Agent Undercover (2 page)

She’d given up on a relationship with her mom at the young age of eighteen when she’d left home to find her way. After a rocky start, she’d finally landed at the police academy and worked her way into her current position.

An agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, she was on call for the state of North Carolina, too.

Being away from home didn’t bother her. There really wasn’t anything for her to miss. Her best friend was her job.

But a tiny part of her admitted she was lonely.

The small hand in hers squeezed, reminding her that she wasn’t alone right now. A small shot of warmth coursed through her, and she squeezed back.

“So, Will, how old are you?”

He simply blinked.

“Hmm … don’t want to talk, huh? Well, that’s okay, I guess I’m still a bit of a stranger, aren’t I? Maybe you can just nod?”

The door opened before she could continue the one-sided conversation, and Will’s uncle entered, followed by the doctor and a nurse.

The dark-headed man smiled and said, “I’m Doctor Land. Glad to see you’re awake.” His chocolate eyes smiled at her.

“Thank you. So, when can I leave?”

“You had a pretty hard conk on the head.” He consulted her chart. “I think we need to keep you for the night, just for observation.”

Paige grimaced. “I have a job I need to get started on.”

He was already shaking his head before she finished the sentence. “No, ma’am. You’re in great shape physically, so the healing process should be pretty quick for you, but no working for a few days until we make sure there’s nothing else going on with your head. We went ahead and did a CAT scan, and everything look okay, but head wounds are tricky. You need to take care.”

“She will.”

At Dylan’s bold statement, Paige blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

He swallowed and flushed. “Sorry, I didn’t meant to sound like I had any right to tell you what to do, it’s just that—” he shuffled his feet and shoved his hands into his pockets “—I feel a little responsible and just want to … um … help. Will you let me?”

Unsure how to respond, Paige simply looked at him. She racked her brain for an appropriate response, but she couldn’t very well tell him the real reason she needed to get to the school and get started in her job as guidance counselor. “I … uh … sure. I guess.”

A smile finally crossed Will’s little lips, and his grip tightened once again. She hadn’t realized he still held her hand. He was so
quiet.
Not like other kids his age she’d been around. And she’d been around a lot during the training that taught her how to question children exposed to trauma.

“So, you want to take care of me, huh, Will?”

A nod so slight she thought she might have imagined it moved his head.

A sharp, indrawn breath from the boy’s uncle made her glance his way. Shock and joy stood out on his handsome face making her wonder what was going on.

“Hmm. Well, let me think about it and I’ll let you
know.” She had to contact Charles and let him know that she was okay. He’d be chomping at the bit at the fact that she hadn’t checked in with him in over a day. She wondered how many voice messages he’d left on her phone.

The doctor flipped her chart closed. “There’s a whole army of reporters outside wanting to talk to you. Apparently, someone called the local news.”

For the first time since she’d awakened, a chill of fear shot through her. She couldn’t talk to reporters. Staying alive meant maintaining her cover and keeping her face out of the limelight.

If the wrong person found out what she was doing in the town of Rose Mountain, she would wind up as dead as her fellow agent and friend, Larry Bolin.

D
ylan had been so focused on the fact that Will had responded to a question that he almost missed the flash of … what? … that crossed her face at the mention of the reporters. Fear? Consternation? Something.

“You don’t want to talk to the reporters?” he asked. “Everyone is saying what a hero you are.”

A flush crept up her neck causing her white cheeks to pinken. “I’m not a hero. So, please, tell them just to go away.”

He glanced at the doctor who shrugged and said, “Okay. I’ll tell security to handle it. Now, let me check you out.” He motioned for Dylan and Will to wait outside.

Dylan took Will’s hand, and the boy finally let go of Paige’s to follow him. Once outside the room, Dylan thought about the woman who’d saved Will’s life.

And her reaction to the idea of talking to reporters. Most women that he knew would love to be in the limelight, talk about how they’d saved a child. And even if they didn’t necessarily revel in the attention, they wouldn’t mind giving an interview.

But not Paige.

Interesting. Curious. It made him want to ask her about it, find out why she didn’t want to be in the spotlight.

The hair on the back of his neck tingled, and he looked up. Nobody in the hall looked like they had an interest in what he was doing. Still, he frowned. After the incident with the car, he was on edge.

