Undercover Passion

by Raye Morgan

  “Nadine who?” Jimmy said, but he was laughing. Then he sobered abruptly. “You won’t tell her, will you?”

  “Nothing to tell,” Daniel said with a smile. “Here are the samples I told you about. Let me know what you find out.”

  Jimmy took the bag from him. “Will do. Hey, the captain was asking about you yesterday.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah. I told him you were doing okay.”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m doing great.”

  As great as a cop on administrative leave and under suspicion for something he didn’t do could be doing. If he stopped to think about all the years of dedicated service he’d given to the department, only to be treated as though he was guilty the first time someone accused him of wrongdoing… Well, that was one reason he was pursuing this hospital mystery, so he wouldn’t have a lot of time to think about it.

  Jimmy hesitated, obviously noting the bitterness in Daniel’s voice. “Well, okay. I’ll call you when I know anything.”

  “Okay. And, Jimmy…” Daniel gave him a crooked half grin. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

  Jimmy’s smile was open and genuine. “Any time, buddy. Any time.”

  Daniel went back into the hospital and took the elevator to the floor where his grandmother was. He got off just in time to see Ella Crown pushing her way past an older man he thought he recognized from the other night at the seminar.

  “Don’t you get in my way, old man,” she was saying crossly. “I don’t have any time for your shenanigans.”

  “Come on, Ella. Give us a little kiss why doncha?”

  “Wilbur Mason, you keep your kisses to yourself. I don’t need ’em.” And she stomped off toward the elevator, leaving Wilbur behind looking dejected.

  Daniel had to grin. It was a cinch Ella hadn’t been delving into the secrets Dr. Richie had to offer. But from the looks of things, she was about the only one.

  He turned into his grandmother’s room and found himself face to face with Abby, who was sitting in a chair beside the bed. She looked up and favored him with a smile so warm, he felt instant sunburn.

  He stopped dead. Didn’t Abby remember what had happened the night of the seminar? There was no hint of it in her smile.

  And here she was, dressed in a pink that gave her a cuddly, inviting aura, making her round places look even rounder and her soft places look even softer. It was as though someone had taken what tempted him most and added a decorative wrap guaranteed to add to the temptation. A cunningly baited trap if he ever saw one. He might as well go home and drink himself to death. It was all over.

  “Good morning,” she said brightly. “I brought Phoebe those brochures I promised her. And I’ve just been telling her all about what a success the seminar was the other night.”

  He looked from one woman to the other. Tight as two peas in a pod. What was this, a conspiracy?

  “And I was telling Abby about the cruise I’m going on next month,” Phoebe chimed in. “I’m so excited. It’s been ten years since I’ve been on the Northbound Queen, sliding past those icy cliffs in Alaska. I can hardly wait.”

  His heart sank as he dropped down into the second chair. It was more than a conspiracy; it was doom breathing down his neck. How could she be getting her hopes up this way when it was clearly impossible for her to go on a cruise? She wasn’t as sure on her feet as she used to be. There was no way he could let her take off on a ship all by herself, especially after spending all this time in a bed in the hospital. Didn’t she see that?

  And then there was the money situation. And his suspension from the force, making everything worse.

  “Howard and I used to love the cruises,” she was telling Abby, talking about her late husband. “You can’t imagine how much fun it is. All that delicious food. The sea air. The fabulous shows at night. It all takes you away to a different world. Made us feel like royalty.”

  “It sounds wonderful,” Abby agreed rather distractedly. Her attention was focused on Daniel and she couldn’t hide it. She turned to look at him.

  “So,” she asked, looking at him archly, “what did you have for breakfast?”

  He leaned back in his chair, his long legs out in front of him, and he stared at her, nonplussed. So she did remember some things about that night. That was a relief, he supposed. At least she wasn’t blanking out on reality totally.

  “Hey, I’ve got a perfectly good grandmother to ask me questions like that,” he said gruffly. “I don’t need nagging in stereo.”

