The Agent's Covert Affair

by Karen Anders

  He’s Guarding Her Every Move...

  Private detective Emma St. John doesn’t care about military jurisdiction. Her JAG lawyer sister is critically injured—and Emma’s baby nephew, Matthew, has been abducted by a vicious drug lord. She is determined to navigate through lethal cartel country to rescue the baby, no matter what. But she’s stuck with a mysterious NCIS special agent riding shotgun...and Derrick Gunn is proving to be the kind of determined, cool-headed help she can’t shake.

  Staying strictly mission-oriented keeps Derrick alive—and alone. But all bets are off as he and beautiful, independent Emma fight to stay steps ahead of their enemies. Her resourcefulness and courage ignite desire he’s willing to go through hell to keep. But love and survival are never guaranteed...

  “Emma,” Derrick warned, swallowing hard. “We could complicate things.”

  “I know,” she whispered. She couldn’t seem to stop her wayward hands as they slid up his hard torso to wrap around his neck. Derrick’s arms went around her waist. He closed his eyes, dragging her against him.

  Emma gasped and he groaned softly, deep in his throat. Then his mouth was finally, blessedly on hers again. And there was nothing tentative about his kiss, regardless of his doubts. He tenderly drew his fingers along the side of her neck, moving his mouth to the delicate line of her jaw, then following the trail of his fingers.

  Instinctively she eased away from Derrick, pushed on his shoulders. It wasn’t a shove, she wasn’t strong enough for that, still wanting—craving—what he was giving her, but knowing she didn’t have the control needed to protect herself.

  “Maybe, you’re right,” Emma breathed, willing her head to stop spinning, her legs to stop trembling and her heart to stop pounding. “But if I don’t have you, all of you, I might just lose my mind...”

  * * *

  Be sure to check out the other books in this exciting miniseries:

  To Protect and Serve—A team of navy military operatives and civilians are called to investigate...

  * * *

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  Dear Reader,

  Derrick Gunn, a man who was formerly living in the shadows, has been learning as he goes to be part of a team. He’s tested when he meets Emma St. John in a baffling case that involves Emma’s sister and nephew, a boy who is seemingly without a father.

  When what is thought to be an accidental fall down the stairs proves to be attempted murder, a more dire and deadly act, Derrick must ignore his attraction to beautiful Emma and do his job. Emma’s nephew is missing—kidnapped. Before they can track him down and apprehend the person responsible, the kidnapper had already taken the boy over the border into Mexico.

  Now Derrick and Emma must work together in a foreign country to get back her precious nephew against dangerous odds, corrupt officials, an unfamiliar landscape, drug lords and barriers at every turn. As they draw closer and closer together, losing themselves and their defenses against each other, Derrick makes promises he may not be able to keep. Can Derrick actually be part of a team when the time comes, or will he sacrifice everything, including his relationship with Emma, to go it alone?

  Karen Anders

  THE AGENT’S

  COVERT AFFAIR

  Karen Anders

  Karen Anders writes a suspenseful and sexy mix of navy and civilians investigating murder, espionage and crime across a global landscape. Under the pen name Zoe Dawson, she’s currently writing romantic comedy, new-adult contemporary romance, urban fantasy, syfy and erotic romance. When she’s not busy writing, she’s painting or killing virtual mmorpg monsters. She lives in North Carolina with her two daughters and one small furry gray cat.

  Books by Karen Anders

  Harlequin Romantic Suspense

  To Protect and Serve

  At His Command

  Designated Target

  Joint Engagement

  Her Master Defender

  A SEAL to Save Her

  Her Alpha Marine

  The Agent’s Covert Affair

  The Coltons of Texas

  High-Stakes Colton

  The Adair Legacy

  Special Ops Rendezvous

  Five-Alarm Encounter

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

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  To the men and women in the shadows.

  You’re the only ones who know who you are.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Gone in the Night by Anna J. Stewart

  Chapter 1

  Navy Housing Complex

  La Mesa, California

  The baby-faced teen who walked across the lawn, his sights set on Lily St. John’s door, didn’t look like an assassin.

  Until someone looked into his eyes.

  He bypassed the front and stole around to the back. A dog barked and he hesitated, then realized it was coming from next door. Not that he couldn’t handle a dog.

  His orders were clear and concise.

  The dark green landscaper’s shirt was a tad too small. The material stretched taut across his back, roping his biceps just above the distinctive tattoo, the blood staining the back collar barely noticeable. That old man had put up quite a fight, but in the end, the teen knew how to kill too fast and efficiently. He needed the uniform so these suburban housewives wouldn’t get too nervous.

  He popped the door with ease, pulling the knife at his waist free of the sheath and removing his shoes. The blade glinted in the light from the window behind him as he crept to the bottom of the stairs. A muffled female voice crooned softly as he started up, his steps light.

  If she was unlucky, like the old landscaper dude, and saw him coming, that would be too bad for her.

