Undercover Engagement (3 page)

“Something’s gone wrong. Come in the office and I’ll show you.”

“
I
got permission to show this to you. Only because my boss and I think you might be able to help.” He pressed several buttons bringing screens into the air. My boss’s picture popped up in front of me. “This is who I’m after – and after what happened in the parking lot today, he may be after me, too.”

“Devin?” I couldn’t believe it. The guy was a model citizen. I’d had dinners at his home with his wife and five kids. He’d even set me up with his nephew once. He was like a big brother to me.

“Devin Dixion. Financial genius and Taliban financier.”

“What? You have got to be kidding me.”

“Nope. We’ve been tracing his money for three years. He invests in businesses and pays terrorists to go after his competitors. He guarantees himself a large profit by paying a percentage to the ones who do the dirty work.”

Strange moments at work came into focus. The most recent being just this morning.

Tap. Tap. Tap. On my door frame.

“Hey Alyssa.”

“Hey, Devin.”

“Didn’t your client, Mr. Savage, invest in TriCorp a few years back?”

Click. Clack. “Yep. Quite heavily.” I squinted at the screen. “It’s grown considerably.”

“I’ve heard some rumors, perhaps you ought to sell for him.”

“You’re the boss.” I picked up the phone and made the call...

I stared at Jason. “TriCorp?”

He tapped at the ergonomically correct keyboard. A woman announcer narrated the devastation that appeared on screen. “Two car bombs exploded inside the TriCorp building only hours ago. Rescue workers rushed to the scene. As you can see, the building has sustained considerable damage. We're told most of the destruction took place in the research and development section of the building.”

The scene disappeared, replaced by a haggard looking executive. “We’ve lost two years' worth of research. More importantly, we’ve lost our top research team. They were all in the lab when the bombs went off. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families.”

Jason hit a button and the screen disappeared.

I dropped into a chair and stared at nothing. 

Devin? ... Devin? ... Devin? ...

Still, nothing.

Devin was a bad guy
? I couldn’t believe it. I looked at Jason. My world was on its side. I couldn’t believe Devin was capable of financing people’s deaths. Of course, six hours ago I wouldn’t have thought Jason was a spy, but here I sat in his super-secret safe house.

“Jason, I’ve been to his house. I gave his kids Christmas gifts. He’s like my family.” I closed my eyes.

Jason knelt in front of me and took my hands in his. “I know it’s hard to take in, Sweets.” He paused for a minute. I opened my eyes to see him in his thinking pose. He reached over to push a couple more buttons on the holographic screen. A police seal, a bunch of code, and finally a mug shot popped up. “The police have the hitters from our ride this afternoon in custody.”

The dark man’s chiseled features and brooding eyes looked lazily back at me. If anything, he looked bored. “He’s ... normal. I never would have pegged him as a killer.”

Squinting at Jason, I wondered how honest he was being with me. He’d lied to me since the day we met. Maybe he lied to me now.

“My office identified these guys from a job I did two years ago in South America. They’re in custody, but my cover is in jeopardy. I need your help.” He looked apologetic. Could be an act. Perhaps he was just waiting for the moment he could use me as a human shield. I waited.

“I was planning on driving you to your parents’ house this weekend, borrowing your company ID...”

I raised my eyebrows. I never would have given him my ID which meant he intended to take it – to use me.

“...sneaking out in the middle of the night, getting into Devin’s computer and getting back to Nibley before you or your parents knew I was gone.” He sighed. “Plan A is dropped. After what happened right under his nose in the parking lot, he’ll know I’m not who I said I was and there will be extra security. If I go into your office, I won’t come out.”

“What’s plan B?”

“We go to your parents' like we planned.”

I could just see it: "Hey mom, here’s my fiancé. What’s your real name, Darling
?"

I snorted.

Jason ignored my piggy-impression. “Monday, you go to work. Tell everyone how wonderful the weekend was and that your parents loved me.”

I rolled my eyes.

He pointed his finger at me. “You said they would.”

