Suddenly a Spy (6 page)

“Seriously. What can I do to help?”

“Research the dealer. Study the auction list
for Sunday. Maybe drop by the range a few times between now and
then. Wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your aim.”

“Okay,” she nodded, feeling better now that
she had a plan and a homework assignment.

Chapter Seven

Veronica fidgeted with a bobby pin in the
brunette wig she wore.

“Stop that,” Jeff smacked at her hands.
“You’ll ruin all of my hard work.”

“It itches.”

“You seriously suck at this, you know that,
right?” he straightened her hair for her. “Now stop moving your
hair around. You’re drawing attention to yourself.”

“I’m sorry... and I’m not that bad.”

“If we get home without being shot, it’ll be
a miracle.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“What did you tell Dad?” Jeff changed the
subject.

“That we were still recuperating from the
trip and you were still recuperating from the beating Courtney gave
you.”

“Nice.”

“It’s what came to mind,” she shrugged. She
rationalized the lie by telling herself she was saving the entire
family a lot of grief by circumventing a fight between Sean and
Rick. That didn’t make her any better of a liar. The reality of it
was her father had probably begun checking the situation out the
moment Adrianna appeared at the reception. He was just waiting in
the wings for Veronica to ask for his help. On some level, she
found that reassuring. On another, it irritated the hell out of
her.

“Do you have our story straight?” Jeff leaned
in closer, just in case someone in the busy terminal had decided to
eavesdrop.

“Sure, sure. We’re from Peoria, we’ve been
married six years and simply adore a good old Chippendale,”
Veronica paused for him to snicker. “You are so juvenile. Anyway,
we’re there in search of Roman artifacts for our summer home in the
Carolinas. Anything else?”

“Don’t forget you have to convince them of
your abject submission to me.”

“Very funny.”

“You have a disposable cell in your purse. If
we get separated, I’m speed dial number two. If you can’t reach me,
Batman is number three.”

“Would you stop calling him that? It sounds
so ridiculous.”

“Our guy on the inside… does that sound
better?”

“Am I supposed to call him Batman if I need
him?”

“To his face, I’d recommend Vance. He doesn’t
like the nickname so much.”

“See?”

“Hey Ron….”

“Yes?”

“Don’t get caught. Just in and out,
okay?”

“Absolutely... hey Jeff?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Rick is?”

“He’s completely off radar. Dad started
digging into his name after the shenanigans at the wedding. Babe,
this guy didn’t exist two years ago.”

“I was hoping Dad wouldn’t get involved,”
Veronica frowned, hating that she’d been right but not at all
surprised.

“Yeah, good luck with that. Don’t you dare
tell him I helped you do this. He thinks he’s being sneaky; he
doesn’t want to upset you.”

Veronica sighed; she knew her family entirely
too well.

Jeff took her hand in his as their plane
began to board. As much as he delighted in harassing her, she was
glad to have a brother willing to sacrifice his weekend to help.
She tried to be decent company on the short flight and during the
dinner afterward.

She even tried to get him to take the one bed
in the room of their hotel. He’d refused, sleeping on the couch
instead. She curled up with a pillow in the giant bed and wondered
where her husband was. She also debated whether to greet him with a
thousand kisses or a sound trouncing.

“Are you awake?” she called out softly.

“I am now.”

“Do you think I’m a fool for not leaving
him?”

“I can’t tell you if you made the right
decision or not. No one can.”

“Okay. Sorry to wake you.”

“I can tell you that he loves you. He thinks
he’s doing the right thing by handling this himself.”

“That helps. Thanks,” Veronica clutched her
pillow even tighter and tried to go to sleep.

Her cell phone broke the silence with the
chorus from “Born to Run.”

“Really? You couldn’t find anything newer
than that for your ringtone?”

“Classics never go out of style,” she
retorted. “And that’s Rick’s ringtone.”

“If you tell him we’re here, he’ll be
knocking on that door long before morning.”

“I know, I know,” she wrung her hands
together as she debated whether or not to even answer the phone. It
fell silent and she took a deep breath. Problem solved.

