Married To A Stranger

by Connie Bennett

  “But you haven’t determined who she’s involved with?”

  “No,” Tom had to admit.

  “Why not?”

  Despite their age difference, Tom felt as though he was being scolded by his father, and it put him on the defensive. There was no way that he was going to admit that he’d wanted to investigate but just hadn’t had the time. “I haven’t investigated because Liz Jermain’s private life is none of my business,” he replied tersely, then added, “And it’s none of yours, either.”

  “I disagree,” Luther argued. “It is imperative that we learn who Liz Jermain is involved with. Assassins have been known to use inside help to get close to their targets, and Ms. Jermain is just the sort of—”

  “Assassins?” Tom said incredulously. “Are you telling me that you have knowledge of a specific threat against the President? Something that’s supposed to happen while he’s here at Bride’s Bay?”

  “Of course not,” Luther said quickly. He waved his arms at the equipment cluttered around him. “But that’s the purpose of all this gear. The President gets hundreds of death threats every year, and we have to be ready for every eventuality.”

  “No, Dan. That pat answer won’t wash. You’re concerned about something very specific, aren’t you?”

  Luther’s usually implacable gaze went absolutely glacial. “Just give me what you’ve got on the Liz Jermain affair and let me worry about the President. If there’s anything you need to know, I’ll tell you.”

  Luther’s tone was calculated to intimidate, but he was using his steely-eyed glare on the wrong man. “Are you telling me to butt out, Dan?”

  “I’m asking you to do your job and let me do mine.”

  That was all the answer Tom needed to confirm his suspicions. Something deadly dangerous was going on that the Secret Service didn’t think the lowly Bride’s Bay security chief needed to know about.

  But the security chief disagreed, and he wasn’t going to stop until he knew exactly what was happening.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  DR. MANION had been very pleased with Maddy’s progress. After a thorough physical that morning, he’d told her she could do anything she felt up to, so long as she was sensible about it.

  Adam had been right beside her when the doctor made the statement, and twenty-four hours earlier, he would’ve gotten a good laugh at the notion of Maddy being sensible. At the very least, he would have made some crack about how unlikely it was. Today, though, Manion’s comment barely seemed to register on him.

  For some reason Maddy couldn’t fathom, Adam had changed. Oh, he was making all the right moves, saying the right things, just the way he always did, but now it seemed that he was just going through the motions. Where before Maddy had seen tenderness in his eyes, now she saw nothing. When he smiled, there was no humor. When he frowned, there was no anger.

  When he looked at her, there was no love.

  His eyes were a cold, blank slate. After he’d walked out of the room yesterday, Maddy had tried to convince herself that she was imagining things. She tried to pretend that she hadn’t seen the transition on Adam’s face that took him from warmth to with-drawal in that instant before she could say, “I love you.”

  But when he had finally come out of the bedroom a few minutes later, smiling and affable, he looked a cardboard caricature of himself; like an actor playing a role. Something was wrong, but Maddy couldn’t work up the courage to ask Adam what it was because she didn’t know if she could live with the answer if he said he didn’t love her anymore.

  Somehow she got through the afternoon of shopping, but she was glad they made it back to the resort before dark. Adam picked up several message slips at the front desk, and as soon as they got to their room, Maddy pleaded exhaustion and sought refuge in the rose bedroom, leaving Adam alone to handle his business calls.

  Rather than resting, though, Maddy tinkered with the purchases she’d made, cutting off price tags, pairing up the separates and switching her wallet and other items from her old purse to her new one.

  When she heard the soft chime announcing someone at the door to the suite, she assumed Adam had ordered a snack from room service, but a few moments later, he tapped on her door, then opened it and stuck his head in. “Maddy, we have a guest,” he told her. “Do you feel up to a visitor?”

  “Who is it?” she inquired, unable to imagine who would be coming to see them.

  “Judge Bradshaw. He says he has something he wants to discuss with us.”

