Undercover Passion

It had been no bed of roses for her, either. He and his brothers hadn’t appreciated her at first, and they’d rebelled, each in his own way. As he looked back now, with the perspective of time, he could see that he had been emotionally devastated by the death of his parents, that he had taken it out on his grandmother, his community and, probably most of all, himself. There had been a time when it had been a toss-up as to which side of the law he would end up on. If it hadn’t been for his grandmother, always a steady rock of love and understanding, he wasn’t sure he would have made it back.

Oh, what the hell. If she wanted to help, there must be something he could think up to let her feel useful.

“Okay, here’s what you can do. You can ask around about the Healthy Living Clinic. Just casually work it into the conversation. When nurses and therapists drop by, ask if they know anything about it, or if anything strange is going on there.”

“What is going on there?” she asked in a stage whisper, her eyes huge.

He looked at her and hid his grin, answering her with the same sort of whisper. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

“Ah.”

“It’s not anything big or deep or dangerous. I don’t think. I’m just curious.”

“I see.” She nodded wisely and gave him a little wink.

“No, Gram, I mean it. Just ask around. No big deal.”

She stuck her nose in the air. “I know how to keep my cool, as we used to say in the jazz age.”

“The jazz age.” He laughed softly. “Okay, Gram, have your fun.”

He sobered, realizing he might be unleashing a whirlwind.

“But under no circumstances are you to take any products from that place. No vitamins or tonics or lozenges. Don’t do any of their exercises either.”

He thought for a moment and added, “In fact, don’t let any people from that place into your room. Okay?”

“You can trust me,” she said stoutly.

“Good. Now can I trust you to get some rest?”

“Of course. Just turn the TV to my favorite soap and I’ll be out like a light in no time.”

If only he could believe it was really that easy.

He headed down the hallway toward the elevator, punching the button and looking up as the doors opened to reveal the very attractive redheaded nurse already ensconced.

He hesitated. There was something about the look in her eye that reminded him of a cat with a captured mouse.

“Come on in,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “There’s plenty of room.”

He nodded to her warily and stepped into the opposite corner of the car. She immediately moved toward him, and as the doors closed again, she reached out and fingered the fabric of his suit coat.

“Nice,” she said softly.

He frowned at her, unable to believe this. “You like this suit?” he said incredulously. It was off the rack at a discount store.

She smiled up at him seductively. “I like what’s in it.”

He stared at her, aghast. Now that just wasn’t natural. Nice, but not natural. And when the doors opened again, he escaped as quickly as he could.

Abby was just passing through and she really didn’t have time for this. That was what she told herself as she stepped lightly down the hall in search of Room 707.

She’d stopped by the nurses’ station to pick up some reports and they had told her of a lady who wanted more information about the clinic. That wasn’t really her function, but she didn’t want to be rude. She supposed she could drop by and be friendly at least. If she could only find the room.

There it was.

She stuck her head in and found a little gray-haired woman dozing in her bed.

“Hi, there,” she said brightly.

The woman looked up and smiled a welcome. “Hello.”

“Are you Phoebe—” she glanced at the chart on the wall “—O’Callahan?” She turned and stared at the woman, suddenly remembering the O’Callahan she’d met the day before. Frowning, she decided there must be a lot of O’Callahans in the city. Funny coincidence, though.

“The nurse at the station told me you were asking about the Healthy Living Clinic, and since I’m spending some time on this floor, I thought I’d stop by and see if I can answer any of your questions. I’m the public relations representative.”

Phoebe beamed. “Well, thank you, dear. Come right in.”

Abby made her way to the side of the bed. “I wish I had some literature to give you, but we’ve recently revamped the brochure and new ones won’t be available until later this evening. But I’ll be sure to have some sent over for you.”

“Isn’t that nice of you.” Phoebe gestured toward the chair. “In the meantime, you just come and sit right down here where I can look at you and you can tell me everything.”

Abby laughed, pulling the chair over and dropping down into it. “Everything? Well, the clinic was started—”

“No, honey. That’s not what I mean.” Phoebe’s eyes sparkled. “First off, are you married?”

“Married?” Abby was startled by the question. “Why, no.”

“How nice. Got a fella in mind?”

“N-not really.”

“Wonderful.” She was grinning ear to ear. “Now tell me about your job. How did a nice girl like you get mixed up with that bunch?”

“Mrs. O’Callahan!”

“Call me Phoebe. And tell me what that good-looking Dr. Richie is really like.”

Abby laughed. “Well…”

Half an hour later they were still chatting, though Abby was beginning to glance at her watch. She was just getting her things together and preparing to say goodbye when a figure appeared in the doorway. Looking up, her smile froze on her face.

Darn! This was the same O’Callahan after all.

