The Seductive Impostor

by Janet Chapman

  “We don’t need his help!” Willow snapped. “He’s a brute.”

  “Yeah, but you said we need manpower.”

  “That is not a man. That is a mountain of testosterone. He’s probably got muscle where his brain should be. He…he came into my bedroom,” she whispered.

  “Oh, come on, Willy. We’ll go back inside, and you can just ignore Duncan, and I’ll introduce you to the others. They’re very civilized, I promise. And you’ll meet the tyrant and Ahab.”

  “The whole house smells like strawberries,” Willow said. “And the table has enough sugar covering it to frost a cake. And it’s full.”

  “What’s full?”

  “The house! It’s full of men.”

  Rachel patted her arm. “You’re an assistant state’s attorney general, Willy. You can handle it. Just think of them as a jury you’re determined to charm.”

  “They all look like they should be behind bars,” she said softly, finally lifting one side of her mouth in a half smile. “I think I’ll run background checks on them.”

  Mickey reared up and set his paws on the window, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, his head canted inquisitively. Mikaela had come down from the porch and was now in Kee’s arms, and the others had come out of the house and were all gathered around the car, watching.

  “Bet you wish your date hadn’t fallen through,” Rachel said, unlocking and opening her door. “Come on. I’ll make the introductions, we’ll get Mikaela settled in bed, and then we’ll load up Puffy.”

  Willow’s tentative smile suddenly turned brilliant. “Maybe Puffy will fall on the brute and kill him,” she said, finally unlocking and opening her own door, taking a deep breath, and then getting out of the car.

  Rachel had just walked around the hood to stand by her sister and start the introductions, when several of the men suddenly stiffened. They all grabbed their belts at their sides, and Duncan swore softly under his breath.

  Kee handed Mikaela over to Rachel and turned to Luke. “Luke, you and Ahab stay here. Matt and Peter, head to the front of the house and wait for my signal. Jason, you go in through the terrace. Duncan and I will use the cliff tunnel.”

  “What’s happening?” Rachel asked as they turned to leave. “What’s going on?”

  “Daddy!” Mikaela demanded loudly.

  Kee turned and took hold of Mikaela’s shoulder. “You stay with Rachel, sweetheart. We’ll be back in a little bit.” He looked at Rachel. “Someone’s in the tunnels,” he said softly, pulling a vibrating pager off his belt, holding it up for her to see and then shutting it off. “We’re just going to check it out,” he said, somewhat absently, already turned and heading toward the cliff path.

  Rachel handed Mikaela to Ahab and ran after Kee. “Wait,” she said, catching up with him at the edge of the trees. “It might be Mary. You’re going to scare her to death. I’m coming with you. She knows me.”

  Kee shook his head. “It might not be Mary,” he said evenly, taking her by the shoulders and turning her around. “Go inside with the others, Rachel. Now,” he ordered curtly, one large hand nudging her along when she didn’t move fast enough.

  Completely disconcerted by the don’t-mess-with-menow tone in his voice, Rachel crossed her arms and hugged herself as she walked toward her house without looking back. Dammit, it was probably only Mary.

  Then again, it could be the owner of the male footprints.

  And that meant Kee and Duncan and the others were heading straight into danger.

  She spun back around, but Kee had already disappeared into the woods. A large warm hand touched her shoulder.

  “Come on, Rachel,” Luke said, gently pulling her back toward the house. “They’ll be fine.”

  “Why doesn’t he just call the police and let them handle this?” she asked.

  He chuckled softly. “That’s not how we work.” He stopped her when they reached the porch. “He’ll call the police, Rachel, when it’s time. Until then, let him have his fun.”

  “This is not fun,” she snapped. “It’s dangerous.”

  He waved that away. “Naw, it’s definitely fun,” he said, smiling—somewhat longingly—as he looked toward Sub Rosa.

  “And you’re mad because you’re stuck here with us,” she said, drawing his attention again.

