Undercover Fiancee

by Rebecca Winters

  “But my dad needed me, and I realized there wasn’t anything I could do with a doctorate in foreign travel. So this rolling stone came home and I worked my way up in Dad’s company while I attended college courses at night.”

  “I was bitten by the same bug,” she admitted. “At one point I told my dad I wanted to become a tour guide for a travel company overseas. That’s when he sat me down and told me about the time he wanted to buy a boat and sail around the world.”

  Rand chuckled. “I guess we didn’t end up too poorly, did we.”

  “Speak for yourself. I live hand-to-mouth in a pillbox.”

  “At least your charming pillbox is your own. If you’d followed your dreams, your world would be the inside of a tour bus whose air conditioning unit never works during the hottest months of the tourist season.”

  She smiled in remembrance. “Those tour buses were awful.”

  “So were the broken down rental bikes and overcrowded youth hostels.”

  When her cellular phone rang, the sound startled her. She’d been so carried away by her conversation with Rand, she’d forgotten they were on a case.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s me, Phil. Remember?”

  A hot flash swept over her body. “I—I was just about to call you.”

  “Sure you were.”

  “What have you learned?”

  “As soon as your car left the driveway, the phone decoder picked up a bunch of Salt Lake numbers calling in on the line. An answering machine that says, ‘You have reached the Dunbarton Support line,’ puts them on hold.”

  “Just a minute, Phil.” Annabelle repeated to Rand what the other man told her.

  Rand shook his head in exasperation. “That little devil. He makes the poor customers wait for hours, then methodically ruins their hard drives. We’ve got him nailed right now, but we need to know who gave him the password to break into the system administrator and get past security before we call a halt.”

  “I agree.” She put the phone to her ear once more. “Phil? Is there any indication that someone is in the house with him?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. We’re going to get some lunch, then head back to the house.”

  “Make sure it’s the Owens’s house and not another person’s I know about.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know exactly what I mean. Gerard is in mourning because he just found out you’ve been living with your latest client.”

  She turned as far away from Rand as possible. Covering the mouthpiece she hissed, “We’re on a job, Phil.”

  “Since when do you allow a client those kinds of privileges? The guys have all driven by your house and have seen his rental car out front for the last couple of days and nights.”

  Annabelle’s eyes rounded in shock.

  “Rand Dunbarton has cornered you in your own lair, Annie baby. We all used to think it couldn’t be done, but we underestimated his technique. That’s quite a coup. Lady PI snared by computer giant in latest takeover scheme.”

  A prickling broke out on her face and neck. “I don’t know where you get your information but—”

  “Where else but the boss!”

  Not Roman!

  “Besides, you forget—I can hear you guys! The whole office has bets on how long you’ll last with the agency.”

  “I’m hanging up.”

  “I get it. Your lord and master is tired of sharing you. Over and out.”

  “Anything wrong?” Rand asked in a low, velvety voice.

  Her chin lifted a little higher. Yes. Everyone is making false assumptions about you and me. Little do they know you’ve been playing around with my emotions, and the only offer you’ve extended me is the one I don’t want.

  “No. Of course not.”

  “Like hell there isn’t. Your face has a becoming blush, the price of being a beautiful redhead.”

  Why do you keep it up, Rand?

  “When Phil’s on duty, he loves to tell off-color jokes to shock people. Now, if you’ll turn at the next corner, there’s a Sally’s Drive-In. We can get hamburgers there.”

  Rand followed her directions and within minutes they had arrived and placed some takeout orders. “I can hear Plan C brewing. Want to let me in on it while we wait?”

  Normally Rand had an uncanny ability to read her mind. But for once, her thoughts had nothing to do with the case and everything to do with the man whose nearness and warmth was driving her crazy with needs he’d aroused back at the house.

  She shouldn’t have let the scene in the hotel room with Caroline provide her an excuse to move back home before she’d solved the case. But where Rand was concerned, she had no willpower at all.

