Undercover Passion

He groaned. “No, wait—”

“It’s a common problem. Please don’t feel that you have to hide it.”

“Hide it!” He choked. This was getting him in deeper and deeper. It wasn’t funny. Well, maybe a little bit. But at the same time, it was damned humiliating.

“I don’t have a problem,” he told her forcefully. “Listen, you took it wrong. I’ve never had any trouble….” His voice faded out. Looking at her sweet, innocent face, he just couldn’t say it. “That way,” he said lamely at last. “Really. I’m a normal, healthy male.”

She was still looking sympathetic. Damn it all, she thought he was just covering up his embarrassment. There was definitely a good way to prove that she was wrong, but he didn’t think she’d go for it. So he stared at her in frustrated silence, wondering how the conversation had taken a turn down this blind alley.

“I can give you a referral,” she was saying, digging through the papers on her desk for a note pad.

Reaching out, he grabbed her hand. “I don’t need a referral,” he said firmly. “I don’t need therapy. All I want to know is what sort of products you dispense here besides vitamins.”

She was staring at him in bewilderment and he didn’t blame her. He was coming darn close to shouting, and that wasn’t going to help anything. He forced a smile, knowing it must look pretty ghastly.

“Hey,” he said, remembering something and releasing her hand. “Dr. Richie was saying something about a new product at the ribbon cutting last month. Something called NoGo or Nutrait or—”

“NoWait!” she chimed in, beaming with relief. “Yes, that is a new homeopathic oil he’s developed himself. He’s such a genius.”

“That’s the one.”

“Oh, it’s flying off the shelves. It’s used for weight loss, and people are getting the most wonderful results.”

Right. He knew a little something about these snake-oil salesmen. If the oil was doing anything, it was through the power of suggestion, no doubt about it. Still, this could be the missing link he’d been looking for. Except for one thing. As he remembered, it wasn’t something people took into their system in the usual way.

“It’s not ingested, is it?”

“Oh, no.” She smiled. “In fact, it’s kind of cute. You put a dab behind your ear.”

That pretty much shot down his hopes. If you didn’t drink it or eat it, how could it change the way you acted to the extent it seemed to be changing the people he was seeing all over the hospital?

“One ear or both?” he asked with a rueful smile.

She blinked. “Tell you the truth, I’m not really sure. I haven’t tried it myself.” She scrunched her nose at him. “And I hardly think you need to lose any weight.”

“You never know,” he said quickly, not wanting to go back to speculating on what he might be needing help with again. “I’m not getting any younger. And you know how weight tends to accumulate as you age.”

“Oh, sure.” She was nothing if not understanding. “You can never start working on fitness too early.”

He nodded. She was charming when she started talking about the things she felt most passionately about. She sort of lit up with an inner glow that was quite appealing. He wondered, fleetingly, if there was a man in her life. But he dismissed the thought as soon as it formed. Despite her spunk, Abby was soft and sweet and seemingly naive—all the things he wasn’t. The women he dated tended to be the women he met in the course of his workday, and as a cop, he mostly mixed with a fairly rough level of society. He wouldn’t know what to do with a woman like this.

“So tell me about the exercise programs. What are they like?”

She perked up markedly, her eyes brilliant. “Now those I have tried. They’re great, really the most comprehensive I’ve found anywhere. That was what made me so interested in joining Dr. Richie. I admire him so much. He’s been able to do what is so difficult to do—marry serious health advantages with movements that are just really fun and relaxing to do.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow. “But can he walk on water?”

She looked startled. “What?”

“Nothing. I was just being rude.”

The way her face was shining as she spoke of the good doctor, Daniel felt a twinge of jealousy. Though he would face death rather than admit it.

“How much do you know about this Richie character?”

She drew herself up sternly. “Dr. Richie is a well-respected expert in the fitness field. It’s a real honor to get this opportunity to work with him.”

She was cute in her righteous indignation, and he had trouble not grinning at her again. Could it be the exercises that were making people act crazy? It didn’t seem likely. But he couldn’t afford to overlook anything just because it didn’t fit the pattern he expected.

“How about a demonstration of the exercises?”

“What— Right now?”

