Undercover Operations by Merline Lovelace

Author:Merline Lovelace [Lovelace, Merline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Merline Lovelace
Published: 2018-08-25T00:00:00+00:00

Buchanan’s tantalizing promise hovered in her thoughts all day. As if to add to the simmering turmoil he’d created in her mind, he played the honeymooner to the hilt.

Each time they parked the Jeep and climbed out to explore one of the villages Dani had circled on her map, he draped an arm around her shoulders. Anchored side by side like the newlyweds they were supposed to be, they ambled through the dirt streets and explored the local markets.

While she discreetly pumped the locals for information, Jack maintained their cover by purchasing gifts for his new bride. Some were mere trinkets. A wooden flute carved with fantastic shapes. A nest of intricately woven baskets. A small but obviously fecund soapstone figurine.

“The ancients believed this goddess bring babies,” the Tarahumara Indian who sold it explained. With a shy smile, she rubbed the figure’s grossly distended stomach. “Many, many babies.”

“Good,” Jack said solemnly. “We want many, many babies.”

“Speak for yourself,” Dani muttered under her breath.

Nevertheless, she tucked the goddess into her pocket. But when they stopped at an open-air market just after lunch, and Jack picked up a beaten silver bracelet studded with bits of tourmaline, she drew the line. Or tried to.

“How much?” he asked the craftsman.”

The man named his price, and Dani murmured a quick protest. “It’s too expensive.”

“The stone is the same color as your eyes,” Jack said with a shrug, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.

“You should at least try to bargain!”

“Why? I want you to have it. Our friend here wants to sell it. A few pesos won’t change that. Right?”

Thus appealed to, the silversmith nodded in agreement. “It is a good price, señora. The stones, they are very clear and bright.”

“Yes, they are.”

Dani felt herself weakening. The bracelet really was gorgeous. The primitive designs stamped into the silver swirls hinted at Barranca del Cobre’s past. The rough-cut bits of quartz shimmered in the sunlight.

“Do these pieces come from around here?”

“From the caves above the village where my wife’s uncle lives, señora. I used to get many such stones there before the…”

He caught himself. A guarded expression dropped over the broad planes of his face. It was, Dani thought with a sudden kick in her pulse, the same careful wariness that had wiped the friendliness from the hotel receptionist’s eyes.

“Before the what?” she prompted.

The artisan glanced around, fingering the fringe of his colorful serape. “Before the caves became unsafe,” he said finally, choosing his words with obvious care.

She wanted to probe further, but he pocketed the wad of bills Jack passed him, bundled up his wares and scurried away. Her every nerve taut, Dani stared after him.

“Did you see his face?”

“I saw it.”

“He’s scared. Just like the receptionist at the hotel.”

“The thugs who kidnapped your sister must have a pretty extensive network of spies.”

“They do,” she replied, her stomach clenching as she remembered the tip the bastards had received just before the commando raid last week. “I’m going to nose around, see if I can pick up the name and location of this wife’s uncle’s village.

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