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Elaina made it all the way to her car before she felt the beefy hand clamp around her arm. She struggled against the grip and slammed her purse into the man’s chest.
It didn’t help.
As if she weighed nothing, he caught on to her, whirled her around to face him, and he pinned her against the hood of her car.
She screamed. Or rather tried to do that, but he pressed his hand over her mouth.
No profile view of him this time. She caught the full brunt of those lethal looking granite-gray eyes. In fact, lethal described every part of him from his hard body to the expression on his face.
Because he used his body to restrain her, she had no trouble determining that he was strong. No extra body fat on this guy. She also had no trouble spotting the shoulder holster and gun that was only partially concealed beneath his leather jacket.
Still, it didn’t matter that she was outsized, out-maneuvered and outgunned. She wouldn’t give up without a fight. Especially since this man might go after Christopher. Thankfully, the Crystal Creek police station was just up the block from the shop. She’d yell for help and deal with the inevitable questions later.
First though, she had to get free.
She managed to grab on to his wrist, and she ripped his grip from her mouth. “What do you want?” she snarled.
“Elaina Allen, I presume?” He didn’t wait for her to confirm or deny it. “Let me introduce myself. I’m your long-lost husband, Captain Daniel Allen.”
Oh, there was some cockiness in that voice tinged with a hint of a Texas drawl, but there were also questions. And accusations.
She forced herself to meet him eye to eye. “You’re lying, and you know it.”
“Yeah. I guess I do know it. But the way I see it, both of us have told some big fish stories, and both of us have some explaining to do. You start first.”
Elaina was about to tell him that she owed him no such explanation and that he’d better let go of her at once or she’d scream, but then she heard Carrie. She peered over the man’s shoulder and spotted Carrie in the doorway of the exit.
Elaina cursed under her breath.
So did the man.
She met his gaze to try to figure out what he was about to do. It was entirely possible he might try to kill Carrie so there wouldn’t be any witnesses to Elaina’s own murder. If that’s what he had planned.
Elaina didn’t have to wait long to find out.
Much to her shock, the imposter lowered his head and kissed her.
Chapter Two
Luke Buchanan had to keep reminding himself that the woman he was kissing was a liar. Maybe even worse. But just the fact he had to remind himself of that riled him to the core.
Why?
Because he didn’t need a reminder that she tasted almost as good as she looked. And she did look good, far better than she had from the other end of long range surveillance equipment.
“Play along,” Luke warned her, pulling back only slightly.
His warning earned him a nasty little glare. Those ice-blue eyes tapered to slits, and he could have sworn she hissed at him. But maybe that was the brutal November wind that was assaulting them.
“Oh, good,” the skinny blond sales clerk said from behind them. “You found each other.”
Luke didn’t look back at her. He kept his gaze staked to the liar he’d just kissed.
The liar who tasted remarkably like cherry pie.
“Who are you?” the liar demanded.
“Your husband,” he lied back. “Trust me, you’ll want to go along with that for now. It’s in your best interest.”
Since his body was still against hers, he felt her go board stiff. She no doubt would have questioned him, or slugged him so she could escape, if the sales clerk hadn’t stopped right next to them.
“This is so exciting,” the clerk declared. She walked closer and grinned from ear to ear. “I’m a sucker for happy endings.”
Well, this wasn’t one of them.
Luke knew the clerk was Carrie Saunders. Age twenty-four. Born and raised in Crystal Creek. He was reasonably sure that Ms. Saunders didn’t have a clue that she was working for a woman who’d fabricated an entire life. So, in a sense Carrie Saunders was a nonplayer. Or at least she would be once Luke got away from her. He definitely didn’t want her or the local police to get suspicious, and he needed to get his wife alone so they could have a little chat.
“You wouldn’t mind if Elaina left for the day, would you?” Luke asked the other woman. He kept his tone playful and needy, as if he truly were the long-lost husband who’d returned to his loving family.