“Can you think of a better time?”

“Well, if you come to the seminar…”

“I’ll come to the seminar. But I’d like to get a hint of what I’m letting myself in for.”

She frowned. She didn’t want to do it. She glanced at her piles of supplies, still languishing on the floor, and he knew she wanted to get things finished here. But she was too polite to say so, and he actually felt a twinge of guilt over putting her in this position. But it was just a twinge. He could easily ignore it.

“Okay,” she said, just a hint of her reluctance showing. Then she visibly put all that behind her and got into the swing of things. “Tell you what. I’ll do it if you help.”

Her smile was impudent. And that made him suspicious.

“What? How can I help?”

“I know some really fun things for two people to do together,” she said happily.

He forced back a laugh. He knew a few fun things for two people to do together, too, but he had a feeling they weren’t what she had in mind.

“Don’t worry,” she told him. “I’ll show you what to do.”

Reaching under her desk, she pulled out a large exercise mat and plopped it down in the middle of the room. “Okay, we are now going to demonstrate the Giaza.”

He was skeptical. He’d much rather watch than join in. “What is the Giaza?”

“It’s a set of exercises.”

“Sounds more like a set of steak knives.”

Grabbing his hand, she pulled him to his feet. “Come on, mister. You asked for it, you got it. Come sit down cross-legged.”

“Like this?” He did as she’d ordered.

“You’re nice and limber, aren’t you? And athletic, I’ll bet.”

He muttered something. For no known reason, he was suddenly feeling a little self-conscious.

“Okay,” he said, settling down, hands on his knees. He was glad he’d worn fairly loose slacks. “What’s next?”

“This is the two-person routine. I’m going to sit down, too. We’ll be back to back.”

That seemed odd. “No kidding.”

“No kidding.” She stood before him and held her hands together in front of her stomach, looking like an Asian princess. “This is a way to center yourself and prepare for a more strenuous workout. It’s mind over matter. See if you can tune into the wavelength where I’m floating.”

Oh, brother. Psychobabble. Still, he’d better keep his caustic comments to himself if he didn’t want to get kicked out of her office.

“Okay,” he said gruffly. “What happens if I bump into you?”

She started to ask him what he meant, then stopped when she no doubt realized he was referring to the floating thing. She gave him a wry look instead and he had to give her points for getting it.

“Our spiritual selves don’t bump,” she said lightly as she began to lower herself behind him. “They melt right into each other.”

“Hmm.” For some reason that appealed to him.

She settled in against him. “See? Back to back.”

“‘And belly to belly,’” he muttered to himself.

“What?”

“Nothing. This just reminds me of an old folk song. About zombies.”

He could feel her stiffen.

“Listen, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but this clinic does not turn people into zombies. That’s a slander put out by another clinic in town that is being left in the dust as Dr. Richie takes off.”

He paused, a bit taken aback by her vehemence. “It was just a joke,” he said softly.

She changed immediately. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little touchy about it.”

She settled back against him. “This exercise works better when the two are more evenly matched in size, but you can get the general idea. Raise your arms. Now sway with me.”

He raised his arms and swayed.

“Calm your mind. Let your eyelids droop. Think of water lapping on the white sands of a tropical beach. Feel it lap. Feel the hot sun on your shoulders. Feel the gentle breeze ruffle your hair.”

Little by little, he was feeling more than he’d expected to. As she moved against him, he became aware of just where her rounded bottom was touching his. It was incredibly arousing. The more she swayed, the more he forgot about the beach and focused on her body.

Sensation shot through his system and he held back an urge to make an appreciative noise. This was unbelievable. He’d been turned on by a woman’s backside before, but not like this. This was overwhelming.

He was vaguely aware that she was still talking. He didn’t need talking. He’d found that floating thing she’d mentioned and he was up there, drifting on a sensual cloud.

“Okay, now I’m going to lean my head back on your shoulder and you lean your head on my shoulder.”

Whoa. He’d had sex that was less exciting than this. His heart was beating as though he’d just run a mile. Their heads were now side by side and the sense of her was flooding into his system. He turned his face toward her. He couldn’t help himself.

