by B. J Daniels
“He never knew I existed?”
“Keep your voice down,” she warned. “It’s a long story, one I’m sure Pepper will tell you when the time comes.”
“I’m sure she’ll be real forthcoming about her and her married lover.”
“Don’t be so judgmental. Things aren’t always what they seem,” Enid said.
“You can say that again,” he muttered. “You aren’t planning to hightail it out of here, are you?” he asked her.
“Where would I go?” She sounded defeated, but he wasn’t sure he believed it.
“Just in case you were wondering, a friend of mine is staying with me,” he told her.
“I saw. I thought I told you to stay away from the McCormicks?”
“She’s just a friend of the McCormick family.”
Her lips pursed in disapproval. “I won’t say anything if you don’t.”
“I’ll wait until after the wedding, but then all bets are off.”
ROGER COLLINS PACED IN front of the glass wall that looked out on the city below him. Elizabeth Calder hadn’t called in since her first report that Waters was at the Winchester Ranch. Maybe he should have sent someone else, he thought angrily.
No, Elizabeth had never let him down. She wouldn’t this time. She would come through for him. She was perfect for this assignment. He had to trust that she could handle TD Waters.
Stepping over to his desk, he sat down. He hesitated a moment before he unlocked the bottom drawer and took out the photograph. Elizabeth had been such a beautiful baby. The Calders had done a wonderful job of raising her.
He noticed how young he’d been in the photo of him holding Elizabeth after she was born—just before he’d handed the baby over to Will and his wife to raise. He frowned, remembering how Will had let him down.
“I don’t want my daughter going into your damned secret agency,” Will had argued years later. They’d ridden away from the McCormick Ranch so they wouldn’t be overheard. “Your daughter?” Collins had snapped. “Have you forgotten whose blood courses through that girl’s veins? Or the deal you made for her?”
“She’s wrong for your organization. Please, I’m begging you—”
“Don’t bother. Nothing you can say will change my mind.”
“I can’t let you have her. I’m going to tell Lizzy the truth. I’m going to tell everyone.”
Collins swore now as he quickly put the photograph back into the drawer and locked it. Will Calder had actually thought he could go back on their arrangement.
He didn’t like to think what he’d had to do to stop Will. At least with TD Waters he’d picked the right parents first then found them a child. At least he’d thought he’d picked the right parents. Still, TD had made one hell of an agent. Until now.
Collins had never expected more betrayal. Not all his experiments with forming his own force of agents had worked out, he reminded himself. But enough that he could dispose of those who didn’t. Still, he hated losing an agent like Waters. Worse would be to lose Elizabeth.
“Any word from Agent Calder?” he barked into the intercom.
“Nothing, sir. Do you want me to try to reach her?”
“No!” he shouted into the intercom and then began to pace again, unable to shake the uneasy feeling he had. Maybe sending Elizabeth to the McCormick Ranch had been a mistake. He thought he’d covered his tracks. But what if he’d overlooked something?
It dawned on him that his two sharpest agents were in Montana together. If they were to put their heads together… He scoffed at the thought. He’d made sure his daughter had heard all about TD Waters’s alleged exploits when it came to women. Elizabeth Calder was too smart to let a man like that turn her head.
But Roger Collins hadn’t gotten where he was by taking chances, he reminded himself. Maybe it was time to sacrifice Waters. As much as he would hate to lose him, he also couldn’t afford a loose cannon.
LIZZY LET HERSELF INTO the bunkhouse and looked around the small cabin. She’d already searched it and doubted there was anything new to learn here.
His two bags were on the top bunk, tucked back from the edge. She took a quick look, not surprised that he’d hidden the weapons he’d brought. Either that or they were in his pickup.
She glanced out the window to make sure he wasn’t coming back for anything before she took a look in the other bag. Just clothing, like before.
That’s when she realized what else was missing besides the weapons.
The framed photograph.
She found it on a small wooden ledge by the bottom bunk. Picking it up, she sat down on the bed and studied the young boy. She’d been right. The photo had been shot near the house where TD had taken her today.
So it had to have been taken prior to his adoptive parents being killed. For some reason, the thought gave her a chill.
Although he was smiling into the camera, there was something in his eyes that made her sad. She wondered about his childhood, about the man he’d become. Her image of him was so different from the rogue agent that she’d come to Montana to find.
Lizzy was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear TD return.
“What are you doing?” His voice was sharp.
She dropped the framed photograph. It hit the floor, the glass shattering. “I’m sorry,” Lizzy cried as TD rushed to pick it up. “I was just looking at it.”
“No, I’m the one who is sorry,” he said, rising with the photograph, the frame broken as well as the glass.
“I shouldn’t have startled you. It’s just that…”
“I had no business touching anything of yours,” she said as she watched him dump the broken glass into a wastebasket. “Maybe I shouldn’t stay.”
“No. This is my fault. This photograph is all I have from the first eight years of my life. It has little sentimental value. I’m not sure why I’ve hung on to it.”
“I noticed it was taken at the old homestead where you took me today,” she said.
