Under Surveillance Read online

  This wasn’t about the Phoenix or an assignment or surveillance

  This was only about a woman whose hands clung to him as she trembled beneath him. A woman who whispered his name, even in the throes of her own fulfillment. A woman who matched him movement for movement until they climaxed together, clinging to one another like two lost souls.

  Finally the sexual storm passed, leaving John again too drained to move. Only then did he realize that the dynamics of what he’d been sent here to do had been inevitably changed by what had just happened between them. Like it or not, Kelly Lockett was no longer just the sister of the man he had been sent to investigate.

  Innocent bystander or in it up to her neck, she was also a woman to whom he had just made love. And he knew that would have an impact on every other decision he’d make during the course of this assignment.

  Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

  The holidays are upon us! We have six dazzling stories of intrigue that will make terrific stocking stuffers—not to mention a well-deserved reward for getting all your shopping done early….

  Take a breather from the party planning and unwrap Rita Herron’s latest offering, A Warrior’s Mission—the next exciting installment of COLORADO CONFIDENTIAL, featuring a hot-blooded Cheyenne secret agent! Also this month, watch for The Third Twin—the conclusion of Dani Sinclair’s HEARTSKEEP trilogy that features an identical triplet heiress marked for murder who seeks refuge in the arms of a rugged lawman.

  The joyride continues with Under Surveillance by highly acclaimed author Gayle Wilson. This second book in the PHOENIX BROTHERHOOD series has an undercover agent discovering that his simple surveillance job of a beautiful woman-in-jeopardy is filled with complications. Be there from the start when B.J. Daniels launches her brand-new miniseries, CASCADES CONCEALED, about a close-knit northwest community that’s visited by evil. Don’t miss the first unforgettable title, Mountain Sheriff.

  As a special gift-wrapped treat, three terrific stories in one volume. Look for Boys in Blue by reader favorites Rebecca York, Ann Voss Peterson and Patricia Rosemoor about three long-lost New Orleans cop brothers who unite to reel in a killer. And rounding off a month of nonstop thrills and chills, a pregnant woman and her wrongly incarcerated husband must set aside their stormy past to bring the real culprit to justice in For the Sake of Their Baby by Alice Sharpe.

  Best wishes to all of our loyal readers for a joyous holiday season!

  Enjoy,

  Denise O’Sullivan

  Senior Editor

  Harlequin Intrigue

  UNDER SURVEILLANCE

  GAYLE WILSON

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Five-time RITA® Award finalist and RITA® Award winner Gayle Wilson has written twenty-seven novels and two novellas for Harlequin/Silhouette. She has won more than forty awards and nominations for her work.

  Gayle still lives in Alabama, where she was born, with her husband of thirty-three years. She loves to hear from readers. Write to her at P.O. Box 3277, Hueytown, AL 35023. Visit Gayle online at http://suspense.net/gayle-wilson.

  Books by Gayle Wilson

  HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE

  344—ECHOES IN THE DARK

  376—ONLY A WHISPER

  414—THE REDEMPTION OF DEKE SUMMERS

  442—HEART OF THE NIGHT

  461—RANSOM MY HEART*

  466—WHISPER MY LOVE*

  469—REMEMBER MY TOUCH*

  490—NEVER LET HER GO

  509—THE BRIDE’S PROTECTOR**

  513—THE STRANGER SHE KNEW**

  517—HER BABY, HIS SECRET**

  541—EACH PRECIOUS HOUR

  561—HER PRIVATE BODYGUARD†

  578—RENEGADE HEART†

  591—MIDNIGHT REMEMBERED†

  685—RAFE SINCLAIR’S REVENGE‡

  721—ROCKY MOUNTAIN MAVERICK

  743—UNDER SURVEILLANCE‡

  HARLEQUIN HISTORICALS

  211—THE HEART’S DESIRE

  263—THE HEART’S WAGER

  299—THE GAMBLER’S HEART

  349—RAVEN’S VOW

  393—HIS SECRET DUCHESS

  432—HONOR’S BRIDE

  483—LADY SARAH’S SON

  516—MY LADY’S DARE

  562—ANNE’S PERFECT HUSBAND

  607—HER DEAREST SIN

  FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

  NSA

  AGENT PROFILE

  NAME:

  JOHN EDMONDS

  DATE OF BIRTH:

  SEPTEMBER 27, 1965

  ASSIGNED TEAM:

  CLASSIFIED

  SPECIAL SKILLS:

  Hand-to-hand combat; expert marksman; cryptanalyst; skilled in intelligence analysis; electronic warfare expert.

  AGENT EVALUATION:

  Independent, determined and highly motivated. Capable of thinking outside the box.

  STATUS:

  Retired from government service

  CURRENT ADDRESS:

  The Phoenix Brotherhood

  FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Kelly Lockett—She had inherited the charitable foundation her dead brother had founded. The only trouble was she had inherited his enemies, as well.

  John Edmonds—A former NSA agent, the Phoenix newcomer had wanted a real case, something he could get his teeth into. He hadn’t been prepared for the high society lady who went with it.