She was saying, “Arms at shoulder height and straight out. Now turn the palms up,” and he was breathing in her scent, filling his lungs with it and wondering what her mouth tasted like.

She glanced over, saw his face too close and hesitated. That was all he needed. He was going to kiss her. It was going to be a little odd, upside down and all, but he was going to do it. He made a move toward her and saw her eyes widen.

Whether they were widening with shock or interest he would never know. He would have liked to think the latter, but realistically, it wasn’t likely. At the moment of reckoning, the door opened and a voice interrupted everything.

“What’s going on here?”

Two

A bby was up and flying away from Daniel like a scalded cat. He would have looked twice, just to see how she could possibly have done that, but he was too busy taking the measure of the man in the doorway.

“Oh, Dr. Richie!” Abby was saying. “I’m just— We were just— Well, this is Daniel O’Callahan and he’s just—”

Daniel hadn’t really paid too much attention to the good doctor before, but now he looked him over and decided he didn’t much care for what he saw. Dr. Richie was a tall, good-looking man, but there was something a little too polished, a little too calculated in his manner. His dark hair was salon-perfect and streaked with silver the way an actor would have had it done in an attempt to give gravitas to his appearance. That was it. Somehow the man looked like a performer to him. Something just didn’t quite ring true.

And—let’s face it—he didn’t much like the way Abby was lapping him up with a spoon. Did she have to idolize the man?

Daniel rose slowly, just to make sure the doctor didn’t think he was as embarrassed at being caught in this vaguely compromising position as Abby was.

“I didn’t hire you to do this sort of training,” Richie was saying to Abby, turned as though he thought he could carry on a conversation in private if he just didn’t admit there was anyone else in the room. “We have counselors for that, Abby. I hired you to take charge of our public relations operation. You don’t have time for this sort of work.”

“I was just showing him. He was interested and I thought—”

Dr. Richie turned, acknowledging Daniel with a slight nod.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’ll have to come to one of our seminars if you want to get a good overview of what we have to offer,” he said, his attitude pleasant but distant. “And, Abby, I’ve called a senior staff meeting in the library. Please join us. The others are waiting.” Another curt nod and he was on his way down the hall.

Daniel turned to look at Abby. Her cheeks were bright red in a very attractive way, but he regretted that she was taking this so badly.

“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to get you into trouble with the big boss.”

She looked up at him but she didn’t smile. He could tell she’d had it with him, and she was ready to let him know that.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave,” she said shortly.

“Okay,” he said amiably. “But I’ll be back when—”

“Out.” Her dark eyes smoldered with anger and she pointed at the door. “And don’t come back here.”

With a shrug, he started toward the door. “I’ll see you at the seminar tomorrow,” he said, glancing back at her.

“Fine. But you won’t be talking to me.” She followed as though ready to shove him out into the hallway if he balked. “There is really no need for us to have any further communication. I’ll make sure they assign a good counselor to you.”

He stepped through the doorway and looked back.

“Someone who will be a good match for your needs,” she added.

That stopped him cold. “My needs?”

“You know. That little problem you have.” With a look of quiet triumph, she closed the door.

“Women!” Daniel said a few minutes later to his grandmother as he strode back into her hospital room. “Who needs them?”

“I’m a woman, darling.” Phoebe looked up with a loving smile.

“Yeah, but you’re sane. Not many other women can say that.”

“Watch your tongue, young man,” a tart voice stated, emanating from the tiny bathroom off to the side. “In the war between the sexes, I’m a major general.” A woman about his grandmother’s age emerged, carrying a vase full of roses.

Phoebe laughed. “Ella, meet Daniel O’Callahan, my grandson. Daniel, Ella Crown is the hospital florist and she has kindly delivered the flowers your brothers sent me.”

Ella nodded but she didn’t smile. Instead, she went on grumbling as she carried the vase to a shelf where Phoebe could have a good view of it. Her long white hair was twisted into a braided ring at the top of her head, and her naturally craggy face was enhanced by some of the brightest blue eye shadow he’d ever seen.

“So you’re an expert on relationships, are you?” Daniel noted casually. “Then you might be the one who can explain to me why women are so perverse.”

