Page 78 of Close Pursuit

“Let me make you lunch, first,” she said firmly, moving into the kitchen.

He never had figured out how to successfully say no to a nun. He huffed and followed her into the kitchen.

“Here. Feed the baby while I make us a bite to eat.”

He took the bottle she thrust into his hands and scooped up Dawn from her baby seat. “Hey, cutie,” he murmured. “How’s my girl today?”

The nun glanced over at him and commented casually, “She likes you. And you seem comfortable with her.” He frowned, and she added, “The two of you look good together.”

His frown deepened to an outright scowl. “You can get that idea right out of your head. Katie can raise her. I’m just putting the two of them up for a few days until Katie goes back to Pennsylvania.”And making legal arrangements to name Katie and himself Dawn’s legal guardians.

Sister Mary Harris looked skeptical, but thankfully, she let the subject drop.

He was only naming himself a guardian because of the resources he could offer Dawn throughout her life. And if she ever got in trouble, being her guardian gave him the right to fix it.

Dawn lost the nipple of the bottle and squawked, and he turned his full attention to feeding the baby.

The condo’s front door burst open and he jerked in alarm before he remembered Katie had a key. This business of sharing his home, even temporarily, was unsettling.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “You’re back.”

“Where were you?” he asked more mildly than he was feeling. But with the baby in his arms, he couldn’t very well vent his irritation at her absence.

“Uncle Charlie wanted to talk to me.”

His mental antennae shot up to full alert. “Do tell.”

“He tried to convince me to recruit you for the CIA.”

Alex stared at her, dumbfounded. She admitted it? Just like that? What game was this she was playing with him?

Although, on reflection, it was a brilliant ploy. The CIA had to know he would suspect her the moment he found out who her uncle was. They might as well have her make a direct approach. Lying to him would only piss him off.

“What are they offering?” he asked grimly.

Dawn started to fuss in his arms as if sensing his building temper. He tried to pass the baby off to Sister Mary Harris, but the nun was inexplicably too occupied making grilled cheese sandwiches all of a sudden to take her. He tamped down hard on his fury lest he disturb Dawn—damn the nun, anyway. She was forcing him to keep his cool on purpose.

Katie was speaking. “… personally have no idea what they could offer you. It’s not like you need money. And you’ve already said you’re blackmail proof. I suppose they’ll have to find a way to twist your arm since they have no faith in patriotism to motivate anyone.”

His mouth quirked with unwilling humor. “As recruiting speeches go, this one’s not very convincing.”

She snorted. “I’m not trying to convince you of anything. I’m playing my uncle to get information on who Dawn’s father is.”

He leaned back hard in his chair. “Are you, now? Any leads?”

“Charlie’s getting me a list of all the Caucasian males sighted in the Karshan Valley around nine months ago.”

“What will dear Uncle Charlie do when he finds out you’re not actually going to hand me to him on a silver platter?”

She shrugged. “I don’t care. I don’t work for him.”

She said that with such casual conviction he could almost believe she was telling the truth.Almost.

Katie was too agitated to sit still and let Alex stare at her like a bug under a microscope. She knew he would be unhappy that Uncle Charlie had approached her. But just because her uncle was in the business of keeping secrets didn’t mean that she was, too. Lies and evasions were completely foreign to her. Better to be front with Alex and made him mad than try to play games with him. Still, his irritation was unsettling.

She set the table and helped Sister Mary Harris put lunch on the table. They ate in silence, and as soon as they finished, she leaped up to clear the dishes.

Alex announced without warning, “Katie, I’d like you and Dawn to go with us when I take Sister Mary Harris back to the convent.”

---