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“She gave birth to Miguel in the back of a semi. The other women helped her, and they managed to keep the baby a secret for a while. Two of them were also pregnant.”
“I thought most girls picked up by traffickers were forced into prostitution. Pregnant women wouldn’t do them much good.” The truth hit her. “Oh, my God, they want the babies.”
He gave a terse nod. “One of the men in charge of Consuela’s group figured that out. His name was Escher. He’d been a coyote for years, but the idea of stealing babies and dumping them into a horrible and uncertain future was too much, even for him. He called me.”
“He was your informant.”
“Consuela said that he tried to free them all. He didn’t really think they had much chance and told her to leave Miguel behind. Escher promised to protect the infant.”
“By running away, she thought she was saving her son,” Petra said.
“Instead, Escher was killed. His partner—the suspect we arrested—tried to find the others, but they were gone, everyone but Consuela who stayed behind to find her baby.”
“And now?” she asked. “What’s going to happen to Consuela and Miguel?”
“They’re reunited with her husband and in protective custody. We need her testimony to convict our suspect. After that, I’m not sure what will happen with immigration. At least, their family is together. They’re all healthy and safe.”
It wasn’t a perfect happy ending, but the fate of Consuela and Miguel wasn’t as terrible as it might have been. They’d escaped. How many others wouldn’t make it?
Unable to sit still, she rose from the table and paced across her kitchen to the counter where she poured herself another cup of coffee. She didn’t need the caffeine. Her blood surged. She was fired up.
This type of injustice was why she’d wanted to be in the FBI. When Brady did his analysis of her, he said she always fought for the underdog. So true. “I wish there was something I could do.”
“There is,” he said. “I told you I was going undercover to investigate the trafficking in babies. And I could use your help.”
“Anything,” she said.
“Will you be my wife?”
Chapter Four
Needless to say, Brady was one-hundred-and-ten-percent serious about his investigation. Enlisting Petra’s help wasn’t something he took lightly. Still, he hadn’t been able to resist teasing her.
Her reaction was huge. Her eyebrows flew up to her hairline. A pink flush dappled her cheeks as she gaped at him, slack-jawed. She stammered, “You w-w-w-want me to do what?”
“Be my wife.” He leaned back in his chair and calmly sipped his coffee, enjoying the show. “I’m sure it’s not the first time someone has asked.”
“Well, no. Not that it’s any of your business.” She braced herself against the kitchen counter. “I need an explanation.”
“Being my wife? I think you know what that means—a white picket fence, a couple of kids and a dog ‘til death do us part. Love, honor and obey, especially obey …”
“I’ll obey you when hell freezes over.”
“We can tinker with the vows. I’m flexible.”
“You can go … flex yourself.” She stalked to the back door. “I’m out of here.”
The screen door slammed behind her with a final sounding slap. Apparently, Petra didn’t respond well to teasing. He’d known she was the sensitive type, but he hadn’t expected her to get so upset. Had he accidentally pinched a nerve? She was twenty-nine years old. Marriage might be a hot-button issue.
He rose slowly from the table, disappointed that he wouldn’t be seeing more of Petra Jamison but glad that he’d found out now that they couldn’t work together. Damn, she was touchy. If she’d thrown a hissy while they were in the middle of their undercover assignment, the consequences would be bad.
When he stepped outside into the crisp fall sunlight, she was waiting for him with her fists stuck on her slim hips. “You said you needed my help. I want to know more.”
The smart move was to keep walking, to move away from her. “This isn’t your problem.”
She stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “Wait up, Brady. I know you were teasing.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Give me another chance.” She swallowed hard. “I might have overreacted.”
He figured that was the closest thing to an apology he was going to get. If she could stay cool, she was the perfect person for the undercover job. He reached into one of the pockets in his cargo pants, took out a photograph and handed it to her. “Do you remember this?”
“It’s the blanket that was wrapped around Miguel. With the sheep design and the blood and the logo for Lost Lamb Ranch.”
“Lost Lamb Ranch was the destination for Consuela and the other pregnant women. We think it’s some kind of clearing house for baby trafficking.”
“Why can’t the FBI just shut it down?”
