A Little Harmless Secret

by Melissa Schroeder

  “You’re so sweet,” she said smiling.

  “You are both disgusting,” Devon said. “I had an emergency and had to leave.”

  Micah was studying him and he nodded. “You left her when you went to kidnap Dee.”

  Devon sighed. “I didn’t kidnap my sister.”

  “Yeah, you kind of did,” Dee said with a laugh. “But are you sure it was her?”

  He shifted in the booth as the waitress brought them their drinks. Once she left, Dee pressed on with her interrogation.

  “What makes you think it was her?”

  “I know it was her.”

  “Why are you so positive?”

  He didn’t want to answer, but from the determined look on his sister’s face, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the questions. He looked at Micah, who now had taken an interest in the conversation. Dammit. Now he felt like a fool, but Dee would never let it go.

  “I heard her laugh.”

  Dee said nothing. Micah nodded as if he understood.

  “And you say this was definitely her. Why are you so obsessed with her?” Dee asked.

  He shrugged. “I have no idea. I just am.”

  Micah took pity on him. “Leave him be, Dee. If he says he saw her and if he is obsessed with her, well, let’s not talk about it any longer. The less we know, the less we can help the prosecution when the time comes.”

  Dee wasn’t happy about it, but she listened to her husband and they ordered their food.

  * * * *

  Long after Bridget and Alicia had finished the popcorn and Elsa had sung her last note, Alicia sat in bed with her daughter sleeping beside her as she searched for information on Devon.

  She had kept an eye on him over the years. The fact that he was probably the one sent to distract her while her father was attacked had made it a priority. Sure she had gone to look for him. With his name popping up in her father’s notes, he had been her only lead. When everything had fallen apart, what she was supposed to think.

  After a property search in his name, she found nothing. He still lived in Las Vegas, but he apparently split time between there and Honolulu. There was a credit card trail that had him in both places.

  And now he was in Seattle. Bloody hell.

  Staring at the screen, she continued to wrap her hair around her finger. This was not a good development. Something was tickling the back of her throat. Panic. It was bloody panic. She did not panic. She was a Hughes.

  Buck up, Ali girl.

  “Easy for you to say, old man,” she murmured, a small smile curving her lips. She could almost hear her father chuckle at the familiar banter.

  Her smile faded. Alicia had grown fond of Seattle. Her house in the woods had become a sanctuary. Safety. Even her cousin Millicent had no idea where she lived, and she was the one person Alicia trusted. It was better for both their sakes that Alicia kept her in the dark.

  With a sigh, she closed her laptop. There was only so much she could find out in any one sitting. If she lingered in her search, it would raise red flags. A man like Devon Stryker would have some kind of security to cover his name.

  After brushing her teeth, she slipped back into bed with Bridget. Her daughter rolled over and snuggled against Alicia. All those years ago when she had found out about her pregnancy, she had been shattered. Her father had just died and Alicia had barely escaped an attempt on her life. Then, realizing she was three months late and pregnant had almost broken her.

  She brushed a strand of Bridget’s golden hair away from her face. She would do anything to keep her daughter safe…anything.

  Alicia just hoped she could keep her safe from the man who helped create her.

  * * * *

  Devon shoved his hand through his hair and blinked trying to focus on the screen. He stretched up and little sharp pricks of pain filtered out from his spine. When he moved his head from side to side, his neck cracked. Damn, he was getting old.

  “You’re not still up, are you?” Dee said.

  He scowled but didn’t look away from his laptop. “I’m sitting here, aren’t I?”

  She looked at the clock, then at Devon. “Have you even been to bed yet?”

  “No,” he said, as he continued to go through the security footage from Pike Place. It had taken a few hacks and a call to an old friend to get it, but he had the footage now and he wasn’t giving up. He knew he would find Ali.

  “Devon.”

  He didn’t look away from the screen. He knew if he did, there was a chance he would miss her. After spending all night looking for her in the footage, Devon refused to give up now.

  “Devon.” This time she yelled it.

  He tore his attention away from the screen to frown at her. She was still wearing her pajamas and her long hair was all messed up—like she’d just got out of bed.

  “What?” he asked, equally as loud.

  “Oh, the sound of sibling love in the morning,” Micah said, as he came into the kitchen with Alana in his arms. Micah looked at his daughter. “Promise you’ll be nicer to your brother or sister when he or she finally arrives.”

  “It’s not my fault. Devon’s staring at the screen stalking a woman he says he met four years ago.” She slapped him on the back of the head.

  “Dammit, Dee.”

  “Dammit,” his niece repeated with a huge toothy grin.

  “Oh, nice going, Uncle Dev,” Dee said, settling her hands on her hips.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled as he turned his attention back to the screen. He had no sleep and his temper was always dangerous when he was tired. “Don’t hit me again.”

  “You need help. You’re starting to act like Crazy Uncle Shane Noah. Pretty soon, you’ll be wandering around the town in your bathrobe.”

  Devon scowled at his sister, then grabbed his coffee cup. He brought it to his lips before he realized it was empty.

