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Undercover Daddy
Delores Fossen
Experience the thrill of life on the edge and set your adrenalin pumping! These gripping stories see heroic characters fight for survival and find love in the face of danger.Finding his son was a dream come true… An illegal adoption ring had stolen federal agent Luke Buchanan’s baby boy. When he tracked down the woman who’d been raising Christopher as her own, he would make her pay. Until danger turned it into a nightmare! Someone was hunting Elaina McLemore.From the moment he saw the fear in her eyes, Luke’s instinct was to protect her – and the tiny child they both loved. For Their Baby’s Sake Safeguarding children is their first priority
“I suppose you’re here to arrest me for the illegal adoption?”
“That all depends.”
“On what?” Finally, there was a slip in her resolve. Her voice cracked.
“You.” Luke came to a stop in front of the house, turned off the engine and stared at her.
“This is my babysitter’s house. What are we doing here?”
He turned towards Elaina so he could see every nuance of her reaction. He ignored how beautiful, how vulnerable she looked. “Why do you think I’m here?”
“Oh, no. I can’t let you do this. You can’t arrest me. You don’t understand – he’s my son. I’m the only mother he’s ever known.”
“Believe me, I know that.”
“I won’t let you take him from me,” she insisted.
“You have no choice.”
“Then I need to talk to his father, make him understand how much Christopher means to me.”
“You’re already talking to him. Christopher is my son.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Imagine a family tree that includes Texas cowboys, Choctaw and Cherokee Indians, a Louisiana pirate and a Scottish rebel who battled side by side with William Wallace. With ancestors like that, it’s easy to understand why Texas author and former air force captain Delores Fossen feels as if she was genetically predisposed to writing romances. Along the way to fulfilling her DNA destiny, Delores married an air force top gun who just happens to be of Viking descent. With all those romantic bases covered she doesn’t have to look too far for inspiration.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Elaina McLemore – When someone tries to kill her, she moves with her adopted son to a small Texas town, changing her name and inventing a missing husband. Then Luke Buchanan shows up, claiming to be her long lost husband – and her baby’s father.
Special Agent Luke Buchanan – Robbed of the chance to raise his son when Elaina unknowingly participated in an illegal adoption, nothing will stop him from getting to know his child. But when an elusive criminal comes after them, Luke vows to protect his baby and the only mother his son has ever known.
Christopher – Luke’s one-year-old son. He’s too young to understand the danger. He only knows that he loves having his daddy around.
George Devereux – Once a successful businessman, now behind bars. Just how far would he go to get back at Luke for arresting him?
Carrie Saunders – Elaina’s shop assistant and friend. Carrie has been acting very odd, but she claims she has no idea who’s trying to kill Elaina and Luke.
Brenda McQueen – A newcomer to the sleepy Texas town where Elaina’s been hiding with Christopher.
Collena Drake – The troubled former cop who now devotes her life to finding illegally adopted babies.
Gary Simpson – Elaina’s potentially mentally unstable neighbour. Gary is also jealous of Luke.
Undercover Daddy
DELORES FOSSEN
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Daphne Betterton. You’re the best.
Chapter One
Crystal Creek, Texas
“Elaina, your husband is…alive.”
The eight-by-ten piece of amber glass that Elaina Allen had been examining slipped from her hand and crashed onto her desk. It didn’t break but smashed right into a paper plate containing a half eaten slice of cherry pie. The red sugary filling spattered in every direction.
“Excuse me?” Elaina asked her assistant, Carrie. “What did you say?”
“Your husband is alive,” Carrie repeated, nodding frantically. She bobbled up and down on her tiptoes and gave an excited squeal. “He’s in Crystal Creek and on the way to the shop. He should be here any minute.”
Elaina’s heart dropped to her knees.
“There must be some mistake. Daniel’s missing in action in the Middle East,” Elaina lied. “If he’d been found, the air force would have told me.”
Carrie grinned. “Well, they obviously didn’t. A snafu maybe, or Daniel probably just wanted to surprise you. Anyway, he stopped by the gas station, and when he got ready to pay, the attendant, Jay, saw your picture in Daniel’s wallet. That’s when Jay figured out who he was. Jay said after Daniel filled up, he headed in this direction.” Carrie’s crystal blue eyes widened. “Oh, God. I blew the surprise by telling you, didn’t I?”
Elaina couldn’t answer. She could only shake her head. No. This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t be.
“Are you all right?” Carrie asked. “You look like you’re about to be sick.”
There was a reason for that. Elaina knew that the comfortable, safe life she’d created was over. Her house and her stained-glass shop were as good as gone. She’d have to go on the run again.
“You’re happy about this, right?” Carrie asked. “I mean, this is what you wanted—for Daniel to come home to Christopher and you. You’re always saying how much you miss him.”
She stared at her shop assistant. They were more than employer and employee. The eternally optimistic Carrie had become her friend. Well, as much of a friend as Elaina could have considering she’d lied to Carrie from day one.
Elaina wasn’t immune to the guilt she felt about that, either. She’d never quite come to terms with the pretense.
But she had a more pressing problem.
Daniel Allen was on the way to her shop.
Because that took her to the brink of panic, Elaina almost came clean about everything to Carrie. She almost explained all the lies. And, sweet heaven, there was a mound of lies. But she stopped her near confession and tried to make some sense of all of this.
“Jay said this man had my picture in his wallet?” Elaina clarified, praying for an out.
There had to be an out.
Carrie nodded, and the concern deepened in her eyes. “But he didn’t just have your picture. When Jay asked, he told him that he was Daniel Allen.”
Then, he was lying. No doubt about it.
Because there was no Daniel Allen.
He was the biggest lie of all.