“Supposedly, this ranch is a nonprofit home for unwed mothers. On paper, they look legit. They file their taxes and pay their bills. The adoptions arranged through Lost Lamb seem to fulfill all the proper requirements, but I think they’re a front for trafficking. If I can get inside and find out who’s really running the show, then I can shut them down, lock them up and make sure they never hurt another child.”
Her head bobbed, and her ponytail bounced. “That’s why you’re going undercover to investigate.”
“But I don’t have an in.”
“And I do,” she said.
“What’s more natural than a midwife looking for work at a facility for unwed mothers?”
“So we’ll move to the area,” she said, “and I’ll be your undercover wife.”
“Isn’t that what I said?”
“Not exactly.”
He didn’t push the issue. The time for teasing was over. “I won’t lie to you. This assignment is dangerous, and it’s not your responsibility. I want you to consider before you give me your answer.”
“How long would it take? I can’t be away from work.”
“All taken care of. Cole’s wife will move up here and handle your caseload. We’ll say you had a family emergency.”
“Wait a minute. You’ve already talked this over with Cole and Rachel?”
“It was Rachel’s idea for me to approach you.”
He was well aware that Cole’s wife had a matchmaking agenda for him and Petra. Because her marriage had turned out well, Rachel was anxious for her friend to find an FBI husband of her own.
Brady didn’t bother telling her that he and Petra wouldn’t make a good match. Not that he didn’t find the feisty redhead attractive. He liked her careless beauty, even the freckles. And she had a killer body. But they were from different planets when it came to temperament. She was all emotion, and he was completely rational.
From the few minutes he’d spent in her kitchen, he knew she’d drive him crazy. Her home was clean but cluttered, with all kinds of scribbled kids’ pictures hanging on the fridge and the countertops lined with containers were in every shape and size—ranging from clear glass to something that looked like a purple mushroom.
“Let’s walk,” she said.
He fell into step beside her as they went down her driveway onto the sidewalk. This was a pleasant residential neighborhood with small, frame houses on large lots. At the corner, she turned left. They were going uphill.
She asked, “Why me?”
“Obviously, there’s your occupation. It’s tough for an undercover operative to fake being a midwife, especially if they’re asked to deliver a baby. And I’ve seen you in action. You don’t get rattled under pressure.”
“But I do get rattled,” she muttered. “I don’t like being teased.”
“Duly noted,” he said. “I also looked into your record at Quantico. You were top of your class, scored off-the-charts in all kinds of tests and were on your way to becoming an outstanding field agent.”
“But I quit.”
The incident that caused her to leave the FBI had been described in a Supervisory Special Agent’s report along with a somewhat hostile notation about her tendency to flaunt the rules. “Tell me what happened.”
“I got a message from my brother. He’s a cop in San Francisco. At the time, he worked with my boyfriend who was also a cop. Everybody in my family, except my mom, has a career that involves protecting people. My sister is in the Army. My dad is an arson inspector for the San Francisco Fire Department.”
Her father’s occupation seemed like an explanation for her fear of fire, but her background raised other questions. How could a free spirit like Petra exist in a family that followed and enforced the rules?
Two blocks away from the end of the street where they were walking, he saw a forested area. “Tell me about your mom.”
“Best cook in the world.” Her mouth relaxed into a grin. “Sometimes, she worked at her father’s restaurant and made the most amazing Greek food. When I was a kid, I loved to go with her, even though my yaya would always pat me on the head and say that my red hair meant trouble.”
“Yaya?”
“Grandmother,” she said. “She moved to the United States when she was eight and became a citizen. But she is Greek, first and always. She believed redheads were either descended directly from the gods or were wild and wanton, maybe even vampires.”
“She thought you were different.” Maybe a self-fulfilling prophecy for Petra. “It sounds like you preferred the more creative lifestyle at the restaurant. But you chose to join the FBI.”
“All through high school and college I was kind of wild. Let’s just say it didn’t turn out well. I was twenty-one, and I figured it was time to give my father’s way a try.”
Her digression into describing her family life had given him useful insights into her personality. “You still haven’t told me why you quit the FBI.”
They’d reached the forest. She left the sidewalk and followed a narrow path that led into a thick grove of aspen. A brisk wind rushed through the white trunks, and the golden leaves shimmered like precious coins.