  “All right.” Mystified, Maddy followed Adam back into the sitting room. She’d seen the Judge several times since their first encounter in the garden, and she’d even made a point of introducing him to Adam. She never would have expected a visit, though. “Judge Bradshaw! This is a welcome surprise.”

  The silver-haired magistrate was all smiles. “It’s kind of you to say so,” he replied, accepting the hand she extended to him. “But I’m sure you must be exhausted after your long day in the city. I won’t keep you but a moment, I swear.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Maddy said, gesturing toward the sofa. “Please have a seat. Would you care for something to drink?”

  “No, no. I’ll just make my presentation and be on my way.”

  “Presentation?”

  He handed her an envelope. “This. It’s an anniversary gift from Elizabeth and me.”

  Maddy glanced nervously at Adam as she said, “Oh, Judge Bradshaw…this wasn’t necessary. We specifically asked that the hotel not make any fuss.”

  “It’s no fuss,” he assured her. “At least not one that’s directed straight at you. You may have heard that my wife and I are hosting a little reception for the President in the courtyard next Tuesday. Since it just so happens that his arrival coincides almost precisely with your anniversary, we thought you might enjoy a little treat on your special day.”

  “Oh, Judge…” Maddy didn’t know how to respond. She opened the flap on the envelope and removed the engraved invitation.

  “You’ll need that to get past the Secret Service of course.”

  “Of course.”

  “They’ve approved your attendance—everyone had to be cleared naturally. And I do hope you’ll come. It should be a memorable occasion.”

  She looked at Adam again, asking for confirmation as she said, “We’d love to attend, wouldn’t we?”

  “Absolutely,” he replied amiably. “If we’re still here, we’d be very honored by the opportunity to meet the President.”

  “There’s a chance you’ll be leaving?” Cameron asked, but he wasn’t half as surprised as Maddy was.

  “It’s a possibility,” Adam replied.

  Cameron was too polite to question his guests about something that was none of his business. He expressed his hope that they would be able to attend, chatted with them for a few minutes more, then left, saying he didn’t want to overstay his welcome.

  As soon as he was gone, Maddy pounced on her husband. “Why didn’t you tell me we might be leaving?”

  “Because I’m not positive we are,” he replied. “Detective Hogan has been getting nowhere with the investigation into the assault on you, and I’ve been playing with the thought that we might move on to New York if Dr. Manion gave you a good report. I hadn’t mentioned it because I knew it would get your hopes up, but now it appears I’m going to have to go to New York regardless. Most of those phone messages that were waiting for me when we got back were from Anthony Vernandas and Pere Ruben.”

  Maddy knew that Ruben was one of Adam’s clients, but she’d never heard of the other one. “Who’s Anthony Vernandas?”

  “He’s one of the four buyers I lined up for Ruben’s pre-Columbian artifacts. Apparently the deal is about to fall through. The men are furious with each other and with me for not being handy to mediate the sale and handle the transfer. I think the only way to salvage the situation is for me to meet with them in person. They’ve agreed to come to New York day after tomorrow and see if we can hammer
out a new agreement.”

  Maddy didn’t have any idea what Adam was talking about as far as the business was concerned, but she was thrilled at the thought of going New York. Bride’s Bay hadn’t stirred any memories. Maybe New York would. “That’s wonderful, Adam. I can be packed and ready to go in half an hour!” she said, starting for her room.

  “Stop! Slow down a minute,” Adam said, stepping in front of her. “That’s not the way it’s going to work, Maddy. I’m leaving for New York in the morning—”

  “And you’re taking me with you,” she said firmly.

  He shook his head. “No, you’ll be safer here, and a few more days’ recuperation will be good for you. I’ve got business to conduct, and it won’t be easy to find a security suite on a moment’s notice in New York City. I’ll find us a room, confer with our private detective to see if he can provide bodyguards for when we’re out of the hotel, and once everything is in place, I’ll come back here, and then the two of us will go to New York.”