  He shook his head. “I’m right where I need to be, Rachel. I can tell you from personal experience that pulling guard duty can get pretty exciting all by itself,” he said, rubbing his ribs just below his chest.

  “What kind of personal experience?” Rachel asked softly.

  He stared at her, his expression uncertain, then suddenly he sighed and rubbed his ribs again. “Six years ago I was left to watch a woman and her three children while Kee and Duncan and Peter went looking for her husband’s kidnappers,” he quietly stated. “Only the kidnappers weren’t at the camp like we’d been told. They were watching the house.”

  “What happened?” Rachel whispered hoarsely.

  “I spent the next month recovering in a hospital in Brazil.”

  “And…and the woman and her children?”

  He smiled apologetically. “She spent a month in the same hospital. The children didn’t get a scratch on them.”

  “And what happened to the husband?”

  “Duncan came walking out of the jungle with him two days later.”

  “And…and the kidnappers?” she asked, hugging herself against a shiver.

  Luke merely shook his head and opened the screen door.

  Rachel mutely walked into the kitchen ahead of him. Luke walked in behind her only to stop her by the shoulder again. “That’s why Kee left me here, Rachel,” he said softly, his voice not reaching the others gathered in the living room. “Because he knows I never make the same mistake twice. Please don’t worry. Everything will be okay. They’ll be back before you know it, hopefully with the answer to our little mystery.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Luke’s “back before you know it” translated into two hours. Three of the men reappeared as suddenly and silently as they’d left. Rachel walked into the kitchen to get a plastic cup to fill with water for Mikaela, only to find Kee standing at the sink, dabbing a wet towel on the back of Jason’s neck. Duncan was standing beside them, softly imparting the news that he didn’t think it needed stitches.

  All three men looked over when she walked in and Jason smiled sheepishly. “I tripped and fell on a rock,” he said.

  “You did not,” Rachel said, waving his lie away and taking the towel from Kee. “Someone hit you.”

  She pulled Jason down by the shoulder and looked at the cut on the back of his neck. “I have some butterfly bandages,” she told him, slapping the towel to his chest and turning toward the downstairs bathroom. She stopped and looked up at Kee, being careful to keep her expression neutral. “Any other injuries I should know about?”

  Kee’s smile was lopsided and definitely reassuring. “You got anything in your medical kit for dented egos?”

  “Yours…or mine?”

  He pulled her into his arms with a laugh and hugged her tightly. “We’re all okay, Rachel. Matt and Peter stayed at Sub Rosa to keep an eye on things. And it’s Jason’s ego that needs tending. He was taken by complete surprise.”

  “The threat was supposed to be coming from inside the house,” Jason defended. “Not from outside on the terrace.”

  Still firmly ensconced in Kee’s embrace, and in no hurry to leave it, Rachel looked over at Jason. “Someone was hiding on the terrace?”

  Jason nodded. “I must have ran right past him.”

  “It was a ‘him’? You’re sure?”

  He nodded again, holding the towel on his neck. “Unless women in Puffin Harbor have beards,” he told her. “He was about five-nine or five-ten, wiry, with dark hair and a full beard. That’s all I saw before my face kissed the terrace.”

  “Does Mark Alder have a beard?” Kee asked, drawing her attention.

  “No. And h
e’s taller.” She shook her head. “I don’t know anyone fitting that description. But lots of men around here have beards, though most usually shave them off come summer.”

  “I do remember the distinct smell of rotten fish,” Jason added.

  “A fisherman?” Duncan interjected. He looked at Rachel. “What kind of working boats do you have here? That would give us a direction to look.”

  “Lobstermen, deep-sea charter fishermen, haddock and scrod boats, and scallop draggers. Heck, he might only work on the docks. Basically, he could be anyone.”

  “Then we still have nothing,” Duncan said with a snarl.

  Kee gave her a quick kiss on her frowning forehead and turned her toward the bathroom. “Get the bandages,” he said, patting her bottom to get her moving, then going to the cupboard where she kept the aspirin and tossing the bottle to Duncan.