The man had been plaguing her mind for the last day and a half. Whenever she got a moment of rest, his image came back to her and she found herself wondering what his visit to her office had been all about. His attitude had been so strange and his requests sort of oddball. She’d tried hard to accommodate him, to the point where Dr. Richie had thought he had to give her what she considered a humiliating reprimand. But now that she thought it over, she knew her employer was right, and she also knew that Daniel was someone she should avoid.

Now here he was again, looking tall and lean and somehow vaguely dangerous in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It was definitely time for her to take her leave.

Daniel was staring at her in surprise that quickly turned to suspicion. Again. What did the man instinctively have against her? It was so strange. People usually took her at face value, and her value was pretty high, if she did say so herself.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

Her chin rose. The man had a lot of nerve. “What are you doing here?” she countered.

He nodded toward Phoebe. “This is my grandmother.”

That was too bad. She’d really liked the older woman a lot. Now she was going to have to be careful to avoid her.

“Well, that’s something I guess the poor dear can’t be cured of, isn’t it?” she said, then recoiled, immediately wanting to bite her tongue for using such a sarcastic tone. But the man had asked for it.

“Children, children,” Phoebe scolded. “I see you already know each other, so I won’t introduce you. But I may have to give you a quick lecture on playing nicely with each other.”

Abby turned apologetically and took Phoebe’s hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. We’ve had such a nice talk and I hope we get a chance to do that again. But I’m overdue at work. I must get back. There’s a staff meeting at eleven.”

Daniel snorted. “Poor old Richie Strong is probably wandering the halls like a lost puppy, looking for you right now,” he said.

Throwing him a poisonous look, Abby smiled at Phoebe. “I’ll be back in the morning with those brochures.”

“Ah, the famous brochures,” Daniel said softly.

She blinked and forced herself to smile even more broadly. “What time does your grandson usually come to visit?” she asked Phoebe as she turned to go. “I want to be sure to miss him.”

“I don’t want you coming back here at all,” Daniel said, his voice pleasant, but his eyes steely.

“Daniel!” Phoebe was outraged.

“I mean it, Gram. I don’t want you dealing with stuff from that clinic. They’ve got some kind of voodoo vibe going on over there, and I don’t want you involved.”

“You are impossible,” Abby said through clenched teeth.

Fury sizzled all through her system. She’d never before come across anyone who could instantly turn her usual complacency to rage the way this man did. Turning on her heel, she meant to make a dramatic exit. The only problem was, her first target seemed to be a closet. She realized her error immediately, but not soon enough to hide it from Daniel.

He grinned, standing in her way with his arms crossed.

“I’m beginning to understand where you make your mistakes,” he told her, “and how you end up locked in places you shouldn’t go into. You see, this is a door, but it’s not the right door. This is a door to a closet. That is the door to the outside world. Not the same thing.”

She knew her face was bright red, but right now she didn’t care. She only wanted to get out of the room before she did something really stupid. Her hands were already balled into fists. What would he do if she took a swipe at his nose? Oh, was she ever tempted!

“Could you just please get out of my way?”

“Oh. Certainly.” He stepped back, but at the same time, a crew began rolling another bed into the room and they both had to stand against the wall to let them pass and maneuver the bed.

“So what are you doing now?” he asked her softly, his words covered by the commotion in the room. “Trying to go after me through my grandmother?”

“Go after you!” Her jaw dropped and her hands itched to grab something to throw at his head. She had to suffice with glaring daggers at him. “Of all the egos I’ve ever known, yours is the most inflated. It’s practically bouncing off the ceiling.”

The pretty redheaded nurse had come into the room along with the moving crew. Abby noticed her distractedly as she handed Phoebe a cup with pills in it and turned to go, pausing to glance at the other two, deep in their argument.

“Well, I don’t know,” Daniel was saying in what Abby thought was a truly insolent manner. “Evidence isn’t everything, but it sure can point in a direction and—”

“Evidence!” She jabbed her forefinger at his chest. “I’d say the evidence shows you were the one coming after me yesterday. Name one good reason why I would be going after you.”

The nurse shook her head and grinned as she passed them. “Just check out those biceps, sweetie. They’ll give you a clue.”

Abby whirled and glared at the woman, but she was disappearing through the doorway.

Daniel grinned. “See? Why would I be going after you when I’ve got beautiful redheads following me around?”

“Oh!” She tried to leave but the crew was wheeling the bed back out again. Something about a broken control button. So she contented herself with hissing at him out of the side of her mouth. “Just stay away from me, Mr. O’Callahan.”

“Fine. And you stay away from my grandmother.”

She turned her head so fast, her hair whipped around her face. “Your grandmother is a grown woman. She can have visits from any friends she wants.”

He shook his head, looking exasperated. “Why are you always talking back?”

“You can only talk back to an authority figure. And I don’t see one here.”

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