Undercover in Glimmer Creek

by Julianna Morris

  They’d just finished going over the background checks, and aside from Wanda Donovan’s speeding ticket in Nevada, there had been little to raise questions...even for someone as suspicious as Gabe. Now he was trying to talk her into giving him the names of everyone employed by her cousin’s catering business, as well as the laundry service.

  “Tessa, I know you have a full list of all the contractors’ employees.”

  “Duh. But you don’t need to worry. Uncle Milt already has it.”

  “Then you—”

  “No,” she stopped him. “Have you ever considered that you spent twenty years in the navy defending people’s rights, and now you’re asking me to violate them?”

  Gabe jerked, and a dull flush crept up under his collar. He was so intent on finding whoever was threatening his brother, he couldn’t have thought things through. He must have been one heck of a navy SEAL—dedicated, single-minded and target oriented. Maybe if his brother wasn’t involved, he’d be able to see the bigger picture, but right now it was up to her and Great-Uncle Milt to make sure nobody crossed the line.

  “You can stay here if you want,” she murmured. “I need to go to Guest Registration.”

  “You’re off duty—it’s after seven.”

  “And someone wants to see me,” she said patiently. “Registration wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important.”

  Without a word, Gabe followed her down the steep, narrow stairs.

  “Granddad,” Tessa exclaimed as she walked into Old City Hall a few minutes later. She threw her arms around Patrick Connor and hugged him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

  “I wanted to surprise my favorite granddaughter.”

  She tweaked his tie. “Lucky I’m your only granddaughter. Where’s Grams?”

  “Right behind you,” said Sandra Connor.

  Tessa gave her a kiss and hug, as well. “You look wonderful. Just give me a minute and I’ll find you a room.”

  “I’ve already taken care of that,” Bill interjected. “I’ve put them next door to the Victorian Cat in the Sutter House, and their bags have been taken over to their suite.”

  “Thanks, Bill.”

  Gabe stepped forward. “Mr. and Mrs. Connor, Gabe McKinley, at your service.”

  Her grandmother smiled, but Patrick’s gaze narrowed. “Ah, yes, you’re the young man taking so much of my granddaughter’s attention these days.”

  “Guilty as charged.” Gabe put an arm around Tessa’s shoulders, and she wanted to kick him. At least her grandparents knew about the cover story and wouldn’t get the wrong idea. “You have a very talented granddaughter, sir.”

  “As we well know,” Granddad returned in a dry tone.

  * * *

  GABE MEASURED PATRICK CONNOR’S face and knew he might be old, but he was still tough as nails. Yet his expression softened whenever he looked at Tessa or his wife.

  “You must miss her executive ability in San Francisco.”

  “I miss my granddaughter more.” There was a steely edge in Patrick’s tone. “But this is the place for her. I always knew she’d return to Connor’s Folly, sooner or later.”

  “Connor’s Folly?” Tessa chuckled. “You never change, Granddad.”

  Sandra Connor laughed. “Don’t you believe any Connor’s Folly nonsense your grandfather spouts. He’s proud of what Liam and your mother accomplished here.”

  “Now, now, my dear, I’m willing to admit when I was wrong,” Patrick acknowledged. “My father spent a fortune buying and maintaining the old part of this town, and everyone thought he was crazy. But when I look around today, I see it was a good thing. Have you eaten, Tessa? We’d like to take you out to dinner. Naturally, Mr. McKinley is invited, as well.”

  “I don’t know about Gabe, but I’d love to go.”

  “Same here,” Gabe accepted quickly. He was sure Tessa would prefer to get rid of him for a while, but he wanted to observe Patrick Connor. Tessa might be convinced her grandfather wouldn’t take advantage of the situation, but Gabe wasn’t as sure. The old guy had inherited a fortune, which he’d reputedly multiplied many times since. He hadn’t done it by being a saint.

  “Excellent. Tessa, how does the GC Steakhouse sound?”

  “It would be great. Does Pop know you’re here?”

