Covert Alliance
Passion flares between a mysterious woman and a covert investigator who knows her secret…With death threats behind her and a hot new appearance, "Kelly Ladd" defies Identity Division rules to go undercover in Blue Haven. She's determined to bring down her sister's killer and protect her nephew. A job as a waitress seems like the perfect disguise…until she's recognized by Alan Correy, a security expert with a competing agenda! Although Kelly mistrusts Alan as much as he disdains her rule-breaking, they agree to work together, even pretending to date. But as they close in on the killer, the romance becomes real…as real as the death the murderer leaves in his wake.
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Passion flares between a mysterious woman and a covert investigator who knows her secretâ¦
With death threats behind her and a hot new appearance, âKelly Laddâ defies Identity Division rules to go undercover in Blue Haven. Sheâs determined to bring down her sisterâs killer and protect her nephew. A job as a waitress seems like the perfect disguiseâ¦until sheâs recognized by Alan Correy, a security expert with a competing agenda! Although Kelly mistrusts Alan as much as he disdains her rule breaking, they agree to work together, even pretending to date. But as they close in on the killer, the romance becomes realâ¦as real as the death the murderer leaves in his wake.
âSo what do you want to talk about?â
âYou, Kelly. And Shereen Alsop.â
Even though sheâd expected this, at least somewhat, she flinched but didnât stop walking.
âWhoâs that?â she asked. Part of her training when provided a new identity was to admit nothing, so she wasnât about to tell Alan she recognized that name. Her real name.
âThatâs good,â he said. âYouâre at least complying with some of the instructions you were given. But you shouldnât have come here. That was completely against what you were told.â
âOh, really?â She kept her tone light. âI donât know what youâre talking about.â
The hand holding hers moved enough to swing her around, and suddenly Alan was looking down at her. Kelly could still see the anger on her companionâs face, and it made her wince.
âIâ¦â Before she could figure out how to finish, his mouth came down on hers.
His kiss was startlingly sexy, and so was the way his body soon molded to hers.
Get away from him, something inside her screamed. She could be in danger.
* * *
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This is my second book about the ID Division of the US Marshals Service. The first was Covert Attraction (12/13).
I created the ID Division for the situation where a person knows about a crime that affects her but didnât witness it and canât provide other evidence against the guilty party. And then the guilty party threatens that person, but remains subtle about it.
In that case, the endangered person canât get into a witness protection program, since she canât testify in court or provide other evidence to help convict the guilty party. But she still needs help. And the guilty party still needs to be prosecuted.
Thatâs where my ID Division comes in. It both helps create a new identity for the person in trouble, and also sends a team member undercover to locate the missing evidence to convict that guilty party.
And once again, in Covert Alliance, the woman whose identity was changed and the undercover operative looking for that evidence clashâyet find their mutual attraction irresistible.
I hope you enjoy Covert Alliance. Please come visit me at my website, lindaojohnston.com, and at my weekly blog, killerhobbies.blogspot.com. And yes, Iâm on Facebook, too.
LINDA O. JOHNSTON loves to write. While honing her writing skills, she worked in advertising and public relations, then became a lawyerâ¦and enjoyed writing contracts. Lindaâs first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queenâs Mystery Magazine and won a Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Linda now spends most of her time creating memorable tales of paranormal romance, romantic suspense and mystery. Visit her on the web at www.lindaojohnston.com.
As with Covert Attraction, Covert Alliance is dedicated to those in danger, and those in love.
And yes, as always, I dedicate this book to my wonderful husband, Fred.
Contents
Dear Reader
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
âYes, Iâll be glad to bring youââ Kelly Ladd froze in the middle of her response to her customerâs question. She had just glanced toward the restaurantâs front door.
Stan Grodon stood in the crowd that was just entering.
Stan Grodon, the murderous SOB. The reason she had returned to Blue Haven, Californiaâas well as the reason sheâd previously been forced to flee for her life. And nowâ
âMiss? Miss? Iâd really like sausage instead of bacon in my three-cheese omelet. Is that okay?â
Kellyâs attention returned quickly to the glare of the middle-aged lady in a too-tight Blue Haven Bulldogs T-shirt who sat with a couple of other similarly clad women at the round table nearest her. She stood between two of them, leaning slightly forward, a pad of paper and a pen in her hand to jot down their orders.