  “I don’t need help. I don’t even own a bathrobe.”

  She walked over to stand beside him and looked at the screen. “So, it’s normal to illegally hack into the security cameras at Pike Place?”

  “You said I need help. I don’t. Both of us left normal a long time ago.”

  When she didn’t say anything, he turned around to apologize, but she was staring at his laptop screen. Her eyes were wide and her face pale.

  “How do you get that to go back?”

  “Go back?” he asked.

  She fluttered her hand at the screen. “Rewind, whatever?”

  “Why?” he asked, stepping up beside her.

  “I think I saw her. There!” She pointed at the screen. “You were following her, and then she ran. There she is.”

  He looked toward the screen, but then Dee shook her head. “Oh, wait. She has a kid. That’s not her.”

  Devon couldn’t pull his attention away from Alicia or the little girl she had beside her. They had run through the crowd, the little girl’s braids flying behind her. Alicia had leaned up against a building to catch her breath. The video was fuzzy, but he knew that was her. She talked to the little girl, as if trying to catch her breath, then they walked, hand in hand, down the street and turned into a parking garage. It was the same one Devon had parked in for the day.

  Damn.

  “How old would you say that little girl was?” he asked, as he rewound the footage and watched again. He zoomed in, but the picture was fuzzy.

  Dee shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably about four.”

  He looked at Dee and her face went blank. “No. You can’t know that.

  He used the control to rewind the footage again and paused it. “I’m not saying she’s mine, she could be someone else’s kid. But…it’s odd.”

  “Now you have to find her,” Dee said. “You need to at least know whether or not that little girl is yours. If she is, you’ll need to get a lawyer involved, and I can watch the house.”

  “Hey, you two, don’t go making any crazy plans together,” Micah warned as he poured some cereal in a bowl for Alana.
<
br />   “What do you mean by that?” Dee asked, her hands on her hips. “We don’t make crazy plans.”

  “Yeah?” Micah asked.

  “Yeah,” Devon said. “We never really do anything that crazy.”

  “Let’s remember the last time I had to call Carino to help you out of a bind,” Micah said.

  “That wasn’t our fault. Devon didn’t know that woman was a fan of his games.” She looked at him. “You need to keep your face off of stuff. You’re too pretty.”

  Micah muttered under his breath as he filled a sippy cup. Dee rolled her eyes and faced Devon.

  “So, how do we find out where she lives?” she asked.

  He played it again and zeroed in on the parking garage. “We just need to find her car. Then we’ll know where she lives. We know where she parked, so we can probably find out where she lives.”

  Maybe he would be able to find out just why the hell she ran away from him. He played the footage back, pausing at the moment she noticed him.

  Even in the blurry image, Devon could see the terror that crept over her features. He swallowed as his stomach roiled. There was something really, really wrong. Finding her was the most important thing now. The woman he had spent the night with didn’t look like she would back down from anything. But today she had.

  Was the girl the reason? Did she have some connection to him, or was it just a weird coincidence? He needed to discover all those secrets.

  And, he might just find out why she looked as if she was scared to death of him.

  * * * *

  The mobile rang, bringing the former agent out of a deep sleep.

  “Yes?”

  “There was a hit. Someone was looking for information on Stryker.”

  Irritation danced through the agent’s blood. “You woke me up for that? There are a lot of people who look for the bastard. Call me—”

  “Please. Listen. There was someone checking out the cameras at the Pike Place. It was well hidden, but someone went to a lot of trouble to get information from there. And there was one very important section. I sent you a pic on your secure email.”

  The agent pulled the laptop from the other side of the bed. After keying in the password, the email popped up. The picture was grainy, but it was no doubt Alicia Hughes. There were more of them, including one with Alicia against a building holding the hand of a little girl.

  “This was in Seattle?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know where they live?”

  “Yes.”

  “Take care of it.”

  The agent hung up and smiled. Finally, so close to the end after all these years. One little mistake, and could finally be over with.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Two days later, several fractured federal laws, and a few thousand dollars tossed at those who helped, Devon and Dee parked down the street from what he was sure was Ali’s house. It was set off from the road and surrounded by trees. Secluded even. It was a rancher, with a long front porch. The grass was trimmed and the flower beds were filled with plenty of colorful flowers that gave it a cheerful look. The warm fuzzy feeling was ruined by the fact the house had enough security to protect her from an invasion from a foreign country.

  There were cameras on the roof and more than likely sensors around the area. Flood lights sat atop each corner of the house. And that was just what he could see from the front.

  “Well, someone doesn’t like visitors,” Dee murmured, a thread of admiration in her voice.

  He glanced at her and noticed that she was looking up at the roof. Dee never missed much.

  “Apparently not.”

  But he couldn’t judge Ali, not when he had the same kind of a security at his various houses. Anyone who had been in the business didn’t fuck around with security.

  It did appear that someone in the house had a background in some kind of law enforcement. Was she living with a man? Was there even a chance that she was married now…or maybe even then? Did that mean Ali had some kind of connection to him he didn’t know about? And what did that mean about their meeting? Was it just a chance encounter or had she picked him out?

