Mission Undercover

COVERT ASSIGNMENT

When Blake Michaels’s cover as a local cop is blown and a corrupt officer attempts to kill him, he’s forced to go on the run. Under his protection is Holly Mathis, also a target for what she may know about her late husband’s investigation into corruption on the police force. Blake can’t complete his assignment without help from the beautiful widow, but getting close to a woman again is out of the question. Trapped inside the town limits by police barricades, Blake won’t surrender the mission until he finds the source of the deadly drug ring that brought him here. But as he circles closer to his target, can he get his man—and save his woman—without sacrificing his own life?

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Blake had parked across from the precinct but he knew they should be running.

“I have to. I can’t be involved in this.” Holly looked at him, her eyes searching his. “What are you going to do?”

“My best to get out of this town alive.”

She nodded, then opened the car door. She had one leg out when he stopped her. “Wait.” He was surprised by the intensity of his feelings for her, and in such a short time.

She looked back at him, but his words caught in his throat. He should say something to help her but every instinct was telling him this wasn’t right. “Please don’t do this,” he said. “You’re making a mistake by going in there.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, exiting the car.

He watched her enter the police station, his heart hammering against his chest. Had he rescued her hours ago from a killer only to let her walk into the lion’s den?

Dear Reader,

After I wrote Ranch Refuge, I had many people ask me if Blake would get his own story. I was happy to tell them he would! I loved giving Blake his second chance at love in Mission Undercover. Only, after his fiancée’s bitter betrayal, Blake is struggling to trust anyone, especially himself.

Usually we get into our biggest messes by relying on our own judgment instead of listening for God’s guidance. Proverbs 3:5–6 reminds us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” It’s a truth we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

I love hearing from my readers! You can contact me through my website, virginiavaughanonline.com, or through the publisher.

Blessings!

Virginia

VIRGINIA VAUGHAN is a born-and-raised Mississippi girl. She is blessed to come from a large Southern family, and her fondest memories include listening to stories recounted around the dinner table. She was a lover of books from a young age, devouring tales of romance, danger and love. She soon started writing them herself. You can connect with Virginia through her website, virginiavaughanonline.com, or through the publisher.

Mission Undercover

Virginia Vaughan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased; And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

—Isaiah 2:17

This book is lovingly dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through whom all things are possible. And to the two little boys who have recently changed my life. Raising little ones again was not in my plan, but thankfully God had a different, wonderful path for us all.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

ONE

Blake Michaels pulled into the parking lot of Northshore Medical Center and cut the engine. He spotted Mason Webber’s police cruiser a few rows away. Mason was sitting behind the wheel. Blake reached for his pistol and tucked it into the waistband of his jeans. He didn’t know what Mason wanted, but he suspected it couldn’t be good.

He and Mason weren’t on the best of terms and his call asking Blake to meet him had been cryptic. Besides, Blake had gotten used to trusting no one. That’s what made this job perfect for him. After his fiancée Miranda had betrayed him, distrust came easily to him. And he had a lot of reasons to distrust the town’s police force, especially Mason Webber.

Blake got out, pulled his shirt over his weapon and then headed for Mason’s cruiser. The sound of jackhammers reached his ears, but he realized it was only construction happening outside the hospital.

He slid into the passenger’s seat of the police car and immediately saw the folder lying on the console between them. A folder with his name written on it.

That could not be good.

Mason noticed him gaze at the folder and his lip quirked as if he found the entire matter amusing. He smacked his hand against the steering wheel. “I learned something about you today, Blakey,” he said, using a nickname Blake absolutely detested. “You’re not who you claim to be.”

He held his breath. Had Mason discovered his real reason for joining the Northshore Police Department? He wanted to keep his voice casual but his mouth was bone-dry with apprehension. He’d known men like Mason during his time as an Army Ranger. Their macho bravado hid insecurities that were highlighted when a gun and bullets was added to the mix.

Mason reached for the folder and tossed it at Blake. It fell open and his photo, along with what looked like his police service record, spilled out. Blake picked up one sheet of paper and saw that it was his police service file—his real service file. How had Mason gotten his hands on it? “Where did this come from?”

“I have powerful friends in this town.” Fire blazed in his eyes and his hand gripped the gun in his lap. “You’re investigating us.”

Knowing Mason was already on edge, Blake would have to choose his words carefully. He’d already spent months trying to find out just who these “powerful friends” were, but hadn’t had much success. The men he’d met on the Northshore PD, including Mason Webber, liked to do a lot of bragging, but they were surprisingly tight-lipped for dirty cops.

“Who gave you this?” Blake asked. His official record had been supposedly altered by the Department of Justice when he’d accepted this undercover assignment in Northshore, Arkansas. So how had someone gotten their hands on his real-life info?

