Harlequin Romantic Suspense January 2021

by Marie Ferrarella, Regan Black, Karen Whiddon

  Luckily, when the elevator arrived, they were alone. As soon as the doors closed, she turned to Jesse. “You really work here?”

  “I did.” He shrugged, his hooded expression closed off and remote. “Though mostly I haven’t spent much time here. As you know, I’ve been out in the field.”

  The doors slid open and they stepped out onto a small reception area. The perfectly made-up woman behind the desk jumped to her feet. “Jesse Wyman? I can’t believe it’s you.”

  She came around the desk, her heels clicking on the marble floor, and hugged him. “How have you been?”

  “Not bad, thanks, Gloria.” He turned toward Eva, as if he meant to introduce her, and then didn’t. Eva and Gloria eyed each other while Eva battled a quick twinge of unwanted jealousy. Finally, she dipped her chin and waited while Jesse asked Gloria if someone named E.J. was in.

  “Let me buzz him and see if he’s available.” Crossing back around her desk, she picked up the phone. A moment later, she nodded. “He’ll see you in his office.”

  “Perfect.” Jesse eyed the door. “Would you mind using your badge to let me in? I don’t have mine on me.”

  “Of course.” The door buzzed as she passed her badge across a sensor, and unlocked.

  “Thanks, G,” Jesse said. He took Eva’s arm and shepherded her through.

  As they moved down a hallway between cubicles, Eva eyed the crowded office area, watching as various people did a double take when they saw Jesse. They were interrupted several times while Jesse got handshakes, pats on the back or raucous comments about his time undercover. Since a few of the remarks referenced the motorcycle club, she kept her gaze straight ahead and her expression neutral.

  Finally, they arrived at a corner office and Jesse rapped on the closed door. “Come in,” a brusque, male voice ordered.

  Inside, the stern-looking man with a lined, weary face stood. He smiled at Jesse and they shook hands. Finally, Jesse introduced her.

  “This is Eva Rowson. Eva, this is my boss, E.J.”

  E.J. held out his hand and Eva took it. She liked that he kept his grip firm. She’d always hated men with limp handshakes.

  “Why don’t you both have a seat.” Returning to his chair, E.J. waited. “Are you here to turn yourself in, Mrs. Rowson?”

  Startled, Eva recoiled. “Not hardly. I came because I have hard evidence that implicates Lori Pearson and a few other local business leaders.”

  “But she’d like a written guarantee of immunity from prosecution,” Jesse put in.

  Eva hid her surprise and nodded. Until this very moment, she’d never even considered the possibility of being arrested for any crime. Drew’s dealings had been his and his alone. She’d had no part of any of them.

  E.J. looked from Eva to Jesse and back again. “This evidence you have. Will it exonerate you completely?”

  Once more she had to consider. “I believe so. My father said it did and I trust him.”

  “But why should I trust you?” E.J. asked.

  “I can vouch for her,” Jesse interjected. “She truly had no part in any of Drew’s business or political deals, I promise you.”

  E.J. narrowed his eyes. “I trust you, Jesse, but still, Drew was her husband. At some point, she had to wonder where all the extra cash was coming from, right?”

  This time, Eva spoke up for herself. “There was no extra cash, at least that I was aware of. None of what Drew did ever made its way to me or my son.”

  Nodding, E.J. pushed up from his chair. “You two wait here. Let me check with my superior and see what I can do.”

  The instant he left the room, closing the door behind him, Eva turned to Jesse. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a possibility I could face charges?”

  He shrugged. “If I had, would you have come?”

  She didn’t even have to think. “Of course not.”

  “That’s why. I figured you’d have a much better chance if you came to them, with me vouching for you, than if they’d come out and arrested you.”

  “You have a point,” she said slowly. “And while I understand their reasoning, don’t they have to have some sort of proof that I did something wrong?”

  Jesse lifted one shoulder. “Don’t panic, okay? Let’s just wait and see what E.J. comes back with.”

  A moment later, the door swung open and E.J. returned. Eva’s heart sank at the serious expression on the other man’s face. This couldn’t be good.

  “We’re willing to consider your request,” E.J. said carefully.

  Jesse snorted. “Come on. You know you don’t have enough to charge her. From what I understand, she’s got a ton of valuable information.”

  Carefully, Eva hid her surprise. Jesse had no idea what was on the thumb drive—she hadn’t had a chance to tell him.

  “I do,” she said slowly. “Starting with a list of every buyer and distributor Drew set up within the last couple of years. And where he laundered the money, as well.”

  E.J. studied her. “If you know all of this, that would make you an accessory.”

  “Not hardly,” Jesse interjected. “I was there when her father gave her the information. She knew absolutely nothing about any of this prior to that.”

  “And I brought it to you at the earliest opportunity,” Eva added. “Do I get my immunity agreement or not?”