Petra wrapped her hand around one slender trunk and tilted her head back. The reflected light picked out blond highlights in her auburn hair as she returned to her story. “Like I said, my brother called. He told me that my boyfriend had been seriously injured in the line of duty, and I left Quantico without going through proper procedures.”
According to the account he’d read, she wasn’t cleared to leave the training area and had sneaked outside the perimeter, evading the surveillance. Then she’d flagged down a car, using her FBI credentials. After she was on a flight to San Francisco, she’d called her supervisor.
Even though Brady admired her resourcefulness, he didn’t understand her refusal to go through regular channels. “You would have qualified for compassionate leave.”
“I doubt it.” She shrugged. “This was a boyfriend. Not a fiancé. Not a husband. I was pretty sure I’d be told to suck it up and get back to work. And I couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t. I had to be with him.”
This was a clear example of following reckless emotion rather than logic. “Then what happened?”
“I got a stern reprimand, and it ticked me off. I quit. Flat out and permanently. I wanted nothing more to do with the FBI with all those rules and regulations.” She tossed him a grin. “Here’s the irony. My boyfriend recovered in just a couple of weeks. And the big, fat jerk dumped me.”
“And you went to school to become a midwife.”
“Which turned out to be a job I love. Maybe I ought to send the jerk a thank-you card.”
Brady had a fairly good idea what he was getting into by bringing Petra into his undercover assignment—a whole lot of passion and drama. On the plus side, being undercover wasn’t a stretch for her. Nobody would ever think this woman was with law enforcement.
“Think about the assignment,” he said. “I need your answer as soon as possible.”
She walked along the path, touching the trunk of each tree she passed. “Did you know that the druids believed the aspen was sacred? They’d come into a grove like this, sit quietly and listen to the rustling and watch the quaking leaves until they reached enlightenment.”
“Didn’t know that.” He really didn’t give a damn about druids.
“And there’s a Ute legend about how the Great Spirit cursed the proud aspen. Because it refused to bow to him, the tree would forever tremble whenever anyone looked at it.”
“What’s your point?”
“I’m looking at the big picture.” She plucked a leaf and twirled it between her fingers as she came back toward him. “My answer is yes.”
“Did the tree tell you to say that?”
“I came to this decision all by myself,” she said. “If it means rescuing babies, I’ll do anything. I’ll even pretend to be your wife.”
She didn’t sound particularly happy about the idea, which was fine with him. This was an investigation, not a romance.
BY TWO O’CLOCK IN THE afternoon, Petra had made her excuses to the clinic and arranged for Rachel to take over her caseload. She’d packed one suitcase with clothes and shoes. Her other odds and ends went into a couple of cardboard boxes. Altogether, her personal items took up only a few square feet in the back of her truck, which was fortunate because Brady’s possessions filled the rest of the space to overflowing.
His undercover identity was as a struggling artist, and he’d brought along easels, equipment and a couple of crates of artwork. Added to those were several other unmarked cardboard boxes he’d gathered from grocery and liquor stores.
Leaning against the side of the truck, she watched as he transferred his things from the back of his minivan. He loaded not one, not two, but four cases of bottled water.
She arched a skeptical eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure they have water in Durango.”
“I like this brand.”
Even though she’d be first in line to promote the benefits of staying hydrated, she didn’t believe the taste varied much. Water was water. “What’s in all those boxes?”
“Kitchen supplies, linens, electronics. I haven’t labeled anything because that’s not something my undercover character would do.”
“Ah, yes. You’re supposed to be Brady Gilliam, former alcoholic and artist from San Francisco, who inherited a house not far from the Lost Lamb Ranch.”
“And you’re my wife, Patty.”
She frowned. “How come you get to keep your first name and I don’t?”
“Petra is an unusual name. If somebody goes snooping around on the internet, looking for information on midwives, they might make the connection to your real identity.”
He already had her documentation in hand—a fake California driver’s license and social security card. Apparently, he’d been confident that she’d agree to his proposal before he’d even talked to her. Although she didn’t like to think of herself as predictable, his conclusion was totally logical, given what happened the first time they’d met. She was someone who took action. And she didn’t hesitate to protect the helpless.
To establish the rest of her undercover identity, Brady did a computer consultation with the FBI computer techs. They produced a dossier on Patty Gilliam’s history, including a website and online presence.
