wedding?” Nadine speculated.

  “I think so. I wonder if we should have just eloped like she said she wanted.”

  “It’s still an option.”

  “Yeah. But I don’t want her to feel cheated ten years from now. You know—that she didn’t have the full deal on her wedding day.”

  Nadine smiled. Nathan couldn’t help being himself. Any job worth doing, was worth doing well, in his opinion. And obviously that included weddings. “I’m sure your wedding will be perfect.”

  “As long as we end up as husband and wife, that will be perfect enough for me. From now on, I swear, I’m going to agree with everything Lindsay wants.”

  He hung up his coat, then went to pour himself a coffee. “I’m sorry we had to rush our conversation yesterday. Lindsay and I were talking last night. You’re very important to this office. You know that, right?”

  “That’s good to hear. But—”

  “You’re ready for more. Right. We get that. And you will get more. But gradually. When Kate has her baby, we’ll talk again. Maybe there will be a few cases of hers that you can take over.”

  There were still too many maybes in his proposition for Nadine’s taste. But she smiled and thanked him anyway. Soon Nathan, Lindsay and Kate were going to realize that she was a lot more capable than they thought.

  TWO DAYS LATER, NADINE HAD a problem. Finally she had some concrete results to share with Patrick, and she needed to arrange a meeting. But it couldn’t be at the office. She couldn’t count on one of the partners not walking in on her.

  She pondered her options for a while, then sent him a text message, suggesting they go for coffee in Chelsea at the end of the workday. If she closed up the office at five and took a cab rather than the subway, she ought to be able to make it by six.

  She’d just hit the send button, when Lindsay came out of her office. “Want to cut out early today? Nathan’s planning on working late, so he can lock up the place. Meg and I are going to shop for my wedding dress and shoes. When we’re done, we’ll go out for dinner.”

  Oh, heck. That sounded like fun. Nadine checked her silent phone and wondered if Patrick would respond soon. “I’d love to, but…”

  Lindsay had noticed her glance at her phone. “Family plans?”

  Nadine swallowed. She hadn’t counted on needing to lie quite this often. She really didn’t like it. Fortunately her phone chimed at just that moment and she held up a hand for Lindsay to wait.

  She scanned the short message from Patrick: Six is good for me.

  Patrick’s speedy reply gave her a rush of excitement. She was looking forward to seeing him, and it wasn’t just about the case. A lot of guys looked great in a tux, but he had looked really, really great. Not that it mattered. Only…she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  She pressed a hand to her chest. She had to stop this. She was almost positive that professional investigators did not think about their clients this way.

  She realized Lindsay had been watching her. Now, the astute investigator smiled wickedly. “No, it’s not family. It’s a hot date, isn’t it? Go ahead and say yes, Nadine. We can go for dinner anytime.”

  “But, your gown and shoes…” Picking out a spectacular wedding outfit was the one thing that Lindsay seemed to be excited about and Nadine was honored to be invited along.

  “Don’t worry. I already know which dress I want. I’m just showing Meg so she’ll think I’ve asked for her opinion.”

  “What about Kate?”

  “Poor thing is too tired. She has a meeting in half an hour and then she’s going straight home to put her feet up.” Lindsay sighed. “Face it, we could have timed this wedding better. As it stands, Kate’s baby is going to be only a few weeks old when we tie the knot.”

  “You didn’t know Kate was pregnant when you set the date,” Nadine reminded her. “And at least the office is slow between Christmas and New Year’s, so your timing is good from that perspective.”

  “True enough.”

  Guilt tugged at Nadine again. Earlier Lindsay had mentioned she’d like help finding the right shoes. “Are you sure you won’t need me tonight?”

  “Definitely. Go out and have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  As soon as Lindsay had left on her shopping trip, Nadine replied to Patrick’s text: Six is good. Meet at A Subway entrance at 14th Street.

  Less than a minute later, she received his reply: Got it. See you there.

  Nadine swallowed. This was it. No backing out now.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  NADINE LEFT THE OFFICE promptly at five o’clock, anxious to be on time for her clandestine meeting with Patrick O’Neil. As she hurried down the stairs, briefcase in hand, she felt sophisticated and mysterious. After over a year of working at Fox & Fisher, she was finally an “operative” with her own “case.” She felt like the main character in one of the detective stories she loved so much, and she was even dressed for the part with her classic trench coat and oversize sunglasses.

  She’d chosen to meet in Chelsea for several reasons. First, the subway stop was only two blocks from the apartment where June Stone had lived with her son. She thought Patrick might be interested in walking by the place, and if he wasn’t
, she would do it alone once their meeting was over.

  More important, she was reasonably certain that she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew in Chelsea. None of the partners at Fox & Fisher lived or were working in the area. Nor was she likely to encounter one of her family members, or friends of her parents, any of whom would give her away in an instant.

  When she dashed into a cab, it was raining lightly. By the time she emerged at the meeting spot, the rain had turned into miserable November snow. Nadine stamped her feet to keep warm and hoped Patrick wouldn’t be late. She was wearing a wool dress and leggings under her coat, a hat and leather gloves, yet the damp chill seemed to seep through all of it.

  At precisely six o’clock he showed up. She spotted him from a block away. He was wearing a dark coat with the top buttons undone, no scarf or hat, yet he didn’t look the least bit cold. Watching him approach, she was struck again by his rugged good looks and the athletic grace of his body. Probably thanks to lots of sun and wind, he looked all of his thirty-six years. His age had been on his bio in the book.

  But there was no gray in his hair and certainly he had more energy than anyone she’d ever met.

  He shook her hand when he reached her. His blue eyes fixed on her steadily. “It’s nice to see you again. I wasn’t expecting results so quickly.”

  He was a little nervous, she realized. Good. Maybe he wouldn’t notice that she was, too. “We’re only a few blocks from June Stone’s old apartment. I wondered if you’d like to take a look before we have our coffee.”

  “Yes. I didn’t think it was coincidence that you’d suggested we meet here.”

  They set out heading west and Patrick was the first to speak. “I looked for you the other night. Later, after the speeches.”

  “I’m sorry. I would have enjoyed hearing your talk, I’m sure. But I had to leave before dinner was served.”

  He glanced at her, clearly intrigued. “I don’t suppose you can give me any details about the case?”