Winchester Christmas Wedding (13 page)

Normally, Enid would have come up with a plan. Twenty-seven years ago after Pepper had gotten pregnant, it had been Enid who'd kept everyone away so no one knew about her boss's secret. She'd kept all of Pepper's secrets over the years and there'd been many.

It was now time to cash in. Pepper owed her.

Enid fingered the container of pills in her apron
pocket. For years after the baby was born, she'd kept Pepper docile by keeping her drugged. She wondered how many of these pills it would take to put a man like TD Waters down. Too bad he'd brought his girlfriend back with him. It would have been so easy if he'd been alone.

 

L
IZZY WAS GRATEFUL THAT
TD had to return to the kitchen to help serve dinner. It gave her a chance to call the agency director.

“I won't be gone long,” TD had promised. “As soon as it gets dark enough, we'll check out that shed at the McCormick Ranch.”

“Do you think it would be all right if I went for a horseback ride?” she'd asked.

“Promise not to go back over to the McCormicks' without me?”

“Promise.”

“Help yourself. I'll make sure none of the Winchesters take you for a McCormick and shoot you.”

“I appreciate that, since apparently you are one,” she said, glad he saw humor in it. But also aware that when TD found out who she really was, gunplay might be part of it.

She'd saddled one of the horses and ridden to the north, taking the satellite phone with her. On the top of a rise, she'd called Roger Collins.

When he answered, she still wasn't sure what she was going to say.

“Elizabeth.” Roger sounded so relieved she felt bad about not calling in sooner. “I was worried about you.”

“No need. I just didn't have anything to report before now.” She touched her tongue to her lips and could still taste TD. “I need to know why Waters is considered a rogue agent.”

Silence. She knew she'd overstepped, but she had to know.

“This is highly unusual, but since I have such admiration for you as an agent, I can tell you this. He has in his possession some classified information that puts the security of our organization and our country at risk.” Classified information?

“I've gone through all of his things and haven't found—”

“This would be a small envelope. I'm sure he has hidden it somewhere. If you find it, do not open it. Do you understand? You would be putting yourself in grave danger if you were to open it.”

“Yes, sir, I understand.” Until that moment, she hadn't realized that TD Waters had gotten to her. Had she really thought about throwing away her career because the man was one devil of a kisser? Or had it been the vulnerability she'd seen in him as he searched for the truth about his past?

She'd let herself forget something important. He was an agent. A rogue agent.

It didn't matter what TD was doing in Montana. He'd taken off against orders. She had to trust that Roger Collins knew more about what was going on than she did with TD Waters. This is what she'd been trained to do. Follow orders. And that was what she planned to do.

She told Agency Director Collins everything she'd
learned. He was so quiet on the other end of the line that for a moment she'd feared they'd been disconnected.

“Sir?”

“I'm here. I'm afraid this attempt to find his past is some kind of smoke screen. Agent Waters knows exactly who he is.”

She informed him that she was now staying on the Winchester Ranch with Waters.

“Good,” he said, sounding pleased. “You are in the perfect position to find the information before he is able to sell it to the highest bidder. Remember, though, do not open the envelope if you find it. And Elizabeth, be careful. Agent Waters is very dangerous—and very clever. Don't trust him for a moment.”

That she knew.

“You've done an excellent job, Agent Calder. I commend you. I'm glad you were able to call back for further orders. Elizabeth, I can give you only twenty-four hours to find this classified material. After that point, I'm afraid, given that Agent Waters has risked a very important government secret by going against orders to return to Montana, I will need you to eliminate that risk.”

At first she wasn't sure she'd heard him right. “You don't want me to bring him in?”

“No, it's too dangerous to the security of this country. I need you to make sure Agent Waters is disposed of in such a manner that he never leaves Montana, his whereabouts never disclosed. I can't risk that the information he has in his position will get out.

“Sir—”

“That's a direct order, Agent. If you don't feel you can handle it, I can send someone who can.”

