by Lesley Davis
“I think the local casinos are safe from me. My luck doesn’t run to cards or slot machines.”
“Then what is it, Daryl? I’ve read your files, gone over cases you had a hand in from before you even set foot in the academy. You very rarely miss a target you’re aiming for.”
“You did delve deep, didn’t you?” Daryl should have known that Blythe would be the one to research her. She understood why. They were going to have to trust each other in a very intimate operation. She just wished Blythe wasn’t so conscientious in her job. “Those early cases were my dad’s. I was just learning the ropes on them.”
“I’m a profiler, Detective, and have interrogated more people than I care to count. Don’t try your stalling tactics with me. You have the uncanny knack for finding missing children, one way or another.”
Daryl couldn’t help but grimace. “It’s the ‘other’ part when I don’t do so well. All the investigating in the world doesn’t always bring back children to their families alive.”
“But you bring them closure. Sometimes that’s the best thing in those circumstances.”
Daryl nodded diffidently, not really believing that.
“Are you psychic?” Blythe pressed.
“Not that I’m aware of.” Daryl laid down her fork and looked across the table. She saw nothing in Blythe’s eyes that told her she couldn’t trust her. “You know that feeling you get deep in your gut when you know something fits the case you’re working on?” Blythe nodded. “I have that magnified by about a hundred times stronger. I don’t know exactly what I do or why I can do it. But I do know that I can look at certain cases and know instinctively where to start. Then it all boils down to good old-fashioned investigation work and a lot of knocking on doors.”
“So it’s not just luck.”
“It’s something out of my control but helps me do my job.”
Blythe took a long sip of her wine. “Whatever it is it obviously works. So I don’t have to worry about you going into a trance and contacting ghosts of cases past?”
“No, Blythe, I won’t be consulting on this case with anyone from the dead.”
“Pity. I wouldn’t mind finding out where my aunt Joan left that necklace she always promised me.” She lifted her head from her meal and gave Daryl a wink. “Just kidding.”
Daryl knew she was in trouble when that sly fluttering of Blythe’s lashes made her stomach tighten in arousal. She wracked her brain for something to move the conversation away from her so-called talents.
“Would you do something for me?” she asked.
“Certainly.”
Daryl began fidgeting. “Could you recommend some shops for me where I can get clothing more suitable for a Web designer? Because all I have in my suitcases are apparently going to be blatant cop clothes.”
Blythe’s laughter lifted Daryl’s spirits. “I would love to go shopping with you. If you promise not to drag your heels or grumble as I help dress you for this assignment, then I’ll even take you out for dessert.”
“It would have to be my treat seeing as you’re the one going out of her way.”
“We’ll talk about your not being able to let a lady pay her way while we shop. This is going to be fun!”
“I was thinking maybe just getting a couple of T-shirts,” Daryl’s voice ground to a halt when Blythe fixed her with a searing look that dried up whatever she was going to utter next. “How about I just leave it up to you?” she offered weakly.
“See? You’re thinking like a proper partner already. It pays to always let your wife have her way. It’s easier in the long run, and besides, she is always right.”
“There are some things they just don’t cover at the academy,” Daryl muttered around a mouthful of her food.
“Welcome to the magical world of undercover enlightenment.”
*
The conference room table of the DDU was littered with files and documents.
“Are you even reading what I’m putting before you?” Lake asked as he hovered over Daryl’s shoulder replacing sheet after sheet that Daryl was signing her name on.
“I trust you, Nathan. If you’ve just had me sign my life’s savings over to you, then you’re the one in for the shock, not me.”
“Had I known you’d just put your signature on any piece of paper, I’d have had the office draft up a transfer notice and had you tied to the DDU until retirement.”
“You’ve had me sign a document for my supposed buying of the property Blythe and I will live in. You’ve got me insured with the DDU just in case something goes wrong. You’d had me sign a car rental deal for a flashy vehicle that I would never be comfortable getting behind the wheel of, but we need it for appearance’s sake.”
“You have been paying attention,” Lake muttered and let out a small sigh. “I still wish you’d reconsider joining me here. We could use someone with your talents on our team.”
Daryl liked the fact he didn’t emphasize the word talents with the inflection she knew he could have. “Who knows, Nathan? Maybe one day. Let me see what it’s like working with the team on a case before you have a parking garage space with my name on it and a seat and mug laid out.”
“You would have to supply your own mug,” he said while slipping another piece of paper in front of her.
“A credit card? I don’t need a credit card.” Daryl pushed the paper aside.
“This is a company card. You won’t be using your own money to finance this operation. We’ll cover everything.”
Daryl looked back over her shoulder at him. “Where was this last night when I had Blythe dragging me through every store to find the perfect shirt I could wear if we had company over?”
Blythe looked up from where she was cosigning everything. “I kept the receipts. We can just add them to expenses so you’ll be reimbursed. Tell him how handsome that lavender one makes you look. It not only compliments your hair coloring but really makes your muscles stand out.”
Daryl stared across the table at her but didn’t dare turn to look at Lake who she heard chuckle behind her.
