A Little Harmless Secret (3 page)

“Yes?”

“There was a hit. Someone was looking for information on Stryker.”

Irritation danced through the agent’s blood. “You woke me up for that? There are a lot of people who look for the bastard. Call me—”

“Please. Listen. There was someone checking out the cameras at the Pike Place. It was well hidden, but someone went to a lot of trouble to get information from there. And there was one very important section. I sent you a pic on your secure email.”

The agent pulled the laptop from the other side of the bed. After keying in the password, the email popped up. The picture was grainy, but it was no doubt Alicia Hughes. There were more of them, including one with Alicia against a building holding the hand of a little girl.

“This was in Seattle?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know where they live?”

“Yes.”

“Take care of it.”

The agent hung up and smiled. Finally, so close to the end after all these years. One little mistake, and could finally be over with.

CHAPTER THREE

Two days later, several fractured federal laws, and a few thousand dollars tossed at those who helped, Devon and Dee parked down the street from what he was sure was Ali’s house. It was set off from the road and surrounded by trees. Secluded even. It was a rancher, with a long front porch. The grass was trimmed and the flower beds were filled with plenty of colorful flowers that gave it a cheerful look. The warm fuzzy feeling was ruined by the fact the house had enough security to protect her from an invasion from a foreign country.

There were cameras on the roof and more than likely sensors around the area. Flood lights sat atop each corner of the house. And that was just what he could see from the front.

“Well, someone doesn’t like visitors,” Dee murmured, a thread of admiration in her voice.

He glanced at her and noticed that she was looking up at the roof. Dee never missed much.

“Apparently not.”

But he couldn’t judge Ali, not when he had the same kind of a security at his various houses. Anyone who had been in the business didn’t fuck around with security.

It did appear that someone in the house had a background in some kind of law enforcement. Was she living with a man? Was there even a chance that she was married now…or maybe even then? Did that mean Ali had some kind of connection to him he didn’t know about? And what did that mean about their meeting? Was it just a chance encounter or had she picked him out?

He had known the CIA had put a price on him. Of course, it was only good if he was brought in alive. Thanks to Conner Dillon, that was removed about the time his father had been arrested for trying to kill Dee.

So why did this woman

“Hey, earth to Dev,” Dee said snapping her fingers in front of his face. “Where did you go?”

He shook his head. “I guess we should go knock on the door.”

“Let’s go,” Dee said, but she frowned when he pulled a gun out of the glove box. “There could be a little kid here, Dev.”

“And a woman who is afraid of something. With that amount of security, she might see us as a threat. Just being careful and keeping the safety on.”

She opened her mouth to argue with him, but years of being her brother had taught him how to deal with Dee. It was best not to even He slipped out of the car and tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans, then covered it with his jacket. Dee was still frowning at him when they walked up the driveway.

He continued to ignore her and he heard her sigh. She apparently decided to let it go for now. They both stopped when they reached the front walk.

“It looks nice,” Dee said. “Well, if you ignore that she apparently has more of a hard-on for security than you do.”

And it was nice. The neighborhood was upper middle class from the looks of it and each lot had at least an acre around it. It was a perfect place to raise a kid.

He was on alert for anything as they walked up, but nothing happened. No alarms sounded. Weird. For someone who had this much security, he would have thought they would have triggered some alarm. They knocked on the door. No answer.

Dee shifted her weight from one foot to the other, a clear sign that she was getting impatient. When Dee got impatient, bad things could happen.

“It was too much to hope for that she would be home. She probably has a job or something,” Dee said.

She looked in the front windows and Devon walked around the front, looking for clues about the woman who lived there. The name on the mortgage was Francine Williamson, not Ali, but that didn’t mean anything. She could have been using an alias that night. It would explain why it was so hard to find her before.

But he knew it was the same woman.

“I think we better go, Dee,” he said. Now that he knew where she lived, it would be easier to figure out how to approach her.

Before Dee could respond, a crossover SUV drove up and parked in the driveway. She apparently hadn’t seen him or Dee, which was odd considering the security she had around the house. She stepped out of the car.

