Covert Alliance. Linda O. Johnston
considered a date between acquaintances, and no way could they have a heavy discussion here on any topic—just the way she liked it.
Not that she was certain what this meeting was about, but she could guess. Still, because of the covert nature of the ID Division and its assignments, even if Alan was who she believed he was, and he also knew who she was, they couldn’t talk about it in this place.
The only way to hear much of what each other said here required at least some shouting, which increased the unlikelihood of getting very personal. Neither wanted anything of any importance to be overheard.
“So what made you decide to move to Blue Haven?” Alan asked loudly.
To save my nephew, for one thing, was the first response that flew into Kelly’s mind. But she kept things simple, engaging in part of the lie she was supposed to use. “I come from the DC area and always heard how wonderful things are in California. This town sounded especially nice to me, and so far I’m enjoying it.” That was a bit of an exaggeration, but it seemed to work. She regarded his truly handsome, angular face with a smile, her head cocked. “How about you? What brought you here—or are you from here originally?” She felt certain he wasn’t.
“Kind of the same thing—I just heard interesting things about this area.”
Their enthusiastic server returned with their drinks, and the rest of their somewhat loud conversation involved things Kelly would have preferred not talking about, like her background and life before she came here. But some of that was built into her cover, so it wasn’t like she had to invent entirely new things—or anything she wouldn’t want overheard. According to what she told him, she had been a restaurant server forever.
She also wondered how much of the story Alan told was true. He said he had grown up in Virginia, served in the US Army, and liked the military but not enough to stay in it. He had decided to go into private security, also in Virginia, and that was his experience before moving here.
Interesting. Believable, whether or not it was true. Kelly found herself relaxing a bit, as if this were a true date.
Not that she would ever let her defenses down. She couldn’t.
Some of the tables around them emptied, then refilled. Kelly wondered how long they had already been there. She didn’t check her phone for the time, but realized it was getting somewhat late. She kept nursing her wine, not wanting to order another—and not just because she had to drive back to her apartment when they were done.
No, she needed to stay fully alert.
But she almost spilled the small amount of it that was left when she heard a familiar voice behind her, talking loudly over the crowd.
It was Stan.
* * *
Alan had been enjoying their time together—especially since he had an agenda he hadn’t told Kelly about yet. But he would when it was over.
He intended for them to take a short walk. Now that anyone paying attention to them would figure they’d been on a date, they could be seen together even more without suspicion about their real reason for seeing each other.
But now, he noticed Kelly wince at the same time he heard Stan Grodon’s raised voice and guffaws as he marched into the lounge area with a woman Alan hadn’t yet met.
From Alan’s perspective, that was okay. To Stan, security guy Alan Correy should be just an ordinary fellow who also sought out sexy women to date.
But despite how Kelly quickly got a hold of herself, it was better if she didn’t spend a lot of time in that man’s vicinity.
Alan knew she’d been well trained, but she was only human.
Oh, was she human...and female...and sexy...
And Stan, standing behind her, had apparently just noticed her presence. He glanced down, away from his own attractive date, a blonde who was even more skimpily dressed than Kelly had been in her server outfit.
Under other circumstances, Alan might have leveled a challenging look at the guy who’d dared to zero in on his date. But he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize his ability to remain a security provider for Stan.
Time to get her out of here.
“Looks like you’re done, right?” he said to Kelly. “I’ll get our check.”
* * *
Kelly felt relieved when, after paying their tab, Alan pulled her chair out for her, then grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd—right past Stan—and out the bar’s back door.
She had to get over this. While she was here, she was likely to run into Stan in a lot of unexpected situations, and she had to maintain her cool.
He hadn’t recognized her yet. Hopefully he never would—at least not until she had found a way to make him stop hurting Eli and pay for what he’d done to Andi.
When they reached the dimly lit parking lot, Kelly turned to Alan, planning on thanking him for the drink and his company and saying good-night, just as she would do on a date.
Instead, he smiled at her in a way she could only describe as grim, and said, “Let’s walk.”
She started to refuse, but he took her hand again, even more firmly this time, and started leading her past the rows of cars and toward the street.
“Anyone seeing us will just think we had a great enough time that we don’t want our evening to end.” His deep voice was low, but she could hear it just fine in the cool outdoor air. They soon reached the sidewalk by the bar and liquor store, and Alan led her to the left, in front of the bar. A roar of noise emanated from it, but the sound was muffled by the closed door. “But you and I are going to talk,” he added, stopping to look down at her with as sexy a grin as she had ever seen. To get her turned on—or to make anyone watching them think they were actually attracted to each other?
Oh, Kelly was attracted to Alan, all right, but she didn’t trust him.
What did he really want?
Apparently the games he’d mentioned previously were now about to actually begin.
Well, no sense just waiting for him to start. Kelly also knew how to play the game—or so she hoped.
“Great.” She clutched his hand even harder. “So what do you want to talk about?”
“You, Kelly. And Shereen Alsop.”
Even though she’d expected this, at least somewhat, she flinched—but didn’t stop walking.
“Who’s that?” she asked. Part of her training when provided with a new identity was to admit nothing, so she wasn’t about to tell Alan she recognized that name. Her real name.
“That’s good,” he said. “You’re at least complying with some of the instructions you were given. But you shouldn’t have come here. That was completely against what you were told.”
“Oh, really?” She kept her tone light. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The hand holding hers moved enough to swing her around, and suddenly Alan was looking down at her. Despite the lack of streetlight, Kelly could still see the anger on her companion’s face.
“I... I...” Before she could figure out how to finish, his mouth came down on hers.
His kiss was startlingly sexy, and so was the way his body soon molded to hers.
Get away from him! something inside her screamed. They might be in public, where they could be observed, but nobody was near them now. She could be in danger.
And yet she didn’t believe that. She threw herself even more into the amazing kiss.
When he finally pulled away, he said perhaps the last thing she’d have expected from him then. “Go home, Kelly. To your real home now, the one you were given.”
She