“Take as much time as you want,” Carrie insisted. She wagged her finger at Elaina. “I don’t want to see you anywhere near this shop for at least a week. Oh, and if you need someone to babysit Christopher, just give me a call.”
Luke assured her that they would, and he slid his arm around Elaina’s waist to get her moving. She had that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, and for a second, he wondered if she was going to try to run away.
“Don’t even think about it,” Luke mumbled. “You’re leaving with me.”
He took her keys from her trembling hand and practically pushed her inside her economy-size car. To keep the loving couple façade intact, he pressed a kiss on Elaina’s gaping cherry-scented mouth, gave a friendly wave to Carrie and then drove away.
But he didn’t breathe any easier now that the first part of his plan had worked. Because there were a lot of steps to this particular plan, and there were pitfalls with every one of them.
“Who are you and what do you want?” she demanded the second they were out of the parking lot.
Since this would no doubt be the beginning of many questions, Luke decided to give her the ground rules. “Here’s how things are going to work. I’ll ask the questions, and you’ll provide the truthful answers. We’ll start with why you’re living this lie.”
Her chin came up. “That’s none of your business.”
“I beg to differ.”
It wasn’t just his business.
It was his life.
“Why the lies?” he pressed.
She stayed a quiet a moment though she continued to stare at him. What she didn’t do was answer him. “Are you here because of Kevin?”
Luke figured that name would come up soon enough. “Kevin Ameson, your late fiancé. I never met the man. And that’s the only information you’re going to get until you start talking. Oh, and remember that part about being truthful. I figure that’ll be difficult for you, so try very hard.”
No more deer-in-the-headlight look. She aimed her index finger at him. “Let’s get something straight. I knew nothing about Kevin’s illegal activities. Nothing. And I’ve already paid enough for his stupidity and deception.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
She frowned and angled her body back slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That’s another question and still no answer to mine. You’re not good at following the rules, so let me clarify the information you’re going to tell me. Why all the lies? And why are you in hiding?”
“I have my reasons, and you probably know what they are as well I do.” She paused only long enough to draw breath. “I covered my tracks. I haven’t used any of the money from Kevin’s and my bank accounts or investments. And I haven’t contacted a single person that I knew in my former life. So, how in the name of heaven did you find me?”
Luke huffed. Yet another question. This was turning into an annoying interrogation, and his intimidating scowl wasn’t working.
Odd.
It usually did.
“Okay. A modification of the rules. Tit for tat, we’ll call it. I’ll give you a little info, and you’ll do the same. I found you through your glass,” he informed her.
That gave a moment of hesitation. “You what?”
“When I realized I was looking for Laina McLemore and that you’d disappeared, I started digging for clues. You were a successful stained- glass artist when you lived in San Antonio. I figured that’s the line of work you’d fall back on, so I studied your designs, and I started scouring shops and Internet sites until I finally found pieces that I could attribute to your artistic style. People always leave trails when they try to hide.” He glanced at her. “Your turn. Start answering my questions.”
“Oh, God.” But she didn’t just say it once. She strung them together and plowed her hands through the sides of her short, spiky, honey-brown hair. “Is that why you’re here? Are you one of those men, or did they send you?”
Luke had already geared up to remind her that it was her turn to provide information, but that stopped him cold. “What men?”
“The ones who followed me after Kevin was murdered.” Anger fired through her eyes. “Well, if you’re one of them, you’ve wasted your time.”
Luke ignored her outburst. “Back up—who are these men?”
“They didn’t exactly introduce themselves to me, but they did try to run me off the road.” Her voice was clipped with anger, and the words came at him like bullets. “There were two of them. Both probably in their early thirties. One had very pale blond hair, and the other had a deep scar on the left side of his face. He wore an eye patch.”
Luke wasn’t sure what to make of that. Just retelling the event seemed to shake her, but then, this was a woman who was very good at telling believable lies. Still…
“What did these guys want?” he asked.