  Abby looked shocked but he could see she was exaggerating for effect. Her eyes were sparkling with laughter. He was going to have to work very hard at keeping his distance today. Every time he looked at her, he could almost taste her again.

  “You call that nagging?” she said. “Oh, brother. You obviously have never had much experience with the real thing.”

  “And I suppose you have?”

  “You bet I have.” She laughed, throwing back her head in a way that made him want to grab her and kiss her like crazy. “My parents are champs at it. Olympic level. Gold medal shoo-ins.”

  He gave her a skeptical look. “Just because you’ve learned from the best doesn’t give you carte blanche to try out your skills on me.”

  Their eyes met and immediately parted again.

  “Well, I didn’t mean to nag,” she said a bit defensively. “But I am concerned that you start eating better. You can’t run on those good old youth batteries forever.”

  He didn’t know if he was more annoyed or flattered that she cared enough to try to browbeat him into the nutritional lifestyle. No one but his grandmother had ever tried to do that before. He supposed he ought to appreciate Abby’s interest in his welfare. If only he believed it was for real.

  “Okay, listen. I’m giving you this as a gift.” He waited until she was looking into his eyes again, then he gave her a grimace of satisfaction. “I stopped at the Hungry Corner and had a three-egg omelet this morning. Satisfied?”

  Her eyes actually did light up. “I’m so glad!”

  His wide mouth tilted in a half smile. “Yes, it appears I may just live another day.”

  Abby grinned. “And for that, you can thank a chicken, mister.”

  Phoebe laughed out loud, and then Daniel couldn’t help but join her, with Abby pealing in a moment later.

  “You two,” Phoebe said as she regained her composure. “The way you do go on. One minute I’m afraid I’m going to have to call in a referee to keep you from coming to blows, and the next you’re chortling together like old friends. Make up your minds! Friend or foe?”

  “Both,” Daniel said acidly. “We’ve got issues.”

  “Do we?” Abby said, looking surprised.

  “Yes,” Daniel said firmly. “Only we can’t talk about them.”

  She blinked at him, looking blank. “Why not?”

  He shrugged. He couldn’t tell her the whole truth. Still, he had to say something. “I don’t know. It seems to be a rule or something.” He glared at her, leaving no doubt that he didn’t want to go on with this line of conversation.

  “Oh.”

  That obviously left her puzzled. What the hell. She was hardly the Lone Ranger when it came to puzzlement. He was puzzled by everything life was throwing at him right now.

  A nurse came in to check Phoebe’s temperature and blood pressure, and Daniel and Abby rose and stepped outside to give her some privacy. They stood side by side, leaning against the hallway wall.

  “Listen,” he said, giving Abby his hard-as-nails stare, developed over the years to make perps come clean. “Tell me about the atomizer.”

  “The atomizer?” Her puzzlement was deepening in a regrettably believable way. “What atomizer?”

  “The atomizer used by the clinic.”

  Her brow furled, making her look cuter than a beagle puppy, and she thought hard, then shook her head. “I don’t know anything about any atomizer,” she told him.

  He believed her. He had experien
ce with liars and what they were was exactly what she wasn’t.

  “You’ve got the new product list printed, don’t you?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I can look again, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got a handle on the whole line now, and I haven’t seen anything about any atomizer.”

  He caught a hint of her scent, and glancing down, his gaze fell on her beautiful mouth and suddenly all thoughts of atomizers faded from his mind. Here she was, pretty in pink and close enough to grab, and he wanted her so badly he could hardly see straight. Who cared about the clinic? Who cared if her attraction to him wasn’t real? He wanted her anyway, wanted her so much he actually glanced at the next-door room, wondering if it was empty, before he caught himself and let out an unpleasant expletive.

  “Hey,” Abby said, looking disapproving, “watch out. There are children around.”

  For some reason that made him laugh, and she joined in, although it was obvious she had no idea what was so funny. Her gaze met his and something passed between them. Daniel steeled himself. This was no good.