She was casually dressed in a pair of jeans that hugged her hips. The jacket was more about utility than fashion. His heart jerked, then doubled in speed as he watched her move. No matter what she wore, he knew it was her. No one in the world moved like her. Every motion was fluid, as if she had some kind of soundtrack playing in her head.

He couldn’t seem to catch a breath, as if all the air around them had been sucked away. Images of that night washed over him, the sounds of her gasps and moans. He licked his lips and was positive he could taste her there.

“Ali,” he said.

She froze, then turned to face him. Her face was pale, her eyes huge and he knew fear when he saw it.

“That’s not my name.” Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. The English accent was nowhere to be found. She reached behind her.

“Don’t.” It was only a simple word but she understood the implications. He wouldn’t hurt her unless she posed a threat to Dee.

“I’ve no idea what you’re doing here or why you’re calling me by that name. If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police.”

Denying her name, what they had together….it pissed him off. Why was she doing this? And why did she look as if he was going to hurt her?

“Yes, it is. I know you. We met in Vegas.”

She was shaking her head in denial when he heard small footsteps around the front of the car. A smaller version of Ali stood there, with blonde hair like the night he had met Ali. She had his eyes.

“Mummy, isn’t he the man who yelled at us in the market?”

He looked at Ali, his eyes narrowing as he studied her. “Why don’t you answer her, Ali?”

“Ali? Mummy says only her father called her that.”

Devon said nothing as Ali finally stepped in front of her daughter. “Please leave.”

Her voice was tight, not with anger…but deep-rooted fear. It quivered at the end and he knew it wasn’t normal for her. She thought he would hurt her? Or did she think he would hurt the child?

“I’m not leaving until I have an explanation.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

She straightened her shoulders. “I’ll not explain myself to the likes of you.”

He opened his mouth to ask just what the hell she meant, when Dee stepped out from behind him before he could stop her. “Hey, there.”

Ali’s gaze took in Dee, traveling down to her stomach, then she looked at Devon.

“I’m Dee, Devon’s sister. And you must be…well, what do you want to be called?”

The little girl peeked out from behind Ali. The smile she offered reminded him of Alana.

“Francine is what people call her here,” she offered.

“Then, Francine, and you are?” Dee asked smiling. His sister could get a mute man to talk with that smile of hers.

Ali opened her mouth to probably tell her not to reveal her name, but her daughter was quicker than she was.

“Bridget Williamson.”

“That is a fantastic name, if you don’t mind me saying. My name is Dee and I have a little girl just a little bit younger than you. Her name is Alana.”

“I think we all need to have a nice long chat,” Devon said.

Ali looked from him to Dee then back to him. “Is she really your sister? The one who died?”

That answered one question. She knew his true identity. That meant she had known who he was all along.

“Yes.”

Dee stepped forward. “I promise I am. You can call my husband if you want an affirmation. He stayed behind to watch my little girl.”

Disbelief moved over her features. “But you came out here pregnant. And he let you?”

“Micah said something about Devon and me needing someone to bail us out after you had us arrested for trespassing.”

Ali’s lips twitched, then she sighed. “Okay, but there are some rules.”

Bridget leaned closer to Dee. “Mummy likes rules.”

“Mind your manners, young lady.” Her words were tinged with a bit of that English accent he loved and the same authoritative tone he’d heard Dee use on many occasions.

Bridget immediately pouted, but Ali paid her no mind. He’d seen his sister do the same thing. Micah and Devon were not immune to Alana’s pouts, but Dee didn’t put up with it.

Ali pulled out her keys and looked from Dee to Devon. “Bridget, go up on the porch. You two, stay here until I have the door unlocked.”

Devon wanted to argue with her, but Dee touched his arm. He looked at her and she shook her head.

“Get rid of the gun, you wanker. You will not bring it into my house,” Ali said as she slipped past him. He nodded.

They turned to watch Ali unlock the door, then stand in front of the security pad as she punched in her code.