  “Actually, I was thinking about Bryan’s motives.”

  “You mean to embarrass his father.”

  She nodded.

  “I think you were right in your first assessment about him, Annabelle. He’s a super-bright kid who is upset with his parents over some pretty typical teenage complaints.”

  “He doesn’t seem sinister to me.”

  Rand shook his head. “No. Just misguided, and somewhat arrogant. He thinks he wants to get caught, but he has no comprehension of what would be involved if he were criminally prosecuted.”

  “I was thinking that since you’re the person who would be bringing formal charges against him, you mi—”

  “I’m way ahead of you, sweetheart,” he interrupted her. “Once we establish who fed him the password, Bryan and I will have a little chat, one-on-one, about the realities of his precarious situation. With some incentives and a feasible plan of restitution, he might decide life with his parents isn’t so bad.”

  “That’s very generous of you, Rand.”

  You’ve just given me another reason to be madly in love with you. I wish to heaven I weren’t.

  This case needs to be solved today.

  You need to go back to Phoenix.

  I need...

  “The dining room windows are done. Where do you want to clean next, my love?”

  My love was a new endearment of Rand’s. Annabelle had promised herself she wouldn’t react, but it was impossible not to when she was so deeply in love with him.

  With a quick glance at her watch she said, “We’ve got the kitchen and the den to do. Why don’t we call it a day and finish those two rooms tomorrow.”

  “Don’t you have to clean the upstairs?” Bryan’s question sounded like he was actually disappointed. After eating lunch together, he’d been a captive audience all afternoon. More and more Annabelle was convinced that he and his parents needed to sit down and reopen the lines of communication.

  “Not for six more months, Kevin.”

  By now Bryan had anticipated her needs and willingly helped carry her supplies to the walnut-paneled study. Rand’s eyes darted her a private message that told her to check out the desk.

  She could see in a glance what had caught his interest. There were two Dunbarton computers sitting side by side. One of them had additional boxes of memory.

  “It looks like the Owens have acquired more electronic equipment since we last cleaned this room, sweetheart.”

  “It’s no wonder. Being Daniel Ludlow’s campaign manager means keeping track of thousands of financial donations and names of volunteers. I get tired just thinking about all the hours hardworking friends and relatives like the Owens spend to get decent people into politics.”

  Bryan’s face seemed to have lost some of its color. “You think Daniel Ludlow is decent?”

  “Of course.” She flashed him a friendly smile. “He’s a self-made man. I admire anyone who has built a business from scratch with good, hard, honest work. I plan on voting for him.”

  “So do I,” Rand concurred. “His roots go back to the pioneers who came to Utah and settled here. A lot of wealthy men have left the state and invested their money elsewhere. Daniel Ludlow has stayed put and given millions to build the economy.”

  Annabel
le had no idea how Rand knew so much about Bryan’s father, but she should have learned long before now never to underestimate him.

  While she wiped down the paneling she said, “Just the other day I saw that he chartered a 747 to bring home a Mormon missionary who’d been shot in some remote area of Peru. The young man would have died if he couldn’t have been rushed to a hospital here.”

  “I read that same article, honey. Mr. Ludlow arranged for a Support-Flight helicopter to be waiting at Salt Lake International Airport to transport the young man to the hospital and I hear he’s been paying all the bills because the family couldn’t afford it.”

  She shook her head. “If I had his money, I’d like to think I would be the kind of person to come to someone else’s rescue.”

  “Would that we were all as benevolent and altruistic. He’s pretty amazing. As far as I’m concerned, he’ll make a good governor, maybe even a great one,” Rand stated unequivocally.

  While they finished their work and discussed the virtues of various people in Utah politics, Bryan remained uncharacteristically silent. Something of significance was going on inside of him. It was time to leave.

  “I guess we can call it a day.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” Rand murmured, “since you’ve done so much backbreaking labor, I’ll carry everything to the kitchen. You go on out to the car and take a rest.”