  The nurse left and they went back into the room.

  “I’ve got to get going,” Daniel said to his grandmother.

  “Me, too,” Abby said.

  Phoebe grabbed her hand, not letting her go. “Wait a minute. I have something I want to say. Daniel, did you get that envelope out of the top drawer of the desk in the den that I asked you to bring me?”

  Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small envelope. “Sure did. Looks like tickets to the Opera Center.” He handed it to her. “What are you planning to see there?”

  Phoebe took the envelope and peeked inside, smiling. “Madame Butterfly. The tickets are for next Monday.”

  Daniel grimaced. “You won’t be out of here yet, I’m afraid. At least, from what the doctor told me this morning.”

  She nodded happily. “I know that. I’m going to have to miss it. But you two will go in my place. Won’t you?”

  “What?” they both cried in unison.

  “It’s the perfect solution.” She beamed at them. “I can’t stand to think of my two seats sitting empty during the performance. But if you two go…”

  “I can’t go,” Daniel said quickly.

  Phoebe’s smile dimmed. “Why not?” Her challenge was sharp.

  “I’m going to be busy.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Gram!”

  She grabbed his hand and squeezed very hard, reaching out and taking Abby’s hand again as well.

  “Please go,” she said, her face anxious. “As a favor to me.”

  His jaw tightened. She looked so small and vulnerable. He glanced sideways at Abby. She was staring at him, her eyes wide.

  “Do you want to go?” he asked gruffly.

  “I’ve never been to the opera,” she said.

  He gave her a half smile of surrender. “Then I guess it’s time you went,” he said.

  Phoebe sighed happily and fell back against her pillows. “You don’t have to stay for the whole thing,” she said, suddenly visibly weakening. “If you hate it, you can leave at intermission.”

  Daniel leaned down and kissed her forehead. “We won’t hate it,” he promised her, taking the tickets. “Thanks, Gram. Now you get some rest.”

  Abby thanked her, too, and they started to leave the room together.

  “Daniel!”

  He turned back to see what she wanted. She motioned for him to lean close and spoke softly.

  “You come back when you can. Alone.” She grinned at him mischievously. “I’ve got something for you.”

  “What?”

  “On the case, I mean.” She winked at him significantly.

  “Oh, that.”

  “Yes, that. Come back this afternoon and I’ll tell you everything.”

  He smiled at her indulgently. “Okay, Gram. You take a nap in the meantime.”

  “I’ll try to,” she said, her voice trailing after him as he made his way out. “But they’ll be bringing in a tray and forcing me to eat something soon.”

  He waved from the doorway, then found, to his surprise, that Abby was waiting for him in the hall.

  “Is anything wrong?” she asked, looking a bit anxious.

  “No. She just wanted to tell me something.” He studied her face, touched by her concern. “Thanks for being so nice to her,” he added gruffly.

  Her smile lit the area. “Oh, that’s no trouble at all. She’s a peach.”

  “She is that,” he agreed. It was nice to meet a woman who was concerned about other people as much as she was about anything. Nice—and unusual. Still, he had certain concerns himself.

  “But listen,” he added, frowning slightly, “don’t encourage her about the cruise thing, okay? It’s impossible. She can’t go. I don’t want to see her getting her hopes up.”

  “Really?” Abby looked as though it mattered to her that Phoebe would be disappointed. “That’s a shame. She is so looking forward to it.”

  He shook his head. He wasn’t going into it any further, but he wanted her to know there was no use pursuing it. “Can’t be done,” he said shortly.

  Then he hesitated. The next step would be to ask if she was busy for lunch, wouldn’t it? After all, if they were going to the opera together, what harm would an hour for lunch do? It was on the tip of his tongue, when she gave him a brief smile and turned to go.

  “Well, I have to get back to work,” she said.

