Page 40 of Shadow Undercover

Bridget turned the knob to admit two officers, hands on their guns.

“Ms. Monihan?” the blond-haired cop said, his gaze shifting from her to Trace and back. His partner’s attention remained solely on Trace.

“I’m Bridget Monihan. I reported a break-in.”

“We’ll get to that in a minute.” Blondie’s gaze shifted to Trace again. “You the armed friend?”

“I’m Trace, Bridget’s boyfriend.”

Boyfriend? She glanced at Trace who laid his arm across her shoulders in a proprietary touch. Interesting. He must want to make sure she wouldn’t be separated from him.

“We’d prefer you were unarmed while we’re in the house,” the second policeman said. “Mind if we confiscate your weapons until we leave?”

“I do mind, but I understand the precaution.” He nudged Bridget a little distance away from him before facing the officers again. “I work for Fortress Security. We’re always heavily armed.”

The policemen exchanged glances with each other, obviously recognizing the name of Trace’s company. “ID?” Blondie said.

“In my back pocket.” He turned so they could see his hand as he reached for his identification.

Blondie examined Trace’s credentials before returning them. “Now the weapons. Nice and easy.”

He complied.

Bridget’s eyes widened as the pile of weapons on her coffee table grew. Holy cow! She had no idea he was so heavily armed. The pile didn’t include the bag of stuff he left in his SUV.

The second policeman whistled. “Nice. Is this the norm for Fortress employees?”

Trace’s lips curved. “For operatives, yes.”

“You aren’t as well armed?” Bridget asked.

“No, ma’am. If we have too many weapons on us, we could end up fighting to retain possession of our own gear.”

“You reported a break-in,” Blondie said, getting them back on task.

“This way.” Bridget led the way upstairs with Trace at her back. The police followed behind him.

Although he didn’t say anything, she got the impression Trace was uncomfortable with the officers behind him. Her suspicions were confirmed when he walked into Ruth’s room a step behind her and immediately placed his back to the wall, close enough to reach her if she needed him but away of the officers looking over the room.

“Someone else lives with you?” Blondie asked.

“My sister, Ruth.” She glanced at Trace, silently asking if she should mention her sister’s disappearance. When she received a slight nod, Bridget explained about her trip to Chile in search of Ruth.

The dark-haired cop’s eyes narrowed. “Let me get this straight. Your sister hasn’t been home in two weeks and the first place you look for her is Chile?”

She glanced at the man’s name tag. “Ruth is a model, Officer Wiley. She works under the name Roxanne.”

Both men straightened. “Your sister is the supermodel on all the magazine covers?” Blondie asked.

“That’s right.”

“Why didn’t you report her missing?”

“I did. The police checked with her friends and inquired at the usual places she visits when she’s in town but didn’t get anywhere. I checked, too, and got the same results they did. My next best option was to track down the man she’d been seeing. He’s from Chile.”

“Find anything?”

“No.” She had no intention of telling them she’d been beaten and tossed in an alley. What could they do about it? She also didn’t want to see pity in their eyes or suspicion that she was worried over nothing.

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