“No, that won't be necessary, sir.”

“Good. I knew I could count on you.”

Lizzy was too shaken to go right back to the bunkhouse. She swung up into the saddle and rode as far north as she could before reaching a stretch of barbed wire. She'd been on other assignments, but none had required her to kill anyone.

Not that she hadn't known the day would come. She'd been trained to shoot and knew she could use a weapon to kill someone if she were required to do so.

But now she had twenty-four hours to find some classified information that Waters might or might not have with him—and then dispose of him.

She had gone back to thinking of him as Agent Waters. It had been a mistake thinking of him as TD. A worse mistake letting him kiss her. But Collins had told her to get close to Waters and she had. Maybe too close.

She could tell that he liked her. More likely just wanted to get her into bed, since that was his modus operandi with women. For a while, she thought as she rode the horse across the snow-blanketed prairie, she'd believed he felt differently about her than all the other women he'd kissed.

Lizzy cringed at the ridiculous thought. A hawk soared over her head, swooping down into a deep ravine, and she realized it was getting late. She had to get back. Waters would be worried—and suspicious. Also she needed to look for the classified information.

As she neared the ranch, she spotted him standing inside a wrought-iron fence on top of a small hill that looked out over the ranch lodge. Moving closer, she saw that it was the family cemetery. She swung down from her horse and walked the last few yards.

He didn't seem to hear her approach. His head was down. He stood over a small grave with a tiny wooden cross, no name on it. As she drew closer, though, Lizzy saw that someone had draped a chain with a heart-shaped locket over the cross. The cheap locket was now tarnished from years in the weather.

She stared at Waters's strong, broad back and thought of the orders the agency director had given her.

“She thinks I'm dead,” TD said without turning around.

Lizzy felt a jolt. She hadn't realized he knew she was there. “Your mother?” she managed to say around the lump in her throat.

“Maybe it would be better if she continued to believe that.” He turned to look at her.

She felt a little piece of her heart break off and float around in her chest like a kite cut loose in a strong wind. She didn't know what to say in the face of his obvious torment. Something must have happened while she'd been gone, because he seemed different—morose, sad and almost disappointed.

Lizzy had to fight the urge to reach out to him. How
easy it would have been to try to comfort him, to tell him that it would all work out. But she knew the truth was far from that.

He stepped through the gate, closing it carefully behind him. She hadn't moved, could hardly breathe. The weight of what she had to do was like an elephant lying on her chest, and seeing him like this…

“TD.” It was the only sound she could get out as his gaze found hers and she looked into his eyes and saw raw need so stark that it triggered a desire inside her that had lain dormant and unknown even to her.

“Lizzy.” The sound sent a shudder up her spine.

She raised a hand to ward him off, but she wanted this like she had never wanted anything before. She needed him as much as he needed her.

No, don't do this. Lizzy, stop.

But it was too late. He pulled her into his arms. The kiss sealed the deal. She was lost in the warm wanting of his demanding mouth. Lost in the depths of his dark eyes. Lost to his body as he dragged her to him and wrapped strong, unrelenting arms around her and deepened the kiss.

She didn't remember getting to the cabin. Vaguely she heard the door slam and lock, felt his fingers working at the zipper of her coat, the buttons of her shirt and then his mouth was on her breasts, sucking her nipples into hard aching points.

There was the sound of her jeans dropping to the floor, then the feel of his fingers slipping beneath her panties. She arched against him, feeling the cool air caressing her naked back and breasts, and then he swung
her up in his arms and was carrying her toward the bottom bunk.

It happened in a passion-filled haze of stroking and kissing, wet mouths and static-charged fingertips, bodies melded together by a common fire of pleasure and pain and ultimately release. It ended in a rush of panting breath, clutching each other as if the ground beneath them might be torn apart at any moment.

Lizzy lay in his arms, still breathing hard, her body slick with perspiration, her heart a hammer pounding out a death knell.
What have you done?