  “Wait,” Rachel said. “What about your alarm in the tunnels? Did you find anything?”

  Kee shook his head. “Our small-footed friend did come for a visit tonight, but he or she obviously knows their way around the tunnels. We didn’t so much as catch a glimpse. Where’s my daughter?” he asked, heading toward the living room.

  “Upstairs. But take her a glass of water,” Rachel told him. “I have plastic cups in the cupboard over the stove. She’s in the guest bedroom with Ahab and Luke and Willow.” She smiled and shook her head. “Willow’s reading her a bedtime story, and Ahab and Luke seem more interested than Mikaela. Duncan, could you please go outside and plug the phone line back in at the junction box? It’s just around the side of the house.”

  “It’s unplugged?” he asked, looking confused.

  Rachel nodded. “I saw Luke sneak out when he heard Willow say that we should call the police.” She picked up Willow’s purse and pulled her cell phone out of it. “And you might want to remind him there’s more than one way to dial 911.”

  Kee turned from getting the glass down from the cupboard and looked at Rachel with shining Atlantic-blue eyes. “Thank you,” he said softly. “For not interfering tonight.”

  “Gee,” Rachel said, shooting him a brilliant smile and then walking into the bathroom. “Ain’t trust a fickle thing.”

  Puffy did not fall over and kill Duncan, much to Willow’s dismay. He was finally loaded in Larry’s truck, it was midnight, and they were finally headed into town—but only after a ten-minute discussion about who was riding where.

  Duncan thought they could all ride in the front, with Willow on his lap and Rachel in the middle. Willow thought she should drive, Rachel should have the shotgun seat, and the two men should ride in the back with Puffy.

  Willow won.

  “I swear he’s doing it on purpose,” she said as she slowly pulled out of their driveway and onto the main road.

  “Who is doing what on purpose?” Rachel asked.

  “Duncan. He keeps pushing my buttons, trying to get a rise out of me.”

  “He’s just teasing, Willy.”

  Willow held her hair away from her face and leaned toward Rachel. “Do I have a sign on my forehead that says ‘redneck’?” she asked. “Or maybe it says ‘camp follower’ or something. Look real hard, Rae, and tell me the truth.”

  Rachel leaned over and made a production of looking at Willow’s forehead. “It says ‘assistant state attorney general,’ ” she told her. She rubbed Willow’s temple. “And if I look real hard, I can just make out the word governor under it.”

  Willow leaned back and smiled. “Thanks, sis. That’s just what I needed to hear,” she said gruffly, slowing the truck as they came into town. She drove right past the park, then turned right while making sure the coast was clear, as was their normal routine whenever they were putting out their gifts.

  “Pull over there,” Rachel suggested, pointing to the left. “Just between Annie’s Coffee Shop and Brigham’s Grocery.”

  Willow pulled up to the curb and backed into the small alley between the buildings, then shut off the engine and killed the lights. The truck rocked as the two men jumped out of the back, and Duncan appeared at Willow’s door and Kee at Rachel’s.

  Willow turned the key just enough to roll down the windows.

  “I don’t suppose ya could have found a truck that made a little more noise?” Duncan asked. “With maybe a bit more chrome so that everyone could see us better?”

  Willow ignored him and pointed out the windshield as she spoke to Kee. “We’re thinking of putting Puffy right there, on that grassy section between the two paths.”

  Kee looked at where she was pointing, then headed across the street. Rachel got out and followed, noticing that Willow slid across the seat and got out the passenger door to avoid Duncan. The four of them climbed over the low rail fence, walked into the park, and stopped between the paths.

  “So we just set that huge wooden base on the grass and then set Puffy on it?” Kee asked, moving around until he found a level spot the size of the base. He looked at Rachel. “It will support him? If he topples over, he could kill someone.”

  “I’ve thought of that,” Rachel told him. “That’s what the steel rods are for. We bolt Puffy to the base, then drive the rods into the ground through the brackets I’ve already attached to it. The rods are four feet long. That should hold him against anything short of a hurricane.”