I shrugged – perhaps they would. He took my hands in his.

“I’ll spend the day getting control of security. That night, you conveniently work late, sneak into Devin’s office and hook me up to his computer. I’ll walk you through the hack-in process. Then, you get out of there and meet me in the lobby. After I turn the drive over to my boss – I’ll quit. Then we’ll get married, and take a fabulous honeymoon tour of Europe.”

This was going too far. Not only was Jason stripping away my reality, he expected
me
, a small-town girl who worked in an office, to jump head-first into his cloak-and-dagger world. The idea frustrated me and suddenly I wasn't even sure I wanted to spend the next twenty-four hours with Jason. Spending the rest of my life with the man who wanted to arrest (I hoped it was arrest and not kill) my boss, pressed in on me like the locked seatbelt had earlier. It was one thing for him to get out of the business, it was a whole other thing for him to drag me into it. I needed some space.

I shifted in my seat. “About that...”

Jason dropped my hands and got to his feet. “Don’t.” The carpet had vacuum lines in it, except where Jason paced.

“This is a lot to take in. I’m not even sure I have all the right questions or that you have the right answers.” I twisted the ring. “My parents, well, if I tell them we are getting married, Mom will have the reception planned before we leave Sunday afternoon. If I cancelled it later – it would break her heart.” Jason’s eyes drooped with every word of rejection. I pulled the ring from my finger.

His puppy eyes turned me into a complete wimp. I put the ring in my pocket instead of handing it over to him. I wasn’t ready to squash all hope of being together by giving it back. Besides, this way, I maintained an invisible level of control over some part of the situation. “We’ll just say we’ve been dating for a while. A happy little couple.”

“Plan B,” he repeated. “Will you help me?”

I’m such a sucker for a lost puppy. “Okay.”

“
D
id your third grade teacher really make you write: I will not burp at people, one hundred times?” I asked.

Jason burst out laughing. For the last hour and a half as we rode from Utah County to Nibley in the once again pristine Viper, I grilled him on every fact and story he’d ever told me. At least the ones I could remember. It was his idea. He was trying to prove he wasn’t the lying jerk I thought he was. How he had read my mind last night I’ll never know.

I’d slipped off to bed right after slipping off my ring and spent an exhausting night on my knees seeking direction. The most I got was a feeling of peace when I decided to help Jason with his mission.

“Yes. I’m sorry to say, that was true.” He wiped the laughter from his eyes.

“Graduate Summa cum Laude?”

“Yes.”

“In computer engineering?”

“Yes.”

I hesitated. The next question was soooo superficial. I had to know. “What about the money? Are you really rich?”

Jason’s smile disappeared. “Does it matter? I mean, if I said I’m as poor as a college student would it matter to you?”

Um, did it?
If I had met and fallen in love with another man, a man like my dad who worked hard to raise specialty feeds for farmers, a man who drove dusty pickup trucks and preferred roast and potatoes for Sunday dinner, would I care that we honeymooned in Park City instead of Europe or drove a minivan instead of a Viper? If all I got out of this whole thing was Jason, without the gorgeous suites and fancy restaurants, would I still want him?

Heck-to-the-ya I would.

And that was the biggest problem. I would have lived in a cardboard box if it meant a life with Jason, but what kind of life could we have if he was constantly in danger and dragging me right along with him? I had to keep my wits about me and think of this as I would any other high-profile transaction. After all, it wasn't just my life I was trading here, it was my heart.

“It only matters in reference to your character. I mean, I understand you had to play a part.”

“The money is a perk. From my first assignment, I was given a huge expense account to play the wealthy child card. I got free investment information from the top money minds all over the world and I took their advice with my own money. It started out small, but grew with hardly any effort.”

“Turn right, then at the bottom of the hill, take a left,” I instructed, as we drew closer to my parents’ house. He did and the ranch came into view. My dad was out on the riding lawn mower taming the half-acre of lawn. The day his last boy moved out, Dad gave away the push mower. He loves his horse power.