Blythe waved the credit card sheet. “How much are we talking here? Groceries every week or a three-week cruise once this case is solved?”
Lake took the paperwork from her. “Items necessary to perform your undercover status. That does not include cars, second homes, or pets.”
Blythe burst out laughing along with Lake. Daryl looked between them, mystified. Once she’d calmed down, Blythe explained their amusement. “We had an undercover operation in the Bureau where the agent involved put on his expense payment a pet project. When the auditors were checking the receipts after the case had been cleared, it came to light that the pet project was the guy buying himself a furry suit so he could dress up as a panda on the weekends at a fetish club!”
Daryl caught sight of Lake still shaking silently with laughter. “I think it’s safe to assume I won’t be using the credit card for that kind of expense.”
“Glad to hear it,” Blythe said. “I’m allergic to fur.”
Lake snorted and gathered up his papers. “We have secured a home for you. A removal team made up of our DDU members will deliver your furniture along with all the technical equipment we need that will be hidden in your office. They will set up everything. You just need to pretend to coordinate the move. I’ve arranged for cell phones and IDs for your new identities. You keep your names, but no one will be able to link either of you to law enforcement. Trace has already prepared your IT documentation and you have”—he spared Trace a look as she wheeled into the room right on time—“what did you call them?”
“Geek sheets. That way, if anyone quizzes you on your work you can blind them with enough technical jargon they won’t dare ask again. I did a sweep of the neighborhood you’ll be living in. No one works in website design, so that’s your job descriptions.” She reached into a pannier bag hooked on the side of her chair and held out a box to Daryl. “These are your business cards. Should you meet someon
e who needs your designer skills, I’ll be on hand to do all the necessary tinkering. I’ll give you a list of my costs and design specifications and you can pass them off as your own. You won’t have to lift a finger; I’ll do all the work and will just walk you through the features.” She grinned. “But the money is mine.”
“Trace,” Lake said with a scowl.
“Nothing is for free, SSA Lake,” Trace said. “A girl’s got to make a living. My expertise in Web design is not what the DDU pays me for, so it’s only fair that I should receive the dollars should anyone test out Blythe’s and Daryl’s cover stories.”
“God, I hope no one asks,” Daryl muttered. “I just want to do my real job of finding those children and getting the kidnapper put away. I want to put such a tight stranglehold on Cranston Heights that the kidnapper never takes another child again.”
“I won’t ask if you’re sure about this. I know you too well,” Lake said for Daryl’s ears alone.
“We have to stop this now before something terrible happens.” Daryl had the very unsettling feeling that the number of the abductions was only going to escalate. She couldn’t explain how she knew what she did. She had long since learned to just trust the feelings when it came to her work. She knew her mother had been so proud of what she could do. Being a very spiritual lady, Mary Chandler had attributed Daryl’s gift to that of a higher power pointing her in the right direction. Daryl didn’t always agree with her mother’s beliefs, but she never forgot what her mother had said.
You’ve been marked as a protector, someone who can help those who can’t help themselves. You’re special, Daryl, because you’re a protector of the innocents.
Daryl recognized each missing child whose picture was pinned on the board in the conference room. She knew the mothers and the devastation they were suffering every day their child was not in their arms. She stood before the board. The map of Cranston Heights seemed to vibrate before her eyes, and she blinked rapidly as it flashed in a strobe-like effect.
“Daryl?” Lake’s voice was soft beside her.
Daryl focused in on a point on the map. Then her line of vision was drawn to the children. Matthew Malone, Heather Jones, Calum Bridges, Francis Weeks, and the last child Daryl had started to investigate, Tanya Pope. Daryl believed Tanya to have been the first child stolen, three long years ago. “Calum’s there too,” she whispered, relieved to have another child confirmed. She’d wondered at the situation concerning these abductions. Usually, her talent led her straight to the missing without delay, but this case had been like trawling through molasses. Information had been patchy, and clues had been slow in arriving to her. She wondered what she was being made to wait for. The flashing stopped, and Daryl was able to release a breath. Message received. She felt the tightness in her chest lighten and her shoulders lift as the weight removed its almost crushing pressure. Lake was staring at her intently.
“I’ll do everything I can to keep this investigation on a need to know basis and keep the Connecticut FBI out of the loop for now,” Lake said. “But be careful not to cross paths with the investigation they have ongoing. We don’t need that kind of exposure.”
“If this blows up in our faces and I’m wrong, you need to pull Blythe out and keep her career unblemished. I know she has some misgivings about the direction I’m leading us into. I don’t want her losing her credibility for working alongside me.”
“You’ve never been wrong yet,” Lake pointed out.
“The feds seem to think this time I am. Unfortunately, I’m liable to drag you all down with me if they prove to be correct.”
“Then prove them wrong and bring those children home.” Lake placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “You brought Luke back home to us when we thought we’d lost him for good. You can do this.”
“Then I guess I’d better go pack up my suitcases and get ready to start married life,” Daryl said.
“You ready for that?” he asked with a small smile.
“I have to be. I step off that plane committed. In more ways than one.”