  For a moment she thought Jesse’s boss would continue to try to stall, but instead he finally nodded. “Agreed. I’m having someone draw it up as we speak. Now show me what you’ve got.”

  Not sure she should until she had the signed agreement in hand, she looked to Jesse. He slowly nodded. “E.J. gave you his word,” he said. “He’ll keep his promise.”

  While she wasn’t sure she trusted E.J., she did trust Jesse.

  “Okay,” she said. Digging the thumb drive out of her pocket, she passed it over to E.J. “Here you go.”

  Both he and Jesse appeared stunned. “You had it on you?” Jesse asked. “What if they’d arrested you and confiscated all your belongings?”

  Though she now felt slightly foolish, she passed it off with a shrug. “I haven’t done anything wrong, so I didn’t expect something like that to happen.”

  E.J. watched the banter between the two of them with a bemused look on his weathered face. Finally, he took the thumb drive and plugged it into his computer. A few clicks later and he sat staring at his monitor. “You weren’t kidding,” he said, clicking through file after file. “There’s more than enough evidence here to not only put Lori Pearson away for years, but to completely shut down the cartel’s operations here in north Texas. I believe we will get numerous arrests out of this.”

  Since she figured that was the closest Jesse’s boss would come to thanking her, she grinned at him. “I told you it was worth it.”

  A soft knock on the door and a woman wearing a tailored navy suit entered. “Here you are, sir.” She handed a stack of paperwork to E.J. “Everything you requested.”

  He thanked her. Once she’d exited, he passed the papers over to Eva. “Take a look at these. I think you’ll find everything is in order. Once you’ve signed, I’ll have copies made for your records.”

  She signed all the highlighted areas and passed the paperwork back to him. E.J. called his assistant and asked for photocopies. The woman nodded and carried everything away.

  “Now that that’s taken care of,” E.J. began, steepling his fingers on the desk in front of him, “you should know Drew’s assets will be frozen. Savings account, checking, credit cards—all of it. You won’t be able to access anything.”

  “That won’t affect me at all.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. “Drew cleaned out everything a few days before he was shot. I haven’t been able to figure out what he did with the money. On top of that, he apparently stole three million dollars from one of the cartels.” />
  E.J. exchanged a look with Jesse. “So we’ve heard,” he said carefully. “The FBI has been looking into that, as well as the attempts made on your life. I believe they have a suspect in custody.”

  Chris. “The Anniversary police picked up Drew’s campaign manager earlier today. She came to the house with three cartel members and tried to take Jesse hostage.”

  E.J. gave her one of those benevolent, masculine smiles that she’d always found irritating. “I’m aware. Jesse’s already made a full report.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say. She still hadn’t entirely adjusted to the fact that Jesse was a Fed.

  “Now I have an important question for you,” E.J. said, leaning forward. “Where might we find your father?”

  Though Eva’s heart skipped a beat, she shrugged. “I have no idea right at this moment. Why?”

  “Because with the big bust going down, I’ve got agents out there looking for him. No one has been able to locate him.”

  “Since when?” Eva took care not to look toward Jesse. “He’s been staying at my house. He shouldn’t be that difficult to find.”

  “But he is.” The assistant special agent in charge turned his attention to Jesse. “You’ve been with him a lot lately. As a matter of fact, you were the last person seen with him. Any idea where he might have disappeared to?”

  Eva braced herself. Here it came. The moment of truth. She knew hearing Jesse betray her father would break her completely.

  “No idea,” Jesse said, his easy tone sincere. “But he never goes far from his daughter. I’m sure he’ll turn up. Especially once he hears about Lori Pearson and the cartel.”

  “Maybe so.” E.J.’s expression turned stern. “We’ve taken the liberty of getting you a hotel room for the night.”

  Puzzled, Eva shook her head. “That won’t be necessary. It’s just a couple of hours from here to my house in Anniversary.”

  “My apologies, but we can’t let you go home. We’re also going to have to hold on to your cell phone. At least until the drug bust goes down. We can’t allow anything to jeopardize that. My agents’ lives are on the line.”

  “But…” She started to protest, but a quick look at Jesse’s face told her he’d expected this. “How long will that be?” she asked instead, twisting her hands together in her lap. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes or anything.”

  “Not very long.” E.J.’s answer seemed deliberately ambiguous. “If you end up having to stay overnight, one of our staffers will take care of any clothing or toiletry needs you might have.”

  “We haven’t eaten,” Jesse put in, glancing at his watch. “How about you have someone escort us to a restaurant?”

  She couldn’t help but notice the way Jesse said us. As if they were a team. E.J. caught it too, she thought, guessing by the way he gave Jesse a long, considering look.

  “We can’t let you off the premises,” E.J. finally said. “But we can send out for pizza or Chinese food if you’d like.”

