Kiss and Tell

by Amanda Stevens

  In Kiss and Tell by Amanda Stevens, which was originally published as part of the Colorado Confidential anthology in 2003, a private investigator is tasked with discovering whether or not a man who is running for governor kidnapped his nephew. To do so, she must pose as his fiancée.

  A covert network of secret agents is Colorado’s most lethal weapon—and its only hope. Bound by love, loyalty and the law, these men and women are trained to handle the most clandestine and dangerous cases. As scandal and ruin threaten the state’s rich and powerful, they’ll uncover secrets that span generations…and that someone will kill to keep.

  Private investigator and ex-FBI agent Fiona Clark is assigned to investigate Joshua Langworthy, the firstborn son of Colorado’s own brand of American royalty and a suspect in his nephew’s kidnapping case. Josh believes Fiona is posing as his fake fiancée to keep him safe due to a death threat, but, as their love for each other becomes more than an act, Fiona’s honor is pitted against her heart.

  Kiss and Tell

  Amanda Stevens

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  CHAPTER ONE

  “WE HAVE REASON to believe that sometime during the course of your campaign, possibly within the next few days, an attempt will be made on your life.”

  “So that’s the reason for this little cloak-and-dagger meeting.” Joshua Langworthy studied the man and woman seated across from him in a back booth at Shorty’s, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in downtown Denver where nobody came to be seen. “This isn’t the first threat my office has received since I announced my candidacy for governor. Every campaign brings out the nuts. What makes you think this one warrants special attention?”

  “For one thing, the threat didn’t come to your office. It came to us through an informant,” Wiley Longbottom, director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, explained. “What we’d like to do is add an extra security detail to your campaign—”

  “Does this have anything to do with my nephew’s disappearance?” Josh cut in.

  Wiley hesitated. “We don’t think so.”

  “Then the answer is no.”

  Wiley exchanged an uneasy glance with the woman seated beside him. He’d introduced her as a colleague. Fiona Something-or-other. Josh assumed she was a DPS officer, possibly a high-ranking one by the way she was dressed. Dark suit, crisp white blouse, blond hair pulled back and fastened at her nape. Professional all the way.

  “No extra security,” he said slowly, his gaze still on her.

  “Don’t be hard-headed about this,” Wiley advised. “We’re here to help you.”

  “If you have officers to spare, then for God’s sake, put them on my nephew’s case. He’s the one you should be worried about.”

  Wiley expelled a heavy breath. “Everything that can be done is being done to find your sister’s baby.”

  Josh’s voice hardened. “I’d like to believe that, but Schyler was taken from his nursery three months ago, and none of you people—not the Denver PD or the FBI or the DPS—none of you has been able to come up with a solid lead.”

  When the DPS director had called to request a private meeting away from Josh’s office, his hopes had surged that there had finally been a break in his nephew’s case. Since Schyler’s disappearance, the waiting had been agonizing for the entire Langworthy family, but especially for Joshua’s younger sister, Holly, the baby’s mother. She was an emotional and physical wreck, and there wasn’t a damn thing Josh could do to help her.

  And to make matters worse, Josh’s opponent—desperate to knock a dent in Josh’s popularity—had tried to capitalize on the tragedy. In addition to portraying Josh as some sort of thirty-something playboy unfit to hold public office, Governor Houghton’s minions had subtly inferred to the media that Josh might have masterminded the kidnapping in order to snare the sympathy vote. After all, if it had worked in Missouri for the widow of a senatorial candidate, why couldn’t it work in Colorado?

  And the hell of it was, it had worked. With little more than a month until the election, a recent poll conducted among likely voters showed Josh pulling away with a seven-point lead over the incumbent.

  It was now his race to lose, but Josh wasn’t about to take anything for granted. The campaign was likely to get even dirtier from here on out. The Houghton camp would use any means necessary to defeat Josh, and he wondered what they would make of this meeting, how they would try to spin a threat against Josh to their advantage.

  He glanced at the unlikely couple across from him, not sure he even trusted them. For all he knew, they could be on Houghton’s payroll. Although he doubted it. Longbottom had a reputation for being a straight-shooter. He didn’t seem the type of man who’d play politics with something as potentially serious as this.

  “Who’s your informant?” Josh asked.

  “We’re really not at liberty to say much more than we already have,” Wiley hedged. “I’m sure you understand that our sources have to remain confidential.” He leaned forward, his gaze anxious. “I can tell you this much. According to the information we received, the threat could be coming from someone close to you.”

  An uneasy chill rode up Josh’s spine. “How close?”

  Wiley shrugged. “Could be someone inside your campaign. Or even a personal connection. We just don’t know. But we’re taking the threat seriously, and you should, too.” He eyed Josh for a moment as if to assess his reaction. “What we’d like to do, in addition to an added security detail, is put someone on you—”

  Josh waved a dismissive hand. “I already have bodyguards assigned to the campaign.”

  “I’m not talking about a bodyguard. I’m talking about someone who could investigate from inside your campaign—and inside your personal life, for that matter—without attracting undue attention or suspicion.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  Wiley pulled a newspaper clipping from his jacket pocket and slid it across the table. “Remember this?”

