Veiled Intentions (5 page)

Joe pushed her against the wall and kissed her. He pressed his body against her. Snugly against her. Until they were aligned like human puzzle parts.

Katelyn caught a glimpse of Addison Merrick watching them from the reception room. So this was Joe's version of a get-lost tactic.

Joe kept the mouth-to-mouth clinical. Well, as clinical as something like that could be, considering he had a rather hot kissing technique. No tongue involved. Just pressure. The right amount of pressure, glide and moisture to make her wish, at least temporarily, that he'd use his tongue.

He didn't stop there. His kisses traveled from her mouth. To her cheek. To her ear.

Not good.

She bit off a moan of pleasure. It seemed trivial, considering everything else that was going on, but if these forced kissing sessions continued, she would need to set some ground rules so he could go easy on her erogenous zones.

“Any suspicious activity around the perimeter of the building?” Joe murmured.

Not exactly the sensual question her body had expected to hear from the man kissing her, and it took
her a moment to realize Joe was speaking to the officer monitoring the communicator under her collar.

“Fiona Shipley's still watching the place,” was the response they got.

Obviously unaware of the effect he was having on her, Joe continued his inquiries while pretending to nibble on her earlobe. “Tail her if she leaves.”

Normally, whispered official orders wouldn't have been a turn on for her, but Joe's warm, moist breath hit against her neck and ear. Mercy. Not good. She didn't want to add any more hormones to this volatile mix.

Another glance at the reception area. No Addison Merrick in sight. At least their kissing session had sent him on his way.

“Merrick knew our names,” Joe informed her. “I wasn't wearing a name tag, and he never looked at yours. Yet, he knew who we were.”

Katelyn went back through the events of that particular introduction and realized it was true. She reprimanded herself for not noticing it, as well. “So that's what
Chad
was all about?”

Not a real person but a test. Since Merrick suggested that Joe look through the name tags, it meant he didn't know the names of all the guests. And unlike a few of the others, Joe and she weren't repeat customers. Nor had they met him when they filled out their applications.

So how had he known their names?

“This might not be such a little problem,” Katelyn mumbled.

Joe quickly agreed.

In fact, it could mean the killer was already on to them.

Joe should have been thinking about Addison Merrick. Specifically, about the fact the man was obviously suspicious of them.

With reason.

Both Katelyn and he had registered at Perfect Match just days after the murders. That said, only the shooter himself would have likely made the connection at this point. And that meant that Merrick was possibly their wedding sniper.

So why wasn't his attention on Merrick or the “security guard” he'd brought with him?

Because Joe was involuntarily sharing that attention with the woman he had plastered against him, that's why.

He was a fool to notice how nicely Katelyn fit in his arms. A fool to notice that she tasted almost as good as she looked. And basically, he was just a fool to have thought he could kiss her and not lust after her. That meant he had to do something about it.

Joe slid his fingers beneath her collar and tempo
rarily turned off the audio feed on her communicator. The surveillance officers would be able to talk to them, to warn them if necessary, but they wouldn't be able to hear what he was about to admit to Detective O'Malley.

“We'd better try to keep the kissing to a minimum from now on,” he whispered.

“Sure,” she readily agreed.

Too readily.

Which meant all the supposedly for-show making out probably had an effect on her, as well. Joe didn't care much for the fact that it pleased him a little. This wasn't a competition, but sometimes it felt like one.

“Hey, contrary to public opinion, I'm human,” Katelyn said, frowning. And probably so she wouldn't have to add more to an already uncomfortable conversation, she reconnected her communicator.

“Any indication that Addison Merrick has been investigating us?” she whispered to the person on the other end of that communicator.

Joe wished he'd thought of the question first, which was only more proof that he needed a serious mental adjustment. This case was critical. People's lives were at stake, including theirs. Heck, even his promotion to lieutenant was probably riding on this. It was no time for lust.

He repeated all of that to himself several times and hoped those reminders stayed reminders for the rest of this assignment.

“He didn't trigger any info markers to indicate an investigation,” the other officer answered through the
communicator. “But then, with his resources, that's not surprising.”

In other words, Merrick could have done a full-scale check on them—or rather on their false identities—and they wouldn't have known.

“Hypothetically, what would Merrick have learned?” Joe asked.

He glanced at the person who stopped at the end of the hallway. Bruce Donovan. Joe didn't think it was his imagination that the man cast a suspicious glance their way. It made sense. If there'd been a computer search, Donovan would have likely been the one to do it. But the real question was—had Donovan instigated that search on his own, or had Merrick ordered it?

