It Had to Be Him (32 page)

Spending the morning watching Eric’s grin as he drove a Jet Ski for the first time had lifted Meg’s spirits. But happiness quickly
turned to dread as they pulled up to the church in Josh’s truck. The large group of people gathered out front all turned to stare as Josh parked. Toby waved and parted from the group, making his way toward them. At least she had one ally.

While Josh hopped out to deal with Haley’s car seat, Toby opened Meg’s door. She ignored Josh’s quiet grunt and smiled at Toby. “Thanks.”

“No. Thank
you
.” He beamed one of his classic “surfer dude” smiles. “We were all taking bets on if you’d show up this morning. The few of us who said you would just made a killing.”

The few who said she would? Great. “Glad I could be of assistance.” She patted his shoulder. “Thanks for betting on me.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll never guess who I’ll have to split the pot with. Your dad, and all Three Amigos. Bye.” Toby strolled away.

Even Dad had bet on her showing up?

Maybe things would go better than expected today.

She turned to see what Josh thought of her dad betting on her and caught him checking his phone again. Then his head popped up and he leaned around his truck, as if searching for someone.

He had that look on his face again.

She leaned around the truck too and saw a few tourists milling around the square, but then she spotted Zeke walking toward them. That must be who Josh was looking for.

Josh handed Haley over to her. “Why don’t you guys go on in? I’ll catch up.”

Before she could ask what was going on, Josh turned to leave. She called out, “We’ll be way up front, second row on the right.”

Josh just lifted a hand in acknowledgment as he crossed the parking lot.

He’d been acting so weird since the picnic.

Shaking her head, she said to Eric, “Pastor Brian is really loud, so I wish we could sit in the back and save our eardrums, but
everyone has their usual spots and we can’t mess up the system. Unfortunately all the Andersons sit right up front.”

Eric nodded. “Because your dad’s the mayor. Makes sense.”

Not to her. She’d always wished she could sit in the back row with Pam. Maybe one of these days she’d do it, just to buck the system. But not today. Today was all about showing everyone she belonged.

Luckily Amber was always late, so Meg nodded and forced smiles at the folks who sent curious glances her way as she walked up the long aisle toward her usual pew in the second row.

Sue Ann, sitting in her spot at the end of the first row, was powdering her nose in the reflection of her little hand mirror. When she turned and greeted them with a smile, Meg wasn’t sure what to do.

“Uh. Morning, Sue Ann. I’d like you to meet Eric. He’s staying with us for the summer.” She turned to Eric. “This is my dad’s wife, Sue Ann.”

Eric stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“We’re glad you’re here, Eric.” Sue Ann shook his outstretched hand.

Holy crap, Batman. Had the whole world gone mad? First her dad bet on her and now Sue Ann was being nice?

After they were settled in, her father slipped beside her and whispered, “I heard about what happened last night after I left.”

Meg’s stomach seized. “Yeah. It wasn’t pretty. You’re lucky you didn’t have to see that. And I’m sorry about that snowball through your office window. I didn’t know about the rock inside.”

“Always figured that was you.” Dad crossed his arms. “Well, at least you didn’t screw up last night. You finally apologized and acted like an Anderson for a change.”

Her jaw was still in her lap as he stood to go take his seat next to Sue Ann. The world
had
gone mad.

Josh followed a few feet behind Watts and Evans as they slipped around the back of Town Hall. When Josh caught up to them, Watts lifted his chin in greeting. “Thanks for coming.”

The text Josh had just received said they were planning a takedown during the church service.

Josh said, “Why not wait until tomorrow? Arrest them in the office. Doing it here, in front of everyone, is . . .” He wanted to say as cruel as what Meg had to endure the night before, but didn’t. “It could be dangerous. What if one of them has a concealed weapon?”

Evans shook her head. “The warrant will be here any minute. We need to strike now, while we have them contained. One of them could have a friend in the right place who could tip them off. I say we do it and be done with it.”

Watts glanced at Josh. “We just wanted to let you know the plan. They’ve probably started the service by now. You’d better get going.”

Watts’s way of blowing Josh off. “It’d be easier on Meg, and her family, if you didn’t do this in front of the whole town.”

“She has you whipped.” Evans shook her head. “What’s happened to you, Sam? You used to be the biggest hard-ass I knew. It’s like you lost your balls and grew a heart or something.”

He met her gaze and raised a brow. The pain in her eyes betrayed the sharp words. She’d been in love with him, but he’d been honest with her. He didn’t love her back. He used to fear he wasn’t capable of love. Until he’d met Meg. Was Evans trying to hurt Meg to get back at him?

Done with their staring match, she huffed out a breath and looked away. “I just want this over with so I can move on.”

He wasn’t getting anywhere. If that warrant came through, they were going to do it. Best to be with Meg and the kids in case things got rough. “I better go.”

Josh slipped quietly into the back of the church. The pastor was bellowing about the power of forgiveness. That couldn’t be a coincidence. He’d been at the dinner last night too.

Josh quickly moved up the side aisle and then slid into the pew next to Meg. She lifted her hands from her lap in a “where the heck have you been” gesture, so he laid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He whispered in her ear, “Sorry.”

Drawing a deep breath for calm, he considered saying a prayer for that warrant to stay tied up. Doing a takedown during the church service was excessive. But then, Watts always liked to play up the busts big, thinking it made him look better to the brass above. The ass.

