Secret Weapon Spouse - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,23
felt that way. And how incredibly wrong she had been.
It wasn’t long after that that Rachel had approached her about working with the Miami Confidential team. She’d been ecstatic. Until she heard what their cover was.
“Weddings?”
“Is that a problem?” Rachel had asked her, sounding surprised by her reaction.
“No,” Samantha had quickly covered, cursing silently to herself. Weddings?
It was hard sometimes seeing how happy the brides were. Like Caroline Graham.
And Sonya Botero.
It had been almost twenty-four hours and still there was no ransom demand, no word at all. Where was Sonya? Who had taken her?
Samantha was reminded of last night and the man who’d tried to kill her in Caroline’s condo. She quickly went to her ultra neat desk and pulled out her appointment book.
If Preston Wellington III had been after Caroline Graham’s money and that plan was soured by her pregnancy, maybe he saw a way to still get the fortune he was after.
She leafed through her appointment book, already knowing what she was going to find. Sonya Botero’s appointment had been right after Caroline Graham’s.
That meant that Caroline’s fiancé would have seen Sonya. Had he found out who she was? More to the point, had he found out what she was worth?
Samantha shuddered at the thought, shocked by what that could mean. Was it possible that Sonya Botero’s alleged kidnapping was nothing more than a smoke screen for the true crime—the murder of Caroline Graham.
Samantha went into the small kitchen adjacent to her office and made herself a cup of tea, feeling chilled and needing the calm that hot tea always brought her. Taking the cup to her office window, she looked out over Biscayne Bay. The water shimmered in the sunlight. Several sailboats leaned in the breeze, canvases bright white against the blue horizon.
“Samantha?”
She turned to find Rachel standing in the doorway of her office.
“I was waiting for your report,” her boss said.
“I was just going to check in,” Samantha said quickly.
Rachel closed the door and moved deeper into the office, stopping short when she saw the cut and dark bruise that even makeup couldn’t hide on Samantha’s cheek.
Without further hesitation, Rachel slid into a chair, motioning for Samantha to do the same. “What happened?”
Samantha touched the injury and winced. “Some of my skills in the field are a little rusty, but I got what I went for.” She told Rachel what had happened. “I’m just waiting to hear from the lab.”
Fortunately the champagne glass that had broken when she’d fallen was the one with the lipstick on it and the pieces were large enough that the lab would probably still be able to lift a print or two from it.
“Caroline Graham hasn’t regained consciousness?” Rachel asked.
Samantha shook her head. “Luckily, the baby is all right. At least so far.”
“And the fiancé?”
She shrugged. “He’s still missing. And on top of that he’s not Preston Wellington III. No person by that name existed until a year ago—about the time Caroline met him.”
Rachel looked surprised. “I saw him come in with Caroline. I didn’t suspect a thing.”
“Neither did I. I really believed he was in love with her. That they were in love with each other. And this morning, I did some checking. Caroline and Sonya had some appointments after each other. Preston or whoever he is would have seen Sonya, might even have learned who she was.” She realized what she was saying. The man was looking even more like a suspect in Sonya Botero’s abduction as well as Caroline’s hit-and-run.
Rachel didn’t look pleased to hear the news. “Did you talk to Craig Johnson last night at the hospital?”
She told Rachel about her visit to the hospital and what she’d overheard in Craig Johnson’s hospital room. “He sounded scared. I have a feeling the reason he is complaining of a headache and memory loss is so he can stay in the hospital where he feels safer.” She went on to tell her boss about the threatening phone call she’d received.
Rachel took in the information. “Do you think Caroline should have some protection on her at the hospital?”
“Alex hired a private guard to stay outside his sister’s room just down the hall.”
“Alex?” She gave Samantha a questioning look.
Samantha felt her face flush and realized the way she’d said his name had cued her boss. “He insists I call him by his first name.”
“Of course he would.” Rachel smiled, studying her. “I’ve never seen you flustered like this before, though. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“It’s Alex. Mr. Graham. He…” She