  Josh groaned inwardly as he scanned the first few lines of the article. The item had appeared a few weeks ago in a gossip column that ran in a local paper. According to eyewitness accounts, he’d been spotted coming out of Denver’s most exclusive jewelry store where a sales associate—who wished to remain anonymous—later confirmed his purchase of a five-carat diamond engagement ring. The piece had breathed life into the persistent rumor that there was a new woman in Josh’s life and that now, according to the article, they were secretly engaged.

  In reality, he’d picked up the ring as a favor to a friend who’d been delayed out of town and wanted to propose to his long-time girlfriend that night. But, of course, the explanation never made it to print, and for a full week after the story ran, reporters anxious to break the secret engagement story had bombarded Josh as he stumped through the state.

  Secretly, Josh wondered if someone in his own campaign might have fanned those flames a bit in order to detract from the playboy image his opponent was trying to pin on him.

  He looked up from the article with a scowl. “I fail to see what this has to do with a death threat. Or with anything else, for that matter.”

  “Supposing the rumors about your engagement turned out to be true.”

  “But they’re not,” Josh said impatiently. “And unless you get to the point, I don’t see that we have anything further to discuss.”

  “The point is to use this article to our advantage. What we’d like to do is have someone pose as your fiancée.”

  Josh st
ared at the man as if he’d taken leave of his senses. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Oh, we’re serious, all right. Dead serious. And I think you’ll see the merit of the plan once you give it some thought. Even though we haven’t been able to link the threat to your nephew’s kidnapping, there’s always the possibility that the two are connected in some way. We nab the person behind the threat, he—or she—could lead us to little Schyler.”

  That stopped Josh cold. He’d do anything to find his sister’s baby, but this whole scenario had the smell of a setup. “You said earlier you didn’t think the threat had anything to do with the kidnapping.”

  “It’s a long shot,” Wiley admitted. “But if there’s even a slight chance the two are connected…” He trailed off, letting Josh come to his own conclusion.

  But he had Josh where he wanted him, and they both knew it. “What is it you want me to do?”

  “Nothing yet. Just sit tight and wait to hear from us. We’ll take care of the details. But there is one thing I need your word on. Nothing of what we’ve said can leave this table. That means no confiding in your friends or associates, or even your family, for that matter. If we’re going to pull this off, you have to be convincing in your private life as well as in public.”

  “I take it you already have someone in mind to pose as my fiancée?”

  Wiley nodded. “Ms. Clark here has agreed to help us out, and you’ll be in good hands with her. She’s a highly skilled security expert. She trained at Quantico.”

  Josh’s gaze narrowed on the woman. “You’re FBI?”

  “Not anymore. I left the bureau last year. Now I work for a private investigation firm here in Denver.”

  It was the first time Josh had heard her speak, other than a polite murmur when they’d been introduced, and he was taken aback by the sound. Her voice was crisp and clear and just the tiniest bit frosty, like an unexpected snowfall in June.

  He turned to Wiley. “If you think this threat is so credible, why bring in a civilian? Why not use a DPS officer or an undercover cop?”

  “Because Fiona—Ms. Clark—has worked dozens of kidnapping cases for the FBI. None of my officers can touch her experience or expertise. Besides, an intrepid reporter would undoubtedly expose the ruse if we tried using an undercover cop. Ms. Clark’s credentials are genuine, and they have the added bonus of providing an excellent cover story. You two met when her company was called in to consult on the security for your campaign. You kept the relationship out of the media because you both value your privacy, and later, out of respect for your sister.”

  “How am I supposed to explain our decision to go public now with the engagement?” Josh asked with a frown.

  “You don’t explain it. We’ll devise a scenario where the two of you will be caught in a compromising situation, shall we say. We’ll make it seem as if you have no choice but to go public.”

  “It seems you’ve thought of everything,” Josh muttered, his gaze shifting back to Fiona Clark. Her eyes were brown, he noticed. He would have expected them to be blue with her fair coloring, but then, he had a feeling the woman might have a lot of surprises up her sleeve.

  “What makes you think a ridiculous scheme like this could possibly work?” he asked her.

  Fiona Clark lifted her chin, her lips curving in a smile that sent a thrill of awareness—or warning—down his spine. “Because I’ll make it work. I’m very good at what I do, Mr. Langworthy. All you have to do is trust me.”

  * * *

  “DID HE TAKE THE BAIT?” Colleen Wellesley asked anxiously when Fiona returned to the office a little while later.

  “He didn’t at first.” Fiona sat down in a chair across from her boss’s desk. “In fact, he was adamantly opposed to adding any kind of security to his campaign, but he seemed to reconsider once Wiley pointed out there’s a remote chance the kidnapping and the threat against his life could be related.”

  “Which could mean one of two things.” Colleen tucked a strand of dark brown hair behind one ear. “He’s either innocent and genuinely wants to help find his nephew—”

  “Or that’s what he wants us to think,” Ryan Benton put in. Years ago, he and Colleen had been partners in the Denver Police Department. Now they were working together on a new venture.