He looked up at her. “You have a good eye.” He was watching her now in a way that made her realize she’d messed up worse than dropping the framed photograph. Her pulse leaped at her mistake, but she tried to hide it as she turned away to look at the bunks on the opposite wall.
A part of her desperately wanted to tell him the truth about who she was and why she was here. But first she had to talk to Director Collins. She had to be sure.
She could feel the heat of his gaze on her. When she turned toward him again, his dark eyes were guarded. Lizzy mentally kicked herself for making such an amateurish mistake. She’d been too interested in the photograph—and his past—and now TD Waters was acting like an agent again and was suspicious as hell of her.
“Look, I’m sorry, I’m a little jumpy,” TD apologized as he studied Lizzy. For a moment there… No, he was still shaken by what Enid had told him. He couldn’t trust his feelings, let alone his instincts.
And he realized he had feelings for Lizzy. He didn’t just like her, he wanted her. And never more than he did right at this moment. She looked upset, scared almost.
“Hey, it’s all right, it’s just a picture frame,” he said, taking her shoulders in his hands as he smiled into her beautiful face. “It was old and needs to be replaced anyway. I’ve just never got around to it.”
She nodded, and kissing her again seemed like the only thing to do. Her lips trembled under his. He drew her closer, breathing in her sweet scent. He couldn’t remember ever wanting a woman as much as he did this one, and yet he held back, kissing her gently, lovingly.
That thought made him draw back. He cared about this woman. The last thing he wanted was to put her in harm’s way. And yet he’d stupidly invited her to stay with him. What the hell had he been thinking? Collins would be sending agents after him to bring him in. Or more likely, to make sure he disappeared for good.
But he couldn’t send her away. Not yet. He’d have to protect her until he knew for certain what the McCormicks were up to. It would b
e dark in a few hours. With all the people running around the ranch right now getting ready for the wedding, no way would any agents after him make a move. They would wait until tonight. But tonight, TD would get Lizzy out of here. She would take him to that shed. After that, he’d send her to town and out of harm’s way.
“Look, I have to go help in the kitchen, but I’ll be back,” he said. “You should be fine here until I get back, right?”
She nodded, even smiled. “I’ll be fine.”
“Good.” He wanted to kiss her again but there wasn’t time. “Tonight we’ll check out that shed. I’m afraid you might be right about the McCormicks being up to something. If they wanted to cause trouble, McCall Winchester’s wedding at the ranch with all of the family in attendance would be the perfect place.”
“Did you speak to one of the Winchesters?” she asked.
“I decided to wait until after the wedding tomorrow.” He laid the photo now in the glassless frame on the top bunk, his gaze lighting on the boy’s face. Was that boy the son of Pepper Winchester and Hunt McCormick?
How ironic that the only thing he had from the first eight years of his life was this photo of him holding a rifle. Years later when he’d picked up a rifle again, he’d been surprised at how well he shot.
“It was those years hunting deer in Montana,” Roger Collins had said after complimenting him on his excellent target-shooting aptitude.
“How did you know I used to hunt deer?” he had asked.
“I just assumed, growing up in Montana like you did.”
Collins had looked uncomfortable. How much had the man known about his past? More than he let on, TD thought now.
Not even Collins knew about the small framed photograph that he’d gotten out of the house before he was whisked away. Some things were best kept secret.
Maybe that’s why it had startled him to see her looking at the photograph when he came into the cabin, he thought, studying her. What had it been in her expression that had shaken him so?
If there was one thing he’d learned as an agent, people often surprised you. What surprises did Lizzy Calder have in store for him? he wondered, then swatted away the thought like a pesky fly.
He had let the agency and that life make him cynical and paranoid. Lizzy Calder was just what she seemed.
“I’ll get your bags for you,” he said. “Top bunk or bottom?”
“Top, I think,” she said turning to smile at him.
He smiled back. He liked a woman on top.
ENID WENT BACK TO THE kitchen, her mind awhirl. What was she going to do? She’d put TD Waters off until after the wedding. Maybe she should go to Pepper and confess everything—beat him to the punch, so to speak.
She’d told TD to come over and help her serve dinner tonight. Pepper had insisted on having it catered.
“You and Mr. Waters have been working hard enough,” she’d said when she’d come into the kitchen earlier looking for TD. “I’m having dinner catered. Maybe you should think about retiring after the wedding. Or at least taking a long vacation.”
“If you’re trying to get rid of me—”
“I would use a blunt object,” Pepper had said with a small chuckle.
“You wouldn’t know what to do without me,” Enid had quipped.
Pepper had laughed. “Boy, some days I certainly would like to try.”
Enid couldn’t help but think about the strange look Pepper had gotten in her dark eyes before she’d left the kitchen. Did she already know about TD?
Normally, Enid would have come up with a plan. Twenty-seven years ago after Pepper had gotten pregnant, it had been Enid who’d kept everyone away so no one knew about her boss’s secret. She’d kept all of Pepper’s secrets over the years and there’d been many.
It was now time to cash in. Pepper owed her.