  He hesitated, then turned, too, and walked beside her toward the elevator. The moment had passed and he was glad it had. Hanging with this angel in pink could get to be dangerous. Best to avoid it. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t a bit resentful that she’d stayed around, tempting him, and then snatched temptation out of his reach just when he’d begun to weaken.

  “Got a meeting with the great Dr. Richie?” he said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

  “No,” she answered as they stepped onto the elevator. “Not at all.” She turned to face him, looking up into his eyes. “Why would that be so bad, anyway?”

  “No reason.” He shrugged, regretting it already. It wouldn’t do to make her think he cared. “Forget I said that.”

  “Okay.” The elevator doors opened and she stepped off. “See you next Monday?”

  “Sure. I’ll come by and get you about six-thirty. Okay?”

  She dazzled him with a smile even brighter than the ones he’d already survived. “Okay.”

  And she was off down the corridor, heading for the clinic. But he didn’t move. He’d just looked at the sun and it was a few moments before he could shake off the blindness.

  Six

  Abby was walking on air and she wasn’t really sure why. Daniel was acting strangely, being obstinate, trying to hold back from allowing anything to grow between them. She wasn’t sure why that was, either. But she wasn’t going to let it rain on her parade.

  “I’m going to the opera,” she reminded herself, laughing softly to think of Daniel listening to tenors and sopranos. Heavy metal would have seemed more his taste. Regardless, it was going to be an adventure. And she hoped there would be more kissing involved. At the very least.

  Walking quickly toward her office, she noticed someone in the courtyard. Ordinarily that wouldn’t have occasioned a second glance, but there was something about the woman that seemed odd. She almost seemed to be skulking.

  It wasn’t until Abby stepped out into the open-air atrium that she realized she recognized the woman as someone she’d seen before. She was short and attractively compact, and her blond hair shone in the sunlight. Large dark glasses hid her eyes.

  “Hello, there,” Abby called to her. “Can I help you?”

  The woman jumped, startled, and for a second or two looked definitely guilty. “Oh, uh…”

  Abby walked forward, hand outstretched. “My name is Abby Edwards and I’m the public relations representative for the clinic.”

  The woman tried to smile but made sad wor
k of it. Still, she did take Abby’s offer of a handshake. “Carrie Martin,” she said.

  “I’ve seen you at some of the seminars.”

  “Have you?”

  “Yes. But you’ve never come forward and registered for any of the classes.” Abby smiled at her. “Tell me…what’s your hesitation?”

  Carrie seemed not to hear her at first. She kept turning to gaze into the conference room that could be seen through a bank of large windows. She didn’t look so much confused as distracted. Glancing at Abby, she said, “I—I guess I’m just not ready…”

  Abby frowned, not sure how to approach this. Still, she had to try to do something. The woman obviously was unhappy in some way. Surely the clinic could give her assistance. That was what they were here for—or at any rate, that was what she was writing up in the brochures.

  “Let me see if I can help you.” Abby took her hand again, looking into her face with a genuine compassion. “I can call one of our counselors to come over right now and—”

  “No!” Carrie pulled her hand away quickly. “No, no. I don’t want to do that. I don’t need counseling.”

  Abby frowned thoughtfully. “Who would you like to see, then?”

  Carrie looked away and half laughed. “Your Dr. Richie, actually.”

  “Tell you what.” Abby brightened. “I’m going over to his office right now. Would you like to come along and—”

  “Dr. Richie?” Carrie looked surprised. “I could talk to him right now?”

  “Sure. It’s not the way we usually operate, but I think I could get him to speak to you for just a moment or two. Would you like to meet him?”

  “Yes,” she said, sounding a bit breathless. “Of course.”

  “Then let’s go.” Abby turned toward the door that led to his office.

  But Carrie drew back. “No! Oh, no. I’m not ready for that.”

  Abby smiled encouragingly. “He doesn’t bite, believe me. He’s a very nice man.”

  “Is he?” She seemed to be really asking the question. Lifting her dark glasses, she stared at Abby for a long moment as though trying to figure her out. “How well do you know him?”