Chapter Seven
Daryl had experienced mixed feelings leaving the comfort of Blythe’s home. It also felt strange knowing that the other members of the DDU were staying behind in New York so as not to alert the local police that an investigation was going on under their noses. Daryl wondered if Blythe felt a little cut adrift from her usual partners. The plane journey had been uneventful, and Daryl had used the time to reread her files, going over them with Blythe and committing each child’s features to memory. Not that she had any worry about not recognizing them, even as their features changed, as all baby faces do, Daryl would know them; she would recognize each of them instinctively. She’d told Blythe that and was relieved that she hadn’t questioned her assured tone.
Daryl brought her eyes up from the printed pages she all but knew by heart. She took in her surroundings, recognizing where they were from her own surveillance of the area. Blythe was driving them to their new home.
“Any new insight?” Blythe asked.
Daryl sighed. “No, nothing at all.”
“Then put the files away for now seeing as nothing new is going to magically appear on the sheets. You need to shed your detective persona and get ready to be a new homeowner.”
Daryl shoved the paperwork back in her briefcase and snapped the lock closed. “How’d they get us a place so fast?”
“The sellers were ones who lost out in the recession. They were looking for a quick sell and we could offer them that. They vacated the place over a month ago so the DDU snapped it up.”
“Fantastic timing for us, but not so great for the previous owners.”
“It will be a happy home for us, sweetheart.” Blythe flashed Daryl a brilliant smile.
Not for the first time, Daryl wished part of this setup was real. The way Blythe called her affectionate names, teased her gently, and just as easily listened intently when Daryl spoke made Daryl feel. Just being with Blythe made everything feel right. She’d never connected with someone so swiftly. Part of that terrified her. The other half knew they were going to be able to pass as a normal loving couple. Daryl just wished they had met without the kidnappings looming over them.
“Daryl, you need to be wearing your happy face for me,” Blythe said sweetly. “You’re thinking way too deeply over there in the passenger seat.”
Daryl rubbed her hand over her face and forced her mind to focus on the task ahead. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Don’t you feel like you’ve been thrown in at the deep end and have forgotten how to swim?”
“Sure, but it’s just a job like everything we do. Only we’re partnered up in a house and we’ve got to go about getting our information indirectly. Sadly, it’s not as simple as just interrogating every woman with a baby who crosses our path. We’ve got to fit in, get to know people before we can start asking the big questions.”
“Oh God,” Daryl moaned, “I suck at small talk!”
“You’ll do fine, I’m sure. And if you really do suck, I’ll just tell everyone you’re the strong, silent type, and I’ll do all the talking.” Blythe pulled into the street where their new home was situated. The moving vans were already there and boxes were being taken into the house. “Looks like all the hard work is being done for us.” She pulled in the driveway and turned the engine off. She shifted in her seat and her eyes warned Daryl that something was going to happen. Blythe reached over and captured Daryl’s face.
“We’ve got company,” she whispered before kissing Daryl softly.
The unexpected kiss set Daryl alight, and she couldn’t stop the groan that escaped under Blythe’s lips. She pulled Blythe closer, thankful for the car’s small interior. She let her fingers spear through Blythe’s hair, holding her in place as she began to return the kiss in earnest. She was rudely jerked out of their kiss by someone tapping on the car window. She stared into Blythe’s eyes and was pleased to see they were as dazed as her own.
“Time to meet the
neighbors,” Daryl uttered under her breath and turned to roll down the window. A smiling woman stood beside the car brandishing a plate of baked goods.
“Hi there, you two. Welcome to the neighborhood.” She stepped back as Daryl got out of the car. Her eyes traveled ever upward as Daryl’s height was revealed. “Oh my, didn’t they breed them big where you came from.” She laughed and held out a hand, which Daryl politely shook. “I’m Mia Connelly and I live right next door to you.” She turned to Blythe who had walked around the car to greet her. “Well, aren’t you two a matched set!”
Blythe took her hand and introduced them both. “It’s very kind of you to come greet us.”
“I’ve been hanging out on the porch all day waiting for you. The guys said you’d be here soon so when I saw your car pull up, I knew I could come say hello. It’s going to be so good having someone live in this place again.”
“We appreciate your kindness.” Daryl was distracted by a man trying to carry too many things at once. “Please excuse me for a moment. If he breaks my monitor I’ll kill him!” She hastened away to help, leaving Blythe to deal with their obviously nice but nosy neighbor. She removed several packing boxes from the harried man and registered his surprise. Her voice deliberately low, Daryl said, “Thanks for moving us in, but please, let me help. Otherwise, I’ve got to make nice with Betty Crocker over there.”
He grinned and cocked his head for Daryl to follow him. He led her through the hallway toward the back of the house. “This is what you’re going to be interested in, Detective Chandler.” He spoke her rank quietly as he ushered her behind a closed door. Inside, two women were setting up what would be the command center for the operation in their house.
“You’re linked to the DDU’s main computer from here, a direct line to God herself,” one of the women said from behind a desk as she plugged in endless cords.
Daryl laughed at her description. “You mean Trace?”
“The one and only. She’s going to walk you through all this setup herself once you’re settled and we’ve got you all secure.”