My stomach did a little flip when Jason turned up the tree-lined drive. This was a huge step for me. The only other guy I’d brought home had run screaming when Dad started cleaning his guns. Really, it’s the oldest father-move in the book and the guy whimpered home. I glanced at the hiding spot where Jason had tucked a handgun earlier that day. At least he won’t be scared off by the arsenal in the basement; he might actually appreciate it.

The lawn mower sputtered off.

“Time for a tune-up, Dad!” I called across the lawn.

He dismounted the mower a little slower than I remembered him moving. “What’s all this?” he asked as he wrapped me in a wonderful fatherly hug. I held on an extra moment, savoring the safety every little girl finds in her father’s arms. Holding back a sudden desire to cry, I smiled up at his weathered cheeks.

“Dad, this is Jason Butler. Jason this is my father, Hank Eastman.”

Dad raised his eyebrows and I gave a quick nod. They shook hands like two wrestlers about to square off, smiling with ease while they tried to crush the other’s fingers. Good. Things were going just like I'd planned.

“How long are you two stickin’ around?” Dad kept Jason in his cat-like stare.

“Just overnight, if you’ll have us.” I jumped in before Jason could answer.

Dad wrapped his arm around my shoulder and turned me toward the house. “Let’s go find your mother. She won’t want to miss a minute with you. Bring the bags, will you Jared?”

“Jason,” I hissed at Dad.

“Oh, Jason.” Dad smiled down at me like he hadn’t done it on purpose. I glanced over my shoulder to see Jason moving the passenger seat to get to our bags. He didn’t look comfortable. It wasn't kind of me, but I let him squirm – this was his plan B after all.

“Alyssa!” My mom wrapped me in her soft embrace. She complained about her extra twenty pounds, but I loved how it took the boney out of her hugs.

“Surprise!”

“She brought a boy,” Dad monotoned. Boy, he didn’t waste any time.

“What?” Mom’s face lit up. She pulled back from the hug and gasped. I felt her check my ring finger. Refraining from rolling my eyes, I turned to introduce Jason as he walked through the door.

Mom gave him a welcome hug before showing him where to put the bags. I’d grown up here with my three brothers who periodically invaded the ranch with their families for birthdays, holidays, and getaways. Even though there was a lot of upkeep to keep them busy, my parents would never move.

I gave Dad a nervous smile. “Be nice.”

“I’m always nice.” Dad put his palms up in defense.

“First date?”

“That was not my fault.”

“Prom?”

“I didn’t know he couldn’t swim.”

Sigh
. “Senior Dinner Dance?”

“What a lovely evening.”

Grrr
. “Paul?”

“He was just chicken.”

“Dad!”

“Fine, I’ll be on my best behavior.” He stared out the front window. “He does drive a nice car. What does he do?”

You wouldn't have thought it was so nice if you saw it shot full of bullet holes.
I couldn't imagine how late the repair guys had to work to get it put back together in time for us to pick it up and head out. It looked as if nothing had happened and if I hadn't spent the night in Jason's secret lair, I could have convinced myself it was all a bad dream.

“He’s an investor.” I ran a rough nail over my pants trying to smooth it out. So much for my manicure.

“You mean he’s unemployed.”

“No, I mean he’s wealthy.”

“How’d you meet?”

“Wait just a minute.” Mom bustled back into the room with Jason smiling behind. “I want to hear all about it too, so you might as well wait until I get lunch on. Then we can both hear your story.” Mom went to the kitchen knowing Dad would lay off the questions until she returned.

Jason looked at the two of us. He pointed to the kitchen, backing away slowly. “I’m going to go help your mom.”

I wiggled my fingers goodbye and picked a
Country Living Magazine
off the table.

“I’m going to finish the lawn. Call me for lunch.” Dad looked back as he opened the door.

I wiggled my fingers at him, too.

He smiled and blew me a kiss. “Next time, come alone,” he said in a stage whisper before shutting the door.

My dad and I have a great relationship, but sometimes it’s hard to tell when he’s kidding.