  He had known the CIA had put a price on him. Of course, it was only good if he was brought in alive. Thanks to Conner Dillon, that was removed about the time his father had been arrested for trying to kill Dee.

  So why did this woman

  “Hey, earth to Dev,” Dee said snapping her fingers in front of his face. “Where did you go?”

  He shook his head. “I guess we should go knock on the door.”

  “Let’s go,” Dee said, but she frowned when he pulled a gun out of the glove box. “There could be a little kid here, Dev.”

  “And a woman who is afraid of something. With that amount of security, she might see us as a threat. Just being careful and keeping the safety on.”

  She opened her mouth to argue with him, but years of being her brother had taught him how to deal with Dee. It was best not to even He slipped out of the car and tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans, then covered it with his jacket. Dee was still frowning at him when they walked up the driveway.

  He continued to ignore her and he heard her sigh. She apparently decided to let it go for now. They both stopped when they reached the front walk.

  “It looks nice,” Dee said. “Well, if you ignore that she apparently has more of a hard-on for security than you do.”

  And it was nice. The neighborhood was upper middle class from the looks of it and each lot had at least an acre around it. It was a perfect place to raise a kid.

  He was on alert for anything as they walked up, but nothing happened. No alarms sounded. Weird. For someone who had this much security, he would have thought they would have triggered some alarm. They knocked on the door. No answer.

  Dee shifted her weight from one foot to the other, a clear sign that she was getting impatient. When Dee got impatient, bad things could happen.

  “It was too much to hope for that she would be home. She probably has a job or something,” Dee said.

  She looked in the front windows and Devon walked around the front, looking for clues about the woman who lived there. The name on the mortgage was Francine Williamson, not Ali, but that didn’t mean anything. She could have been using an alias that night. It would explain why it was so hard to find her before.

  But he knew it was the same woman.

  “I think we better go, Dee,” he said. Now that he knew where she lived, it would be easier to figure out how to approach her.

  Before Dee could respond, a crossover SUV drove up and parked in the driveway. She apparently hadn’t seen him or Dee, which was odd considering the security she had around the house. She stepped out of the car.

  She was casually dressed in a pair of jeans that hugged her hips. The jacket was more about utility than fashion. His heart jerked, then doubled in speed as he watched her move. No matter what she wore, he knew it was her. No one in the world moved like her. Every motion was fluid, as if she had some kind of soundtrack playing in her head.

  He couldn’t seem to catch a breath, as if all the air around them had been sucked away. Images of that night washed over him, the sounds of her gasps and moans. He licked his lips and was positive he could taste her there.

  “Ali,” he said.

  She froze, then turned to face him. Her face was pale, her eyes huge and he knew fear when he saw it.

  “That’s not my name.” Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. The English accent was nowhere to be found. She reached behind her.

  “Don’t.” It was only a simple word but she understood the implications. He wouldn’t hurt her unless she posed a threat to Dee.

  “I’ve no idea what you’re doing here or why you’re calling me by that name. If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police.”

  Denying her name, what they had together….it pissed him off. Why was she doing this? And why did she look as if he was going to hurt her?

  “Yes, it is. I know
you. We met in Vegas.”

  She was shaking her head in denial when he heard small footsteps around the front of the car. A smaller version of Ali stood there, with blonde hair like the night he had met Ali. She had his eyes.

  “Mummy, isn’t he the man who yelled at us in the market?”

  He looked at Ali, his eyes narrowing as he studied her. “Why don’t you answer her, Ali?”

  “Ali? Mummy says only her father called her that.”

  Devon said nothing as Ali finally stepped in front of her daughter. “Please leave.”

  Her voice was tight, not with anger…but deep-rooted fear. It quivered at the end and he knew it wasn’t normal for her. She thought he would hurt her? Or did she think he would hurt the child?

  “I’m not leaving until I have an explanation.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  She straightened her shoulders. “I’ll not explain myself to the likes of you.”

  He opened his mouth to ask just what the hell she meant, when Dee stepped out from behind him before he could stop her. “Hey, there.”

  Ali’s gaze took in Dee, traveling down to her stomach, then she looked at Devon.

  “I’m Dee, Devon’s sister. And you must be…well, what do you want to be called?”

  The little girl peeked out from behind Ali. The smile she offered reminded him of Alana.

  “Francine is what people call her here,” she offered.

  “Then, Francine, and you are?” Dee asked smiling. His sister could get a mute man to talk with that smile of hers.

  Ali opened her mouth to probably tell her not to reveal her name, but her daughter was quicker than she was.

  “Bridget Williamson.”

  “That is a fantastic name, if you don’t mind me saying. My name is Dee and I have a little girl just a little bit younger than you. Her name is Alana.”

  “I think we all need to have a nice long chat,” Devon said.

  Ali looked from him to Dee then back to him. “Is she really your sister? The one who died?”

  That answered one question. She knew his true identity. That meant she had known who he was all along.