As the pastor droned on, Josh checked the location of all the exits. Two on the sides, one in front, off to the side of the pulpit, and the large bank of doors at the rear. They’d probably come in one from the rear, another from the side.

After what seemed an eternity, the pastor appeared to be wrapping things up. Josh reached for his phone to check the time. Meg snatched it from his hand and slipped it into her purse before sending him a quick elbow jab to the ribs.

Right. Probably not polite to check phones during church. But he was just checking the time. He tapped a finger on top of his wrist. Meg tilted her chin, indicating a big clock that hung on the wall high above them. It had been just over an hour. Maybe they’d make it out before the warrant came, yet.

The final hymn had just ended when Evans entered through the back doors and Watts through the side exit behind Josh.

Evans called out, “FBI. Everyone please take a seat.”

Josh glanced at the mayor to gauge his reaction. Genuine confusion, not fear of arrest, knit his brow as Anderson remained standing and said, “What’s going on here?”

Ryan, the only other one still standing too, said, “Dad, sit down.” Then he called out, “Sheriff Anderson. How can I help you?”

Evans said, “Sheriff, we appreciate your cooperation. If everyone will just please remain quiet and in their seats.” Heads swiveled from the front of the church to the back again, as if watching a tennis match. Waiting for Ryan’s response.

Instead Watts spoke and everyone turned to the side. “We’re here to take two people in for questioning. We need the mayor and Mrs.—”

Gasps rang out as Ryan held up his hand and cut him off. “No one is going anywhere without a warrant.”

“It’s all here.” When Evans held up the papers, Ryan walked down the aisle to inspect them. People quietly mumbled among themselves, speculating. Many commented that the last two days had been the most interesting in years when a loud commotion broke out on the other side of the church.

Mrs. Duncan, the mayor’s secretary, bolted from her seat and ran toward the pulpit. Watts was too far back to catch her, so Evans yelled from the rear, “Sam! Go!”

Options flashed through Josh’s head. Meg would find out the truth before he had a chance to explain if he went after Mrs. Duncan. But his sense of justice was too ingrained to let the woman get away. He took off after her.

Blowing his cover.

C
haos broke out in the church around Meg. What the hell was going on? Why had that woman called Josh “Sam”?

Meg turned in time to see the male agent follow Josh out the door, both chasing Dragon Breath. Why would she be running from the FBI? When Meg turned around again, the female agent was reading Dad his rights and handcuffing him, all while Ryan stood by, rubbing the back of his neck and studying the warrant she’d handed him.

Meg passed Haley off to Grandma and said to Eric, “Stay with my grandmother, please.” Then she hopped up to see why her dad was being arrested.

“Ryan, what’s going on?”

The crowd noise had become deafening, so she had to lean close to hear him say, “They found evidence on computers in Dad’s office of an illegal gaming scam, money laundering, and wire fraud, among other things.”

“What? Dad doesn’t even know how to use a spreadsheet. That makes no sense.”

Josh and the agent returned with Mrs. Duncan in handcuffs. She was spitting mad and yelling about her rights being violated.

Ryan said, “Nope. But what makes perfect sense to me now is that Josh is obviously an undercover agent. And his name is Sam.”

The air whooshed from Meg’s lungs as it all began to sink in.

Meg made her way through the people milling around and squeezed next to Josh. “What’s going on? And why did she call you Sam?”

The female agent holding her dad’s arm said, “Because that’s his name.”

Josh shook his head. “No, Josh Granger is my name. Sam Coulter is an alias. Watts will confirm.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “After all those years together, you never even told me your real name?”

Meg turned to Josh. “Who is this?”

The agent tugged on Dad’s arm and said, “I’m the one before you, honey. Good luck.”

Meg’s head spun with confusion as the agents dragged her father and Mrs. Duncan through the back doors. Josh took her arm and led her outside. When the metal door slapped closed behind them, she ripped her arm from his grasp and threw her hands on her hips. “Explain. Now!”

“Meg, please—”

Josh tried to touch her, but she evaded.

He held up his hands, palms out in a gesture of peace, but Meg was far from feeling serene. Blood pounded in her ears. That son of a bitch had been lying to her. The one thing she asked him never to do.

“I was an FBI agent. Three years ago, your father was a suspect. I was asked to talk to you and find out if you knew anything. When we met, I was undercover, posing as a software developer for a firm that was a front for the mob. Right after we broke up, I exposed the operation and then had to go into hiding along with other witnesses from the company, until the trial was over. There were some nasty mob players involved. I broke up with you because I needed you guys to be safe. Not because I didn’t love
you. After the trial was over a few weeks ago I quit the FBI so I could be with you and Haley.”

She blinked at him, trying to absorb it all. How the hell could someone be that good at lying? She’d lived with him twenty-four seven. “So that first night, at the talk I was giving, your ‘assignment’ was to chat me up? Flirt with me, and get information out of me?”

He slowly nodded. “Yes. But as soon as we started talking I knew there was something special about you and I wanted to know—”

“Wait.” Meg held up a hand to cut him off. “So you had a file on me? Knew what I liked to do, what I did for a living, that kind of thing? So all that instant connection I was feeling with you was because you already knew everything about me? You were using that knowledge to trick me into giving you information about my father? I should’ve known you were too good to be true.” Tears burned the back of her eyes. She’d fallen for him the first night because of a fake connection. It’d all been a ploy.