Daniel Allen was an idea that Elaina had concocted to explain why she’d moved to the sleepy Texas town of Crystal Creek. An MIA husband. A grieving heart. The desire to start a new life while keeping hope that her husband might be alive and that he might return someday.
Elaine had purposely kept the personal details sketchy, because details could be examined too closely. So, she’d had no picture of her fake husband in case someone compared his looks to her son’s. Instead, she’d told everyone that all her photos had been destroyed in a house fire.
The façade had kept some nosey questions from being asked, had given her space and privacy and it had allowed her and her baby, Christopher, to be accepted in a town where newcomers were often treated as outsiders.
That acceptance wouldn’t continue once the townsfolk had learned that she was a liar. And this man, this imposter claiming to be Daniel Allen, would expose her.
But why?
Better yet—who was this imposter, and what the heck did he want?
Unfortunately, an answer immediately came to mind. A really bad answer. He might be linked to her late fiancé—the slimy, cheating con man who’d nearly gotten Christopher and Elaina killed.
“Well, don’t just sit there,” Carrie insisted. She latched on to Elaina’s arm to lift her from the chair. “You haven’t seen Daniel in over a year. Comb your hair. Put on some makeup. You have to do something to get ready for him.”
The full impact of that hit her like a heavyweight’s fist. Elaina got to her feet somehow. She had to do something all right.
She had to get out of there.
Fast.
She’d have to pick up Christopher from the sitter and drive out of town. There probably wouldn’t be time to pack or stop for cash. She’d literally have to leave everything behind.
However, before she could even shake off Carrie’s grip, Elaina heard the cheerful jingle of the brass and crystal bells that she’d installed over the front door of her shop. It caused her pulse to pound out of control.
Because it no doubt signaled her fake husband’s arrival.
This was her own personal version of judgment day.
“Since you don’t seem too steady on your feet, I’ll bring him in here,” Carrie volunteered.
“No!” Elaina caught on to her as she turned to leave.
What remained of Carrie’s gleeful expression melted away. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Elaina assured her. Yet another lie. “I just need a minute to compose myself. I thought he was dead.” Elaina didn’t have to fake an overwhelmed expression. She was sure it was there all over her overwhelmed face.
“I’ll be right there,” Carrie called out to their visitor. It was something she would have done for any ordinary customer, but this time there was excitement and anticipation in her voice.
Elaina nodded her thanks for the brief reprieve, and she went to the door that separated her office from the stained-glass shop. With Carrie right behind her, she opened the door just a fraction and peeked out.
His back was to her, and he appeared to be examining a Victorian window panel that Elaina had restored just days earlier.
Whoever he was, he was tall. Six-three at least. Not lanky, either. Solid and formidable. He wore jeans and a brown leather bomber jacket that was nearly the same color as his short, efficiently cut hair.
He turned to the side, and Elaina got a good look of him in profile. That good look was more than enough for her to realize that he was a complete stranger. If he was somehow connected to her late fiancé, Kevin, then she’d never seen him before.
That didn’t mean she was safe.
She still had to leave with Christopher and find a new hiding place. Because if this man had found her, they could find her.
Elaina blinked back the hot tears that instantly sprang into her eyes, and she silently cursed. Kevin had been dead for over a year, and he was still casting shadows over her life.
“Well?” Carrie prompted in an anxious whisper when Elaina shut the door. “Daniel’s here. Aren’t you going to run out there, jump into his arms and haul him off to bed?”
Not a chance. The only thing Elaina planned to do was avoid him. “I need you to do me a favor, Carrie. Stall him.”
Carrie shook her head. “W-hat? This is the extremely hot husband that you haven’t seen in months and months, and you want me to stall him?”
Good point. The next lie came easily. “I need some time to make myself look presentable. I don’t want him to see me with pie filling all over me and without a stitch of makeup. I’ll only be a minute.”
Carrie nodded, eventually, but judging from her bunched up forehead, she didn’t understand.
How could she?
And better yet, how would Christopher?
If she remembered the truth by then.
Her son was barely three months past his first birthday. He wouldn’t know why his mommy was dragging him away from the only home, bed and toys he’d ever known. One day, she’d have to tell him the truth.
Elaina had lived with the lies for so long that she had to wonder what exactly the truth was. Unfortunately, she might never know.
“Don’t keep Daniel waiting too long,” Carrie insisted. “And by the way—he is hot, just like I figured he’d be.” She gave Elaina a wink and then headed back into the shop.
Elaina didn’t waste a second. She locked the door behind Carrie and grabbed her purse from beneath her desk. She also took the picture of her son from the top of the filing cabinet. It was her favorite, taken on his first birthday. She stuffed it in her purse, and while she fumbled around the bottom of the shoulder bag for her car keys, she headed to the back exit that led directly to the parking lot.
She estimated that it would take her ten minutes to get to Christopher. She’d call on the way to tell Theresa, the sitter, that Christopher had an appointment with the pediatrician in nearby Luling. An appointment that had slipped her mind until the last minute. Though it would be a first for her to forget something like that, she hoped it’d be a believable lie. She didn’t have time for questions.
Elaina located her keys and threw open the exit door. She heard someone trying to get into her office. Carrie maybe. Or maybe the imposter. Elaina ignored the frantic knocks and raced out of the shop.
The winter air was a little more brisk than she’d figured, and a chilly gust temporarily robbed her of her breath. Goose bumps rifled over her arms. The cotton shirt she wore wasn’t much of a barrier. It didn’t stop her. She ducked her head against the wind and made a beeline toward her car.
“Going somewhere?” she heard someone ask.
It was a man’s voice.
Oh, mercy.
His voice, no doubt.
She didn’t freeze, though she had to fight her instincts to prevent that from happening. Instead, Elaina began to run toward her car. Even though her heart was pounding and her shoes were slapping on the concrete, she could still hear his footsteps behind her.