  His proposal shocked her. Less than a week ago, this man had sworn that anyone who wanted to get at her would have to go through him to do it. Now he was considering leaving her alone. Was it just coincidence, or did his timing have something to do with what had happened yesterday?

  She wanted to ask him that. Her first impulse, in fact, was to remind him that he’d sworn to protect her, but that was just fear and insecurity talking. He’d offered her his protection; she hadn’t asked for it. She wasn’t about to beg him not to leave her.

  Besides, his plan made perfect sense. According to Tom Graves and the Secret Service, the flap about Arthur Rumbaugh had turned out to be nothing. He was exactly who he said he was—a computer salesman from Connecticut—and there was no reason to believe that Maddy was in any immediate danger here at the resort.

  Even without Adam at her side, she would be well protected and safer than just about anywhere else in the world. It made sense for her to stay here while Adam arranged for her safety in New York. It was logical. It was sensible. It was the right course of action, and she knew it.

  But that still didn’t keep her from feeling as though Adam was deserting her.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  UNABLE TO ESCAPE that feeling of abandonment, Maddy saw Adam off the next morning. It was obvious that his concern about leaving her was real— they’d had a long meeting with Tom Graves about the dire consequences of letting anything happen to her— but Maddy also had the distinct impression that Adam couldn’t wait to get off Jermain Island. Or, more accurately, couldn’t wait to get away from her. She went with him to the ferry, received a perfunctory kiss goodbye, watched the boat pull out and wondered if he would return.

  Part of her mind said such thoughts were just maudlin claptrap. Adam loved her and she was foolishly imagining changes in him that weren’t really there.

  But there was no escaping the fact that she’d allowed herself to become too dependent on him. She’d been so frightened and felt so out of control that turning her life over to him had been easier than going it alone.

  She saw now how much of a mistake that had been. She didn’t like the woman she had become, so she decided to use the next few days without Adam to reinvent Madeline Hopewell.

  She started with a confidence builder, heading for the rifle range as soon as Adam left. She spent most of the morning in target practice, and even participated in a lighthearted guerrilla warfare game being conducted by one of Tom’s men.

  Bobby and Ed tried to protest, reminding her that protecting her while she was skulking around in the wilderness area with two dozen other gun-toting guests wouldn’t be easy. Their objections fell on deaf ears. Their only option was to join in and stay close to her, which they did.

  Fortunately nothing happened that caused any of them the slightest alarm. Maddy’s team won handily, and when the scores were recorded, it was discovered that Maddy had the most “kills.” She wasn’t surprised. Though no memories recurred, she knew from the way she handled herself that she’d played this type of game before.

  After lunch with her fellow team members at the clubhouse, she began looking for an opponent for a game of tennis.

  She found Loreen McKinley, a spritely sixty-sevenyear-old widow from Duluth who claimed to have a touch of arthritis in her right hand and a trick knee.

  Given her own limitations and the workout she’d already had this morning, Maddy figured that she and Loreen would be pretty evenly matched. However, Loreen trounced her handily in straight sets.

  They shook hands as they walked off the court, and Maddy was about to demand a rematch tomorrow when she caught sight of a face she hadn’t seen in more than a week. Detective Hogan was standing behind the long bench where she’d left her gym bag. He looked as rumpled and unfriendly as he had the first time she’d met him.

  He did not look like a man delivering good news, but Maddy’s heart felt a flutter of hope as she said goodbye to Loreen and hurried toward him.

  “Detective Hogan! I hope you’ve come to tell me you caught the man who attacked me,” she said as she snagged a towel out of her gym bag and applied it to her face.

  “Not likely,” he replied sourly.

  “What do you mean by that? Have you given up looking for him?”

  “Not voluntarily.”