  As usual, he could read her mind. He knew she wanted to call Trina and get the ball rolling. She was on the verge of thanking him when he added, “Tonight, Mrs. Adams, you’re in for the treat of your life. I’m planning to give you one of my special back-rubs.”

  Intimate pictures of the two of them together rendered her breathless—a condition which was fast becoming chronic when she was around him. Once again Rand had reduced everything to the personal and put her in a position where she was forced to respond for Bryan’s sake.

  “Since you’re older than I am, darling, I think maybe you’re the one who is going to need the extra attention, but I won’t say no to your offer to clean everything up here.”

  A slumberous look entered his blue eyes, turning her body molten. “Did you hear that, Kevin? My wife’s going to give me special attention tonight.”

  Annabelle didn’t wait to hear Bryan’s reaction. She sped from the room hot-faced, needing to get away from Rand. Before he could join her in the car, she would phone the office and ask Roman to assign her to extra duty tonight. She didn’t care what it was as long as it made things impossible for her and Rand to be together for the next eighteen hours.

  Two minutes later she reached Diana on her cellular phone and asked to speak to Roman. When Annabelle found out her boss was on a case, she left word for him to call her on his cellular. It was an emergency.

  By the time Rand came out to the car, she had made her call to Trina, as well.

  “We’re going to meet Trina at the convenience store near her house in a few minutes,” she announced as he levered himself behind the wheel. “Head toward the freeway, then take the Twenty-Third East exit. It’s at the stoplight on Thirty-Third South.”

  “What’s the hurry?” he murmured as he backed them around and headed for the gate once more.

  She gritted her teeth. “Surely the answer is obvious. The sooner we get all the facts, the sooner you can stop Bryan from hurting your business, and the less money you’ll have to pay the Lufka agency for our services.”

  It might have been her imagination but she thought they pulled out of the driveway a little too fast after she’d closed the gate and locked it.

  Grabbing for her cellular phone so she wouldn’t have to make conversation with him, she called Janet who was always good for a backup plan when all else failed.

  Maybe the Fates were with her because for once, Janet was in her office rather than at court.

  “Hi!”

  “I just got your fax. We need to talk, Annie girl.”

  Ignoring her friend’s comment Annabelle said, “What time is your dinner party tonight? I’m finishing up a case but I should be home to get ready within a couple of hours.”

  “What are you tal—Oh, I get it. You’re not alone. Okay. Let’s see. Cocktails at seven.”

  “Cocktails at seven. I’ll be there.”

  “Mind if I say hello to Janet?” Rand had already reached for the phone. He didn’t believe Janet was on the other end

  “Just a minute, Janet. Someone wants to talk to you.” Full of confidence, she let Rand take it.

  Rand could sense Annabelle was ready to bolt, but he wasn’t about to let that happen. “Hello?”

  “Hi!” came a cheery female voice. Rand didn’t know what to think. Maybe Annabelle really had called up her best friend. Maybe there really was a party she’d been invited to. Without him.

  “Is this the famous bankruptcy attorney who spends her vacation in Florida reading transcripts of the Watergate trial, strictly for fun?”

  He heard laughter coming from the other end. “My secret is out. Could this possibly be the voice of Today’s Fortune’s Computer Man of the Year? Were you really a lineman for the Green Bay Packers before you went into business?”

  Relief made Rand’s body sag against the car seat. One thing he’d learned about Annabelle. She was an intensely private person. Nothing could have pleased him more than to know she’d been talking about him to her best friend.

  “I’ll answer that question if you’ll answer one for me.”

  “What question is that?”

  “How do you make money wh—”

  “When my clients don’t have any?” She anticipated the rest of his words. Rand chuckled. Janet was almost as entertaining as Annabelle. “Annabelle tells me you just bought a new Mercedes. I’m waiting for the answer with baited breath.”

