Rachel Lee - Conard County Spy

Sheesh, was she getting desperate or something?

But no, there’d been something in his brown eyes that had reached out to her. Those eyes had stuck with her. Then that crazy scene at the motel this morning.

Was Ryker keeping secrets again? God, for Marisa’s sake, she hoped not. “Why don’t you grab a nap? Unless this kid is going to starve in the next hour, I can walk her and change her.”

“She won’t starve. We just finished a feeding.”

Julie eyed her. “And she’s still awake? Good heavens!”

“Poor baby is miserable,” said her miserable mother. Marisa rose and touched Jonni’s forehead. “She’s a little cooler. An hour, no more, okay?”

“An hour,” Julie agreed, although if she could get the baby to sleep longer she’d give Marisa more than that.

Marisa disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door, a great sign, Julie thought. She was going to try to get some sleep, although how anyone could sleep with this racket escaped her. Babies seemed to have a volume out of all proportion to their small size.

But as she paced from kitchen, through foyer to living room and back, eventually Jonni did fall asleep. Little twitches and occasional snuffles replaced the heart-rending cries.

Eventually she heard the side door in the kitchen open. Probably Ryker. She stayed in the living room so that inadvertent sounds wouldn’t wake the baby. A minute later, Ryker appeared, his jacket unzipped.

He smiled at her and the child. “Marisa?” he whispered.

“Asleep, I hope.”

“Think you can come into the kitchen and pace? I want to make some coffee.”

“I’ll wait until you’ve started it. I gather peace is hard to come by right now.”

He laughed silently. “Understatement.” He stepped closer. “You’re going to have to keep some secrets, though. Will you?”

“Not from Marisa.”

“Not from Marisa. Just from everyone else in town.”

“That I can do. I’ve been practicing my skills almost since I learned to talk.”

Rocking side to side to provide a soothing motion, she waited and enjoyed how good it felt to hold a sleeping infant. Baby smells, warmth, soft little noises and cute little movements. Heavenly.

Ten minutes later, the baby still slept. Ryker returned with two mugs of coffee, followed by Trace.

“My, my,” Julie murmured, her heart quickening. “Somebody’s got some explaining to do.”

Chapter 3

Trace left his jacket hanging open, set his coffee on a table, then eased into the gooseneck chair again. He stared at Julie and the infant and felt guilty as hell. This wasn’t right; nothing about this was right. Now they were dragging an innocent woman into the middle of this and he decided that the smartest move might be to catch a bus for Seattle in the morning.

Then he remembered, yet again, Ryker’s warning about collateral damage. He wanted to pound his fist on something to express his frustration with the way this was going. Maybe he ought to just shoot himself before this went any further.

But Gage’s words surfaced. The only thing that had kept Gage from cutting his own throat was a desire to catch the rat. Oh, he could so identify with that. Plus, he had a feeling that if he gave himself over to this guy, some people who had set him up might not learn a lesson: not to cut an operative loose and leave him to his fate. There were other people, people he worked with, respected and liked, who might suffer the same fate. Assuming, of course, that all of this was about an asset being after him, and he had no idea who that might be.

Galled by it all, he sucked down more coffee and waited for Ryker. His hand burned like fire in a forge and felt as if a blacksmith were hammering it. Just a little longer, he promised himself. Then he could take a couple more of those pills. Right now he needed his wits, every last one of them.

It was Julie who broke the silence, her voice quiet. Her question surprised him and made him wonder how much she had already been told and how much she had guessed.

“So,” said Julie, “did Fiona see Trace arrive?”

“Fiona?” Trace asked immediately.

“Nosy neighbor,” Ryker answered. “No. It’s dark out there and that’s why I came by the side door. Trace had his head covered and ducked. If Fiona saw anything at all it was me pulling a week’s worth of diapers out of the SUV, and that pretty much occluded her view of the kitchen door.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll be the first one she asks if she’s curious. What do I tell her?”

“Nothing,” Ryker said flatly.

“Nothing isn’t a good answer for some people. Relax, if necessary, I’ll deal with that woman.” Julie smiled. “This is fun.”

“No,” Trace said. “It’s dangerous and I shouldn’t be here.”

Ryker shook his head once. “You’re sounding like a one-note fiddle. Wherever you go, others will be at risk, so it might as well be willing participants who know what’s going on.”

Trace scowled at him. Damn, he hated being boxed in.

Julie spoke again. “So let me guess. The so-called State Department doesn’t only have jobs that lead to an exciting life of world travel and fancy parties.”

Neither Trace nor Ryker answered her.

“Oh, come off it,” Julie said. “Johnny died. What kind of fool do you take me for? No, don’t answer that. Don’t answer anything. Just tell me why you’re cutting me in. Then tell me how you’re going to keep Marisa and Jonni out of it. Because frankly, that’s all I really care about now.”

Trace admired Julie’s spunk. Right now she looked like the epitome of womanhood, an infant rocking on her shoulder, her long hair flowing down her back, a delightful body encased in a green sweater and black slacks. And all she was worried about was the safety of her friend and the baby. Not herself. He wondered if he needed to be more emphatic. “We’re talking deadly danger here. I am not exaggerating. You should want to be as far from me as possible.”

“Kinda hard when you’re in my best friend’s house,” she retorted. She looked at Ryker. “Start talking and then tell me what we’re going to do to protect your family. I am not leaving here until I know.”

Ryker smiled faintly. “Gage was right about you. He said you take no as a challenge.”

“Is that why you’re talking to me? Because right now, I need some filling in. So Trace here is in danger and is worried about everyone around him. For some reason he’s not leaving town. I assume the reason is a good one. So...what can I do to help?”

“We need to disguise him and stash him somewhere.”

Julie shook her head a little. “Stashing someone in this county isn’t easy. He needs to hide in plain sight.” She looked at Trace. “Tell me you don’t know how to do that.”

Astonishment grew in Trace. This woman was talking like an experienced operative. Where was this coming from? “Yeah, I know how to do that.”

“Cool,” said Julie. “Change of hair color would be good unless you can grow a beard fast.” She ran her gaze over his face. “Glasses can fool facial recognition software, too.”

Ryker started laughing quietly. “Where’s this coming from?”

“I studied a bit of theater in college. The biggest problem we have is Trace’s arm. That’ll be hard to conceal when he can’t use it. Can you wear a sling? I can wrap it up so it looks like an ordinary injury.”

“I don’t know if I could stand it,” he answered frankly. “But it’s worth a try.” He decided to let go for just a few minutes and let this woman take the lead. He was beginning to enjoy the way she was just diving in, dealing with the problem presented to her, without demanding explanations. She’d assessed the situation amazingly well and was working with it. No faint heart, this one.