  Hogan had never been verbose, but this was ridiculous. “Forgive me, Detective, but you’re not making any sense. Why don’t we start over? I’ll say, ‘Hi, Hogan. What brings you to Bride’s Bay?’ and you’ll reply…” She held out her hand as though she was turning the floor over to him.

  “You’re in big trouble, Ms. Hopewell,” he said.

  Since Maddy already knew that, she made the logical assumption that the detective had learned something new—and obviously disturbing. “Why? What’s happened? Has there been a break in the case?”

  Hogan shook his head. “No. That’s the problem. There is no case. My boss ordered me to stop investigating—that was the same conversation, by the way, in which he reminded me how close I am to retirement and how hard I’ve worked for my pension.”

  “You were threatened?” Maddy asked, aghast.

  “That’s what it sounded like to me.”

  “Why? Why would someone close my case? Why do they want you to stop investigating?”

  “I suspect it’s because they’re afraid of what I’ll find out.”

  Maddy stared at him. “And you have found out something, haven’t you? You didn’t stop investigating.”

  “Well…we could probably split a few hairs about that,” he answered. “It’s not my fault if replies came in to inquiries I’d made before the case was closed.”

  Maddy’s knees suddenly felt like rubber. She sat on the bench and Hogan came around to join her. “What have you learned?” she asked.

  “I’ve got three things. One, you were probably damned lucky you got out of the hospital alive. The day before Adam Hopewell showed up, the name José Ruiz was placed into the hospital computer under janitorial staff. When no one picked up the paycheck the computer issued, it was discovered that no such employee ever existed at Charleston General. It was also discovered that the hours this Ruiz had worked corresponded to part of your hospital stay.”

  Maddy was glad she’d sat down. “You think it was the man who attacked me?”

  “It’s the only explanation I’ve been able to come up with. But it does suggest some disturbing possibilities.”

  “Such as?”

  “Your assailant wasn’t a garden-variety criminal, Ms. Hopewell. Even in this age of information there aren’t a lot of people capable of manipulating a computer that effectively. And it takes a lot of moxie to successfully pull off an impersonation like that without arousing any suspicions. He did both. Very well. Which means that somehow you’ve gotten mixed up with some big-league players. I don’t know what league they’re in,” he added quickly. “But there’s someone with a lot of juice involved in this.”

  “Enough juice to get you th
rown off the case?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Like maybe the DEA?” she suggested, remembering the men who had talked to Hogan while she was still in the hospital.

  Hogan shook his head. “I don’t know. None of this makes any sense.”

  That was certainly true. “You said there were three things. What’s number two?”

  For the first time, Hogan looked truly uncomfortable. “Do you remember what your husband said. about your arrival in New York?”

  Maddy thought back. “Sure. He said that I came through customs on the nineteenth, thirty-six hours before 1 was attacked in Charleston.”

  Hogan’s discomfort increased. “I’m afraid my information says otherwise.”

  “What information?”

  “I had a friend of mine at the Charleston Port Authority call in a favor from a friend of his with U.S. Customs. I got a look at your complete file, Ms. Hopewell. You arrived in New York on the twentieth, and you made it through customs with just barely enough time to catch your flight to Charleston.”

  Maddy was astonished. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Positive.”

  She shook her head. “Then Adam needs to have a long, serious talk with the private investigator who told him I arrived on the nineteenth. If he’s that inept, it’s no wonder he hasn’t had any luck reconstructing what happened to me before I arrived.”

  “Ms. Hopewell…”

  Maddy frowned at him. “What?”

  “I wouldn’t be too quick to blame the investigator, whoever he is. If he even exists.”

  Maddy stiffened. “Would you care to explain that?”

  Hogan nodded. “Item number three—more information from your customs file.” He paused again before he told her, “It’s…about your name.”

  “What about it?”

  “Lambert isn’t your maiden name, and your parents weren’t Paul and Irene. According to your birth certificate, you were born Madeline Renée Hopewell in Ogden, Utah, and your parents were Edgar and Francis Hopewell.”