Undercover M.D.

by Marie Ferrarella

  Absently Terrance picked up the tape on top of the pile and read the label. It chronicled time and place. Nobody had a gift for detail like Monroe. Had to drive his wife crazy, Terrance judged. He replaced the tape.

  “Only that Harris spends money like water and drinks like a fish.”

  “That’s a fallacy, you know,” Monroe contradicted. Endless hours of surveillance provided him with an excellent opportunity to read books no one else would have even thought of spending their time on. “If fish drank the way people imply, they wouldn’t have anything to swim around in.”

  Edgy because of the investigation and because of the added tension he was carrying around with him these days, Terrance said shortly, “That’ll come in handy if I’m ever on Jeopardy.” Knowing that had to sound sharp, he amended his tone. “So no one’s gotten in contact with Harris?”

  Monroe was the essence of patience. “If they did, they weren’t calling him on his cell phone or the house number.”

  Terrance frowned. It had been hard enough to get a judge to agree to a warrant for a tap on those. They couldn’t very well bug every phone in the hospital. He sighed. “Keep on it.”

  “That’s what they pay me for.” Getting up, Monroe moved to the refrigerator. He was still tethered to the voice-sensitive recorder by way of a one-hundred-foot umbilical chord. The contents of the refrigerator didn’t seem to brighten his day. He must miss his wife’s Italian cooking. “Hey, Riley stopped by earlier. He tells me you did an emergency tracheotomy the other day. Saved a kid’s life. Pretty impressive.”

  Terrance thought so. It amazed him just how things came back to him. There’d been no panic when the paramedics came rushing in with the boy, the kid’s parents hurrying right behind them. Out of the blue, a clear vision of what he had to do had come to him.

  He blessed the fact that he had a photographic memory. Otherwise, it might have been too late by the time Alix reached the exam room. She’d taken over after that, but the save had been his.

  Alix.

  By and large they were staying clear of each other these days after the incident at her house last week. He had to admit it was wiser that way. He didn’t trust himself around her.

  It was a first.

  “Lucky it came back to me,” he said to Monroe.

  The man had no ego problem. Unlike their suspect, Monroe thought. Taking out a can of diet soda, he closed the refrigerator and popped the top.

  “So now that you’ve performed your first miracle, you thinking of becoming a doctor again once this is over?” Tilting the can to his mouth, Monroe studied Terrance over the rim.

  This was just an interlude. Catching bad guys was where his heart lay, not medicine. “No, the agency has me for life.”

  Sitting down again, Monroe shivered. “God, that sounds lonely.”

  Terrance gave him a playful swat over the head. “Go back to your surveillance. I’ll check in with you later.”

  Taking his leave, Terrance walked through and then out of the unfurnished condo the DEA had rented. Located less than half a mile down the road from Harris’s own condo, it allowed Monroe relatively clear visibility of the man’s home. He could alert the different teams whenever Harris left the house.

  They were covering all the angles, combing the streets for another informant, keeping tabs on Harris. They had men down in Bogota, watching the drug lords and higher ups in the cartel. Something was going to give soon.

  It was just a matter of time. And then this would all be behind him.

  As would Alix.

  There was no doubt in his mind that once the operation went down and his part in it was revealed, she would think he was using her and that he had been lying about everything. In her place he’d probably think the same thing.

  It wasn’t exactly a good way to jump-start a relationship he now fervently wished he had never allowed to die.

  If wishes were horses, then beggars would be kings.

  Where had that come from? He had to stop hanging around Monroe, Terrance told himself as he got into his car.

  It was all about choices. And he had made his. Now all that remained was to stick by it.

  Easier said than done, he thought, starting up his car. It rumbled to life. A hell of a lot easier said than done.

  The taps clearly weren’t working. They needed something more.

  Standing in the doctors’ locker room, Terrance looked down at his hand. Nestled in the middle of his palm was something that had once existed only in the realm of fantasy and the better Bond movies. A transmitter so tiny it could fit on the head of pin. Which was exactly where it was. Now all that remained was to plant the same pin on the inside lining of Harris’s coat. It might just bring about the change of luck they needed.

  Terrance waited until his day was over. He knew that Harris was assisting in surgery. That gave him a little time.

  Terrance had made his way to the doctors’ lounge and waited for the opportune moment when he was alone. Two of the nurses had hung around what felt like forever until one of them mentioned that Wanda might be looking for them. They took off like two bullets fired from the barrel of the same gun.

  The second he was alone, Terrance jumped to his feet and crossed to the lockers. Riley, whom he always believed was a safe-cracker at heart, had gotten him the combination. It saved time.

  Opening the door quickly, he found Harris’s coat and turned the lining inside out at the base.

  He heard the sigh even through the closed door. Slipping, he pricked his finger. Terrance snapped the pin closed and pushed the coat into the closet.

  Behind him the door opened. Seeing Terrance standing at Harris’s locker, Alix stopped dead.

  Her eyes narrowed. Was he going through Harris’s things? Why? “What are you doing?”

  “Closing Harris’s door.” Mission completed—just barely—Terrance shut the locker door quickly. “I noticed it was open.”