  He’d be the last thing she ever saw.

  NCIS Headquarters

  Camp Pendleton, California

  Special Agent Derrick Gunn shut down his computer, the workday at NCIS coming to a close.

  “Personally, I think it’s the Lakers. They had Kobe,” Special Agent Amber Michaels said, her honey-blond hair in a ponytail as she walked into the office with Special Agent Austin Beck.

  He shook his head. “You’re crazy, girl,” he said, looking over at Derrick. “Tell her, Derrick.” Today Austin’s shaggy, two-toned brown and blond hair was tamed, almost.

  “The Bulls,” Derrick said, shrugging into his suit coat. Even after three years at NCIS, it was still jarring to Derrick that he was part of a team. His time as a CIA operative in a war zone was one of secrecy, lying to just about everyone he knew and screwing over people. That was what Derrick did for a living. Coming from no one with no family, he’d found it easy to hide what he did. Keeping things casual with women was a fact of life. Even n
ow he found it difficult not to keep to himself. Even with the cases he’d worked on with both Austin and Amber, covering their backs and working together, Derrick still felt detached. It was his mind-set. It was what he had used to survive in a hostile environment for most of his life.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Austin said, reaching his desk and shutting down his computer. He grabbed his hoodie.

  Stopping in front of Austin, Derrick fist-bumped him, and both of them turned to find...empty space. Amber was gone and their boss, Supervisory Agent Kai Talbot, a dark-haired woman in her midthirties, with a quick stride and a tough-as-nails disposition, was fast approaching with the look on her face that spelled...overtime.

  “We’ve got an injured petty officer in La Mesa Park. At a glance, it looks like she fell down the stairs, but take a closer look and make sure that’s all that happened. She’s at the base hospital. Check it out. Here’s her address.”

  Derrick took the slip of paper Kai offered and turned to look at Austin. “Oh, Amber’s good.”

  Austin sighed. “She’s smarter than the two of us put together.”

  “Get us talking about basketball, then she hightails it out of here.” Derrick couldn’t help a small smile. Amber was motivated after her marriage to Tristan Michaels; she wanted to be with him as much as possible. Derrick swallowed, suddenly thinking about his past with the opposite sex. Most of the beautiful faces were a blur, except for Afsana, and everything about his love for her had been a disaster. She was an asset and she should have remained that way, but the intensity of the situation, the danger and the work he did, changed their dynamic. For the first time in his life, he’d connected with someone, and he knew it was a doomed relationship from the get-go. The only redeeming quality was that he didn’t have to lie about who he was.

  They headed for the elevator. “Well, to be fair, neither of us has someone waiting for us at home. She has good motivation.” Austin pushed the button and the door slid open.

  Too true. Derrick had no one waiting for him, but he’d been on his own for so long, first as a kid; then living with the man who had adopted him had been almost like living alone. Jerome Thornton III had groomed Derrick to take over his vast fortune. But with no loyalty to the cruel, heartless and exacting miser, the minute the old bastard kicked the bucket, Derrick liquidated everything, giving half to charity and depositing the rest into a bank account. The only thing he’d kept was an island, which suited him fine. It was as isolated as he was. Then he’d joined the CIA. There was something compelling about becoming a spook, a shadow, moving around the globe incognito, that completely appealed to him. He had the skill set from fending for himself in that money-grubber’s house. Hiding from him had become a sick cat-and-mouse game.

  Arriving at the hospital, they went up to the ICU floor and stopped at the desk. Flashing his badge, Derrick said, “We’re here about a petty officer—” he looked down at his phone “—St. John.”

  The nurse at the desk said, “Yes, she was admitted about thirty minutes ago.”

  “What can you tell us about her condition?” Austin said.

  “She’s in a coma. She’s critical—cuts, bruises, broken ribs, broken arm and leg.”

  “If her condition changes, could you let us know? We’d like to ask her some questions,” Derrick said. Both Derrick and Austin handed her their cards.

  They backed away from the desk and Austin asked, “Think she fell or was she pushed?”

  “It’s possible, but I’m not taking anything at face value until we thoroughly investigate.”

  “Agreed.” They turned toward the elevator. “How about I drop you at her town house, and I’ll go and talk to the military police who found her?”

  “That’s a plan,” Derrick said. Fifteen minutes later, Austin drove away and Derrick walked the perimeter of the town house, but found nothing suspicious. Lily St. John had the end unit of a row of Spanish-inspired homes, pink stucco, painted tile, curves and arches with black ornamental ironwork and terra-cotta roofs. He knocked on the neighbor’s door adjacent to hers, but no one answered. A woman in a white top and jeans came out of the house a door over. “Oh, she’s not home. She’s one of them military lawyers—JAG. Works late.”

  Derrick walked off the porch of the neighbor’s town house and approached the woman. He flashed his badge. “Her name?”

  She studied the badge and said absently, “Lieutenant Gail Baker.” Then she looked at him. “NCIS?”