She dragged herself from the bunk and moved to her own, grabbing the railing of the top bunk for support. She leaned into it, putting her forehead against the edge of the top bunk, fighting tears, waiting for her years of training to kick in.

It had gotten dark out and the temperature had dropped. The floor beneath her bare feet felt like an ice block and the air in the room sent goose bumps exploding over her naked body, rippling across her skin and making her shiver.

Her arms trembled as she slowly slipped her hand into her bag, wrapped her palm around the grip of the pistol…

Behind her, she heard TD get up from the bunk. But he didn't move toward her. She turned around, pointing the weapon at his chest. The tiny red dot of the laser moved restlessly just over his heart.

She steadied it and met his gaze. For one startled moment, she felt her resolve fail her, but when she spoke, her voice sounded stronger to her ears than she felt.
“I'm Agent Elizabeth Calder. I'm going to have to take you in.”

TD Waters looked down at the laser now settled at heart level, then up at her. His smile was sad, heartbreaking. He knew! He'd known before he made love to her.

“You weren't ordered to take me in,” he said slowly.

“You were ordered to kill me.”

How did he… “Well, I'm taking you in. Whatever you've done—”

“That's just it. You know I haven't done anything except try to learn the truth about who I am.” His dark gaze locked with hers. “You're too smart not to wonder why Roger Collins decided that is an act of treason.”

“He says you have some classified information in an envelope that you plan to sell to the highest bidder.”

TD let out a laugh. “I'm sure you searched my things.” His eyes darkened as he must have read the answer on her face. He shook his head. “I never saw you coming. Kudos to Collins. He definitely picked the right agent to come after me.”

“If you just give me the envelope—”

“There is no classified information, Lizzy. Haven't you figured it out yet? I saw you with the photograph of me when I was eight. You're too sharp not to have seen the date and the name on the back of the frame. Who do you think gave me a new name, a new birth certificate, found me foster parents in another state?”

She couldn't speak.

“Roger covered up not only the fact that I was adopted, but why my adoptive parents were murdered, their house burned to the ground. I was too young to
understand it all then, but it is clear now. They were agents and he had them killed and me taken away. It is no coincidence that I ended up working for him. You don't still think it was a coincidence that you ended up working for him as well, do you?”

Lizzy thought of the photograph she'd seen of her father and Roger Collins. The laser dot on TD's broad chest began to move as her weapon wavered.

“How long have you known I was an agent?” she asked.

One dark eyebrow quirked. “You aren't the only agent in this room. I went through your things when I got back from the kitchen. I found the photograph with Will Calder and Roger Collins with their names written on the back. I assume Will was your father?”

That damned photo. She hadn't been able to leave it behind. Just as TD hadn't been able to leave the photograph of him as a boy behind. What had he called it? His fatal flaw. Hers, as well.

She slowly lowered the weapon, glancing down at it as if she suddenly realized if he'd found the photo, he'd also found her gun.

“It's still loaded,” TD said, as if reading her mind.

Her gaze flew up to his. He shrugged as if he had his reasons why he hadn't taken out the ammunition.

“How did you know I wouldn't kill you?”

TD let out the breath he'd been holding. “I didn't.” His pulse pounded in his ears and he still felt off balance from the lovemaking and believing just moments before that there was more than a good chance he was going to die at the hands of a woman he'd fallen desperately in love with.

“Is that why you made love to me?”

He let out a bark of a laugh as he met her gaze. “I've been wanting to make love with you from the first time I saw you. Once I realized who you were, I knew why you'd been sent here. I didn't want to die before I got the chance to hold you in my arms.”

She was still holding the gun, though now it was at her side. Had she expected him to cross the room and try to take it from her?

Instead, he reached for his jeans.

“Roger said if I didn't finish this assignment, he would send someone else,” she said behind him.

TD looked over his shoulder at her as he buttoned his jeans. “That means we don't have much time. We need to check that shed you told me about. I'm afraid your friend Janie McCormick is planning something special for the Winchesters,” he said as he continued getting dressed.

