The Best Bride

by Susan Mallery

  She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Louise’s party is on Saturday, in three days. You two were going to leave Sunday morning. Why not stay with that original plan? We don’t have to tell Nick what we know. You could do that on the drive home. It’s a long ride with just the two of you trapped in the car together. If you told him how you feel about him, he might be persuaded to change his ways.”

  “Maybe.” Although she had her doubts about the plan. She glanced at her brothers. They looked at her with matching expressions of hope and affection. She wouldn’t share her concerns with them. Besides, if Nick didn’t think his cover was blown, he would stay through the weekend. She would have three more days—and nights—with him.

  “Then it’s settled,” Jordan said. He rose and crossed to the sofa, then took her hand. “If there’s anything any of us can do, you let us know. We’re happy to talk to Nick.”

  “Or beat him up,” Craig added.

  Kyle sighed. “Please tell me you’re not sleeping together.”

  Hannah laughed, then carefully crossed her fingers and tucked her hand behind her back. “We’re not.”

  * * *

  Thursday evening, Nick slipped away from the group card game at Kyle’s house and walked back to the gatehouse. Once there, he crossed to the phone in the living room and dialed a number.

  “Rodriguez,” the voice answered.

  “It’s Nick. Any news?”

  “Hey, how’s it going?”

  Nick dropped onto the sofa and stretched out his legs. “I’m doing fine. Are the arrest warrants issued?”

  “They were done this morning.” Rodriguez laughed. “They had one for you, too, Nicky, but I took care of that. It seems unfair to ask you to go undercover for a year, then arrest you when it’s all over.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Everything is falling into place. Should be over by Saturday at the latest. But don’t come back until you check with me. No one has been brought in.”

  “I know. I’m staying right here.” He wanted to be here for Louise’s party on Saturday. And he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Hannah.

  “There was some computer activity on you,” Rodriguez said. “Someone’s been checking you out.”

  “I know.” Hannah’s brothers. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I didn’t. I pulled the file. Just in case.”

  “Probably a good idea.”

  They talked business for a few more minutes, then hung up. Nick replaced the receiver and thought about Rodriguez’s order that he continue to lay low. Nick had no plans to leave. He wouldn’t mind a life sentence in Glenwood. What kind of crime would earn that as punishment?

  He thought about the old Victorian house he and Louise had found a couple of days ago. It needed a lot of work. Remodeling, modernizing. The works. It would take the better part of a year if he did it himself. Of course, if he stayed, he would have help. All four Haynes brothers and Austin would be around offering advice and labor.

  If it were real.

  If it were real, he would ask Hannah to look for a job here. He would quit the Santa Barbara force and open the bed-and-breakfast with his mother-in-law. If it were real, he would start a college fund for the three kids he and Hannah would have. If it were real, he would love her forever.

  He was going to love her forever anyway.

  He reached for the light and clicked it off, then sat in the darkness. He loved her. He who had sworn never to love anyone. He who had promised never to risk getting hurt. He who, like Hannah, was terrified to trust, had fallen in love.

  He didn’t know when it had happened. He didn’t understand the evolution of his emotions. He wasn’t sure he was going to be very good at loving her, but there wasn’t a choice. As long as he drew breath, she was part of his life.

  In the back of his mind, a voice whispered he might turn out to be just like his father. Nick silenced the voice. He would face his demons as they came. Until then, he would take his chances.

  He stood up and walked to the door. When he looked outside, he could see the lights at Kyle’s house and hear the sounds of conversation and laughter spilling from the open windows.

  Envy filled him. He wanted what this family had. He wanted the love and security of belonging and he wanted it with Hannah. When all this was over, he was going to find a way to make it all come true. For both of them.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The sound of music and laughter filled Jordan’s house. Bunches of balloons bounced in the corners and streamers crisscrossed the ceiling. The usual crowd of adults had been supplemented by a dozen or so children ranging from toddlers to teenagers.

  Nick stood by the entrance to the kitchen and watched. Nearly two weeks ago, he’d decided to stay longer than the weekend originally planned so he could help Hannah fit in with her family. He thought he was doing her a favor. Little did he realize he would be the one to receive the gift of belonging. These people had welcomed them both with open arms.

  Louise moved toward him. As the birthday girl, she was required to wear a gold cardboard crown on her head. She touched it as she approached. “I always wanted to enter one of those beauty pageants,” she said and grinned. “I feel like I just won.”

  Nick bent down and kissed her cheek. “You did win. You’re the most beautiful woman here. Except for Hannah, of course.”

  She slapped his arm. “Smooth talker. I’m in the mood to believe you. At least for tonight.”

  Richard walked over and shook hands with him. “None of that, Nick. No one is allowed to kiss Louise without my permission.”

  “Are you boys going to fight over me?”

  Richard put his arm around her shoulders. “I would give my life for you.”

  Louise stared at him. Her smile faded and she touched his cheek. “That’s the most wonderful thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  He pulled her close.

  Nick left them alone and walked around the edge of the room. Family members stood talking in groups. He spotted Hannah talking with her brothers. As he got closer, he heard Travis mention stock shares.

