The Undercover Bridesmaid

by Montpetit, Kimberley

  “Yes. I did a little research of my own before I showed up here today, Chloe. You’re a hired bridesmaid. An undercover bridesmaid. Interesting career choice. Do you use an alias?”

  “Yes. Not telling what it is, of course. I have experience with false names and identities in my current career.” Chloe lifted an eyebrow. “One of the perks of my past training at Quantico.”

  “What’s your backstory?”

  “I’m never a relative—except in the case of Mercedes’s wedding, I will be exactly who I am. Chloe Romano, beloved first cousin.”

  Her father cleared his throat, obviously trying not to laugh. Chloe refrained from throwing back a beloved daughterly glare.

  “Usually, I’m just a friend of the bride from sometime in their past job or college experience. I currently live in New Mexico on a ranch. Hard to find me there. Hard to find anyone in the wilds of New Mexico. People move there to disappear.”

  Liam nodded approvingly. “I like your backstory. What do you raise on your ranch?”

  “Cattle, a few horses for round-ups. Of course.”

  A smile twitched at the corners of Liam’s mouth. Chloe resisted the urge to wipe it off and yell at him at the same time. She’d been holding in a year’s worth of telling this man off and threatening him to a duel.

  “Do you ride?” Agent Esposito asked.

  “Enough to fake it if I ever need to when I’m out on a job. Of course, weddings don’t usually call for unanticipated horseback rides.”

  “What does this diamond heist stuff have to do with Mercedes?” Governor Romano glanced at his watch. “I have five minutes before my car comes around.”

  “Agent Esposito clearly thinks there’s going to be an attempted jewelry heist at Mercedes’s wedding next week,” Chloe told him. “But what does this have to do with me?”

  “I think you know perfectly well. Your cousin is getting married, you’ll be there, and you were once trained as an agent.”

  “I barely got the diploma framed before I quit, as you well know,” she added meaningfully. “I’m not an agent now.”

  “The bureau realizes that, and we can’t force you to help us, but nobody else will have the kind of access you’ll have to Mercedes Romano’s jewelry. You’ll be with her most of the time. You have your family’s trust and confidence. A stranger in their midst will be much too suspicious.”

  “Are you saying that she’s going to be the one wearing the jewelry that’s going to be stolen?” Chloe asked.

  “Precisely. And,” he added, glancing up into Chloe’s face, “you obviously have nerves of steel if you can fake your way through dozens of weddings pretending to be someone you’re not.”

  She tried not to blush at the way he was looking at her. The emotion in his eyes was making her heart thud and her nerves shake. “All I do is put on a hideous bridesmaid dress, drink punch, and try not to catch the bouquet. In addition to making sure the bride doesn’t have an emotional meltdown and nobody sabotages her special day.”

  “Is that all? I’ll bet you’re great at your job.” Agent Esposito laughed, and the timbre of his deep chuckle was close to making Chloe melt into a puddle. She had to remember how callous he actually was deep down.

  Chloe shrugged. “I’m not an expert at catching a jewel thief, Agent. I was never assigned to a case like that.”

  “You don’t have to be. We just need to get some clues as to who is doing this. We need you to take pictures not only of the diamonds, but the guests, too. You’ll also be inspecting the jewelry three or four times a day to make sure it’s genuine and hasn’t been swapped out.”

  “Where is Mercedes getting jewelry that’s worth this kind of manpower? Uncle Max is wealthy, but he’s no billionaire.” Chloe noticed that her father’s eyes flickered up to hers and then away. “What, Dad?”

  “You don’t need to know,” he said vaguely.

  Liam said, “Mr. Romano is renting a set of fine diamonds for his daughter’s wedding from Davis Jewelry. Mercedes will wear them for the weekend and then return them afterward. They’ll be delivered by special armed guards.”

  “Sounds like Hollywood stars who rent out jewels for the Oscars.”

  “Exactly. Mercedes will have a necklace, earrings, and, um, a tiara. I think that’s how you pronounce the last word.”

