Josh looked to Serena. Her gaze slid to meet his. Her eyebrows inched up in question. Josh nodded, indicating for her to speak.
“Six months ago a routine court witness protection detail went south,” she said, addressing Agent Bishop. “We apprehended a suspect who had tried to take out the witness and offered him protection in exchange for information regarding human trafficking. Babies, to be exact. The thug was working for someone dubbed ‘Mr. Big.’ We have yet to find this man.
“However, following the lead the suspect provided, we ascertained that there is indeed an illegal ring of baby smugglers operating out of the U.S. We believe the headquarters are here in St. Louis. We discovered a connection between Mexico and a law firm here, Munders and Moore.
“We believe the law firm is arranging for infants to be brought across the border and sold to American families through an adoption agency.”
“The Perfect Family Adoption Agency,” Harrison murmured. “Why there?”
“The agency is owned and operated by Matilda Munders, wife of Fred Munders. Fred has been implicated in witness tampering, several kidnappings and murder.”
The chief stroked his chin. “It’s imperative we bring these criminals to justice. Are you two prepared to do what it takes?”
Josh blinked at the ominous words. He glanced at Special Agent Bishop. The man stared back at him with sharp eyes, reminding Josh of a shark.
“Yes, sir,” Serena answered quickly.
“Josh?” Harrison eyed him with an intensity that made Josh want to squirm.
But Josh held himself still. “Of course, sir.”
“Good.” Agent Bishop handed each of them a file folder. “Inside this dossier you will find everything you need for your cover. Publically you will be reassigned to work on a fugitive task force coordinating with the FBI.”
Josh opened the dossier and scanned the overview sheet. His heart beat in his throat. He slanted a glance at Serena. She stood frozen in place, her gaze trained on the papers in her hand. Slowly she lifted her gaze to meet his. Shock and denial swirled in the depths of her chocolate-brown eyes.
Swiftly she jerked her gaze away from Josh to address the chief. “No. I can’t. I won’t.”
Josh’s fingers tightened around the folder. He’d never known Serena to back away from a challenge. And this would be challenging.
The chief stared back at her unflinchingly. “This is too dangerous a task to give to a civilian. You and McCall are the perfect choices.”
She sputtered. “But...but...posing as husband and wife?”
“It’s the perfect cover,” Bishop said. “You’ll be Mr. and Mrs. Andrews from Alaska, recently relocated to St. Louis because of Mr. Andrews’s promotion to bank executive at First National. You are desperate to have a child. You’ve tried everything and are at your wits’ end.”
“I could never pull this off,” Serena declared, her voice rising slightly, betraying her upset.
Josh had only seen her lose her cool once, when she’d heard the news of her brother’s death. For her to show this much of a reaction spoke volumes. Was it the undercover work she objected to, or was it that he would be playing her husband?
“Serena, think of all the innocent families who have been affected by this case.” Josh held her gaze. He needed to take this assignment. They needed to take this assignment. They’d worked too hard over the past six months to back down now.
The fact that going undercover with Serena would mean they’d be in constant contact with few breaks strung his nerves tight, but he couldn’t let that deter him. “We need to do this. We need to bring the ringleaders to justice before more hearts are broken—or anyone else is killed.”
A ripple of pain crossed Serena’s face before she narrowed her gaze on him. “You’re okay with this? You and me posing as husband and wife?”
“If that is what is required of us, then yes. I would think you’d want to do whatever it took to bring down Munders and the adoption agency. Even posing as my wife.”
The thought of pretending to be married to Serena—aka Susan Andrews—would present all sorts of difficulties. Not the least of which was the attraction he fought on a daily basis, and despite the fact that they had reached an uneasy truce these past few months, he could never forget that she blamed him for Daniel’s death. Nor could he ignore his own guilt, which made working with Serena so painful.
Playing the part of Jack Andrews would necessitate Josh’s tapping into his latent acting skills. In high school he’d had the lead role of Algernon Moncrieff in The Importance of Being Earnest, to much acclaim.
Though a part of him doubted he’d have much trouble giving a convincing act as “Susan’s” husband. Not with Serena playing Susan to his Jack.
But the question that knocked at his mind was: once this charade was finished, would they be able to go back to being partners?
* * *
Serena barely held on to her composure as three sets of eyes watched her. She forced her expression to remain neutral. She hated that she’d had a momentary lapse in poise when she initially realized what they were being asked to do.
Pose as husband and wife?
Her and Josh.
A loving couple wanting to adopt a child.
The thought of pretending to be Josh’s adoring wife sent her heart rate spiking and stirred up old feelings she’d long ago squashed. When she’d first met her brother’s friend, she thought Josh handsome and charming. It didn’t hurt that Daniel had loved Josh like a brother. But Josh had been taken. And Serena had a strict policy to never poach another woman’s man. Not that she had wanted to date Josh. Well, okay, maybe a little, even though he’d treated her like a sister and kept a proper distance between them. She’d admired his faithfulness to his girlfriend. There had been a lot about Josh Serena had admired and respected.
But that was before Daniel’s murder.
Now she tolerated Josh’s presence because she had to, not because she held on to some silly crush.
She dropped her gaze to the file in her hand. The dossier held a minimal biography of the fictional Susan Andrews as well as a birth certificate and a social security number. Both documents looked completely legit. Everything she’d need for a Missouri ID.
Even though this identity was temporary and would be used only for the purpose of bringing down criminals, a surreal feeling of loss of self invaded her.
This must be what witnesses felt when they were given their new identities.
The silence stretched as the men waited for her to say something. She thought about the children who’d been torn away from their mothers and sold off to couples desperate enough to purchase a baby through questionable sources.
Those little lives demanded she put aside her personal issues and do what was necessary to make sure no more families were torn apart.
“I’m in.” She slanted a glance to her “husband,” then quickly jerked her gaze away when her heart jumped.
She’d better learn to compartmentalize ASAP or their cover would be blown before it ever got off the ground.
THREE
“Excellent.” Agent Bishop glanced at Chief Harrison and exchanged a nod. Josh tugged at the collar of his shirt. “Welcome to Operation: Marriage.”
“Uh, don’t you mean Operation: Undercover Marriage?” Josh asked, earning himself one of Serena’s annoyed, you-think-you’re-so-funny looks.
Bishop chuckled. “Right you are, Marshal McCall.” He clasped