“The only thing Merrick could have gotten was what was in the fake files we created for you and Detective O'Malley,” the officer explained. “Fake employment and financial records. Phony e-mail accounts. The addresses of the apartments that were rented to support your covers. That sort of thing. If they went after your real backgrounds, we'd know.”

Katelyn opened her mouth, probably to respond to that, but she'd obviously not seen Donovan and his spying eyes. Just in case the man was eavesdropping, Joe did a quick maneuver and put his mouth right against her ear.

“Save your questions,” he mumbled. “We have company.”

She groaned softly.

So with this latest round of surveillance, things
weren't going exactly as planned. Joe had hoped to establish the pretense of the reunited couple, leave Katelyn in the reception area and have a look around while she covered for him. He'd only managed the first of those and would likely have to save that search for another day. They would have to return anyway in two days, on Thursday, to announce their engagement. By then, he'd figure out a way to do the search.

“Fiona Shipley's about to drive away,” Joe heard the backup officer announce into the communicator.

“Go after her.” And that meant with the heavy scrutinization from Merrick and Donovan, it was a good time for him to get Katelyn out of there, as well. He caught her arm. “Let's say our goodbyes. We'll come back later for your car.”

“Wait.” She held her ground. “We still haven't looked around the place.”

“And it won't happen tonight.” Joe had to pull her closer to him so he could whisper. “You heard—things aren't exactly routine around here, and now we're without backup because they have to go after Fiona Shipley.”

She wanted to argue. He could see it in the depth of those slightly narrowed eyes. Heck, he wanted to argue, too. And he really wanted to stay and see what he could find. But he wouldn't do that at the expense of further risking her life. There were already enough risks without him bending the rules.

Since there was no way to make this sound better, Joe just came out with it. “It's time to act as if we're ready to drag each other off to bed.”

Which wouldn't be much of a stretch for him.

A few mumbled words of profanity from her, but she cooperated by sliding her arm inside his coat and around his waist. She even added a sultry chuckle and nudged him playfully with her hip.

Nope.

The pretense of dragging her off to bed wouldn't be much of a stretch at all.

Bruce Donovan stepped in front of them when they started across the reception area. “Hey, you're not leaving already, huh?” he asked, seemingly shocked.

“Kate and I have some, uh, catching up to do.” Joe made sure there were enough undertones in that remark.

Too bad Donovan didn't pick up on those undertones. He placed his hand on Katelyn's arm and gave her an almost intimate rub with his fingers. His fingers even strayed a bit in the direction of Katelyn's breast.

“But you haven't even checked out the other matches on your list,” Donovan reminded her. “And here I selected them just for you.”

She chuckled again, a low sexy purr, and lifted her equally sexy gaze to Joe. “I've already found all the matches I need. Now it's time to play with a little fire.”

With that naughty double entendre, she pushed Donovan's hand aside, tightened her grip on Joe's waist and got them moving toward the door.

“Man, I hope he's the killer,” she grumbled under her breath. “Because I would
so
enjoy kicking his ass.”

Joe forced himself not to smile, which was easy, since they'd hardly made it a step before Addison Merrick stopped them.

“Bruce tells me you're thinking of leaving?” Merrick asked.

Katelyn did her part with yet another sultry smile and a sensual snuggle against him.

“Yes. Thanks for arranging this,” Joe added, hoping that would be the end of it.

It wasn't.

“But you can't go. Not yet. I need the two of you to sign release forms.”

Since this was the first he'd heard mentioned of release forms, and since Merrick was a murder suspect, Joe was automatically suspicious. “We're in a bit of a hurry. Can't this wait?”

“Afraid not. It's a legal requirement. Normally, I put out the forms a little later in the evening, but if you'll come with me, I'll have you sign them in my office.”

There wasn't a lot of time for Joe to debate the issue, but what a heck of an issue it was. If he declined, it could very well blow the undercover operation when it'd barely gotten started. If he said yes, it would be a meeting away from witnesses, away from the safety of being in a public place. Besides, standard procedure required—

“Let's make this quick,” Katelyn insisted.

And then there was that angle. His partner making a decision without even consulting him.

Joe hoped Merrick didn't notice how much his jaw tightened.

Merrick smiled, that too-artificial smile that Joe didn't even try to interpret, and the man motioned for the guard before he turned toward the hall. It didn't surprise Joe when the guard followed. Basically, Merrick was leading them to a location where they'd be out of sight from the others, and he was taking his hired gun along with him.

And they had no backup.

Maybe he wouldn't regret Katelyn's
let's make this quick
in the next couple of minutes.