“You’re investigating me. In fact, you’re investigating this whole department.”

It was a statement, not a question, and Blake couldn’t refute it. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. “I’m investigating the drug ring. That’s all I care about, Mason. You don’t have to be a part of this.” That wasn’t entirely the truth, but he needed Mason to think he had an out if he would just take it.

“I already am. Your cover is blown at the precinct. The boss knows all about you, Blake Michaels. Now you’ve got not only the drug ring after you, but Northshore PD, as well.”

But who is the guy in charge?

That was the question Blake had spent months trying to figure out. He suspected it was someone working in the Northshore PD, and probably someone high up. In fact, the DOJ surmised that as many as twenty-five police officers—probably more—were involved in the massive drug ring operating out of the small town. And that was the real reason Blake had joined the department—and why he was sitting in Mason’s car now.

His friend Matt had landed him the gig with the DEA/DOJ combined task force. The agencies had been looking to send in someone with proven law-enforcement experience to pretend to be dirty and to gather information. Blake had the police background and had been in serious need of a change after being betrayed by his fiancée. Only he hadn’t been able to gather much intel even after nine months here.

Mason perked up as he saw something through the windshield. Blake followed his line of sight and noticed a pretty, dark-haired woman in scrubs leaving the employee entrance of the hospital. He didn’t recognize her, but her hair was around her face and her walk weary, making Blake assume she had just finished her shift at the hospital.

“Who is she?” Blake asked.

“Her name is Holly Mathis. She was Jimmy’s wife.”

Blake knew Mason’s partner, Jim Mathis, had been shot and killed nearly a year ago while responding to a burglary in progress at a gas station. The shooter had also been killed.

He didn’t know what Holly Mathis had to do with this, though he didn’t like the look in Mason’s eyes or the coincidence that Mason had brought him here to drop his bombshell just as his former partner’s widow was leaving work.

“Why are we here, Mason?”

“I just wanted you both in the same place. It makes it easier.”

Blake’s heart hammered in his chest. “Easier to do what?”

Mason picked up his gun and pointed it at Blake. “To kill you both.”

Sweat broke out on Blake’s brow, but he forced himself to remain calm. His life depended on it. He stared down the barrel of the gun, caught off guard by this sudden change. He scanned the area, realizing Mason had chosen the perfect spot for this ambush. He looked past the gun to Mason’s face. “And your boss, whoever that is, sent you here to kill me?”

“Yep. Then I’m going to kill Holly, too. I can see tomorrow’s headline now—Obsessed Police Officer Murders Girlfriend then Kills Himself.”

“Why her? Why kill Holly? She’s your partner’s widow. You should be looking out for her.”

His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed in anger. “She betrayed me just like you did.”

Blake tried another tactic. “You’ll have to make my death look like a suicide in order to make that work and a direct shot won’t do it. The coroner will know I didn’t shoot myself. There will be an investigation.”

Mason laughed, a humorless chuckle. “Not if the coroner is in our pocket, he won’t. He’ll do what the boss says. I hear he’s got a little drug problem he’s been trying to keep under wraps. Fortunately for him, we keep him well supplied, so he’ll say whatever we want him to say.”

Blake knew he couldn’t reach his gun before Mason fired. He had to think of another way out of this car and he had to do it fast.

“Did you really believe you could come to my town and deceive everyone?” Mason’s tone held bitterness and betrayal, as if Blake’s deception had been directed only toward him.

Blake slid his hand behind him and felt for the door handle. The situation was bad and he had to find a way out of it. He’d already been ambushed by this maniac and Holly was next. He also needed to let Matt and the DEA know his cover had been blown before the drug ring shut down and covered its tracks.

But as Mason rattled on about his betrayal of their trust, Blake’s own anger burned. What did Mason Webber know about betrayal? He hadn’t had his heart ripped out by someone he loved. He hadn’t had to deal with knowing his fiancée was responsible for placing those he cared about in danger and nearly getting his best friend shot to death. But this wasn’t the time for that discussion. He wouldn’t wish that kind of betrayal on his worst enemy—not even Mason.

“And what about her?” Blake asked. “I’ve never met her before in my life. How are you going to explain that?”

“Won’t be too hard to make it look like you two were together. Just another obsessed cop taking out his frustrations on his girl. They’ll probably make us all take more domestic violence seminars again because of it and the department will suffer some bad press—but we’ll get through it.”

So he had it all planned out. And if the coroner was in fact dirty, as Mason claimed, no one in this town would question their deaths. But Matt and the other Rangers would. They knew him too well to believe such a crazy concoction.

“Killing me would be a mistake,” Blake warned him. “You have powerful friends, but so do I. They’ll swarm this town and take you all down.”

