Santa' Wayward Elf (20 page)

The thought that Saldino had put Sosie on him to set him up
made his blood boil. The dirtbag was exactly the kind of chess-playing crime
lord who’d come up with some scheme this complex. Not only would it get the
NYPD off his back, but it’d also make the task force look completely
incompetent. What better way to make sure he took the bait than slip a woman in
his bed? Not any woman, either, but one so perfect there was no way Derek could
resist her.

It was difficult to believe Sosie could really be some kind
of femme fatale vixen considering how sweet and naïve she seemed, but he was
going to damn sure find out. He clenched his jaw as he pulled into his
apartment’s parking garage. By the time he got done, he was going to know
everything there was to know about her. And if she tried to keep any more
secrets from him, he was going to toss her out on that pretty rear end of hers.

Chapter Ten

Sosie paced back and forth in front of the coffee table. Her
nerves were completely frazzled. She’d almost gone to the precinct a dozen
times since talking to Tracee and Linda that afternoon. The only thing that’d
stopped her was the knowledge Derek wasn’t there but out on the raid, which
meant she’d have to wait in that big, stone fortress of a building where he
worked all alone. So, she’d stayed at his apartment, hoping he’d call,  but he
hadn’t. That only worried her more.

She was giving him ten more minutes, then she was going down
to the precinct.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait that long because a few
minutes later Derek’s key rattled in the lock. Her heart leaped in her chest.
Dear Santa, thank goodness he was home.

The moment he stepped inside, she ran to the door and threw
herself into his arms. “I was so worried about you,” she said, her words
muffled against his chest and coming out in a rush. “Tracee and Linda told me
how dangerous what you did tonight was, and what a SWAT team is, and about the
automatic weapons they use, and how violent that man Saldino is, and…and… I was
so afraid for you.”

Sosie was so happy he was home and safe she didn’t realize
Derek hadn’t put his arms around her in return. Fear surged through her anew.

She stepped back to look up at him. “What’s wrong? Are you
hurt?”

When he didn’t answer, she reached up, intending to cup his
face in her hand, but he pulled away.

“Oh dear, you are hurt, aren’t you? Let me see.”

He took another step back, a scowl on his face. “I’m not
hurt.”

She frowned. “Then what is it?”

“You don’t know?”

“No.” Her frown deepened. “Derek, what happened? Why are you
so—”

“So pissed? Because everything went all to hell tonight.”

“What happened?”

“We were set up, that’s what happened.” The muscle in his
jaw flexed. “We busted into Saldino’s warehouse expecting to find him in the
middle of an execution. Instead, he was hosting a birthday party for a bunch of
kids, complete with balloons, cake and video cameras that captured the whole
thing. It was a complete fiasco.”

She lifted her hands to her mouth. “Oh no! None of the
children got hurt, did they?”

He didn’t answer right away, but only regarded her with an
odd expression. Finally, he shook his head. “No.”

That was a relief at least. “What about Saldino? Will you
still be able to put him in jail?”

Derek muttered something under his breath. “Dammit, Sosie.
Cut the crap, okay?”

Sosie jumped at the harsh tone in Derek’s normally soft
voice. She knew he took his job seriously, but that didn’t mean he had to take
his disappointing day out on her. She wanted to think it wasn’t like him to do
such a thing, but she realized she didn’t know him long enough to say.

“What crap are you talking about?” she asked in a small
voice.

He shook his head. “You don’t know when to quit, do you?
Look, give it up. I know all about you.”

Her heart seized in her chest. Oh, no. Somehow, he’d found
out she was an elf and he was furious she’d lied to him.

“Derek, I…” She swallowed hard. “I can explain.”

“Is that so?” He folded his arms over his broad chest to
glare down at her. “Go ahead. I can’t wait to hear what lie you come up with
next. Let me guess, Saldino forced you to do it and you had no choice, right?
He threatened you or your family or some crap like that, right? Or were you one
of his girls and he told you he’d get you out of the life, maybe put you up in
a nice cushy apartment if you helped set me up?”

She stared at Derek in confusion. One of his girls? What did
that mean? And what did any of this have to do with Derek finding out she was
an elf? “What are you talking about?”

“Dammit, stop it!” Derek ran his hand through his hair, his
nostrils flaring. “I’m not buying your fucking innocent act anymore, Sosie. I
know you’re working for Saldino.”