“Is this guy a friend of yours?” he asked Merrick. Joe tipped his head to the guard stalking along behind them.

“An employee,” Merrick answered without even looking back. “I need someone to witness your signatures.”

Of course he did.

Well, at least there was one consolation in all of this. If by some long shot Merrick wanted to do them some harm, then it'd almost certainly mean he was their sniper. Katelyn and he could perhaps end this right here, right now. Of course, that would mean a gun battle in a confined space with innocent people nearby. Not his first choice of ways to bring this to a close.

Obviously Katelyn had figured that out, as well. She kept her arm around him as they followed Merrick, but using Joe's coat as cover, she eased her hand into his slide holster located just inside the back waist
of his pants. To a casual observer or the guard behind them, it probably appeared that she was copping a feel. But what she was doing was removing his reserve weapon with her left hand. It made sense because she could easily have been spotted if she'd gone after the gun in her purse.

She didn't stop there. While still keeping her left hand beneath his coat, Katelyn inched just enough away from him that things still looked intimate, but it wouldn't hinder him if he had to draw his primary.

“You're still in hot water,” Joe mumbled. Good preparation
after the fact
didn't void the brash decision she'd made on her own.

“Promise?” she tossed back in that same mock purr.

He simply kept his attention on Merrick. Not easy to do, either. Why did it always feel as if he'd been smacked with a two-by-four whenever he was around Katelyn O'Malley?

Just as Joe suspected, Merrick's office was practically at the end of the hall. And also as he'd expected, the guard posted himself in the doorway behind them after they'd entered.

Other than the guard, the rest of the office looked normal. A slick thin-screen computer. Assorted files and papers. Tasteful watercolor paintings on the walls. There was also a rather large Rolodex on the corner of the glossy executive-size desk. Merrick had obviously made a lot of contacts in his line of work.

“This is a formality,” Merrick explained. He rifled through his desk, presumably looking for that
for
mality.
Joe angled Katelyn so if necessary they could return fire in either direction, at Merrick or the guard.

But it wasn't a gun that Merrick pulled out from the drawer but two very official-looking forms.

That didn't cause Joe, however, to relax.

Keeping a grip on his weapon, Katelyn picked up a pen off Merrick's desk and scrawled her alias signature. She passed the pen to Joe, but he waited until he was certain she had good visual and position before he risked occupying his shooting hand with the pen.

“All done,” she announced.

Joe agreed, and he didn't give Merrick time to say otherwise. He turned and met the guard's gaze head-on. Joe made sure that the guy understood that one way or another, they would get past him.

The guard stepped aside.

Joe didn't have to tell Katelyn to watch their backs. She did it on her own. So that she could look over his shoulder, she automatically slid herself against him under the pretense of whispering in his ear. The pretense continued to a nip of his earlobe.

“Are you purposely trying to rile me by not following regulations?” he mumbled as they went out the front door.

“Not really. It just comes natural after being a kid sister to two brothers.”

Her gaze darted around the area, as well. Joe had gotten lucky with the parking space. He was almost directly in front of the building, and he got her to the car. Fast. He didn't want anyone taking shots at them,
and the bullet-resistant windows gave them at least some safety.

“Sorry about that impromptu decision I made back there,” she continued. “But I didn't want to tip Merrick—”

“I know what you were doing.” Joe couldn't help it, he huffed. God knows why. Huffing only made him sound like an idiot, and it obviously wouldn't change his partner's approach to this case. Still, he tried. “Should I go back over the rules of chain of command?”

Now it was her time to huff. “Don't give me that. You were about to decide the same thing. There's no way you would have blown this because of the slight additional risk of going into that office.”

“Maybe. But we'll never know, will we?” And so that Katelyn wouldn't continue to argue, he leaned slightly closer to her neck. “Situation report?” Joe snarled into the communicator.

“We're still following Fiona Shipley. She appears to be just driving around but in the opposite direction of her last known residence.”

Bloody hell. He hated unpredictable people and their unpredictable patterns. “Don't lose her.”

The moment Joe got his assurance that they wouldn't, Katelyn turned off the audio feed function of the communicator.

“You know what you said back there about keeping the kissing to a minimum?” She didn't wait for him to answer. “Well, I know we can't avoid it, but when we're doing these phony make-out sessions,
steer clear of that little place just below my ear. It's a big-time erogenous zone for me.”

Joe eyed the spot and was in such an ornery mood, he considered kissing it just so he could prove that he was the one in charge here. Unfortunately, kissing any of her erogenous zones at this point would be just plain unprofessional and would likely end up giving him an erection.