Mason took only a moment to ponder that statement before he braced his arm, a sign Blake knew meant he was about to fire. In one swift move, Blake reached for his gun and pushed open the door, tumbling backward and rolling from the car as Mason fired twice. Blake felt the whiz of one bullet pass inches from his head while the other bit into his side as he tumbled. He hit the pavement, jamming his shoulder. He immediately rolled beneath the car as Mason jumped out the driver’s door and ran around to find him. When he did, Blake slid out the other side and hightailed it through the lot, staying low to use the cars as cover.

Mason swore then started searching for him, calling out his name. “Come out, come out, Blakey. I’ll find you sooner or later.”

Blake stopped and leaned against a car, his breathing labored and perspiration rolling off him. His shoulder ached but that wasn’t his most pressing concern. He touched his stomach and his hand came back bloody. He was hurt and he was leaving a blood trail behind him for Mason to follow. He had to get to his car, get as far away from Mason as possible and figure this all out. If Mason was to be believed, he was now being hunted by both the police and a powerful drug ring.

Lord, don’t forsake me now.

He adjusted the grip of his gun. If he was going down, he would go down fighting.

“You can’t get away,” Mason called to him. “I know I hit you. You’re bleeding bad. And soon you’ll have the entire police force hunting you. You won’t make it out of this town alive.”

Blake sucked in a breath and took off, again staying low so Mason wouldn’t see him. After a few minutes, he stopped to catch his breath one more time. He leaned against a Prius and listened for Mason’s footsteps. He was shocked to realize they were heading away from him instead of toward him.

He peeked around the front of the car and saw Mason moving through the parking lot—just as he’d suspected—away from him.

He glanced in the direction Mason was headed. Holly was approaching her car and Mason was moving to intercept her.

A rush of panic shot through him.

Mason had left him and was going after the girl.

He clutched his gun and forced himself to his feet, new energy pulsing through him. He couldn’t...he wouldn’t...let Mason kill her.

* * *

Holly Mathis rubbed her shoulder, trying to work out the kinks in her muscles. The sounds of the construction by the employee’s entrance hurt her head. Why did they have to make so much noise? She couldn’t even hear herself think. It had been another long night at the hospital and she was looking forward to a hot bath and then crawling into bed. She was tired, but at least it helped keep her mind free from the worry that had occupied her thoughts recently. If she gave herself time to focus on what she’d found and its implications, she might drive herself crazy.

Why didn’t you tell me, Jimmy?

Her husband’s death twelve months ago had left her life shattered and in confusion, but slowly, surely, she’d begun to live again...until two days ago when she’d been cleaning out the closet and discovered the hidden compartment and the leather-bound journal inside. What was written there had rocked her world and sent her reeling back into that place where thoughts of Jimmy occupied her every thought.

Had he died in the line of duty as his partner had claimed? She was beginning to question it. Her first instinct upon finding the journal had been to take it to Jimmy’s chief, but something had stopped her, some invisible hand—Jimmy’s? God’s?—on her soul had warned her to be cautious with what she shared.

Instead she’d photocopied a few pages that highlighted Mason’s wrongdoings and showed them to the chief. He’d been interested, pressing her to bring in the rest of the book, and Holly thought he’d seemed agitated even as he was trying to appear calm. But she’d seen sweat on his brow. He’d been unsettled about Jimmy’s findings, but what police chief wouldn’t be shaken after seeing evidence indicating he had a dirty cop on his force?

And Mason’s numerous visits made sense now, too. He’d become increasingly obsessed with her since Jimmy’s death. His constant calls and visits at the hospital and her home had bordered on harassment. She’d thought several times about filing a complaint with Chief Waggoner, but had hoped the problem would go away on its own and Mason would find someone else to focus his attention on.

Her attempts to appease Mason hadn’t worked and she knew why. He hadn’t really been obsessed with her. He’d been looking for information about what she knew of her husband’s investigation. Well, Mason needn’t have worried. Jimmy had kept his suspicions all to himself and hadn’t told her anything about corruption on the force. He’d seemed anxious and stressed in the last few weeks of his life, but he hadn’t given her any clue as to why when she’d questioned him about his behavior.

She’d been ready to turn the journal over to Chief Waggoner until yesterday when she’d arrived home to find her house had been broken into and trashed. It had been obvious that whoever had broken in had been searching for something—Jimmy’s journal she’d assumed—but when she’d checked the secret hiding spot, it had still been there. They hadn’t found it. The break-in couldn’t have been a coincidence, which left her wondering how Mason had found out about the journal in the first place.

What do I do now?

