Undercover Daddy (2 page)

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 Arneson, 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?”

“Oh, no.” She began to shake her head. “I can’t let you do this. You can’t arrest me. You don’t understand—he’s my son. I’ve raised him since he was three days old. I’m the only mother he’s ever known.”

“Believe me, I know that.”

And that was the only reason he hadn’t had Laina McLemore arrested.

“I won’t let you take him from me,” she insisted.

“You have no choice.” And he was just as adamant.

“But you do.” Her bottom lip began to tremble, and she gripped the sides of his leather jacket. “You can walk away from this. You can pretend you never found me.”

Luke had thought he would be immune to a reaction like that, but he wasn’t. “I can’t do that.”

The grip she had on his jacket melted away, and she touched her fingers to her mouth. Tears sprang to her eyes. “Oh, God. The birth parents know about Christopher, and they want him back.”

“His birth mother is dead.” Luke had to take a deep breath after saying that. And another deep breath before he could continue. “But his birth father does indeed want him back.”

Twin tears spilled down her cheeks. “Then, I need to talk to him. I need to make him understand how much Christopher means to me.”

“You’re already talking to him, and there’s nothing you can say or do to make me change my mind. Christopher is
my
son.”

Elaina’s breath vanished. And her heart. God, her heart. It was pounding so fast and hard that she thought her ribs might crack.

This was her nightmare come true. Well, one of them anyway. The only thing worse than this would be another attack from those men. But this was an attack of a different kind.

Luke Buchanan was Christopher’s birth father.

Or was he?

On the surface it seemed stupid to challenge him, but she was desperate. “Why should I believe you?” she asked. “Show me some proof that he’s your son.”

She figured that might buy her some time. It didn’t. As if he’d anticipated the question, he calmly reached inside his leather jacket and produced a manila envelope. Elaina also noticed the gun tucked in a leather shoulder holster. It looked as authentic and official as his badge. Luke Buchanan seemed to be the real deal.

“Let me start with how I found out that you had my son. A woman named Collena Drake, a former cop, has been digging through the hundreds of files left by the criminals who orchestrated the adoptions, among other things. She got in touch with me and was able to tell me the names of the couple who’d illegally adopted Christopher.”

“Collena Drake could have been wrong,” Elaina offered. “And the records could have been wrong, too. After all, the people who put them together were criminals. You just said so yourself.”

He ignored her, opened the envelope and extracted a picture. “That’s Taylor, my late wife.”

Elaina took the photo from him, dreading what she might see. It was the picture of a couple on their wedding day. The bride, dressed in white, was a beautiful brunette. The groom, Luke Buchanan, wore a tux.

“That’s still not proof,” Elaina insisted.

Luke Buchanan’s calm demeanor remained in place. From the envelope, he produced a marriage license. He placed it on the seat between them. Elaina was about to repeat her doubt, but the next document kept her quiet.

It was a lab slip indicating a positive pregnancy test.

The date on the slip was eight months prior to Christopher’s birth.

“In addition to the lab results, this is a report that details how I learned about what happened to Taylor and our baby.” He plopped the stapled pages onto the stack. “There’s an eyewitness account of Taylor arriving at the Brighton Birthing Center just outside SanAntonio. She was in labor. The eyewitness helped her into the E.R. section of the building and then left. All of this happened August eleventh of last year.”

That information hit her hard. Because August eleventh was Christopher’s birthday. And his place of birth was indeed the Brighton Birthing Center. Still, Elaina wasn’t going to accept this blindly.

“Eyewitness accounts can be falsified,” she countered.

“Not this one. It came from the cab driver who took Taylor from our house to the birthing center. He has absolutely no reason to lie.”

She swallowed hard. “Maybe not, but that still doesn’t prove Christopher is your son. There were probably dozens of babies born that day.”

“Three.” He paused a heartbeat and snagged her gaze. “But only one boy. Seven pounds, four ounces. Twenty-one inches long. Sound familiar?”

Oh, mercy. It did.

Elaina felt the tears burn hot in her eyes, and she didn’t even try to fight them back.

“Take a good look at that photo,” he said, fishing out the wedding picture from the pile. “You’ll see that Taylor and I are Christopher’s birth parents.”