“I don’t know. But I think it had something to do with some computer software that Kevin was modifying for someone he only ever referred to as T. Maybe those men were associated with this T, or maybe they thought I had the modifications or Kevin’s research notes. I didn’t.” She snagged his gaze. “I really don’t know anything about my late fiancé’s criminal activity, okay? But I’ve paid for it. I’ve paid dearly by losing my home, my friends and by having to recreate a life among strangers.”
Luke wasn’t unaffected by the weariness and pain he heard in her voice, but he pushed aside any sympathy he was feeling by reminding himself of what this woman had done.
She’d robbed him of his life.
“What about the illegal adoption?” he asked. Not easily. It was almost impossible to keep the emotion out of it. “Have you paid for that, too?”
She blinked and pulled in her breath. “How did you know about the adoption?”
“I know a lot about you, Laina Marie McLemore. You’re twenty-eight. Born in Bulverde, Texas. A rancher’s daughter, though both your parents are dead. I can tell you the name of your third-grade teacher and what you had for dinner last night. What I’m trying to figure out if you were the mastermind behind Arneson’s illegal ventures, or were you just along for the very lucrative ride?”
“I knew nothing about Kevin’s business dealings or the legality of the adoption.” And she was adamant about it, too.
Luke continued to push. “But you went along with it?”
“Unknowingly went along with it,” she corrected.
When she didn’t say more, he made a circular motion with his hand for her to continue.
She started with a huff. “Kevin was sterile, we wanted a baby, and he didn’t want me to use donor sperm to get pregnant. He’s the one who arranged for the adoption through an attorney in San Antonio. I didn’t know it was illegal, not until months after Kevin was murdered, when I read about the illegal adoption ring in the paper. Even then, I didn’t know that’s how Kevin had gotten Christopher.”
“But you suspected it,” he accused her.
“No, I didn’t. Not until I saw the name of the attorney who’d been arrested. By then, it was too late. I was already in hiding. I’d already established a life here in Crystal Creek. And I knew if I didn’t stay hidden, those men would come after me—”
“Ah, the men again,” he mocked. “They’re getting a lot of playtime in this fantasy world of yours. And it’s because of these men that you fled San Antonio and went into hiding.”
“Yes.” She paused. “You don’t believe me?”
“No, but that’s not important. The important thing is that after a year of digging, I found you.”
“Lucky me,” she grumbled. She turned in the seat so she was facing him. Her loose, well-worn jeans and dark red cotton shirt whispered against the vinyl seat. Her breath whispered, too. There was more weariness in it, but Luke could see her fighting it off. “Now, it’s your turn to answer some questions. Who are you and what do you want?”
“I’m Luke Buchanan.” Since the truth would no doubt speed this along, he added, “I’m a federal agent with the Department of Justice.”
She put her hand over her heart as if to steady it. “Prove it.”
The crisp demand had him doing a double take. For a weary lying woman, she certainly had a lot of resolve left. “Prove what?”
“Show me a badge or some kind of ID.”
Jeez. Why couldn’t she just confess all?
Irked, Luke reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his badge. She took it, stared it and even scraped her thumbnail over the picture. Not just once. But twice.
“It’s real,” he assured her.
She must have agreed because she thrust it back at him. What he wouldn’t tell her, yet, was that while the badge was real, this wasn’t official Justice Department business.
No.
This was as personal as personal could get.
“I suppose you’re here to arrest me for the illegal adoption?” she asked.
“That all depends.”
“On what?” Finally, there was slip in her resolve. Her voice cracked.
“You.” He came to stop in front of the house, turned off the engine and stared at her.
Probably because she hadn’t taken her eyes off him, she hadn’t realized where he’d taken her. She glanced out the window for a second before she snapped her head back in his direction. “This is my babysitter’s house. What are we doing here?”
He turned toward her so he could see every nuance of her reaction. “Why do you think I’m here?”
