Hot SEAL, Undercover Groom - Maryann Jordan Page 0,3

thinks he’s hiding money, and I’ve been looking into it. I’ve got a friend who’s a fraud accountant, and she looked over the initial records. It definitely looks like my client’s husband has some shady deals going on.”

Swallowing his bite of the cobbler, he had to resist rolling his eyes. As far as he knew, Nancy was a good private investigator, but even as a child, she loved the drama of telling a story. Glancing at his parents, he could see that she had their rapt attention. Looking back at her, he made a little circular motion with his fork indicating for her to continue. “Aaaand?”

“Okay, okay. Keep your pants on!” Nancy laughed, scraping the bottom of her cobbler dish. “You can’t expect me to talk and eat all at the same time.” Dropping her spoon into the now-empty dish, she said, “The interesting thing is all of this nefarious activity goes on in one of our favorite vacation spots.”

“Gatlinburg?”

Nodding, Nancy looked around at her family. “Yep. It’s hard for me to tell exactly what’s happening, but his wife suspects that he is laundering some money through one of the nearby casinos. And what’s even crazier is he runs one of the more popular wedding chapel venues there.”

“How are you investigating this?” their dad asked.

Nancy’s nose scrunched as she shook her head. “So far, I’ve just been going through the financial records that my client brings in. Or, rather, I have my friend look at them. I’ve been doing some digging, and it definitely needs further investigation. The trouble is that I’d like to visit and do some work right there but, unfortunately, I’m recognized in the area, so I wouldn’t be able to get very far.”

Nolan finished his cobbler and pushed his plate away as he leaned back in his chair. Listening to his sister’s work woes was interesting but had nothing to do with him. She had grown quiet, and he looked up to see her gaze pinned on him. Wondering if he had snoozed through part of the conversation, he cocked his head to the side. “What? Did I miss something?”

“I was just thinking that since I can’t do any on-site investigation, maybe you could help me out.”

Me? What does she think I can do to help investigate money laundering? Not exactly what my SEAL training covers.

2

Staring at his sister, Nolan noticed that she fiddled with her spoon instead of looking at him directly. “Come on, Nancy. What are you talking about? What on earth do you think I could do? And why the hell would I want to?”

Her gaze shot up to his as she pursed her lips. “Well, what else are you doing right now? You can’t go back to your team until you get a medical clearance. I know you’re starting to exercise, but that doesn’t take all day. I just thought maybe you’d like a few days in Gatlinburg to get out of the house and do a little snooping for me. That should be right up your alley as a SEAL, right?”

“You did not just compare my job with snooping!” He stared at her with wide-eyed irritation, crossing his arms over his chest.

Throwing her hands up in front of her in a placating gesture, she said, “Don’t get your boxers in a twist. I wasn’t trying to be insulting. I just mean that you’re used to planning and then executing missions, and this would be no different. Only instead of running around with weapons and heavy equipment needing a lot of physical brawn and stamina, this would be more gathering intelligence for me to be able to use in my case.”

“Hate to throw water on your burning idea, but even if I was interested, I have no idea how to do what you need.”

“I think you’re disregarding it too hastily,” their mother said. “I think you could use the mental stimulation.”

“Mental stimulation?” He swung his incredulous gaze to her.

Rita pursed her lips in the same way that Nancy had. “Well, channel surfing between game shows and do-it-yourself home fix-it shows are hardly mentally challenging. You’ve been complaining that you wanted to move around more and helping your sister seems as though it could be a good thing.”

Shaking his head, he looked toward his dad for support. Usually the voice of reason, he was not surprised when his dad said, “I don’t think Nolan can consider anything unless he knows what you’re talking about. Do you actually have a plan, Nancy?”

“I don’t have