  To the outside world, Investigations, Confidential and Undercover was a successful private detective firm. In reality, the downtown Denver office had become a front for Colorado Confidential, a covert and highly specialized division of the Department of Public Safety. Fiona had been recruited into the fledgling operation on the recommendation of Whitney Romeo, who headed up a sister Confidential organization in Chicago.

  Having just come off a six-month training regimen at Colleen’s ranch, the Royal Flush—which also served as headquarters for Colorado Confidential—Fiona was itching for more action. The surveillance of Joshua Langworthy was her first major assignment for CC, and she was determined to use it to get her new career started on the right path—namely, in proving to her male colleagues that she was their equal in every respect. She’d watched too many promotions slip through her fingers because the FBI was still very much a good ol’ boys network. Fiona wasn’t about to let that happen again.

  The tip from an anonymous source about a possible threat on Langworthy’s life had given her the opportunity she’d been waiting for—a way to get inside Langworthy’s campaign and inside his family. In cooperation with the DPS, Fiona would investigate the death threat against Josh while in turn gaining access to the man himself. If he was connected in any way to his nephew’s kidnapping, Fiona was determined to expose him.

  The only problem was…she hadn’t counted on her reaction to the man. She’d observed him from afar for a couple of weeks now, but up close and personal was a whole different ball game. She’d been shaken to the core by the rock-star charisma that had practically oozed from every pore of his gorgeous body.

  “I sense some hesitation on your part,” Colleen commented. “You aren’t having second thoughts about this assignment, are you?”

  Fiona shook her head. “No, of course not. But I guess I do have to wonder why a man in Langworthy’s position would go so far as to have his own sister’s child kidnapped in order to further his political ambitions.”

  Colleen lifted a brow. “After all the kidnapping cases you worked on while you were with the FBI, nothing should surprise you anymore.”

  “That’s true,” Fiona agreed. “I also know that appearances can be deceiving. But the Langworthys have been an important family in this state for generations. Why risk everything for the sake of one political campaign? Much less put someone as fragile as Holly Langworthy appears to be through such emotional torture.”

  “Does the name Edward Kingsley mean anything to you?” Colleen asked suddenly.

  Fiona shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”

  “The Kingsleys were once to Tennessee historically and politically what the Langworthys are to Colorado. Back in the late sixties, one of Edward’s twin sons was kidnapped from his nursery during a heated political campaign. He wasn’t found until years later, after he was grown. Iris Kingsley, the matriarch of the family, had arranged the whole thing. She planned her own grandson’s abduction in order to ensure her family a political victory.”

  “And don’t forget that case in Chicago just a year or so ago involving a senator,” Ryan said. “Similar situation. There’s plenty of precedence for this sort of thing, Fiona. We’re not investigating Joshua Langworthy just for the hell of it.”

  “I know that. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to find that baby and bring his kidnapper to justice. If the trail leads to Joshua Langworthy, then so be it. Just tell me how you want to proceed.”

  Colleen opened a folder on her desk. “In addition to Langworthy, keep your eye on his inner circle of advisors. He has three that he’s particularly close to. The media call them the Iron Triangle.” She pulled out three photographs from the folder and
placed them in front of Fiona. “You may recognize these people from your surveillance, but it won’t hurt to go over their dossiers again.”

  The first subject was a dark-haired female in her late thirties. Fiona picked up the photograph and committed the woman’s features to memory. She was beautiful and sophisticated, but a hard gleam of cynicism radiated from her blue eyes.

  “That’s Nell McKenna, Langworthy’s campaign manager,” Colleen said. “She’s been on the political scene for a number of years, and word around town is she’s looking to use Langworthy’s election as a springboard to the national stage. But she’s already got two losses under her belt. Congressman Wellstone’s re-election bid and Fitzhugh’s mayoral race. If she lets this one get away, she’ll have three strikes against her, and she can pretty much kiss a high-profile career goodbye. No one wants to hire a loser, particularly in the high-stakes game of politics. So she’s got a lot riding on this campaign.”

  Fiona picked up the next picture. The subject in this photo was also a dark-haired, thirty-something female, but this woman had none of Nell McKenna’s polish and sophistication. In fact, she looked downright mousy with her pixyish haircut and dark-rimmed glasses that overpowered her thin face and nondescript features.

  “Dana Severn,” Colleen said. “Langworthy’s assistant. She’s worked for him since his days in the Justice Department. When he moved over to the Public Defender’s office, he took her with him, and she’s been with him ever since. We don’t know much about her background, but our sources tell us she’s extremely loyal to Langworthy. She’d do anything to help him get elected.”

  Fiona glanced up. “Even kidnap a baby?”

  “That’s what we need you to find out.”

  Fiona picked up the third picture.

  “Robert Smith, Langworthy’s media advisor. He and Langworthy were roommates in college and by all appearances have remained close friends. Strange thing about that guy, though. He once worked for the ad agency that’s been hired by the opposing camp. We don’t know if he still has connections to his old firm or not, but he bears watching. Even best friends can hold secret grudges and resentments, sometimes for years. Especially against a golden boy like Langworthy.”