  Alix continued staring at him. Terrance was acting strangely. He had for a while now. The other day she’d come up behind him when he was on the phone. He’d hung up immediately, as if he hadn’t wanted her to know who he was talking to. It wasn’t the first time.

  Was there another woman?

  But if there was, what did that have to do with his prowling through Harris’s locker?

  Terrance crossed to her. She was thinking. He could tell by the way her brow furrowed. “Something wrong? I could hear you sigh right through the closed door.”

  She lifted her right shoulder in a half shrug, not answering. Instead she went over to the large communal closet and began rummaging. She didn’t find what she was after. Exasperation reared its head, threatening to take over. These days it seemed to maintain quarters in close proximity to her. “Have you seen the yellow pages around here?”

  He didn’t even know the hospital had any in the room. “No, what do you need with the yellow pages?”

  She supposed she could always call information. She reached for the telephone on the table. “I need the number of a cab company.” She dialed 411, only to have him place his finger on the cradle, cutting her off. “Hey,” she protested indignantly.

  He knew opportunity when he saw it. “Something wrong with your car?”

  She frowned at him. He still had his finger on the cradle. “Yes, my mechanic has it. Norma was supposed to pick me up, but she’s running late today and can’t come by until later. Later isn’t good.”

  It occurred to him that he should ask why, but all he could think of was that if he took her home, it would give him a chance to be alone with her again. Fate seemed to be conspiring to throw them together and there were times, like now, when he was a great believer in fate.

  She pulled the telephone away from him and began to dial again.

  Again he cut her off. “I’m off.” he told her. “I can take you home.”

  Sharing a small, enclosed space with him. Not a good idea. “That’s all right, I can take a cab.”

  “You’ll h
ave to wait for one,” Terrance pointed out. “If you’re in a hurry, you’d be better off letting me take you home.”

  She didn’t know about that. “A cab driver won’t try to kiss me.”

  The grin made Terrance look wicked and guileless at the same time. “You never know.” And then he became serious. “I’m sorry about the other night, Alix. I was out of line.”

  “Yes, you were.” And then, because it hadn’t exactly been a one-way street, she relented. “Neither one of us had any business going there.”

  Maybe they could still be friends. It was worth a shot. “Look, there’s no need to call a cab. I’m perfectly trustworthy.” Crossing his heart, Terrance held up his hand in a solemn, silent oath. “If it’ll make you feel better, I won’t even stop the car. I’ll just slow it down. You can leap out onto your lawn. It looked pretty soft.”

  She laughed at the image that brought to mind. This wasn’t exactly some spy movie. “That won’t be necessary. You can stop the car.”

  Terrance smiled as he followed her out. “Then you’ll let me take you home?”

  Alix ignored the little voice in her head that was yelling Mayday. “I don’t have much choice. I am in a hurry.”

  They took the back corridor, leading to the parking lot restricted to doctors only.

  “Hot date?” he teased.

  Oh, God, she hoped not. “It’s a date. The temperature’s not a factor.”

  She’d decided that going out, getting back into the swing of things again was the best way to fight these feelings she was experiencing for Terrance. Maybe they had come out of loneliness. She hadn’t been with anyone since Jeff had died.

  Maybe that was all it was, just frustration on her part. At least she could hope.

  He pointed out his car and then took her arm, ushering her toward it. All the while, he could feel this tightness in his gut. She was going out with someone.

  Well, what did he expect her to do, become a nun? She was young, beautiful and intelligent. He was surprised men weren’t laying siege to her house.

  “Anyone I know?” He surprised himself at how nonchalant the question sounded.

  She slid into the passenger side of the car and stared straight ahead as she answered his question. “William Harris.”

  About to pull out, Terrance stopped. “I thought you said—”

  She knew what she’d said, and if she went over it, she’d allow her second thoughts to take over and call the date off. That wasn’t going to happen.

  “You seem to find enough redeeming qualities in him to spend almost every evening in his company,” she reminded Terrance. The fact that the two men spent time together still surprised her, even though she told herself it shouldn’t. After all, what did she really know about this version of Terrance McCall? He seemed so different from the Terrance she’d known six years ago.

  And yet…

  She forced herself to focus on the conversation. “I thought maybe I’d been too harsh judging him. And he is very persistent.” Though, if she hadn’t been desperate to shut thoughts of Terrance out, there wouldn’t have been any way Harris would have managed to wear her down.

  There was a reason for Harris’s persistence, Terrance thought. The man just wanted another conquest to soothe his ego. Well, it wasn’t going to be Alix. He could protect her and still not compromise the operation.

  Terrance slowed down at the next corner as the light turned red. It gave him an opportunity to look at her. “Alix, you’re a grown woman—”

  “Yes,” she agreed, “I am. And as such, I’ll do what I want, when I want.” Her eyes met his and held. “You taught me all about that.”

  Now he got it. “If you’re going out with him to get back at me—”

  She didn’t want him to think that any of this was about him—even though it was. That would give him power over her.

  “No, I’m going out with him to get back into life. I kissed you the other night because I was lonely, that’s all.” She looked down at her folded hands. “It took me a long time to get over you, but I’m over you. It’s just time I moved on to something else, to someone else.”