Lizzy still hadn't moved. He knew from his training how hard it was to go against orders. Like him, she'd been trained not to ask questions. Complete allegiance was demanded and beaten into you.

He suspected that for the two of them it was even harder to disregard a direct order because Roger Collins had had a hand in them coming to the agency. He'd made them both believe he'd done them a huge favor. They were his special agents. They didn't want to let him down.

He turned to look at her as he shrugged into his Western shirt and began to button it. “I know how hard it is to go against orders. Collins handpicked us, made us
feel as if we owed him. I know it is almost impossible to let him down.”

Lizzy nodded and looked down at the pistol in her hand.

“Collins was right about one thing. There is an envelope he doesn't want getting into the wrong hands,” TD said as he finished buttoning his shirt.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him again.

“After I searched your belongings, I took that old frame off the photograph of me when I was eight.” He started to reach behind him but saw her tense. “I was just going to show you what I found. An envelope hidden behind the photo. I had no idea it was there, but it explains a lot. You're welcome to read it.”

“You opened it?”

“My parents were agents working with Collins. It was before he became director. It's all in the letter they left me. They must have known once Collins knew they were on to him that he would have them killed. And he did. Collins can't let this letter get into the hands of the proper authorities. He must have suspected they'd left something behind that could incriminate him. That's why he had the house burned down. Fortunately, he never knew about the photo I'd sneaked out of the house. But he must have feared they had left something up there for me. Why else would he be so afraid for me to come here?”

“What are you going to do with the information?”

“Hide it behind the photo again for now until I can get it where it needs to go,” he said. “If something happens to me—”

“Don't.”

He nodded. “Did I mention who my alleged birth parents are?” He tossed her her clothing.

She caught her jeans in her free hand, her shirt dropping to the floor at her feet, as she looked at him, waiting for the answer.

“Pepper Winchester and Hunt McCormick. Small world, isn't it?”

“Too small when Roger Collins is in it,” Lizzy said. He could see that she was reeling from all this.

“You realize there's a target on my back—and now on yours?”

She nodded slowly, then put the weapon away and he could finally breathe freely again. He watched her pull on her clothing, wanting to stop her and make love to her again. He already knew how dangerous Lizzy Calder could be, he thought, remembering her in his arms. Look how she'd stolen his heart. He couldn't bear to think how this all might end. Right now he just had to check out a shed on the McCormick Ranch, after that…

He pulled on his shoulder holster and grabbed an extra clip for his pistol, then he turned to look across the small cabin at Lizzy.

“Ready?” he asked as he saw her pull on her shoulder holster, grab a couple of extra clips and shrug on her coat.

He smiled to himself. He had to give Roger Collins credit. He'd sent the perfect woman for the job. He'd made only one small mistake: he'd sent a woman with a heart.

Still, if Lizzy hadn't found that photograph of her father and Roger Collins…

Not that he kidded himself that she might not change her mind about the order she'd been given. This wasn't over by a long shot. Lizzy was right. If she didn't follow orders, Collins would send someone who would.

Or maybe that person had already been sent. TD couldn't help thinking about the McCormicks. After all, Roger Collins had been a visitor on their ranch. What were the chances Lizzy was the only one he'd recruited from there?

 

L
IZZY SAT ON THE PASSENGER
seat of the pickup as they drove slowly off the Winchester Ranch. There were no lights on up at the house, no sign of life. The caterer, rental and floral vans and trucks had all left. Stars had broken out all over the huge canopy of sky. Only a sliver of moon graced the horizon. Glancing at her watch, she was surprised at how late it was.

Her skin still felt warm and soft, tingly at even the thought of TD's touch.
You let him get to you.
Is that what happened? Or had common sense kicked in? There'd been red flags. TD and his quest not to destroy the world, but to find out the truth about his past. The photograph of her father and Roger Collins. The feeling she couldn't shake that there was something wrong with this assignment from the moment she learned it meant coming back here.