  “We spoke earlier. He said to let him know where we’re eating and he could meet us.”

  After a call to Liam, Patrick and his wife declined the courtesy shuttle and walked briskly toward the parking area, belying their seventy-odd years.

  Gabe watched the proceedings with a faint sense of disbelief. They drove to the restaurant on the edge of town and found Liam already there.

  Patrick Connor and Gabe’s father had to be cut from the same cloth, yet it was a pleasant evening, with no mention of industrial espionage or empire building. Liam mostly spoke with his mother, while Tessa and her grandfather debated California history. Gabe stayed out of the conversation, preferring to observe.

  Back in front of the Sutter House, the Connors kissed Tessa. “Come over in the morning. I’ll fix breakfast,” she urged.

  “No need to cook, dear,” said Sandra. “Poppy Gold serves an excellent breakfast. But we’ll see you afterward and make plans for the day. Is nine o’clock good?”

  “That’ll be fine, Grams. Sleep well.”

  Gabe stuck next to Tessa as she crossed the garden to the Victorian Cat. If the evening had accomplished nothing else, it had further solidified their image as a couple. Eating out with the grandparents? Everybody would be anticipating a wedding by the end of the weekend.

  “It’s late,” Tessa said, turning at her door and putting a hand on his chest.

  Gabe’s body instantly hardened. She’d kept a careful distance between them over the past few days, but it hadn’t kept him from wanting her again.

  “We still need to talk,” he murmured.

  “All right, talk,” Tessa emphasized. “That’s all.”

  Inside her apartment she switched on the light, and he saw a huge black-and-white cat ensconced on the couch. “What’s this one called?” he asked.

  “Tiny Tim.”

  Gabe had to laugh; there was nothing tiny about the feline. “I didn’t see him earlier.”

  “He was probably sitting in the kitchen window. That’s where he spends most of his time when visiting, at least during daylight hours. He’s the most dedicated bird-watcher of all the permanent VC residents.”

  “Why was Tiny Tim evicted from his own room?”

  “One of our regular guests miscalculated. He’d planned a romantic weekend but hadn’t realized his latest girlfriend is terrified of cats. When it came down to sex or having Tiny Tim remain in the suite, sex won.”

  It made sense to Gabe. He’d been thinking a good deal about sex himself, including something Tessa had said.

  The sex was okay.

  Okay?

  His ego was reasonably robust, but no man enjoyed hearing his performance in bed was simply “okay.” At the same time, he was irritated with himself for letting the comment bother him; it was hard enough getting her out of his head.

  He’d gotten a real shock when he found himself reassuring Lance that Jamie would understand about his troubled background. It had been totally out of character, yet curiously, Gabe also believed it was true.

  Tiny Tim was regarding him with curiosity, so he walked over and let the cat sniff his fingers... Anything to stop thinking about the ways Tessa had been affecting him.

  “Give me your hand,” Tessa said.

  He extended his arm and she shook something that looked like herbs onto his palm.

  “That’s catnip. Let him lick it off.”

  Gabe was doubtful until Tiny Tim ecstatically licked it up with his raspy ton
gue. A rough purr sounded, and the cat gave him an approving, benevolent look. To test whether it was a ruse, Gabe scratched under his chin and the purr surged louder.

  Then Tessa sank onto the couch and Tiny Tim abandoned Gabe to leap onto her lap, arching against her chest. Cats seemed to gravitate to her, taking all sorts of enviable liberties.

  “I’ve been thinking about the sabotaged staircase,” she said. “If the perpetrator is someone targeting the McKinley family or business, you need to be careful, too. You could be next if they realize you’re related to Rob.”

  The chance of coming under fire had occurred to Gabe, but he was highly trained. His biggest worry was keeping Tessa safe—if this was someone with a personal vendetta, they might be completely wacko.

  “Worried about me?”

  “Of course I’m worried about you. I’d like to think we’ve become friends, or at least allies.”

  “Is that all?”

  “You don’t want it to be more, remember?”

