Love So Tender: Taking Care of Business / Play It Again, Elvis / Good Luck Charm

He blinked. “She kissed me.”

The woman flicked ash. “I didn’t see you putting up a fight.”

Steve squirmed, feeling like a naughty teenager instead of an undercover agent. “I was simply going along.”

Cordelia looked all around, as if she were afraid they would be overheard. “This situation is dangerous enough without you getting involved with my employees.”

“I understand. But I have to interact with them for things to appear normal.”

She took another drag, then nodded. “I know, but don’t overstep your bounds. Especially where Gracie is concerned. She’s…susceptible.”

He pressed his lips together and nodded curtly, hoping to end the awkward conversation. Wasn’t it enough punishment that he couldn’t get his mind off the abbreviated kiss? “I just received more details from our informant, who says that the wedding might take place sooner than we expected, and that the bride booked a—” he pulled out his notebook “—an Aloha Teddy Bear package?”

Cordelia frowned. “We have an Aloha Las Vegas package and a Teddy Bear package, but not an Aloha Teddy Bear package.”

He scratched his temple. “So it could be either one. Do you keep a record of what the customers request?”

“Of course—that’s Gracie’s job.”

“I’ll need to see the reservations for the upcoming week.”

Cordelia nodded. “I’ll get Gracie’s book.”

“I’d like photocopies.”

“We have a copier in the office.” She exhaled and ground out the half-smoked cigarette. “Mitch Lundy’s been operating on the wrong side for years—why the sudden resolve to bring him in?”

“In the nineties the Bureau cut him some slack for testifying against an associate and putting him away—as long as Lundy stayed legit. But a few years ago, he slipped back into his old businesses—prostitution, drugs, money laundering. He’s ordered at least eight hits. He’s more arrogant and dangerous than ever.” Steve frowned. “To Lundy, eluding the FBI is just a game, and I want to put an end to it.”

Cordelia pressed her lips together. “So what exactly is going to happen?”

Steve was momentarily distracted when H.D. sat down solidly on his boot. He tried to maneuver his foot out, but the dog was a block of panting dead weight.

“Best-case scenario,” he said, “we’ll be able to figure out which reservation is Lundy’s and alert our agents to stand by. He’ll be apprehended after he leaves your property.”

“And the worst-case scenario?” Cordelia asked.

“Worst case is that he sneaks in and I don’t have enough time to call for backup.”

Her eyes narrowed. “But you’ll still wait to arrest him until after he’s off my property.”

“That’s the plan,” he said. “But I have to be honest with you, Ms. Conroy—Mitchell Lundy is a dangerous criminal who’s played cat and mouse with the Bureau for years. If something goes wrong, we’ll still seize the opportunity to arrest him.”

“Even if it puts my employees in danger?”

“Civilian safety is always our first concern,” he said, and stubbornly, a civilian with white-blond hair came to mind.

“Are you sure you’ll recognize this Lundy fellow?”

“If I see his eyes—he sustained a wound to one eye that left a permanent and recognizable scar.”

“What if he recognizes you?”

“We’re operating under the assumption that he or his people have a file on all the agents in the state.” He frowned. “That’s why I agreed to wear the costume—I doubt if Lundy will suspect Elvis. I understand there’s a wig and sunglasses?”

“That’s right.” The shadow of a smile played on her lips, then disappeared. “Are you carrying a gun?”

“Bureau policy, ma’am.”

She nodded, then straightened. “Well, Mr. Mulcahy, you have a job to do, but so do we. If you want to fit in here at TCB, I suggest that you do whatever Gracie tells you to do.” She frowned. “In regards to work, that is. Until you make the arrest, we need for you to be a convincing performer for our customers.”

He nodded, but his stomach felt tangled. And he wasn’t sure what bothered him most—the thought of impersonating the King, or working closely with Gracie Sergeant.

“Come along, H.D.,” Cordelia said, and the hound lifted his fat rump from Steve’s instep. Steve shifted his weight to send blood back to his foot, then glanced at the pink Caddy. “Ms. Conroy?”

She turned back. “Yes?”

“Does the Caddy run?”

“Not for a year now.”

“Care if I take a look under the hood?”

“Be my guest,” she said, then withdrew a thick ring of keys from her robe pocket. She removed two keys on a separate ring, tossed them to him, then reentered the chapel.

Steve strode toward the old car, burning with curiosity. As he rolled back the cloth tarp, his pulse spiked in appreciation of the four-door Cadillac, rust spots and all. The paint was faded, revealing lots of body filler along the side panels, but the chrome was intact and the white hardtop and interior were in amazingly good condition. All four tires were flat and probably ruined, but it should have whitewalls anyway. He lifted the hood and stared down at the corroded engine, registering in one glance that two hoses were disconnected and the carburetor lid was missing.

“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?”

Steve looked up to see Gracie walking toward him, his pulse spiking again but for a different reason. Did she know that in the sunlight her white eyelet dress was transparent? She wore a lacy strapless bra and high-cut bikini panties. The silhouette of her opposing curves—breasts, waist and hips—stamped into his brain in the same place, he suspected, that songs embedded themselves to emerge as torture at the most inconvenient times.

His sex hardened, straining at his zipper, preventing him from straightening to greet her. “Yeah,” he murmured. “She’s something.” The fact that they were talking about two different things didn’t matter.

Gracie ran her hand along the top of the car. “It’s a 1955 model, just like the one Elvis bought for his mother. The real one is on display at Graceland.”

He smiled. “Have you been to Graceland?”

She shook her head. “I…haven’t seen much of the country.”

“Did you grow up here?”

“Um…no. Do you know something about cars?”

He filed away the fact that she had sidestepped his question, but let it pass. “A little.”

Her eyes went round. “Do you think you could get it running again?”

“I don’t know—I can give it a try.”