Enid fingered the container of pills in her apron pocket. For years after the baby was born, she’d kept Pepper docile by keeping her drugged. She wondered how many of these pills it would take to put a man like TD Waters down. Too bad he’d brought his girlfriend back with him. It would have been so easy if he’d been alone.
LIZZY WAS GRATEFUL THAT TD had to return to the kitchen to help serve dinner. It gave her a chance to call the agency director.
“I won’t be gone long,” TD had promised. “As soon as it gets dark enough, we’ll check out that shed at the McCormick Ranch.”
“Do you think it would be all right if I went for a horseback ride?” she’d asked.
“Promise not to go back over to the McCormicks’ without me?”
“Promise.”
“Help yourself. I’ll make sure none of the Winchesters take you for a McCormick and shoot you.”
“I appreciate that, since apparently you are one,” she said, glad he saw humor in it. But also aware that when TD found out who she really was, gunplay might be part of it.
She’d saddled one of the horses and ridden to the north, taking the satellite phone with her. On the top of a rise, she’d called Roger Collins.
When he answered, she still wasn’t sure what she was going to say.
“Elizabeth.” Roger sounded so relieved she felt bad about not calling in sooner. “I was worried about you.”
“No need. I just didn’t have anything to report before now.” She touched her tongue to her lips and could still taste TD. “I need to know why Waters is considered a rogue agent.”
Silence. She knew she’d overstepped, but she had to know.
“This is highly unusual, but since I have such admiration for you as an agent, I can tell you this. He has in his possession some classified information that puts the security of our organization and our country at risk.” Classified information?
“I’ve gone through all of his things and haven’t found—”
“This would be a small envelope. I’m sure he has hidden it somewhere. If you find it, do not open it. Do you understand? You would be putting yourself in grave danger if you were to open it.”
“Yes, sir, I understand.” Until that moment, she hadn’t realized that TD Waters had gotten to her. Had she really thought about throwing away her career because the man was one devil of a kisser? Or had it been the vulnerability she’d seen in him as he searched for the truth about his past?
She’d let herself forget something important. He was an agent. A rogue agent.
It didn’t matter what TD was doing in Montana. He’d taken off against orders. She had to trust that Roger Collins knew more about what was going on than she did with TD Waters. This is what she’d been trained to do. Follow orders. And that was what she planned to do.
She told Agency Director Collins everything she’d learned. He was so quiet on the other end of the line that for a moment she’d feared they’d been disconnected.
“Sir?”
“I’m here. I’m afraid this attempt to find his past is some kind of smoke screen. Agent Waters knows exactly who he is.”
She informed him that she was now staying on the Winchester Ranch with Waters.
“Good,” he said, sounding pleased. “You are in the perfect position to find the information before he is able to sell it to the highest bidder. Remember, though, do not open the envelope if you find it. And Elizabeth, be careful. Agent Waters is very dangerous—and very clever. Don’t trust him for a moment.”
That she knew.
“You’ve done an excellent job, Agent Calder. I commend you. I’m glad you were able to call back for further orders. Elizabeth, I can give you only twenty-four hours to find this classified material. After that point, I’m afraid, given that Agent Waters has risked a very important government secret by going against orders to return to Montana, I will need you to eliminate that risk.”
At first she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. “You don’t want me to bring him in?”
“No, it’s too dangerous to the security of this country. I need you to make sure Agent Waters is disposed of in such a manner that he never leav
es Montana, his whereabouts never disclosed. I can’t risk that the information he has in his position will get out.
“Sir—”
“That’s a direct order, Agent. If you don’t feel you can handle it, I can send someone who can.”
“No, that won’t be necessary, sir.”
“Good. I knew I could count on you.”
Chapter Twelve
Lizzy was too shaken to go right back to the bunkhouse. She swung up into the saddle and rode as far north as she could before reaching a stretch of barbed wire. She’d been on other assignments, but none had required her to kill anyone.
Not that she hadn’t known the day would come. She’d been trained to shoot and knew she could use a weapon to kill someone if she were required to do so.
But now she had twenty-four hours to find some classified information that Waters might or might not have with him—and then dispose of him.
She had gone back to thinking of him as Agent Waters. It had been a mistake thinking of him as TD. A worse mistake letting him kiss her. But Collins had told her to get close to Waters and she had. Maybe too close.
She could tell that he liked her. More likely just wanted to get her into bed, since that was his modus operandi with women. For a while, she thought as she rode the horse across the snow-blanketed prairie, she’d believed he felt differently about her than all the other women he’d kissed.
Lizzy cringed at the ridiculous thought. A hawk soared over her head, swooping down into a deep ravine, and she realized it was getting late. She had to get back. Waters would be worried—and suspicious. Also she needed to look for the classified information.
As she neared the ranch, she spotted him standing inside a wrought-iron fence on top of a small hill that looked out over the ranch lodge. Moving closer, she saw that it was the family cemetery. She swung down from her horse and walked the last few yards.
He didn’t seem to hear her approach. His head was down. He stood over a small grave with a tiny wooden cross, no name on it. As she drew closer, though, Lizzy saw that someone had draped a chain with a heart-shaped locket over the cross. The cheap locket was now tarnished from years in the weather.