  Chloe tried not to laugh at the uncomfortable look on Liam’s face. “Your pronunciation is fine.”

  “Is Mercedes in any danger?” Albert Romano asked. “Potentially, this could be dangerous. What’s the jewelry worth? Give me a ballpark number so we know what we’re dealing with.”

  “A few dozen carats set in twenty-four-carat gold. Probably more than half a million dollars.”

  Chloe gave a low whistle and then realized that the governor’s mansion probably had the first tour of the day already gathering in the foyer. “We need to get him out of here,” she said to her father, jerking a thumb at the FBI agent. “He shouldn’t be seen here—if anybody is watching, I mean.”

  Liam took a breath. “We’ll need to go over details about this job.”

  “I’m not doing this job,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “Find somebody else. I’ll be busy helping Mercedes with her makeup and dancing with Uncle Stan, the family drunk.”

  “We do not have a family drunk named Uncle Stan,” Governor Romano chided.

  “Agent Esposito didn’t have to know that,” she chided right back. Her father gave a snort of laughter. “Besides, you’ll have your own security detail, Dad. And since Mercedes’s wedding is fairly high-profile, Uncle Max will be hiring security as well. You don’t need me.”

  “I have to agree that this could be dangerous, not only for Mercedes, but Chloe, too,” the governor said skeptically. “Despite Chloe’s past training.”

  “These thieves don’t carry weapons. They stake out the place. Lay low, play it cool. Find the perfect opportunity.”

  “They won’t be trying to sneak into our bedrooms, will they?”

  “Absolutely not. The diamonds will be in Max Romano’s safe in his office,” Liam assured her. “They’ll be watching and waiting for a time when nobody is around. You’re the perfect person, Chloe. You have the best access to the bride, her bedroom, and the guests that come and go within the house. Especially if we get you set up several days ahead of time.”

  Chloe didn’t tell him that she was already planning on flying up in three days’ time. “I’m sorry, Agent Esposito, but I have no interest in helping the FBI. I have no obligation. No motivation. You can catch this gang of jewelry aficionados at their next gig.”

  There was disappointment in Agent Esposito’s eyes. “That’s what I figured you’d say.”

  “Then why come all the way out here to convince me? Maybe I would have considered it, if the FBI had sent someone else, but I certainly don’t owe you any favors.”

  Agent Esposito nodded. “No, you don’t. I know there’s bad blood between us.”

  “Don’t go there—you have no right—”

  He cut her off, changing the subject back to the case at hand. “I thought you’d do it for your cousin. She needs your help. And I’m not just talking about a potential thief rummaging through her negligee drawer.”

  “What haven’t you told us?”

  Agent Esposito pursed his lips and then cleared his throat. “We suspect the jewelry thief may be Mark Westerfield.”

  It took a moment for the implication of the name to register with Chloe. She’d seen the name “Mark Westerfield” before, but couldn’t place him. She’d certainly never met him.

  Her father rose and took something off the library desk. He handed a gold-engraved wedding invitation to Chloe. “Look,” he said softly.

  Chloe glanced at the gold calligraphy on the printed wedding announcement that had arrived in the mail a month earlier.

  The name of the FBI’s suspect sank in while she gripped the invitation, almost crumpling the perfectly scalloped edges with her thumb.

 
“Mark Westerfield is Mercedes’s fiancé.”

  Chapter 4

  “This information changes everything,” Governor Romano said, his brow furrowing. “No wonder my brother arranged all of this and asked for you, Chloe.”

  “How terrible for Mercedes,” Chloe said, her heart sinking. She certainly didn’t wish this nightmare on her. “You’re saying that my cousin is about to marry a jewel thief?”

  Suppressing all the curse words running through her mind, Chloe wished she could punch Agent Esposito in the jaw for being the one to pressure her into this. “Why did Uncle Max rent outrageously expensive jewelry for his daughter’s wedding day, putting Mercedes at risk?”

  A muscle in Agent Esposito’s jaw flexed. “We were the ones who came to him with the information of who Mark Westerfield might be—after Max had already reserved the jewelry for his daughter.”

