Kerry Connor - Circumstantial Marriage (Harlequin Intrigue Series)

The plan was just too risky.

I still think it would be better if I did this alone, he said. If something happens to me, youll still be alive and able to figure another way out of this.

You need someone to watch your back, otherwise its just a suicide mission. Her gaze sharpened. And at least one of us cares whether you live or die.

He recognized that stubborn gleam in her eye. Arguing would just be wasting breath.

Audrey suddenly got quiet. Even if the plan works, it seems wrong that the truth wont come out.

All I care about is you not being killed.

Only when the words were out did he consider how they might have come across. Like she mattered to him. Which she did, he immediately recognized, his chest tightening.

He didnt want it to be the case, and hed done his best to fight it. But suddenly he knew the thought of anything happening to Audrey scared the hell out of him.

KERRY CONNOR

CIRCUMSTANTIAL MARRIAGE

To Patty, my favorite journalist and an even better friend.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A lifelong mystery reader, Kerry Connor first discovered romantic suspense by reading Harlequin Intrigue books and is thrilled to be writing for the line. Kerry lives and writes in New York.

Books by Kerry Connor

HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE

1067STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

1094BEAUTIFUL STRANGER

1129A STRANGERS BABY

1170TRUSTING A STRANGER

1207STRANGER IN A SMALL TOWN

1236SILENT NIGHT STAKEOUT

1268CIRCUMSTANTIAL MARRIAGE

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Audrey Ellison She was targeted for death by forces determined to keep a long-hidden secret from being revealed.

Jason Stone A man whod lost everything, he had no interest in anyone elses secrets, but he couldnt stand by when a woman running for her life came to him for help.

Hal Talmadge The journalist had uncovered the scoop of a lifetimeone that cost him his life.

Richard Bridges A politician with a bright futureand a dark secret in his past?

Dick Bridges Seeing his son become president was his lifes ambition. How far would he go to see it fulfilled?

Julia Bridges Was the ideal political wife as perfect as she seemed?

Marybeth Kent The innkeeper wasnt a fan of her hometowns favorite son.

Will Kent The small-town mayor had big-time aspirations of his own.

Tim Raymer A name from the past that kept coming up.

Clint Raymer He had plenty to say, but could he be believed?

Albert Shaw A man with a job to do and no qualms about doing it.

Contents

Prologue

In the two years Audrey Ellison had lived in her apartment building, she had never felt unsafe there. Living in a big city like Baltimore, she knew to be careful and alert to her surroundings, but her neighborhood was decent and the quiet four-story brownstone had never been anything but peaceful. So, as she climbed the stairs to her third-floor apartment at one that morning, she had no reason to feel uneasy.

Instead, she simply felt exhausted, barely capable of making it up the stairs. She never stayed out this late on a weeknight, but her friend Jackie was getting married over the weekend, and Audrey had been roped into one last, impromptu girls night out to celebrate Jackies impending nuptials and final days as a single woman. Audrey hadnt intended to stay as long as she had, but had gotten caught up in the festivities and lost track of the time.

Jackie hadnt stopped beaming once all night, Audrey thought with a smile of her own. Getting to share in Jackies happiness was worth the lost sleep that would inevitably leave her dragging in the morning. If she was honest, it gave her hope that happy endings still existed, and someday she herself might find what Jackie and so many of her friends had. Someday.

She finally reached the third-floor landing. The smile still on her face, she unlocked and opened her door, thinking only of stumbling to her bedroom and collapsing into bed.

Stepping inside, she kicked the door shut behind her without turning on the light. She didnt plan to be in the living room long enough to need it. Reaching for the strap of her messenger bag to lift it over her head, she started to ease out of her shoes.

The prickle of unease at the back of her neck was her only warning. It came out of nowhere, pure animal instinct. The sensation snapped her awake and made her go still.

Her eyes flicked over the darkened room, the faint light that managed to break through the curtains offering little illumination. She could see nothing, hear nothing. She knew just the same.

Something was wrong.

She dropped the strap of her bag and reached out to turn the light on after all.

She never got the chance.

Two seconds later something hard and round pressed against the back of her skull.

She froze, even before a low, deep voice ordered, Dont move.

That vague sense of unease exploded into full-fledged terror at both the mans presence and the instinctive knowledge of what he was pushing into her head.

It was a gun. There was a man in her apartment with a gun pointed at her head.

It didnt seem real. Who was he? How had he gotten into her apartment? What did he want?

The only question asked aloud came from him. Audrey Ellison?

Her pulse leaped at the sound of her name. He knew who she was. That erased any possibility this was just a case of mistaken identity or a simple burglary. Hed been waiting for her in the dark.

She didnt know what to say. If she admitted it, would he pull the trigger? If she denied it, would he do the same, getting her out of the way to wait for the real Audrey?

Answer me, he ordered.

The cold hardness of the demand shocked her into responding without thinking. Yes, she whispered, the word loud in the stillness. She braced herself for his reaction.

Do you have a copy of the book?

She blinked into the darkness, not understanding. The words didnt make any sense. What book? she made herself say.

The book your uncle was working on.

Clarity came in a burst. She had only one uncle, only one living relative, in fact. Hal was an award-winning journalist. His current top secret project was a biography of Senator Richard Bridges, the popular politician who was about to officially announce his run for the presidency, something, by all indications, he would win. Hal had been working on the book for almost a year and was on the verge of finishing. She knew he was excited about it, was convinced it was going to be all anyone was talking about upon its release. He said the book was going to be his legacy. On the few occasions shed spoken to him over the past year, hed made it clear he thought hed found something juicy about the squeaky-clean Bridges.

Which he must have, she realized. The only reason this man could be here, the only reason he could be asking about the book, was if Hal had found something. Something Bridges didnt want to get out. Bridges must have sent this man.

But why come to her? Why not

The mans exact words finally sank in. Was working on. That was what the man had said. Was. Past tense. He didnt think Hal was working on it anymore.

Her breath caught in her throat. Oh, God. Had something happened to Hal?

The man drove the barrel of the gun harder into her skin, the pain making her wince. Do you have a copy? he repeated, emphasizing each word, his impatience clear.

Still, she hesitated. What should she say? She didnt have a copy, of course. Hal was so secretive about his work, she would bet anything he was the only one whod seen the book or had any idea what was in it. Shed been surprised hed revealed as much about it to her as he had. But if she told the truth, would the man just shoot her?