  “Naval Criminal Investigative Service, ma’am. We’re federal agents,” he said, jotting down the neighbor’s name.

  “Criminal? Oh, I saw the ambulance a bit ago. Is Lily all right?” Her face was pinched in the fading light from the setting sun.

  “You know her?”

  “Just to say hi. She is so sweet and her little boy, Matthew, is a doll.”

  Derrick stiffened. “Her little boy?”

  “Yes, he’s just a baby—um, nine months, I think. Is he all right, too?”

  “What is your name?”

  “Samantha Robbins.”

  “Did you see anything suspicious this morning?”

  “Oh, heavens no. I sleep in, as I have a late shift at my bartending job. But my husband, Sergeant Rod Robbins, is up at the crack of dawn and so is Gail.”

  He handed her a card. “Have him call me when he gets home. Thank you for your time.” Derrick reached for his phone and dialed Austin’s number as he headed for Lily St. John’s town house. Once inside, he climbed the stairs two at a time and stopped dead when he hit the first room on the left.

  A nursery.

  He took in the crib, the changing table, the baby blue walls and the whimsical animals painted on them. Pain sliced at him but he dismissed it. This wasn’t about him and the child he’d lost. This was about Lily’s little boy. He called Austin.

  “She has a baby,” Derrick said, his gut in knots. “Nine months old.”

  “Where the hell is the kid?”

  “That’s a damn good question. I’m searching for her phone. Check to see if it was with her personal effects. We need to find out if she’s got relatives, a babysitter or day care.” He headed for the door. Going to the master bedroom, he noted how the house was very neat and tidy, the bed made. He found the charger on her nightstand, but no phone.

  Urgency burning in him, he rushed downstairs into the living room. A female voice ordered, “Hold it right there.”

  * * *

  “I would suggest you stand very still and keep your hands where I can see them,” Emma St. John said, pointing her 9mm directly at the powerful back of the man standing in her sister’s living room. “Slowly turn around and don’t make any sudden moves. I’d really hate to end the day with killing someone. It was going so well. Besides, blood is really hard to get out of the carpet.”

  The man did as he was instructed.

  Whoa.

  Emma straightened, her stomach giving a funny little lurch when she saw him. It took all her professional private investigator willpower not to react to the man’s gorgeous features. He certainly didn’t dress like a thief, but Emma never took any unnecessary chances. That suit was expensive; the tie, too. He looked a bit tired—his eyes gave that away—but other than that, nothing. She absorbed the details she could, her observation skills her biggest asset. But she was frustrated when this man didn’t reveal much.

  She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but this man wasn’t it. Big and wide-shouldered, he stood framed in the light from the lamp in the living room. His fingers were long and well shaped, and there was something almost deceptively casual about his stance, about the way his hands weren’t quite relaxed. Something lethal and a little too careless, as though he had small regard for danger.

  Experiencing a strange flutter at the unexpected thought, Emma clenched her palm around
the grip of the gun. She was looking for her sister, and she had a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong.

  Lily had to work late tonight and Emma had agreed to pick up Matty from day care and watch him until Lily finished her shift. Except, when she’d gone to the base, they’d told her Matty hadn’t been dropped off today, nor had Lily called in to let them know he wouldn’t be there.

  “Who are you?” she demanded, her fear for Lily overriding anything else.

  “Drop the weapon and kick it over here,” a male voice said from behind her. “I also would prefer not to kill anyone today.”

  She complied, the voice of the man who had the drop on her firm and commanding. Feeling as if her heart was going to come right through her chest, she watched the guy in front of her approach, her heartbeat stopping completely when he reached into his suit coat. He was stern and unsmiling as he met her gaze with an unreadable expression, his chiseled features neutral.

  A warrior. That was what he was.

  A cop, she thought a moment before he pulled out the NCIS badge and showed it to her. Navy cops. What were they doing here? “Oh, God. What happened to Lily?” she said, dropping her hands and taking a step toward him, her voice compressed.

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Emma St. John, Lily’s sister.”

  The man who had been holding the gun on her came around to face her, and he was very different. Much more casually dressed in chocolate pants, a baby blue Polo and deck shoes, his hair a mixture of blond and brown—very California beach boy. He flashed his badge. “I’m Special Agent Austin Beck, and this is Special Agent Derrick Gunn.”

  She took another step as the men exchanged glances and her stomach plummeted. “Why are you here? What happened to my sister?”

  “She was found at the bottom of the stairs hours ago. She’s at the base hospital. It appears she fell.”

  “I’ve got to go.”

  A strong hand gripped her wrist, and something wrenched loose when she met Agent Gunn’s flat, unreadable gaze. Grasping her shoulder, he drew her over to the sofa and guided her down to the cushions, his tone firm when he said, “I know this is terrible news and you want to be with your sister, but we need to ask you some questions. Where is your nephew?”