  “How in the world did Mercedes get mixed up with a jewel swindler?” Chloe said, speaking her thoughts out loud. “And fall in love with him? And want to marry him?”

  “Those are questions we’re hoping you can find the answers to,” Liam said. “Discover what Mercedes knows, if anything. Or if she’s mixed up with this jewelry swap herself.”

  Chloe stuck her hands on her hips. “Okay, that’s insulting to my cousin—even if I’ve been trained to consider all the options.”

  “It might be completely unintentional,” Liam said, spreading his hands. “She may not even know she’s being used as a pawn.”

  “I’ve never taken Mercedes for naiveté. She might look like a fashion model, but she’s inherited shrewd business skills from her father.”

  “These types of crooks—jewel gangs—they’re smooth operators. You’d be surprised who might be involved, even in unassuming and presumably innocent ways. Passing along information, dates, times, etc. These are white-collar criminals who prey on the rich and famous. That category fits your cousin perfectly.”

  Chloe shook her head. “How would a woman like Mercedes, who only circulates in the most influential and best circles, get mixed up with a low-life criminal?”

  “Diamond thieves don’t consider themselves criminals. Most have never served any time in prison. They don’t start out robbing liquor stores or gas stations.”

  “How long has Mercedes been dating Mark Westerfield, Dad?” Chloe asked.

  “Your mother would know more about that.”

  “Those are questions we’d like you to help the FBI answer, Chloe,” Liam said, watching her carefully.

  His eyes on her face made a flutter of nerves crawl up Chloe’s spine. There was a peculiar feeling in her stomach, like swarms of butterflies migrating for the winter.

  If any other agent had shown up asking her to do this job, she wouldn’t be feeling so resentful and angry. Curse Liam Esposito. The haunting nightmares of the fateful day she’d last seen him were finally beginning to recede, and here he was, alive and in the flesh two feet away, bringing the anguish up all over again.

  Didn’t his director check their past histories in the database? Didn’t they know that Liam Esposito had left her best friend, Jenna Fielding, to die?

  Chloe shoved the sorrow deeper into her gut. “Why can’t you send some other undercover agent to take pictures and sneak around the house?”

  “It’s harder to explain who they are in a wedding party where most guests know everyone else. Especially the family,” Liam answered. “As you know perfectly well.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” A throb of tension pulsed in Chloe’s throat.

  “I just meant that in your business, you know how weddings work. The family dynamics, guest lists, that sort of thing.”

  Was he making fun of her? He made it sound so trivial when, in fact, managing an emotional, high-strung bride—and they all were on their wedding day—took finesse, tact, and intuition. All skills she’d honed during her training at Quantico.

  “I apologize again, but I’ve really got to leave.” Governor Romano opened the door to the library where Mr. Smith was standing at attention in the hall. In the distance came the sound of chattering voices—the first morning tour. Thankfully, they were rounding the circular staircase to the rear parlor.

  Chloe wondered if her mother was still in the vicinity, but most likely not once the tour group showed up, tickets in hand.

  “Governor, your car awaits,” Mr. Smith said.

  “I’m leaving now, too,” Agent Esposito said. “I apologize for taking up so much of your morning, sir.”

  “I’m just sorry to hear that this will be going on in the background at Mercedes’s happy celebration. And distressed to hear who your suspect is.”

  Liam politely reached past Governor Romano to shut the door to the library while they finished their conversation. “This is between the three of us—and Max Romano, the bride’s father. The fewer people who know, the better. We cannot raise any suspicions. Act as natural as possible in front of Mark Westerfield.”

  “We’ve never met him, so he won’t know our natural state of being,” Chloe said drily. “Does Uncle Max know your suspicions about the groom?”

  “No, and we need to keep it that way. All he knows is that he wanted extra security with the diamonds on the premises. While you’re both there next week, don’t speak of this. Not behind closed doors or in whispers. That will merely alert the wrong people or make them nervous. The last thing we want is for anyone to get hurt.”