“Go in, Bridget,” Ali said. “Mr. Stryker has something he needs to put in his car.”

She never took her gaze from his as she once again ordered him to get rid of his gun. He did her bidding, jogging down the driveway to put the gun in his glove box, then rejoining his sister.

Ali looked from Dee to him. “One wrong word, one thing that sets me off, and you leave.”

They both nodded.

“Come on in.”

They were walking up the path when Dee said, “Behave yourself.”

He frowned but nodded. He would behave if need be so he could find out just what the hell was going on.

* * * *

Alicia sent Bridget to her room to play while she faced off with her unwanted visitors. Devon sat at her kitchen table, a brooding figure. A very sexy, brooding figure.

Lord, where did that thought come from? She was really going mental if she was thinking about him that way. This was the man responsible for her father’s death. Even as she thought that, her heartbeat ticked up a beat. It wasn’t from fear.

She was a horrible, horrible person. She was surely going to hell. Or at least purgatory.

Dee sat beside him, smiling. Now that she saw them side-by-side, she could see the resemblance. They were twins. She had forgotten that. When she realized she and Devon were in a stare down, she decided to move this along.

Refusing to sit down, Alicia walked across the kitchen floor and leaned against the counter. “I’ve no idea what you think you’re doing, but I’ll not have you scaring my daughter.”

“Our daughter.”

The two words sent a shaft of fear coursing through her blood. “You have no proof.”

“Believe me, I can afford a DNA test, but she has my eyes.”

She crossed her arms. “You’d have to get a court order before I would let you do that.”

Devon’s face turned into a mask of anger. He opened his mouth, but his sister interrupted him again.

“Let’s worry about that later on, okay? Why don’t we start with something easy? Are you Francine or Ali?”

Alicia hesitated. Over the last few years, she had become good at avoiding direct questions, only skimming the surface of who she really was. Most people didn’t really want to know the truth, just the version that made them most comfortable.

She studied Devon, gauging how much she should tell him. It seemed stupid to deny who she was with a man who had biblical knowledge of her body. Instantly, she was thrown back into that night, the sights, the sounds, the way it felt to have his body crush her body into the mattress.

“Alicia. Alicia Hughes.”

Devon grunted. “At least you didn’t lie about that.”

She might have invited him into her house, but she would not put up with that attitude. If he knew her better, he would probably have kept his mouth shut.

“And you were truthful? Running off and leaving me in the bed with a bloody note?”

He opened his mouth to fire off a retort of some sort, but his sister stopped him. Dee groaned and covered her face, then she dropped her hands and scowled at her brother.

“Oh, Devon, you didn’t leave her like that, did you? That’s horrible. No wonder she doesn’t like you. If I had been in the same situation, you would definitely be talking at a higher octave.”

Devon scowled right back. “Dee, you don’t know the whole story.”

“No, I don’t. And you left out the part of leaving a note. Have you broken up with women in a text?” She closed her eyes. “No, don’t tell me. You probably have. I share DNA with a jerk.”

Alicia tried not to smile, but seeing Dee berate Devon was kind of nice. It had been a long time since anyone had stood up for her.

“Yes, he did. Just a note saying he had an emergency. No number, nothing.”

She opened her eyes and looked at Alicia. She saw the twinkle in Dee’s eyes. “Oh, wait until I tell Micah.”

“Stop, Dee. That’s water under the bridge.”

Alicia snorted and crossed her arms beneath her breasts.

Devon narrowed his eyes. “What I want to know is when she found out she was pregnant, why didn’t she find me.”

She could lie, but she didn’t. She did look for him. “You are not an easy man to find.”

“That’s true,” Dee said. “Especially then, when our father wanted to kill us. But that’s another story.”

Alicia blinked. “Okay.”

Devon wasn’t happy with that answer. “That doesn’t explain why you ran away when I saw you two days ago.”

The question brought her back to reality. This wasn’t a pleasant exchange between friends. This was a man who had caused her world to dissolve into a pile of crap. Anger wrapped in a thick coat of fear balled up in her stomach.