Kara Lennox - Hidden Agenda

Beyond appearances

Work undercover, catch the bad guy, become a full-time Project Justice investigator. Simple enough plan, until Jillian Baxter recognizes the man she’s investigating. Her new “boss” is none other than Conner Blake—her childhood crush. Luckily, he has no idea who she is, since Jillian is no longer Jillybean, the short, overweight teenager he publicly humiliated.

Despite their past, Jillian knows Conner isn’t a murderer. Nor is he that same cruel boy. In fact, there’s much to admire about the man he is. Still, this is an ongoing case and whatever is happening between them will have to wait. As she gets closer to finding the killer, she must decide if she can trust Conner with the truth. And that could be her toughest decision yet.

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

Conner stepped inside and closed the door.

“Oh, Conner, you startled me. I was hoping Mr. Cuddy could give me the budget for the office party—”

“You were in here alone, with the door closed. Drop the dumb-blonde act, Jillian. I happen to know you’re highly intelligent. So I’ll repeat myself. What the hell are you doing in Cuddy’s office?”

“What did you come in here for? You didn’t even knock.”

“I needed something from my office for the meeting. Since I was headed this way, Cuddy asked me if I’d get his…his phone.”

Jillian couldn’t believe this. Conner was lying, too!

“I don’t see his phone,” Jillian said casually.

“Guess he didn’t forget it after all. Probably put it in the wrong pocket or something.”

“Is that the story you’re going to stick with?”

He crossed his arms. “Mine’s better than yours.”

For the span of a few heartbeats they stared at each other, challenging.

A rattling of the office doorknob caused Conner’s eyes to widen with apprehension. “Follow my lead.” Without warning he wrapped his arms around her and planted his mouth firmly on hers.

Dear Reader,

What was your most humiliating incident in high school? Almost every woman can remember a moment during her vulnerable teen years when she wished the earth would swallow her up, or she could move to a different state and change her name. And was there a boy involved? If you could see him again today, what would you say?

Fortunately, most of us can laugh at those cringe-worthy memories. But Jillian, the heroine of Hidden Agenda, isn’t ready to laugh. At age fourteen she was humiliated and she had her heart broken. Now, just when she gets a chance to prove herself in the eyes of her Project Justice colleagues, she has to work side by side with the boy—now a man—she used to love with all her heart, then vowed to hate forever.

I had a great deal of fun with Jillian. She’s made an appearance in all five Project Justice books, and I’m excited to give her her own story. I hope you enjoy her journey.

All best,

Kara Lennox

Hidden Agenda

Kara Lennox

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kara Lennox has earned her living at various times as an art director, typesetter, textbook editor and reporter. She’s worked in a boutique, a health club and an ad agency. She’s been an antiques dealer, an artist and even a blackjack dealer. But no work has ever made her happier than writing romance novels. To date, she has written more than sixty books. Kara is a recent transplant to Southern California. When not writing, she indulges in an ever-changing array of hobbies. Her latest passions are bird-watching, long-distance bicycling, vintage jewelry and, by necessity, do-it-yourself home renovation. She loves to hear from readers. You can find her at www.karalennox.com.

For my best friend in high school and college, Anne O’Connor.

We sure had some adventures.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

I’M IN! JILLIAN BAXTER tried not to let the sense of triumph show on her face as the personnel director, Joyce Carrington, droned on about vacation policy and 401(k) plans. Jillian had crossed her first hurdle as a field investigator at Project Justice: she’d been hired by Mayall Lumber. Now she would infiltrate the company and catch a murderer.

“Well, we can go over all this when you officially start,” Joyce said breezily. She was a pleasant, matronly sort with a cloud of dark, frizzy hair escaping from numerous barrettes, a blouse with a coffee stain, and a desk piled high with messy stacks of paper itching to be sorted and organized. “We’ll make the job offer official as soon as Mr. Blake signs off.”

“Mr. Blake?”

“He’ll be your direct supervisor,” Joyce said. “I’ll warn you, he’s quite challenging. He’s been through four admins this year already. But with your experience, I’m sure you’ll have no trouble.”

Jillian’s experience was mostly fabricated. Daniel Logan, CEO of Project Justice, had put together a résumé that had made her sound like the best administrative assistant in all of Texas, making sure her stellar references would check out.

But Jillian had full confidence in her ability to please this Mr. Blake, whoever he was. He couldn’t possibly be any more demanding than Daniel was, and she’d been Daniel’s personal assistant for years before transferring to the foundation’s investigative arm.

“I’ll walk you over to his office.” Joyce stood, bumping one of the precariously balanced stacks of paper, which fell to the floor in a flurry of printed reports, invoices, newspaper clippings and employee candidate résumés.

Jillian hopped out of her chair to help clean up the mess. One particular paper caught her eye; it was a memo from the company’s public relations office with lots of capital letters and exclamation points.

Under no circumstances should anyone speak with reporter Mark Bowen— That was as much as Jillian could read on the fly.

“Oh, goodness, thank you,” Joyce said. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten behind in my paperwork. Things have been a little crazy around here the last few weeks.”

Jillian wasn’t surprised. When one of your employees was murdered and found in the trunk of your CEO’s car, it probably created all kinds of havoc.

Jillian made no reference to the scandalous situation. “Business is booming, then?” she asked innocently.

“Well, yes, business is good. But that’s not… It’s just that we’ve lost some key people recently. Others are retiring, including our acting CEO.”

Hamilton Payne. He was the one who had contacted Project Justice, and the only person working here who knew of Jillian’s true purpose.

“Your job must be quite demanding,” Jillian said sympathetically as she stacked the last of the fallen papers and laid them on the desk. “I hope you have a good admin.”

“On maternity leave,” Joyce said glumly.

“If I have any extra time, I’d be happy to help you out.” Jillian wasn’t just being generous. Joyce obviously knew the ins and outs of Mayall Lumber—who the key players were, their salaries, their responsibilities. She and her office could be a gold mine of information.

“Trust me, working for Mr. Blake, you won’t have much free time. He’ll keep you busy.”

Jillian hoped this Mr. Blake wouldn’t be too ghastly. But no matter how bad he was, she would make it work. She only had to put up with it for a short time, just until she found something to prove Stan Mayall’s innocence.

Mr. Blake’s office was on the third floor, in the executive wing. Mayall Lumber was a medium-size operation, with two sawmills, one large lumberyard and a posh corporate headquarters overlooking Houston’s Buffalo Bayou. They had only one retail outlet, a small place that specialized in exotic woods of the highest quality for furniture and cabinet makers. Most of their business involved selling to the construction trade and small lumber retailers. Daniel had provided tons of information on the company, which Jillian had dutifully memorized. Her knowledge had obviously impressed Joyce.