“I’d hate to see you in a truly high pressure
situation,” he rolled over, determined to go back to sleep.

Bruce Springsteen was serenading them again
even before Jeff had finished rearranging his pillow.

“Just answer it.”

“Hello?” she tried not to sound nervous.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack,
woman?” Rick’s accent was so thick Veronica could barely understand
him. She liked having this new ability to gauge his emotions, and
she wondered if he was that bad at controlling it or that worked up
over her absence.

“You’re one to talk,” she spat back. “Where
are you?”

“Home. Where exactly are you, my dear?”

“I needed some time to think… to clear my
head. I thought I was okay, but then you just took off without even
saying goodbye. That was really rude, Dick.”

“Ah now, would you stop that?”

“Why couldn’t you even say goodbye?” she
demanded again.

“Because I knew you’d kick up a fuss. The
instructions I left told you to stay in D.C.—didn’t you even look
at them?”

“I stopped reading somewhere around ‘don’t
forget to lock the doors.’ If I want to be treated like a child,
I’ll move back in with Daddy and save myself the mortgage
payment.”

“I might have gone a wee bit overboard,” he
conceded. “Why don’t you come home now and we’ll… damn it, Ron; why
are you in New York?”

“Who says I’m in New York?” she struggled to
keep the panic from her voice.

“Your bloody phone does darlin’.”

Veronica winced. She should have known he’d
trace her phone. Jeff wasn’t going to let this one slide.

“I needed to get away for the weekend. I have
a spa appointment tomorrow, and then I’ll be home,” she lied
without missing a beat.

“Which spa?”

“Really? You’re going to question my honesty
now?”

“Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Unless you’re planning on taking off again,”
she retorted.

“I don’t want to fight with you, love.”

“Are you ready to talk to me?”

“No.”

“Then there’s really nothing else to say.
Goodnight, Rick.”

Veronica stared at her phone after hanging
up. She’d never lied to him before. If nothing else, she’d walked
away from her first marriage with a brutal honesty.

“Next time you decide to go a-sleuthing, turn
the GPS feature off on your phone,” Jeff grumbled, his face buried
in the pillow.

If she hadn’t been so upset over lying to
Rick, she might have been more embarrassed about the GPS thing.
Miserable, she sank back onto the bed to toss and turn the night
away.

Ronnie wasn’t sure what to think when Rick
didn’t show up on her doorstep. As she readied herself for the
auction, she jumped at every sound.

“You’re as nervous as a cat in a room full of
rocking chairs, little sister,” Jeff commented as he put the final
touches on her makeup. “You’ll be fine today.”

“I keep expecting him to come busting through
the door any second now,” she inspected her reflection in the
mirror. Jeff had done a good job of transforming her. From her
muted brown hair pulled into a nondescript bun, to the boxy suit
meant to hide her figure, she was the kind of woman who wouldn’t
garner a second glance from most. Her eyes had been dulled with
non-prescription contacts and then hidden behind glasses, her nose
made a little larger with prosthetics. The one thing of her own
that she retained was the shoes. Brown leather pumps with a rounded
toe and cutout detailing on the sides, they were feminine and
tailored. Most importantly, they were comfortable. She was glad
he’d caved and let her wear her own shoes.

“You sound a little disappointed that he
hasn’t,” Jeff continued the conversation, oblivious to her shoe
moment.

“That’s not it,” she shook her head.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if that was exactly
it.

“When we get there, follow my lead,
okay?”

“Sure,” she nodded, tension building as they
left their hotel room and made their way to Everdale Antiques.
“Thanks for doing this.”

“No worries,” he gave her an easy grin.

They were silent on the cab ride over.
Veronica wondered what she really expected to find. Would seeing
Adrianna again do anything to help anyone? What if Rick had already
taken care of it and she was about to stir the pot? She resolved
herself with the thought that this was completely his fault. He’s
the one that kept it a secret from her. If he’d let her in on his
plans, she wouldn’t have felt the need to take things into her own
hands.