  Griff Cabot—Griff never expected the minor assignment he’d given the one Phoenix agent he doubted to rock the foundations of Washington and possibly the country.

  Catherine Suttle—The ultimate Beltway insider, Catherine knew everybody in D.C. who mattered. Did she hold the key that would unravel the mystery of the secret organization known as The Covenant?

  Bertha Reynolds—She had warned Chad Lockett that the charitable foundation he’d built was in trouble, but he hadn’t seemed interested. Had that misjudgment cost him his life?

  Mark Daniels—Cast into the role of big brother by Chad’s death, Mark wanted a very different relationship with Kelly. How far was he willing to go to arrange that?

  Hugh Donaldson—No one knew more about the dealings of the Legacy than its chief financial officer. The real question was what else he might know.

  Leon Clements—The black sheep of a prominent Maryland family, Leon nursed a deep-seated bitterness that might have driven him to desperate measures.

  Trevor Holcomb—He had been responsible for the failed security arrangements on the night of the Legacy Auction. Poor planning, or an attempt to carry out a secret agenda?

  For Mollie, my son’s wife and the daughter of my heart.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  It had gotten cramped being in Griff Cabot’s doghouse. And it would come as no surprise to anyone who knew him that John Edmonds didn’t like being there.

  “More surveillance,” he said.

  It had not been a question, but the man across the desk raised his head, leveling a pair of remarkably piercing eyes at him. “It is your area of expertise,” Griff said.

  “Among others.”

  John was careful to keep any hint of
anger from his voice. He had worked for the National Security Agency for several years, but Cabot was well aware of the other skills he’d brought to this organization. And they both understood why he wasn’t being allowed to use them.

  “Surveillance is the one that’s needed on this.”

  Griff’s gaze fell back to the paperwork he had been in the process of completing. Perhaps because of his previous position as assistant deputy director of the CIA, Cabot kept meticulous records. Each of his operatives was still extensively debriefed at the end of a mission.

  Actually, although the Phoenix was a private concern, it functioned very much like the old External Security Team Griff had run at the agency. John had not been a member of that team, and he’d often wondered if that was part of the problem.

  As soon as he’d heard about the work the Phoenix was doing, he had approached Cabot with a request to join. In the beginning he had been utilized on a variety of the wide-ranging cases the group undertook. After he’d helped Elizabeth Richards escape, however, that had no longer been true.

  He had clearly understood that he was going against Griff’s wishes when he’d done that. He had felt, however, that helping Elizabeth reach Rafe Sinclair was important enough that he was willing to take whatever punishment his action would bring. He had just never imagined that chastisement would go on this long.

  “Any idea how soon I’ll again be allowed to do something beyond surveillance?”

  Cabot’s eyes lifted once more, regarding him steadily, but the head of the Phoenix didn’t answer.

  “If you want me to quit, Griff,” John said, meeting that cold stare, “just say so.”

  “I’m not trying to run you off.”

  “Then forgive me for being dense, but what the hell are you trying to do?”

  Griff’s lips pursed. When he opened them, he said exactly what John had expected. “I’m trying to determine if you’re capable of following orders. Especially those you don’t like.”

  “If I hadn’t helped Elizabeth, Rafe would be dead,” John said patiently. “Would you have preferred that?”

  “You believe the end justifies the means.”

  “In that situation. Rafe was operating under a handicap no one was aware of. You had given him your word that you wouldn’t interfere. I’d made no such promise. Elizabeth’s argument that Rafe shouldn’t face that kind of danger alone made sense to me. In the end—”

  “The salient point,” Cabot interrupted, “is that I’d given my word the Phoenix wouldn’t interfere. It was what Rafe wanted. I’d vowed to honor his wish in exchange for his undertaking a job no one else could have done. You were aware of what I’d promised on behalf of the Phoenix, and yet you chose to disregard it.”

  Which was all true, as far as it went. In John’s opinion it didn’t go nearly far enough.

  “This isn’t personal, believe me,” Griff went on after a few seconds of awkward silence. “I’m responsible for the people who work for me. I have to know that when I send out an operative, he’ll follow orders.”

  “You hadn’t given me any orders. Not concerning Elizabeth.”

  “Which is the only reason you’re still here. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I won’t do it again. If you no longer wish to participate in the Phoenix under those conditions, I’ll understand.”

  John had been tempted to resign more than once during these past few difficult months. Openly faced with that choice at last, he realized he wasn’t ready to give up.

  And if he weren’t, he knew his only option was to ride out Griff’s displeasure. Even in the short time he’d known Rafe Sinclair, he had come to the conclusion that helping save the former agent’s life was worth whatever it cost him personally.

  Besides, he believed in the organization Griff, Hawk, and Jordan Cross had created four years ago. The Phoenix was a private agency designed to use the formidable skills Griff’s former CIA antiterrorism team possessed to obtain justice for those who couldn’t find it any other way.

  “I’m not ready to quit,” he said, meeting Cabot’s eyes.