  “Yeah, except I know you don’t sleep with just anyone. It’s important to me that I don’t hurt you, Tessa. You’re really special, and I’ve seen too many special things destroyed in this world. I’ve been thinking a lot about the marriages that ended so badly with the men in my command. And the truth is, men like me are hard on women like you. We’ve seen too much.”

  “You can’t...that is, don’t worry about me,” Tessa said softly. “I can take care of myself.”

  Gabe frowned, noticing she hadn’t denied having feelings for him. Of course, she hadn’t admitted to any, either. Nor was she likely to.

  He sat down on the couch. Surprisingly, Tiny Tim left Tessa and draped himself over Gabe’s legs.

  Idly, Tessa picked up the sheaf of letters Rob had received and flipped through them. “I wish the FBI was taking these more seriously.”

  “As Rob says, they’ve got a lot on their plates. You’re still bothered by that one note?”

  “Yes. I’ve spent hours looking at it, going over old copies of the Glimmer Creek Gazette and magazines carried by the library and medical clinic. Anything that might tie the notes to our town. Uncle Milt is doing the same thing, but nothing matches up. Whoever created them is clever—Rob says they sent a photocopy of the original note, so it’s even harder to trace where the cutout words and letters came from.”

  Her forefinger traced the P in TIP.

  “I think it’s the P in this letter that keeps striking a chord. I just don’t know why.”

  Gabe had looked at the P as well, but he couldn’t see anything there to identify. He rubbed behind Tiny Tim’s ears and another loud purr roared from the cat’s chest.

  Tessa cleared her throat. “What sort of enemies does Robert have? He’s always seemed like a straight arrow.”

  “Rob has a list of disgruntled former employees that he’s compared with the list I’ve made of people here. But there are no connections he can see. He’s also sent it to your great-uncle, just in case.”

  She frowned. “Doesn’t Rob have any personal enemies?”

  “How? My brother works as many hours as you do, and he’s not the type to sleep with someone else’s wife or anything like that.”

  “People with vendettas aren’t always logical about why they have them. For that matter, we’re still working on a lot of assumptions. It could still be someone who’d steal information from any convenient source. I don’t know what I’m going to do if we don’t catch the culprit before the next business conference at Poppy Gold.”

  Gabe looked at Tessa, wanting to comfort her as much as he wanted to take her to bed again. Seeing her as special was understandable, but it didn’t make sense that he’d begun to care about her so much.

  They had sharply conflicting ways of seeing the world. She was devoted to her extended family, while he was only close to Rob. Tessa was idealistic, while he’d seen horrors beyond imagining. He no longer believed in anything...well, except for protecting people’s rights, as she’d pointed out earlier.

  It had been a shock to be confronted like that.

  He’d become a victim of tunnel vision, seeing only his brother’s safety and his desire to protect TIP. The irony was that he didn’t give a hoot for Thomas International Products except that the company mattered to Rob.

  Still, in every other way, he stood in stark contrast to Tessa. They were as dissimilar as two people could be.

  Maybe being opposites explained Jamie Fullerton’s appeal to Lance—to a kid who’d seen nothing but trouble in his life, Jamie probably seemed like a fairy princess.

  After a moment, Gabe realized Tessa was looking at him questioningly, and he cleared his throat. “Did you say something? I was distracted for a moment.”

  “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “Sure.”

  Gabe went into the kitchen and watched as Tessa made a pot of decaf. “We shouldn’t mention knowing Lance grew up as a foster kid. I don’t think he’s told anyone.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t intend to say anything about what I’ve seen in those background checks.”

  “Most of it is boring and innocuous.”

  “Not boring,” she corrected him. “Just a far cry from the excitement of life as a navy SEAL. When are we going to start working on the fake documents for the sting operation?”

  “As soon as your grandparents leave. When Rob comes he’ll set up the video cams again to catch anyone going through the papers in his suite.”