  They ended up splitting a large pizza in one of the conference rooms. They’d barely finished eating when E.J. entered the room. “We’ll be releasing you sooner than I thought. The drug deal went down and we were able to round everyone up without incident, along with several million dollars of drugs.”

  “Drugs?” she asked.

  “Yes. Methamphetamine, mostly.”

  Drugs. The one thing her father had always refused to allow BOS to be involved in and the reason he’d left behind the motorcycle club he’d founded. “What about my father?” she asked, even though she already knew. “Is he all right?”

  “He didn’t show.” E.J.’s expression briefly turned grim. “We’re still looking for him.”

  E.J. took Jesse with him to congratulate the team, leaving her alone in the conference room. She wondered what would happen if she simply walked out now, went to the parking garage and got on her bike to head home. She actually pushed to her feet, half intending to do exactly that, when Jesse returned. He looked both jubilant and weary, angry and sad and something else that she couldn’t identify. As if he’d just lost something or someone important to him.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  Unaccountably tongue-tied, she nodded.

  Side by side they left the building and walked to the garage. When they reached the spot where they’d parked their motorcycles, he stopped and turned to face her. “It’s finally over,” he said. “Chris and Lori are in custody, as well as the BOS members who were instrumental in the drug trade. I heard they even arrested several key cartel guys.”

  “That’s good. I wonder what’s going to happen to BOS now.”

  “The club will survive. There are enough good guys. They’ll band together and keep things going. I’m sorry you got dragged in the middle of it all.”

  “Me too.” Tears stung the back of her eyes and she blinked them away. “Thank you for not betraying my father,” she said, her tone formal. “I’ll make sure to let him know if I ever hear from him again.”

  “I’m sure you will. Once it’s safe to do so, he’ll contact you.” He looked down, then away, anywhere in fact, other than directly at her.

  “I guess this is goodbye,” Jesse continued. “I won’t be going back to Anniversary with you.”

  She felt like he’d kicked her in the stomach. “You won’t?”

  “No. If you need any help picking up Liam, let me know and I’ll see what I can arrange.” His formal tone matched his distant, patently false smile.

  Not again, not now. The depth of her anger surprised her. After everything she’d been through, everything they’d been through, she was done with falsehoods between them.

  “Why are you acting like this?” She shook her head. “I’ve had enough of the subterfuge and BS. Seriously.”

  He looked at her then. Really looked at her. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

  The rawness of his confession matched the way she felt inside. “Honesty, Jesse. That’s all I ever wanted.” Since that statement in itself was a partial lie, she amended. “One of the things I wanted from you.”

  “What was the other?” he asked, his dark gaze locked on her.

  Since she had nothing left to lose now, she told him. “Your love, Jesse. I wanted your love more than anything.”

  He came closer. “You’ve always had that. Always. Even now, Eva. I love you just as much now as I did before. More, even. And you should know the entire reason I couldn’t leave BOS and go with you was because of my job. I’d invested too much of my life and I couldn’t let the ATF down. But if the choice had been mine to make, I would have chosen you.”

  “Your job.” Blinking back tears, she shook her head. “While that’s admirable, it still hurts. I wish you the best in your career with the ATF.”

  “I’ve quit.” He swallowed hard. “I learned too late what really matters to me. I’ll have to find another way to make a living. Either way, I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye, Eva.”

  “Then don’t.” Suddenly, her entire world no longer felt as if it were tilted crazily on its axis. “I love you too, Jesse Wyman. I always have and always will. You showed me how much you care when you let my father go.”

  Jesse froze. “Are you sure?”

  Slowly she nodded. “I am. But I need to know how you will feel about Liam if the DNA test reveals he’s not yours.”

  “He’s mine. You know it as well as I do.”

  Steadfast, she waited.

  “Even if he’s not mine by blood, Liam will always be my son, as far as I’m concerned.” He kissed her then, the press of his mouth deep and full of love. She kissed him back, her heart singing, hoping he could feel her joy.

  When they came up for air, she smiled. “Let’s go pick up our son. Since it’s a long drive to Oklahoma, we can talk about our plans for the future.”r />
  “And our life together as a family,” he added. “That is, if you’ll have me.”

  “Is that a question?” she teased gently, though she figured she already knew.

  “It is.” He kissed her again, a light press of his mouth. “I don’t have a ring, but we can choose one together. Will you marry me, Eva?”

  “Of course I will.” As if there’d ever been any doubt.

  His answering smile matched the glow of love in her heart. “Then let’s go get our son. It’s time he got to know his father.”

  Hand in hand, they headed for the door.

  * * * * *

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  ISBN-13: 9781488071331

  The Widow’s Bodyguard

  Copyright © 2021 by Karen Whiddon

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.