He’d been stopped by several reporters since the accident but thought he’d given them enough of what they’d wanted. Another sweeping glance still didn’t reveal any reason he should feel watched.

Uneasy, he pasted a smile on his face and said to Will, “How about we go grab a little snack and then come back to see Ms. Worth?”

Will’s lips parted in a smile.

For the second time that day.

Dylan’s heart flipped. Ever since Will’s mother, Dylan’s sister, Sandra, had been killed in the fire that ripped through her house, Will had become mute, haunted by nightmares that woke him, that caused the little boy to scream until he was hoarse. And that was the only time he ever made a sound. Even when he cried, his tears were silent.

Dylan had shortened his hours at the medical clinic, working only during Will’s school time so he could be there to pick up the boy from school.

And Will always seemed glad to see him. But Dylan felt there was something he was missing, something he should be doing for Will. He just wished he could put his hands on what that something was.

Even the therapist Will had been going to seemed stumped at the child’s continued silence.

They walked into the cafeteria and Will went straight to the fruit section. Dylan got him a bowl of grapes and banana slices, and they found a table in the corner. Will picked up his fork and stabbed a piece of banana.

Surprise hit Dylan when he found himself wanting to hurry Will up so they could go back to check on Paige.

Swallowing hard, he examined what he was feeling. He wasn’t in a good place to be this attracted to someone. He had been engaged until very recently, but Dylan could finally admit that his and Erica’s relationship had died long ago even though the recent betrayal still hurt.

Pushing those thoughts away, Dylan felt a smile curve his lips. It might be fun to get to know Paige. To see what she was all about.

To hear her deepest secrets.

Then he frowned. Of course if he expected that of her, he’d have to be willing to reciprocate.

Then he flushed, embarrassed by his premature thoughts. He’d just met the woman. He knew nothing about her. For all he knew, she might have a boyfriend somewhere. Someone who lived in another state and just hadn’t come to be by her side.

The television caught his attention. The reporter was talking about Paige’s amazing rescue this morning. Captivated and horrified all at the same time, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the woman who stood in front of the school where it had all happened giving a detailed account of the near miss.

In his mind, he watched it all over again as her bike flashed in front of the car, her arm snaked out to grab Will and then the front headlight clipped her back wheel. And down she went.

He sucked in a lungful of air.

Not knowing where the sensation came from, he couldn’t help feeling his life was getting ready to be rocked by the strawberry blonde, blue-eyed woman lying on the bed upstairs.

As soon as the doctor stepped from the room, Paige grabbed the cell phone that had been placed on the table beside her. She punched in the number she’d memorized a long time ago.

Her boss answered on the second ring. “Ashworth,” Charles Forester almost growled, “where are you? Are you all right? I just talked to ‘your principal’ who said you were in the hospital. What’s going on?”

“I’m fine.” Well, she would be. “But we’ve got a problem. Reporters have already gotten wind of the story and are making a big deal out of it.”

Filling him in, she did her best to ignore the aching in her head compounded by his sudden bid for her to hold on.

She held.

A minute later, he said, “I’m back.”

“I should be out of here tomorrow and plan on getting back to the school as soon as possible.” She paused. “How’s Larry’s family doing?”

“Not good.” His voice lowered. “They need his killer brought to justice, Paige.”

“I’m working on it, but I need you to make sure that my face doesn’t appear on the news. If some hotshot reporter or photographer decides to make this his story, and someone recognizes me …”

A long pause.

“Charles?”

“I’m watching the reports now. Got Louis to pull it up and stream it to my computer as soon as you said something about reporters.” Louis, the DEA’s tech guy who could do anything with a computer. “Right now, the story’s only on the local channel. We’ll do our best to keep it that way.”

Paige blew out a sigh and shifted her head. “And you’re still against working with the sheriff on this one?”

“Definitely. He’s squeaky clean, but Larry’s dead, and the investigation of his death hasn’t produced much. Let’s keep this one close to our vest for now. If we need to bring the sheriff into it, we will. I’m still screening his deputies.”

Thoughtlessly, Paige nodded and grimaced at the shaft of pain that shot through her. Maybe she’d be out of commission a bit longer than she thought.

“All right, give me a couple of days, and I’ll see how I feel. One more thing, you’ll never guess who the little boy was.”

“Who?”

“Dylan Seabrook’s nephew, Will Price. Dylan was walking him to school when all this happened. Dylan always lets him cross to the guard who waits in the center of the street. He was almost to her when the car came flying down the street toward him.”