“I’m not explaining anything,” she said, turning to fix him with a steady stare, her hands on her slender hips. “Why should I give secret intelligence to the enemy?”

Daniel grinned. She was a feisty one, and probably annoying as all get out in the long run, but he found her amusing. “Don’t you want to make this a fair fight?” he asked.

“Heck no.” She snorted. “Listen, youngster, I’ve married, harried and buried four men. I’ve done my part.”

Daniel nodded, impressed. “Going for a fifth?” he asked her.

She practically snarled. “I think not. I’ve retired from those battles. Hung up my spurs. I think I’ve probably had more than my share of heartbreak. Why would I ask for any more punishment?”

“Oh, come on, Ella,” Phoebe remonstrated, her eyes dancing. “You work every day with flowers, the language of love. How can you ignore the effect on you?”

“I keep my vaccinations up to date,” she snapped back. “I’m not falling for any of this romantic twaddle. There’s enough of that going on around here to choke a horse, anyway.”

“You’ve noticed it, too?” Daniel said quickly. So few would admit it.

“Noticed it?” Ella rolled her eyes, an interesting movement backed as it was with the heavy blue eye shadow. “You can’t get down the hallways without tripping over lip-locked lovers these days. I don’t know what’s come over everyone.”

That was a relief. He was beginning to think he was the only one who saw the difference. The thing was, he knew this hospital pretty well. His partner had taken a round in his leg a few years ago, the by-product of a major drug bust, and he’d visited Jimmy almost every day until they’d let him out. And there had been others—Minnie the office secretary when she’d had her heart attack, Kirk with his hip replacement, Mike with the broken back from falling off a roof while chasing a kidnapper. And then when Jimmy and his wife had decided to adopt a child, he’d become well-acquainted with Maggie Sullivan, a social worker with Children’s Connection, which was affiliated with the hospital. All in all, he’d been in and out of the place dozens of times. If things had been like this he would have noticed. It had only been this summer that he had begun to notice people here acting strangely. Only since the new clinic had opened its doors.

So he nodded in agreement with the woman.

“I don’t suppose you’ve visited the Healthy Living Clinic by any chance?” he asked. “Or had any dealings with their products?”

“Heck no. I’m fit as a spring colt, thank you very much. I don’t need any of that alfalfa-sprout mumbo-jumbo.”

She started for the door, then glanced back at Phoebe. “You take care, honey. Enjoy your flowers.” Looking back at Daniel she added, “And you take care of this little lady. Don’t go running off after some flirty skirt and leaving her to fend for herself. You hear?”

Daniel put his hand over his heart. “On my honor,” he told her earnestly.

She nodded as though satisfied and went on her way, her high heels clicking on the tiled floor.

Phoebe laughed. “Quite a character, isn’t she? I’ve known her since we were in the Oregonian Historical Society together, years ago. I’ve even met a couple of her husbands.”

“Sounds like you had to work fast to do that,” Daniel noted. “None of them lasted very long.” He looked thoughtful. “I wonder just what the circumstances were.”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Phoebe cried. “You leave Ella alone.” She gave him a look of pure exasperation—a look he’d seen many times before. “She’s a peach. Look, she stopped by the travel bureau and picked up some brochures on cruises for me.” She waved the brightly colored leaflets at him. “I’ve already got my cruise picked out.”

Daniel stopped, groaning internally. “Gram, I don’t think you’re going to be in any condition for cruising for some time,” he said carefully. “I hate to see you get your hopes up when—”

“Don’t start with me, young man.”

He bit his tongue. There was no way she was going on a cruise. It was impossible. The summer had begun with her being hospitalized with circulatory problems, and then there had been the fall she’d taken, an accident that had left her lying helpless in the street. He couldn’t bear to think of her risking another accident like that. And even if she were in physical shape to do it, the money wasn’t there.

He’d just sunk every penny in a wonderful retirement community for her. Now all he had to do was convince her that she wanted to move in. But there would be plenty of time for that once she was back on her feet again.

“You just get over here and adjust these pillows for me,” she was saying. “Then you can turn on my television and go out and find a nice girl to date.”