She didn’t know who she was talking to—Jimmy? Or God? She hadn’t spoken to God in nearly a year, not after He’d taken her husband from her and left her a widow. But she let the question float out there and hoped for an answer. She sighed as she pulled her keys from her purse. Maybe she was reading too much into this and the break-in at her house had nothing to do with Jimmy’s journal, after all.

She reached to unlock her car door, stopping when she spotted the shadow of a man in the window. Her heart leaped at the sight, but her instincts kicked in. She ducked, causing him to miss as he reached to grab her and hit the window instead. She spun around to face him.

Mason!

He raised his gun at her and words of protest caught in her throat. Fear rippled through her. At this close distance she could smell the acrid, sulfur aroma that indicated he’d fired his weapon recently. Very recently.

“Hello, Holly,” he snarled, his face contorted and bitter.

She saw murder in his eyes and knew she was in trouble. Jimmy had taught her about guns and had even bought her one for safety before he’d died, but the hospital had a strict no-guns policy so it was safely locked inside her car—so close but so out of reach. She had to find a way to get to it.

She raised her hands, palms out, in a take-it-easy kind of gesture. “Mason, what are you doing? Put the gun down.”

He shook his head. “No, Holly. Tell me where the book is.”

“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We both know that’s a lie.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and threw it on the ground. She saw that it was one of the copied pages of the journal.

“Where did you get that?”

“Did you think you could hide it from me? Tell me where the book is, Holly, and I’ll kill you quickly. Don’t tell me and I’ll kill you slowly and find it anyway.”

He gripped the gun tighter and Holly felt her blood go cold. This was it. This was where she was going to die. But she wouldn’t give him what he wanted.

“You’ll never find it,” she whispered and saw his face contort. Tears warmed her eyes and she began to shake. She choked them back and prepared to fight for her life, but before she could act, another man—this one broad and muscular—leaped from behind a car and tackled Mason as he fired.

Holly dived for the ground as the blast of the gun rang in her ears. She scrambled for cover in front of the car then peeked around the bumper to see Mason and the other man hit the ground. The gun slipped from Mason’s hand and spun across the asphalt beneath her car. Holly considered crawling after it, but Mason and her rescuer were in the way. The broad-shouldered man was on top of Mason. He punched him and Mason slumped to the ground.

The man crawled to his feet and looked around, spotting her crouched behind a parked car. Using his sleeve, he wiped sweat from his brow and then held out his hand to her. “Don’t be afraid. My name is Blake Michaels. I’m here to help you.” Urgency poured from him as Mason began to squirm, mere moments from regaining consciousness. “We have to go. Now.”

Holly took his outstretched hand and let him pull her to her feet, but she hesitated at following him, glancing at her car. Should she try to get past Mason to retrieve her gun and cell phone?

“He wants you dead,” Blake said matter-of-factly, interrupting her indecision. “He wants us both dead. Now, let’s get out of here before he comes to and finishes the job he started.”

She glanced back at Mason, still trying to pull himself awake. He’d come to kill her tonight and he almost had. This man, whoever he was, had saved her life.

She nodded and followed him to a Dodge Ram pickup. He unlocked the doors and she slid across the seat as he got in on the driver’s side. Holly spotted blood on his hands as he started the engine. Her gaze moved to his midsection, where a dark circle was growing on his shirt.

“You’re hurt,” she stated as he took off. “What happened?”

He waved away her concern. “It’s nothing. The bullet just grazed me.”

“I’m a nurse. I should take a look at it.”

“Maybe later. First we have to get as far away from Mason Webber as possible.”

She looked at the handsome stranger who had saved her life and shuddered. Mason had shot him, actually shot him, proving that he was even more dangerous than Holly had wanted to admit.

How do I get myself into these situations?

“Okay, so I know what he has against me. Why does he want you dead, Blake Michaels?”

“That is a long story.” He moved his hand from the steering wheel and felt along the seat as he drove. “Do you see my cell phone anywhere?”

Holly glanced around but didn’t see it. “No.”

He slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “I must have dropped it. Do you have a phone?”

“No. We’re not allowed to bring them inside during our shifts. It’s locked inside my car.” Along with my gun. She sighed, wishing she had both right now.

He didn’t slow down as they approached the turnoff for the police precinct. In fact, he drove right by it. “Aren’t we going to the police station? We need to let them know what just happened tonight.”

He shook his head but didn’t let up on the accelerator. “We can’t go to the police.”

“Why not? I know Mason is a cop but he’s out of his mind. The chief needs to know he’s dangerous.”

“I said no police.” His voice was sharp and biting.

He was so insistent that it caused her to wonder why he was wary of police involvement. She realized she didn’t even know this man she’d gotten into a truck with. “Why don’t you want to go to the police? Are you a criminal?”

“No, I’m a cop.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, flipping it open on the seat. She saw a badge and breathed a sigh of relief.