Charles scoffed in disbelief. “You’re kidding. Sandra Price’s son? The woman who was killed in the fire with Larry?”

“Yes.” She paused. “This accident may actually be a blessing in disguise. It gives me a way to get close to Dylan.”

A pause. “Are you sure it was an accident?”

She thought about it. “No, I’m not.”

“If the people who killed Larry and Sandra think Dr. Seabrook knows something, they may decide he needs to disappear—or cause his nephew to in order to keep him quiet.”

“I know.” The thought filled her with dread. “I need to find out if he’s had any threats made against him or Will.”

“That sounds like a good place to start. Listen, I know you haven’t had a chance to really work on the case yet, but given that you’ve been in the town for a couple of days, are you sure we’ve got you in the right place? The elementary school rather than the high school?”

“I think so, based on what Larry said about Sandra being friends with one of the parents who was arrested. Although she didn’t know the name of the person who supplied the drugs—or exactly how they were being transported through the school—she was pretty adamant that they were coming from the elementary school. The ID found in the fire is the biggest sign, of course.” A charred staff ID from Rose Mountain Elementary School had been found in the residue of the fire.

“And the drug dogs came up empty.” He sighed. “All right then. Keep in mind, we’ve also got a detective questioning those two parents who were arrested for possession.”

Paige pulled in a breath. “Great. As soon as I recover and do a little investigating, I’ll be in touch.”

“You’d better be.”

“Bye.”

“Oh, Ashworth.”

“Yes?”

He cleared his throat. “Good job on saving the kid.”

“Thanks, Charles.”

“And keep in mind, there are major storm and tornado watches going on in your area. I know tornados in the mountains are rare, but not unheard of. Keep up with the weather.”

“Will do.”

She hung up the phone and set it back on the table.

Her brain whirled. Where to start? She looked around the room. A small bouquet of flowers sat near the sink.

She had just now noticed them. A smile curved her lips. No doubt they were from Dylan and Will. Then she frowned. She didn’t need to be having any warm, fuzzy feelings for the brother of the woman she was here to look into.

A knock on the door made her jump. By reflex, her hand went for the weapon she normally carried in her shoulder holster. Only to come up empty.

Right. She hadn’t wanted to carry the gun into the school, so she’d left it locked in her gun box in the drawer of her nightstand. But she didn’t have any enemies here. She was simply a guidance counselor.

“Come in.”

The door opened once again and a man Paige knew to be her new boss stepped in. The principal of Rose Mountain Elementary.

She offered him a weak smile. “Hello, Dr. Bridges.” She’d met him briefly at the district office on the day of her interview two weeks ago. Only the superintendent of the school district, whose cooperation had been needed to secure Paige’s position at the school as the new guidance counselor, knew the real reason she was in Rose Mountain.

“Please. Call me Tom. How are you feeling?”

“Like I cracked my head open.”

He gave a laugh and, for the next few minutes, they continued the small talk. Then Tom asked, “Is there anyone I can call for you? A man named Charles answered the emergency number you listed on the application. Said he was your brother.”

“Right. Thank you for contacting him.” They’d agreed Charles would play the role of her brother if he ever needed to come see her during one of her undercover operations. Or if there was ever an emergency. Like this morning.

“Yes. He said to let him know if your condition worsened and he’d come.”

Charles had been giving her time to call him and let him know whether she needed help or not. “I appreciate you doing that.”

He stood. “Well, you take your time getting well. We’ll see you when the doctor says you can come to work.”

“Thank you.”

After he left, she closed her eyes. In her mind, she pictured the agent who’d been killed in the fire with his informant—and girlfriend. Paige frowned at that. She wasn’t sure she agreed with Larry’s choice, but he’d been struck by the woman the moment he’d met her in the teacher’s lounge of the high school.

The feeling had been mutual and Sandra Lee Price, Dylan’s sister, had agreed to help the DEA put away as many people as possible that were involved in the drug ring that was suspected to be originating out of Rose Mountain.

And now she was dead, along with Larry, an excellent agent and Paige’s good friend. She bit her lip to stem the tears.

Paige glanced at the door where Dylan and Will had disappeared a little while ago.

It was Paige’s job to find out exactly how much Dylan knew about his sister’s death. And if he was involved in any way.