  “It’s not right,” Hannah said. “I don’t want to take what belongs to you.”

  “We want to give it to you,” Craig said. “We want to share our good fortune.”

  Hannah rolled her eyes. “Nick, explain it to them.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders. “Hannah is still afraid to completely belong. It’s not her fault. Give her a little more time and she’ll happily accept your generous gift.”

  “What?” She spun to face him and glared. “What are you saying?”

  He might have exaggerated about Louise’s being the second most beautiful woman in the room, but he’d been right about Hannah’s being the first. She was lovely.

  She’d spent part of the afternoon locked in the bathroom, grumbling about the pain of trying to look attractive. He’d caught a glimpse of her in hot curlers. The results were amazing. Shiny, thick curls tumbled down her back. Subtle makeup accentuated her eyes and mouth. She wore a little black dress that clung to her generous shape, emphasizing breasts and hips. They’d made love less than four hours before, but he wanted her as much as he ever had.

  “I’m telling them the truth,” he said and brought her hand to his mouth. He kissed her palm. “They love you. Trust them.”

  Those were the words he spoke. What he thought was Love me and trust me as much as I love and trust you. He wanted to tell her the truth. He’d nearly done it a hundred times in the past couple of days. Yet the moment had never seemed right.

  After the party, he’d decided. When they were alone in bed, he would confess that he’d fallen in love with her. He would ask her to give him a little time, probably no more than a week. By then the arrests would be made and he could tell her who he really was. He would tell her he wanted to be with her always. Somehow they would find a way to make it work.

  She covered his hand with hers and squee
zed. “Oh, Nick. If you knew what you do to me.”

  “I have an idea.”

  “Yeah? I doubt you’re even close.”

  They smiled at each other, then he remembered her brothers. When he glanced up, the Haynes brothers had left them alone, much as he had left Richard and Louise.

  “It must be contagious,” he said.

  “What?” she asked.

  “It’s not important.” He wrapped a curl around his finger. “Did I tell you how great you look?”

  She glanced down. “Thanks. It’s the dress, really. I’m usually in pants.”

  “It’s not the dress. It’s you.”

  Her dark eyes widened. “Thank you.” Fire flared in their warm depths. Fire and need. He thought briefly about taking her back to the gatehouse and making love to her, then reminded himself the party would only last a few more hours. He could wait.

  A couple of kids ran between them. Hannah laughed and stepped away. Before he could get close again, Elizabeth claimed her. He was about to follow when Holly touched him on the arm.

  “You have a phone call,” she said. “One of your business associates. He says it’s important.”

  Nick’s gut tightened. Was it Rodriguez? Had something happened? He prayed silently that the something was good news. Maybe the case had been wrapped up and he could confess everything to Hannah that night. He walked into the kitchen and picked up the receiver.

  “Archer here.”

  “Ah, Nick. So this is where you’ve been hiding.”

  Every nerve went on alert. The sixth sense that had kept him alive this long now warned him that he was in serious danger. “Thompson. I told you I was going to take a few days off. Is there a problem?”

  Thompson swore loudly. “No problem, you son of a bitch. How much did you tell them?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me. You think I’m stupid? You think I planned to play second banana to you all my life? I’m goin’ somewhere. I’m gonna get rich and screw the rest of you.”

  Despite his pounding heart, Nick spoke calmly. “Everyone needs a goal.”

  “I’ve got a man on the inside,” Thompson growled. “A dirty cop. He told me about the arrest warrants. There wasn’t one for you, Nick. Why? What did you tell them?”

  Nick swore under his breath. At least Thompson didn’t know he was an undercover cop. Except for the captain, no one at the station knew about that. He had a fighting chance.

  “What’s your point?”

  “You sold us out. That means you took the money. Where is it, Nick? Where’d you put it?”

  The money Thompson referred to was about seven million dollars, stolen in phony land deals. At this moment, it was tagged as evidence.

  “You’re gonna tell me,” Thompson threatened. “I’m giving you a choice because I’m such a nice guy. You can meet me where I say, or I can come to the house and break up that great party you got goin’. It would be a shame if innocent people had to get hurt.”

  Nick thought fast. He didn’t have a choice. Thompson wouldn’t object to killing anyone who got in the way.

  He grabbed a pencil from the counter next to the phone. A small message pad had been attached to the wall. “Tell me where,” he said.

  Thompson laughed. “I knew you’d see it my way.” He gave an address. “Take the main highway south, out of town. There’s a small industrial complex on the left. We’ll be waiting there. If you take too long, we’ll come and get you.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “I won’t insult you by telling you to come alone.”

  “Thanks.” His mind raced. He had a bad feeling about this. “How’d you find me?”

  “My friend at the station saw some computer activity. He traced it back to the Glenwood sheriff’s office. Have you been a bad boy, Nick?”

  Nick leaned against the wall. Travis’s investigation. Maybe there’d been more than one.

  “You’ve got fifteen minutes,” Thompson warned. “Then we come after you.”

  Nick hung up the phone. There wasn’t much time.

  He grabbed the top sheet off the pad, then headed for the living room. Hannah was still talking to Elizabeth. He excused himself, then pulled her toward the front door.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “Something’s happened? What?”