And that was what steeled her as she took
Jeff’s hand and walked through the doors of the auction house. As
they took their seat, she scanned the crowd for a familiar face.
There was no guarantee that Adrianna would even be here, but Jeff
seemed pretty sure this was the road to take. Ronnie was inclined
to believe him.

“What do we do if we see her?” Ronnie leaned
into Jeff to whisper.

“Nothing. Let them come to us.”

She wasn’t sure what voodoo-magic he’d worked
to make that one happen, but there wasn’t much to do but trust him
on that, too. She tried to work through every possible scenario in
her mind as she watched the lots come and go.

The one thing she wasn’t prepared for was
Jeff jumping into the bidding fray. When he committed her to paying
$2,500 for a black jug, she nearly had an aneurism.

“What are you doing?” she leaned over and
whispered with a smile plastered on her face.

“You weren’t getting in there, so I took
matters in my own hands. From now on, you’re the tightwad, and I’m
the big spender, okay?”

“I can play that one convincingly. Are you
writing the checks?”

“This is your party, babe.”

Veronica took a steadying breath when the
price tag hit $3,000. Apparently he took a liking to the small
bronze eagle statue that came up with the next lot, because he
stayed in the bidding war up to five grand for that one. Veronica
felt herself start to breathe again when he allowed himself to be
outbid.

The relief didn’t last long. She was soon the
proud owner of a set of first century dishes and a statue of a
ripped naked guy. She silently kissed the Christmas trip to Europe
goodbye.

His little game worked, because Adrianna
approached them later that afternoon as they sipped at wine and
mingled with other enthusiasts.

“You have amazing taste,” Adrianna lapped
Jeff up with her eyes.

“Thank you,” he acknowledged.

Veronica seethed. She wanted to snap the
woman in two like a brittle twig. Instead, she kept her attention
firmly on the balding man in front of her. If she focused hard
enough on the small-framed glasses perched on the end of his nose,
the thirst for blood dissipated ever-so-slightly.

Jeff was currently dressed as a slightly
effeminate man with thinning blond hair and a rather
pompous-looking goatee. There was nothing about his khaki slacks,
blue button-up or white sweater vest that would make the average
woman want to rip the clothing from his body.

So that left three possibilities. One,
Adrianna had an illness and truly couldn’t control herself around
men. That thought did little to garner sympathy from Veronica. Two,
Jeff’s magnetism was too great to tame. That one left her feeling a
little nauseous. Three, his plan had worked and they looked like a
great way for a smuggler to unload merchandise.

The chance it was option number three led
Veronica to play nice. So she did her best to keep up with the
little man who loved old Roman stuff while tuning out the
conversation going on next to her.

“The unrest in Eastern Europe has been really
fortunate,” the little man got her attention back with that
one.

“That’s an interesting view point,” Veronica
nearly choked on her first response. It was hard for her to find
much good in things like civil war, genocide and human
trafficking.

“It’s been a real field day for the antiques
industry. So many treasures unearthed, so little regulation,” he
didn’t try to contain the glee in his voice.

“Lucky for us,” Veronica tried to keep her
tone light. The new direction of the conversation had captured
Adrianna and Jeff’s attention. Veronica wished she could read the
look in his eyes. This discussion seemed to have gotten away from
her, and she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

Adrianna opened her mouth to join the
exchange, but her attention was drawn away by a brute of a man
striding across the room with purpose. He wasn’t any taller than
the average guy, but his build left no question that he was a
pillar of solid muscle under the black suit he wore. Without
thinking, Veronica moved a little closer to Jeff.

The intimidating man whispered something in
Adrianna’s ear.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have something
pressing to attend to. Don’t leave without saying goodbye,” she
kissed Jeff on the cheek and brushed Veronica with a dismissive
glance.

Ronnie watched her leave, boring holes in the
woman’s back for a second time.

“Easy there, Cujo,” he whispered through a
smile.

“I think I need to visit the powder room,”
she abruptly broke away from his grasp. “You boys will have to
carry on the conversation without me.”