  “I do know how to act in these situations,” Chloe said. “I haven’t forgotten all my training.”

  Agent Esposito gave her a sheepish smile. “I never thought you did. Just a simple reminder.”

  “I can’t carry a weapon,” Chloe said. “I didn’t renew my concealed carry license.”

  “I—we—don’t want you carrying anyway. You have orders not to confront anyone, even if you think you’ve caught the thief.”

  “Does Mercedes know anything about this?” Chloe demanded.

  “All Mercedes knows is that you’ll be helping guard the diamonds, nothing more.” Liam reached out to touch Chloe’s arm, and she flinched at the heat of his skin on hers. “So, you’ll do it, Chloe?”

  He spoke her name so softly and gently, Chloe found herself trying to catch her breath. “It disturbs me to spy on my own cousin on her wedding day,” she said in a chilly voice. “I don’t like this one little bit.”

  “None of us do,” Liam said while the governor gave his daughter a quick hug and disappeared with Mr. Smith to the rear exit of the mansion where his car awaited.

  Chloe’s heels clicked on the floor when she passed through the front foyer to let Agent Esposito out—or kick him out, she wanted to think.

  “You’re doing this for your cousin,” he said quietly. “Not the FBI. And certainly not for me.”

  His warm palm touched her arm, and Liam dipped his head in a gesture of compassion, dark brown eyes filled with a strange expression.

  Chloe jerked backward and swung the door even wider. Humid morning air wafted across the wide veranda. A hint of freshly cut grass. She stepped onto the porch and shut the door behind her.

  Speaking in a low voice, Chloe said, “Let’s get one thing clear, Agent Esposito. You’re the last person at the FBI I would agree to help on a case.”

  The FBI agent’s shoulders slumped. The light seemed to go out of his eyes. “I’ll never make that mistake again, Miss Romano, but for the next week we need to work together. I’ll be supervising your training—” He broke off, clearly reluctant to mention any specifics. “A car will pick you up tomorrow morning at nine. Do you still live at the same address?”

  “I should have given a bogus forwarding address,” she said grimly.

  Liam hid a smile when he turned to take the porch steps to his car. “We have ways of finding anybody we need to.”

  “Bite your tongue, Esposito,” she warned, turning on her heel and slamming the front door behind her.

  Chapter 5

  An hour later, ba
ck at her apartment, Chloe had prepared the paperwork for Mercedes. Actually, just a to-do list with potential tasks for her cousin to think about regarding the wedding. She signed, dated it, attached it to a secure email through her server, and hit Send.

  Her stomach was in knots. What in the world had she just agreed to do? Being a spy at her cousin’s wedding was insane. It could get someone hurt or killed. If that happened to her again, she’d never be able live with herself.

  “Just admit me straight to the asylum,” she muttered, her head in her hands, elbows on her desk. She wished her waistline could afford a second donut to distract her from what had happened that morning in her father’s library.

  Why couldn’t she ever attend a wedding as a regular, boring guest, eat cake, drink champagne, and dance until midnight?

  Quickly, she typed out a second, more personal message to Mercedes. Had the appointment Uncle Max set up. If I wasn’t your cousin, I’d double my usual price.

  Check your secure Dropbox account for the wedding list. We’ll discuss more tomorrow.

  P.S. You have a lot of explaining to do!

  Chapter 6

  As promised, a black sedan arrived promptly at nine the next morning. Liam was sitting in the rear seat when Chloe slid into the back. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him, and her pulse quickened. She hadn’t expected to see him this morning.

  A glass panel separated them from their driver. She was stuck with Agent Esposito for the duration of this trip, because the car was already pulling into traffic and headed for the freeway entrance.

  “Good morning, Chloe,” Liam greeted her.

  The agent’s dark brown hair fell over one eye, slightly damp as if he’d come straight from the shower. Chloe tried to shove the sensuous images out of her mind and reminded herself that she despised this man.

  “I didn’t expect you to be part of my training,” she said with a curt nod.

  “I’m not training you. Merely accompanying you to make the necessary introductions.”