Though it was nearly impossible to see clearly through the thick tears, Elaina did study the photo he handed her. Luke and Taylor Buchanan were both brunettes. As was Christopher. And though she hadn’t made the connection when she first met Agent Buchanan, she could see it now.

Christopher had his eyes.

Except on her son, the color seemed softer. Kinder. Rainy-cloud-gray, she’d whimsically called them. It was ironic to see those same eyes on this man who could destroy her.

And there was no doubt about it—losing Christopher
would
destroy her.

That’s why Elaina didn’t give up. She couldn’t. He’d made a good case, but other than the similar eyes, he certainly hadn’t proven anything.

“Why did your wife have to take a taxi to the Brighton Birthing Center?” she asked. “Where were you during all of this?”

“I was on a deep-cover assignment trying to stop a terrorist attack.” A muscle flickered in his jaw. “Taylor and I were having problems, and we’d gotten a legal separation right before I left. I didn’t know she was pregnant until after I returned. Then, I learned she’d died of complications from a C-section. I also learned that the baby, our son, had been adopted, but the records had supposedly been destroyed. The records didn’t surface until the police busted the illegal operation and Collena Drake decided to devote all her time to locating the missing kids. That’s why it took me this long to find you.”

Each word added dead weight to her heart. Because this was unfortunately all starting to make sense.

“I found you eight days ago,” he continued. The calm façade seemed to slip a little. There was a touch of hot, raw emotion in his voice. “And I put you under surveillance.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course, you didn’t. I do a lot of surveillance in my job, and I’m very good at it.”

No doubt. It riled her that someone had been able to intrude into her life without her even realizing it. That gave her the resolve she’d been searching for. “So, you watched me and decided to step into my fake life and pretend you’re my husband?”

He nodded. “You made it easy for me to do that. I had a fellow agent ask around town. He pretended to be interested in having some church windows repaired. And he learned there were no photos of your fake spouse. No specific physical accounts or descriptions. No one around here seemed to know what Daniel Allen looks like.”

“I didn’t want anyone comparing the photo to Christopher. Since he doesn’t look like me, I just told people that he took after his father.” Elaina paused and tried to fight off the dark reality she felt closing in around her. “And maybe he does.”

“
Maybe?
You still have doubts after everything I’ve shown you?”

“I have to have doubts.” She slapped her hand on the documents he’d shown her. “Doubts are the only thing that prevents me from screaming and running inside to hide my son from you. Besides, you have no DNA proof—”

“I do have proof. I got back the results about two hours ago. That’s why I’m here.”

There was no way Elaina could have braced herself for the final paper that he took from the envelope. She shook her head when he tried to hand it to her, but he finally dropped it onto her lap.

She had no choice. Even though she didn’t want to look at it, her eyes refused to cooperate. It was indeed a DNA test, and it identified Luke Buchanan as the father of one Christopher Allen.

That put another fracture in her heart.

“This can’t be accurate,” she challenged. “You don’t have Christopher’s DNA so you had nothing to make the comparison.”

But his expression said differently. “After I found you, I took a pacifier that Christopher had left in his car seat. And before you accuse me of breaking and entering, I didn’t. I had a warrant.”

She hadn’t thought it possible, but her heart pounded even faster. Elaina frantically searched for holes in his case and found one. “If you have this proof,” she said picking up the DNA test, “then, why pretend to be my long-lost husband?”

“Because there’s something I need from you.”

He let that hang between them for several moments before he scooped up all the papers and put them back into the envelope. “Here’s what’s going to happen—we’ll go inside and you’ll make introductions. To the sitter and especially to my son. For the next few days, I’ll pretend to be the husband that you’ve so cleverly created.”

But once they were inside, he could take Christopher. “And if I don’t agree?”

He lifted his shoulder and slipped the envelope back into his jacket. “Then, I call the FBI, and have you arrested for participating in an illegal adoption. Then, I take Christopher from Crystal Creek, and you’ll never see him again.”

Mercy, he was indeed holding all the cards. “And if I cooperate?” She held her breath, praying for some good news in all of this.

“I’ll still take Christopher, eventually. After he’s gotten to know me.” More of that calm reserve slipped away. He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Look, I know you’ve been a good mother to my son, but he’s mine, and I have no intentions of giving him up. We might even be able to work out visitation rights for you—if you can ever convince me that you didn’t do anything illegal to get him.”