  He noted that she didn’t bring her late husband’s name into all this. Was that because the man hadn’t counted? Or just that she was so annoyed with him that she’d forgotten about Julie’s father?

  In any event, he knew that arguing with her would only make her more obstinate and contrary. “Whatever you say, Alix.”

  She didn’t like his tone. “That’s right. Whatever I say.”

  She should have felt triumphant, that she’d won her point. But it bothered her a great deal that Terrance had retreated as quickly as he did. Didn’t he care, even the slightest bit? Didn’t he care that she was dating another man? That she was dating William Harris?

  Of course he didn’t. When was she going to grow up and stop having these fantasizes about men? No, not about men, about Terrance.

  It was beginning to look like her father was the only faithful, steadfast man God had created. After that, He’d turned his attention to a more inferior mold.

  Turning her face forward, she folded her hands in her lap. The rest of the trip to her house was conducted in silence.

  Chapter 9

  Dusk was beginning to tiptoe in along the streets like a shy bride on her wedding night. The neighborhood children within the development had long since headed back home, to face chores, homework or both.

  Terrance shifted in his seat. Next time he was going to have to get a roomier car, he thought, disgruntled. One he could really stretch his legs out in. But then, he hadn’t bought the vehicle with long-term confinement in mind.

  He glanced down the street. Other than a passing blackbird and the wind tousling the tops of the trees, there was no movement.

  He shouldn’t be here.

  He was, Terrance thought, behaving like some lovesick schoolboy. Trying to placate his conscience by giving himself a load of excuses for his sitting out here was just that: a load of excuses. There was no reason for him to be on the lookout for Harris. If the man was with Alix tonight, then he wouldn’t risk making contact with any of the people involved in the drug cartel. Even Harris wouldn’t be that stupid.

  No, it wasn’t the operation that had him out here. What motivated him to be sitting in his car, across the street and down the block from Alix’s house was the fact that he didn’t trust Harris not to make a move on Alix—a move he couldn’t bring himself to believe that she would actually invite.

  Which meant that he’d have to somehow find a way to protect her that wouldn’t blow his cover.

  He blew out a breath, aggravated with her. With himself.

  If she wouldn’t invite any moves from Harris, then what the hell was she doing going out with the man in the first place? Alix wasn’t a casual woman. She didn’t just flit from one man to another in search of fun. That wasn’t like her.

  She didn’t—

  How the hell did he know what she did or didn’t do anymore? he demanded silently. It’d been six years since he’d been with her. Six long years. People changed in six years.

  But not Alix.

  He couldn’t get himself to believe that she would change. Oh sure, she’d gotten more independent, more assertive, but this went way beyond that. It was like saying that a rabbit could become a bat. There was no basis for it in nature.

  He argued with himself, getting nowhere and staying put until he saw Harris pull up in Alix’s driveway in his flaming-red Ferrari.

  “Showtime,” he murmured to himself, making sure that the earpiece to the transmitter he had planted in Harris’s coat was firmly in place. Thanks to the device, he’d be privy to any conversation Harris and Alix had as long as it was somewhere within range of the coat.

  He wasn’t sure if that was going to be a blessing or a curse.

  Because the device had a range of twelve city blocks, Terrance could keep a safe, undetectable distance behind their car and still not lose them. It came in h
andy when traffic separated him from the Ferrari for a good ten minutes.

  He was hardly surprised when Harris took Alix to the most expensive restaurant in Newport Beach for dinner. The trendy restaurant had been written up in all the latest magazines. Overlooking the beach, it attracted an exclusive clientele. Terrance couldn’t help wondering if maybe Harris was going to make some kind of contact with the cartel tonight and was using Alix for cover.

  Anger speared through Terrance even as he told himself that Harris wasn’t clever enough for that. From all the evidence he’d seen so far, the man was a shallow dupe, nothing more.

  Harris was here, most likely, just to show off. Undoubtedly trying to dazzle Alix with his money and his self-inflated ego.

  Terrance banked down his temper.

  Parking in the lot, Terrance debated going in, then decided against it. He didn’t want Alix to see him unless it was absolutely necessary. Popping up in the same place where Alix and Harris were dining would be just too much of a coincidence not to arouse suspicion on both their parts.

  With a sigh Terrance tried to make himself comfortable as he listened to the conversation within the restaurant. For the most part, the transmitter filtered out background noise, but it interfered at times.

  He frowned as Harris made a rude remark about one of the waitresses. Did he think that was going to impress Alix?

  The man was a loser from the word go. What was Alix doing with him?

  It was, Terrance decided, going to be a very long night.

  This had been a mistake, Alix thought, sighing inwardly as she listened to only half of what Harris was saying to her. She should never have given in and agreed to see him socially. Her first instincts had been on target. The man had little to no redeeming qualities, despite Terrance’s allusions to the contrary. Served her right for being vulnerable, for trying to prove to herself that she was reacting to Terrance only because she’d been so isolated since Jeff’s death.

  What did Terrance see in Harris? Why did he spend time with him? Everything out of Harris’s mouth only turned her off. She’d never met anyone so filled with his own self-importance.