He obliged about the pillows right away. “That’s just my complaint, you know,” he said with a sad smile, meant to get her sympathy. “There are no nice girls left.”

Phoebe looked up at him, her eyes narrowing speculatively. “That cute little redheaded nurse was asking about you again.”

He threw out his hands in a mock gesture of irritation. “Now see, that’s what I mean. That’s just plain weird.”

“Why?”

He shrugged, ready to pass her question by. But the way she was looking at him, he could tell she wasn’t going to be satisfied with that, so he tried to explain. “Women just don’t do things like that around me. I’m not that type of guy. Never have been.”

“Oh, Danny, don’t be so dense,” his grandmother said crossly. “Women would love you if you just give them half a chance. And the redhead is the proof.”

“No, Gram.” He shook his head. This was one thing in his life that he didn’t doubt. “There’s something wrong here. Women have never fallen all over me like this before. And in such strange ways. I don’t trust it.”

“Oh, Danny.”

“It’s the truth. Women just don’t act like that around me.”

“Well, how do women usually act?”

He grimaced. “Most of the women I deal with these days reach for their license first, and then for their cell phone.”

She looked bewildered. “Their cell phone?”

“To call their lawyer.”

“Oh.” She laughed. “Of course. They’re afraid you’re going to arrest them.” She shook her head. “Well, very few here know you’re a cop so that isn’t the problem.”

He slumped down into the chair beside her bed and squinted his eyes, thinking. “That’s just it. It’s driving me nuts. I’ve got to get to the bottom of it. I’ve got women making goo-goo eyes at me all over the place.”

“Well, of course you do, darling.” She patted his arm. “I think you just never noticed it before. You’re quite a handsome man. I’m sure there are lots of women sizing you up as a very good catch. You just don’t pay enough attention.”

He gave his grandmother a patient look. “That’s not it, Gram. I pay a lot of attention. It’s part of my job to pay attention. And I’ve never been a ladies’ man before.” He sighed, mulling things over. “Anyway, it’s not just me. Half the people in this hospital seem to be wandering around in a lovesick daze. You heard your friend Ella. She’s noticed it, too. Something deeply suspicious is going on around here.”

Phoebe still looked dubious, but she was lost in memories for the moment. “The trouble is, you don’t take advantage of opportunities when they slap you right in the face. I remember that talkative Taffy Williams who used to come around to see you. She wasn’t a beauty, but she seemed to be such a nice girl. You never did ask her out, though, did you?”

Daniel looked at her, considered for a moment, then decided to tell her the truth. “Gram, Taffy had a sex-change operation three years ago. She’s now a he. You can stop trying to get me to ask her out. Uh, him out… Oh, hell!”

“My goodness. I’m sorry to hear that.” She put a finger to the side of her nose, thinking. “I must send her a get-well card.”

Daniel laughed out loud. “You don’t ‘get well’ from a sex change.” He sobered. “At least, I don’t think you do.”

“Never mind. Everyone likes to get a card showing concern. Even if we’re not too clear what that concern is all about.” She smiled at him, then looked eager. “Now tell me. What is your investigation turning up?”

He turned to look at the wall. “Nothing so far.”

“Danny! Don’t hold out on me now. Tell me what’s up.”

He looked back at her. “Gram, I don’t think you need to—”

“It has to do with that Healthy Living Clinic place, doesn’t it?”

He reacted with surprise, then resignation. “How did you figure that out?”

Her smile was smug. “Where do you think you got your inquisitive genes? I heard what you said to Ella. That snapped it into place right away. So give.”

“There’s nothing to ‘give,’ you rascal.” Leaning forward, he kissed her cheek with genuine affection. “I’ve been snooping around, but so far nothing looks even vaguely promising.”

She pouted. “At least tell me what I can do to help.”

He gazed at her, loving the way she wanted to get involved, but knowing it was something she just couldn’t do. He would lay down his life for this woman who had stepped in and taken over when his parents had been killed in a boating accident. She’d been way past her most energetic years at the time. By all rights, she should have been spending her days having tea and cookies with her lady friends, joining the gardening club, taking tours of Europe. Instead, she’d pitched in and taken over parenting duties that had helped keep him and his three younger brothers together.