Elaina was about to ask how she could ever prove that, but she caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked out the window. Theresa, the sitter, was making her way across the yard toward the car.

Elaina groaned. She didn’t need this visit. Not now. She still somehow had to convince Luke Buchanan to leave and never come back.

A smiling Theresa tapped on the window, and Elaina reluctantly lowered it. The elderly woman had sugar-white hair and smelled of ginger cookies. Christopher’s favorite. Theresa had no doubt been baking them for him.

Theresa’s attention went straight to Luke Buchanan. “Daniel, it’s so good to meet you,” Theresa said before Elaina could offer any explanation. “I’m Theresa Gafford. I babysit your precious son.”

Luke nodded and even flashed a smile. The facial gesture seemed stiff as if it’d been a while since he’d done that. “Good to meet you, too, Theresa.”

There were tears in Theresa’s eyes and a smile on her face. “Thank goodness you’re home. You’re the answer to so many prayers.”

More like the answer to a nightmare. “Carrie called you to tell you that Daniel was here,” Elaina said to Theresa.

“Yes. And Jay from the gas station, too,” Theresa verified. “It’s impossible to keep secrets around here.”

It was a comment that caused Elaina to cough.

Theresa motioned toward the house. “Christopher’s taking a nap, but I can wake him. I suspect you’re anxious to see him.” She smiled. “Or maybe you two should just head home and I can bring him after he’s awake.”

“No.” Elaina quickly vetoed that. She wanted to spend no more time alone with this man. Of course, she didn’t want him around Christopher, either. “We’ll come back later.”

Much later.

“Darling,” Luke said. The term of endearment seemed as foreign as his smile. “If you don’t mind, I’d love to see my son. Now.”

Those stormy eyes warned her to defy him.

Elaina cast him her own warning, but she knew his carried far more weight. He could have her arrested. He could legally remove Christopher from her life.

Because she had no choice, Elaina reached for the door handle. She would cooperate, for now. But there was no way she could let him take Christopher.

Luke got out of the car at the same time she did, and he quickly went to her and slid his arm around her waist. Since Theresa was ahead of them and couldn’t see, Elaina tossed him a scowl and pushed her elbow against his ribs to keep some distance between them.

“Daniel, the three of you will have to come for dinner once you’re settled,” Theresa said.

“Thank you,” Luke answered. “I’d like that.”

Elaina mumbled the same fake gratitude under her breath, knowing that there’d be no dinner. If she couldn’t talk Luke into leaving, she’d have to consult an attorney about what her rights were.

If she even had rights.

It was entirely possible that she didn’t.

“Oh, I nearly forgot,” Theresa said, stopping on the top porch step. The wind rifled through her hair when she turned around to face Elaina. “About two hours ago I went over to your house to get Christopher his bunny. You forgot to bring it this morning. Anyway, while I was there, two men drove up in a black car and asked to speak to you.”

Elaina stopped, too, and stared up at the woman. “Who were they?”

“Census takers, they said.” Theresa’s forehead bunched up. “I thought it was a little early for that, but they said they needed to ask you some questions. I told them you might be at your shop and let them know that it was easy to find since it was on Main Street just up from the police station.”

Elaina was more than a little concerned. In the entire year she’d been in Crystal Creek, no one had come looking for her. It seemed too much of a coincidence that she’d have three visitors in the same day.

“Did these men show you any ID?” Luke wanted to know.

Theresa shook her head. “No. I didn’t ask for it. Oh, dear. Should I have?”

“No,” he assured her. “It’s just they might have been from the air force, to give Elaina official notification that I was coming home.”

“They definitely said they were census takers.” Theresa paused. “But to be honest with you, they made me a little uncomfortable. Especially the one with the eye patch.”

“Eye patch?” Elaina repeated, her voice barely making a sound.

Theresa nodded. “You just don’t see many eye patches these days, and this guy had a scar to go with it. Anyway, he didn’t talk much, but the tall blond man with him said they’d come back later to discuss things with you.”

Elaina looked at Luke, and would have given him an I-told-you-so glare if she hadn’t been so terrified.

Luke reacted. And his reaction terrified her even more.

He shoved his hand inside his jacket so he could grip his weapon, and his gaze fired around them.

“Get inside,” he ordered. “
Now
.”