  “Unless someone takes out a camera and blatantly shoots pictures or goes through a briefcase, there won’t be any real proof,” Tessa said, pouring two cups of the coffee and handing him one. “Besides, aren’t some cameras so small these days you might never realize one was in use?”

  “It’s possible.” Gabe had seen highly sophisticated surveillance equipment during his career. If someone was willing to invest, they could take a picture with no one being the wiser. Since the thief had been exceptionally careful to date, they might well have purchased the best tools for their illicit activities.

  * * *

  TESSA TOOK A sip from her cup, but it wasn’t coffee she really wanted. The boyish pleasure in Gabe’s face while petting Tiny Tim had completely sunk her resolution to keep her distance. Then when the cat had taken up residence on his lap? She’d practically melted. The big, tough ex-SEAL, cuddling a purring feline...she would love having a video of that.

  “The, uh, documents we create should try to trick the guilty person into revealing themselves immediately,” she said, distractedly wondering what Gabe would do if she did a 180-degree turn and invited him to bed.

  “How do we do that?”

  “Put a time limit on how long the information is valuable.” Tessa set her cup on the counter. She was a modern woman; she didn’t need to be coy. “In the meantime, remember what I said about us just talking?”

  Gabe looked confused. “Yeah.”

  “Forget I said it.”

  Gabe stared for a second. “Has anyone ever accused you of being unpredictable?” he asked hoarsely.

  She stepped closer. “Are you objecting?”

  “Not a chance.”

  Gabe drew her to him for a kiss, visibly aroused. She smiled, planning to make sure it was a very good night.

  * * *

  BEFORE DAWN THE next morning, Tessa was aware of Gabe getting out of the bed and collecting his jeans and shirt. She yawned and scratched Tiny Tim’s neck. The cat had found a space between the pillows to sleep.

  It was nice; for once she hadn’t had one of her nightmares where she fell and fell.

  “Are you leaving?” she murmured.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

  She didn’t doubt it. Gabe McKinley was probably a master at slipping away quietly.

/>   “That’s okay. See you Monday.” Tessa was determined to make him think she was treating the night casually.

  “Monday? Not a chance,” he scoffed. “I’ll be back before nine when your grandparents come. I just want fresh clothes so they don’t guess where I spent the night.”

  She yawned and stretched. “This isn’t the 1880s. Granddad isn’t going to take out a shotgun and force us to the altar.”

  “You’re still his granddaughter, and it’s courteous to respect his feelings.”

  She closed her eyes as he walked out the bedroom door, reminding herself she’d known all along that sex was the only type of closeness he’d allow.

  * * *

  AN HOUR LATER, Tessa had just drifted back into an uneasy sleep when a cold nose nudged her forehead.

  She opened her eyes and saw Tiny Tim’s furry face.

  “I hope you don’t do that to guests,” she grumbled. “Most of them don’t want to wake up so early.”

  He sat back on his haunches and licked a paw.

  Tessa looked around. Every sign of Gabe’s presence had been erased, but she hadn’t expected anything else. She was surprised he’d stayed even a few hours.

  She pushed the thought from her head and got up to take care of a few chores. She flew around, getting the apartment in order and trying not to think about Gabe McKinley.

  There was another wedding at Poppy Gold that evening, but with her grandparents visiting, she decided to call the weekend event staff to let them know she wouldn’t be on hand to help.

  “We love you, Tessa, but you don’t have to be there,” Colleen Ryan told her with a hint of exasperation. “We’ve got everything covered.”

  Tessa winced. “I know. It’s a bad habit.”

  “I wouldn’t say that, but you need to stop overextending yourself. Enjoy your grandparents’ visit and leave the worrying to me. That’s what I’m paid to do.”

  “The mother of this particular bride is even more stressed out than most,” Tessa warned.

  “I know, but we’ll get through it.”

  Tessa said goodbye, glad that Gabe hadn’t overheard the conversation with Colleen. Working at Poppy Gold wasn’t the same as going to an office and being there eighteen hours a day. Here she was surrounded by family. The whole place was home, and most of the time it didn’t even feel like work.