  After another moment of silence, Cabot searched through the stack of manila folders on the corner of his desk. He extracted one and slid it across a vastness of well-polished mahogany.

  “Surveillance, but not exactly the type you’ve been doing. Maybe this will be more to your liking,” Griff said, tilting his head in the direction of the folder that lay between them.

  “What is it?”

  John deliberately left the file lying unopened. He had always learned more from Cabot’s sound bites than from his own first reading of a file. He waited for this one, tamping down the excitement Griff’s brief description had already created.

  Surveillance, but not exactly the type you’ve been doing. In his opinion, anything that wasn’t what he had been doing would be an improvement.

  “Something that caused a blip on Ethan Snow’s mental radar during his last assignment. A name that showed up where it shouldn’t. All you have to do is some discreet nosing around. Very discreet. I don’t want to set off alarms anywhere. This is a highly respected organization.”

  For a second John thought Cabot meant the Phoenix. It was unlikely that reference was to the agency, however, since most of their clients learned of them through the same kind of discreet word-of-mouth Griff had just alluded to. And if not the Phoenix…

  He reached out, pulling the folder toward him. When he opened it, the heading at the top, in Snow’s neat handwriting, was enough to let him know Cabot’s warning had been an understatement. His low whistle was an unthinking reaction to how respected the organization this file referred to actually was.

  “Exactly,” Griff said. “You do have a tux, I assume.”

  He didn’t, but he wasn’t going to admit that to Cabot, who probably owned a dozen.

  “Of course,” John lied, wondering how quickly he could have one fitted.

  “Then I suggest you start with the enclosed invitation.”

  John slipped the heavy cream rectangle out of its envelope, quickly reading the information embossed on the front.

  “It’s quite legitimate, I assure you. And rather costly,” Cabot added, and he should know. His background was exactly the kind of silver spoon stuff that would get someone invited to those kinds of events. “It will allow you a foot in the door. Strictly for observation, of course.”

  “Once I’m in, what exactly am I looking for?”

  “I’m not sure. What caused Ethan’s concern is outlined in the file. As I said, this may be nothing, but I’ve learned to trust the instincts of my people through the years, especially those of someone like Ethan. If something about that group caused him concern, that’s reason enough for me to want them checked out. Besides, the food is usually superb.”

  If someone as wealthy as Griff considered the dinner to be “costly,” then it damn well should be good, John thought.

  “Oh, and there’s an auction,” Griff added as John rose, holding onto the file he’d been given, “so watch your body language. I’m not sure we have enough in the budget to cover any unexpected purchases.”

  “What’s on the block?”

  “Celebrity dresses, I believe. You should be safe there,” Cabot went on dryly, his eyes falling once more to the paperwork before him. “I doubt they’ll have anything in your color.”

  Chapter One

  Although Kelly Lockett knew to the last person how many patrons crowded the ballroom of the downtown hotel, she could see almost none of them. Their faces were lost in the darkness beyond the glare of the spotlights directed at the podium. She waited a moment for the applause to die down before she lifted her hand, gesturing for silence as if she had been doing this her entire life.

  Actually, she had avoided such functions like the plague. They were the kind of thing Chad loved, so she had always let him handle them. Thankfully, he had turned out to be incredibly good at it.

  So good that she couldn’t hope to fill his shoes, she thou
ght with a swell of anxiety. Then she reminded herself that trying to take her brother’s place wasn’t why she was here.

  “On behalf of my brother,” she began, speaking over the remaining splatters of applause.

  Before she had gotten the last word out of her mouth, the clapping began again, growing into a thunderous ovation. First the men in their tuxedos and then their elegantly gowned companions began to stand all over the huge room.

  Her eyes stung at the strength and duration of their spontaneous tribute. She bit the inside of her bottom lip, determined to get through this evening without crying. So far, all her tears had been shed in private. She didn’t intend to make a public spectacle of her grief tonight.

  She waited, not attempting to speak until the noise had died down again and the only sounds in the vast ballroom were of people settling back into their chairs. Her eyes had apparently adjusted to the dazzle of light because she could identify some of those seated at the nearest of the small, round tables. Their faces were turned expectantly up to the dais where she stood.

  She had made a point of speaking to most of them before dinner, and as much as she dreaded it, she would mingle with the crowd again after the auction. That was another talent Chad had had. Making people feel welcome. Making them want to participate and to feel good about what they were doing.

  “Thank you,” she said sincerely. Whatever her own motives were for being here tonight, her brother certainly deserved their applause. “As I had started to say, on behalf of my brother, I would like to welcome you to the eighth annual Lockett Legacy Dinner and Auction. As you know, Chad was a tireless fund-raiser for a number of causes, as well as being a true philanthropist himself. This particular event, however, always held a very special place in his heart.

  “For one thing, this is the only one of the many organizations to which he devoted his time and considerable energy that bears our family name. For another, the charities to which you have so generously donated each year were chosen by him personally. This foundation was Chad’s baby, and I thank you all for continuing the good works he believed in so much.”