  “I heard baited breath can be fatal so we’d better not let that condition of yours go on too long.”

  Rand’s chuckle turned into laughter. He couldn’t wait to meet Janet.

  “Why don’t you come by the house with Annabelle this evening and I’ll tell you.”

  “You’re sure I won’t be imposing?” By now his gaze had swerved to the gorgeous female at his side. She was not amused. That was too bad because he had no intention of going away.

  “With every journalist in America wanting a piece of you and I’ve just been given exclusive rights to pick your brains? Are you kidding?”

  His mouth turned up at the corners. “You’re thinking of the wrong man, but your kind words are nice to hear at the end of a long working day. Annabelle has really put us through the paces.”

  “I don’t doubt it. She says she’s been working on a case for you. What disguise did she dream up today?”

  Rand couldn’t stop chuckling. “Today we were the loving husband and wife housecleaning team of Ray and Lois Adams.”

  “Give me the phone, Rand!”

  Like lightning, Annabelle pulled the cellular away from him and told Janet she would have to call her back.

  The timing couldn’t have been more perfect because the convenience store came into view. Rand spotted several people milling about in front. “The blond girl must be Trina. Am I right?”

  “Like I said,” she answered in a wooden voice, “you should be working for the CIA.”

  “You sound grumpy,” he commented as she started to get out of the car. “I’ll buy you something to eat. That ought to hold you until we get to the cocktail party.”

  Without commenting on anything, she marched right over to Bryan Ludlow’s girlfriend and urged her to walk to the edge of the grass where they could be private. Rand followed.

  “Trina? This is Ray. He’s helping me on this case.”

  “Hello, Trina.”

  “Hi.”

  “We’ve just learned that Bryan has a friend whose brother or sister works for Dunbarton’s in Salt Lake in some capacity. He paid that friend a thousand dollars to get the password to break in.”

  “I can’t believe he’d do anything so
stupid,” Trina moaned.

  “Can you think of any of Bryan’s friends who’ve come into a lot of money in the last two weeks?”

  Trina frowned. “Not really.”

  “Maybe it’s not a friend, only an acquaintance. Someone who suddenly might have bought a really fabulous stereo or magged out tires, a lift, search lights for a Jeep or a Blazer—”

  “Or a used motorcycle or car,” Rand added.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “That’s okay,” Annabelle assured her. “Just think about it and if you come up with a name, call me. I’ll give you my cellular phone number.”

  While she was writing it on a piece of paper, Trina made a sound. “Paul Iverson—I saw him riding a brand new motorbike out of Food King’s parking lot yesterday. He works there as a grocery bagger.”

  “Is he a friend of Bryan’s?”

  “Not really, but in summer he also mows lawns with a crew that does Mr. Ludlow’s yard. Sometimes when I’m over there swimming with Bryan, we talk to Paul.”

  “Do you think the motorbike is a recent purchase?”

  “Actually I thought he must have borrowed somebody’s because he doesn’t have a lot of money and has always ridden his dirt bike everywhere.”

  “I’m going to the car to phone Howard. Keep Trina here. I’ll be right back,” he whispered in Annabelle’s ear before heading in the direction of the Ford.

  Using his cellular, he called in to his company and got Howard out of a meeting. When Rand asked if any of the technicians were named Iverson, Howard immediately confirmed that a Barrett Iverson was employed on the day shift and had been with the company four years. That was all Rand needed to hear.

  “Ask Iverson to step into your office. Don’t tell him what it’s about. I’ll be there within twenty minutes.” He clicked off and went in search of Annabelle who had her arm around a weeping Trina. At his approach, Annabelle lifted her head. Her questing gaze collided with Rand’s. “His name is Barrett Iverson,” he murmured.

  Annabelle looked back at Trina. “We have good news. Ray has made a positive identification. Paul Iverson does have a brother who works for Dunbarton’s. By tonight Bryan will be back home with his family and this whole situation will be cleared up.”