  “Can you back the truck up here?” Duncan asked, visually scanning the park for access. “Is there a place in the fence wide enough?”

  “There’s a gate on the other side of the bandstand,” Rachel said, pointing. “With a chain across it.”

  Kee chuckled. “I wondered what the bolt cutters were for.” He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re turning into quite a criminal, Rachel. Only this time you’re taking not only your sister down the perilous path with you, but your new neighbors as well. We haven’t even been here long enough to register to vote, and already we’re accessories to a crime.”

  “We brought a new padlock,” Willow defended. “And what can they charge us with? It’s a public park, and we’re the public. We can bring a puffin with us if we want.”

  “Breaking and entering,” Duncan began, holding up his fingers to count on. “Destruction of public property and—”

  Headlights suddenly appeared at the north end of town, moving toward the park. Kee grabbed Rachel around the waist, picked her up, and ran to the nearest maple tree. She heard Willow squeak in surprise, and looked over to see Duncan grab her sister and run in the opposite direction.

  “We really have to stop meeting like this,” Kee whispered, pressing her against the tree, his mouth mere inches from hers. “I’m beginning to worry that life with you is going to be one adventure after another.”

  Rachel sucked in her breath.

  Kee had been wondering what life with her would be like?

  He pressed even closer, shifting them deeper into the shadow of the tree, covering her head with his large hand and tucking her face into his chest as the lights slowly moved closer.

  He’d been wondering what life with her would be like?

  Rachel couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She could feel sweat breaking out on her forehead, her heart was racing a mile a minute, and her insides started to churn with mixed emotions.

  He’d really been wondering what life with her would be like?

  Dammit. She didn’t know if she was thrilled by that or scared out of her wits.

  They were having a fun little fling, was all.

  They’d known each other only a week.

  He owned Sub Rosa.

  She owned a room full of stolen art.

  “You’re trembling,” he whispered, lifting her face to his. “And I know you’re not scared.”

  Yes she was! She was scared spitless.

  “So it must be me making you quiver,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers, kissing her gently, coaxing her to respond.

  And it dawned on her then that he didn’t even realize what he’d said—that he had
no idea what he had revealed to her with those simple words and no clue about how they’d affected her.

  So Rachel dealt with the problem the only way she knew how, by opening her mouth to his wonderful taste and kissing him back.

  A sharp floodlight slashed across them.

  Kee quickly turned to hide her identity. “Keep kissing me,” he whispered in her ear. “And maybe good old Officer Jenkins will go away.”

  Rachel heard a car door open and close, and the light beam narrowed to that of a flashlight. “Come on, people,” Larry said, walking toward them. “Go get a room. This park is closed.”

  Kee sighed and kissed her forehead, then turned to Larry, keeping Rachel tucked behind his back. “Officer Jenkins,” he said, nodding.

  “Oakes?” Larry asked, clearly surprised. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m trying to talk my date into going home with me,” Kee said, masculine amusement lacing his words.

  Rachel pinched him—really hard—in the small of his back.

  “Who you got back there?” Larry asked, moving to his left.

  Kee turned slightly, and Rachel sidestepped to stay hidden. Lord, she was too old to be caught necking in the park! She frantically scanned the area, looking for Willow and Duncan, but she couldn’t see either one of them.

  That was all they needed, for Larry to find Willow in the park at two in the morning with another man. He’d haul them all off to jail just out of spite.

  Rachel stepped out from behind Kee. “Hi, Larry,” she said, lamely waggling her fingers at him.

  “Rachel! What are you doing out here at this hour?”

  “I…ah…Kee and I were just out for a walk. It’s such a beautiful night.”

  Larry looked from her to Kee, then back at her, the streetlights illuminating his face enough for her to see his shock. He also seemed to be at a loss for words.

  “I didn’t realize they closed the park at night,” Kee said, drawing Larry’s attention back to him. “We’ll head home then.” Kee took hold of her hand and started to lead her toward the street.