  “I can’t—” He swore. There wasn’t any time.

  He opened the door and shoved her onto the porch. Before she could protest, he kissed her hard, drawing her close and trying to store a lifetime’s worth of memories in that single embrace. Then he broke the kiss.

  “I love you,” he said, holding on to her arms to keep her from moving. “Probably since the first day I saw you, although I just admitted it to myself a few days ago. I’ve never been in love before, so I didn’t recognize the signs.” She stared at him. When she was about to speak, he touched her mouth. “Let me,” he said. “I want you to know that you’re beautiful, funny, loyal and the best person I’ve ever known. I’ll love you forever. Whatever happens, remember that.”

  “Nick?”

  He released her and started down the stairs.

  “You’re leaving?” She stood looking at him. “Where are you going?”

  He didn’t answer. The Mercedes started easily. He would convince Thompson and the other men that the money was still in Southport Beach. Once they got there, well, he’d cross that bridge when he came to it. His priority was to get the danger as far from Hannah and her family as possible.

  Hannah stared after him in disbelief. What was going on? First he said he loved her and now he was leaving? The sound of the car engine faded and she was left with nothing.

  He loved her? He’d said he loved her. And then he’d left.

  “Hannah?” She turned. Holly leaned out the front door. “There’s a call for Nick. Jordan said the two of you came out here. Where is he?”

  “He’s gone.” She couldn’t believe the words even as she said them. Gone? It wasn’t possible. Something was wrong. She felt it in her heart.

  Holly frowned. “Do you want to talk to Captain Rodriguez? Isn’t he your captain at the station? He’s the one asking for Nick this time.”

  Hannah’s instincts kicked in. “This time?”

  Holly nodded. “Nick got another phone call just a couple of minutes ago. One of his business associates. He said it was important.”

  Hannah raced into the house. She paused.

  “The kitchen,” Holly yelled after her.

  Several of the adults turned to stare. Hannah ignored them. She ran into the kitchen and picked up the receiver. “Captain? It’s Hannah Pace.”

  “I must speak to Nick, Hannah. It’s urgent.”

  “He’s not here. He got a phone call and left. What’s going on?”

  Rodriguez swore. “They got to him first.”

  She broke out in a cold sweat. “Who got to him? Captain, you have to tell me.”

  “Nick is in danger. Listen to me, Hannah. Nick Archer is an undercover police officer working on a sting operation.”

  “What?” She couldn’t have heard him correctly.

  “I don’t have time to explain,” Rodriguez said quickly. “We were about to arrest everyone. One of my officers here was caught giving out information. Nick’s associates know something is up and he’s in trouble. You have to contact the local police there. Can you do that?”

  She glanced up and saw her brothers standing in the kitchen. Three cops, including the sheriff of Glenwood. “Yes, that’s the easy part. Now we have to find Nick.”

  “They’re in the area. I know that much.”

  “We’ll do our best,” she said, then hung up.

  She turned to Travis. “Nick’s in danger. He’s an undercover cop. Someone in the Southport Beach station told his associates he was staying here. They’ve come for him. We have to find him.”

  Even as she spoke the words, she didn’t believe them. A cop? Too many emotions bubbled
inside for her to identify any of them. First they had to get him back alive.

  “Where would you meet someone if you wanted to kill him?” Travis asked, taking charge.

  Hannah’s blood ran cold. They were talking about Nick.

  “Out of town,” Craig said.

  “Not too far,” Kyle added. “Somewhere that didn’t have a lot of people around but easy to find so Nick wouldn’t get lost.”

  “It’s Saturday night. What’s deserted?” Travis asked.

  Hannah turned her back on them and clutched her mid-section. Please, God, don’t let him die. She stared at the wall in front of her. The notepad was blank. She moved closer. There were faint indentations on it.

  “I’ve got it,” she said and jerked the pad from the wall. “He wrote down an address.” She held the pad to the light. “I can’t make it out.”

  Travis took it from her. “Two seven three one. The street name is a blur.”

  Jordan reached for the pencil on the counter. “Don’t you cops watch television?” He grabbed the pad and rubbed it lightly with the pencil. The address popped out, thin, pale writing on a background of gray.

  “The industrial complex,” Travis said. “Let’s go.”

  The five of them ran for the front door. Travis’s sheriff’s car was parked in the circular driveway. They piled in and Travis started the siren. The family spilled out of the house, but he ignored them. As they were leaving, Elizabeth yelled something about the radio.

  Seconds later, Hannah heard Elizabeth’s voice on the car radio. Travis quickly filled her in. Then he made a call to the station for backup.

  In less than ten minutes, they were near the industrial complex. Travis switched off the siren and entered the first parking lot. “It’s down here,” he said, pointing to a side street. “The address is at the end. Let’s go around and approach from the rear.”

  Hannah glanced down at her dress and high heels. Figures. The one day she dressed up, she would have to go in shooting.

  Her mind had shut down and she preferred it that way. She was a communications officer and she didn’t have street experience, but she’d been through the academy and knew enough to be afraid. She refused to think about Nick’s being in danger. If she did, she would lose control and be of no use to anyone. Least of all him.