“Saldino? I don’t work for Saldino.” That didn’t make any
sense. Had Derek lost his mind? “Why would you think that?”

“Because nothing you’ve told me adds up, and if I hadn’t
been thinking with my dick, I would have seen through your lies from the
beginning.”

Sosie’s face flamed. She might not have lied to him about
something as terrible as working with Saldino, but she’d lied to Derek all the
same. Now, he thought everything they’d shared the past few days had been a
complete fabrication. And it was all her fault. By not being honest with him
earlier, she’d let him draw his own conclusions—and he’d drawn the very worst
ones. Tears stung her eyes and she took a beseeching step toward him. She
wanted to touch him, do something as simple as put her hand on his arm, but the
hard look in his eyes stopped her.

“Okay, I did lie to you,” she admitted. “But not about
everything.”

“Name one thing you’ve been honest about.”

“I really do come from a place up north called Snow City.”

“Sure you do.” Derek snorted. “God, you must think I’m
stupid if you expect me to buy that.”

“Of course I don’t think you’re stupid. Derek, please—”

“Okay, let’s say I believe you and this place you come from
does exist even though I’ve never heard of it. Let me see your passport.”

“M-my passport?”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t have been able to get through
immigration without one. Unless you’re here illegally, of course.”

“I…” She desperately wanted to tell him she was an elf, but
she couldn’t get the words out. They hung there, stuck in her throat.

“You want to know what tipped me off that something was
completely off about you?” Derek continued. “When I realized you were too good
to be true. Coming into my life and acting so perfect, as if you’d been made
just for me. The reason you’re so perfect for me is because Saldino trained you
to be that way, isn’t it? He knew once you had me all wrapped around your
finger, it wouldn’t be hard to get me to fall for his trap. Well, it worked. I
fell for all of it—including you. And now I’m not only humiliated, but I’m
probably going to get fired, too.” He let out a harsh laugh. “I guess I should
count myself lucky I figured out what you were all about before I did something
really stupid like marry you.”

Hearing Derek talk about marrying her as if it would have
been the worst mistake of his life hurt her more than anything else he’d said since
he’d started in on her with his verbal assault. Not only because the words were
cruel, but because she’d spent the last two days hoping he’d do exactly that.
Now everything was ruined. Unless she could find some way to make him believe
her.

“Derek, please listen—”

“To more of your lies?” His lip curled mockingly. “I’ve
heard enough of those to last me a lifetime.”

Sosie reeled back as if he’d slapped her. The tears that had
been threatening before flowed freely now, spilling down her cheeks unchecked.
She wanted to tell him he was wrong, that she didn’t work for Saldino, but was
an elf from the North Pole who’d gotten stranded in New York City. That she’d
intended to leave once a rescue party showed up and had ended up falling in
love with him instead. But she couldn’t stand there and listen to Derek yell at
her anymore. Especially since she knew he’d never believe her now. Brushing
past him, she jerked open the door and ran blindly down the hallway.

As much as she wanted to get away from Derek, part of her
still hoped he’d come after her, but he didn’t. That, more than anything, told
her how little he cared for her now.

Sosie didn’t know where she was going, but somehow she ended
up at Tracee and Linda’s apartment. She choked back a sob and pounded on the door
with her hand, praying they were home.

Tracee opened the door, her eyes going wide when she saw
Sosie. “Oh God, what’s wrong? Did something happen to Derek?”

Sosie shook her head. “No, he’s f-fine. Can I c-come in?”

“Yes, of course.”

As soon as Sosie was inside, the redhead put her arm around
her and led her over to the couch, gently pushing her down beside Linda.

Tracee kneeled down on the floor in front of Sosie and took
her hand. “Honey, what happened?”

Sosie sniffed, willing the tears to stop long enough for her
to explain, but relating the story to the two women only made her cry harder.

“He didn’t believe you even after you told him who you are?”
Tracee asked incredulously.

Sosie wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I couldn’t
tell him.”

Linda frowned. “Why not?”

“Because he wouldn’t have believed me. Not after all the
lies I told him.”

“Maybe not right now,” Linda agreed. “But when this whole
thing blows over, he’ll figure out you weren’t involved.”

“Unfortunately, that might not be for a very long time, and
by then, it could be too late,” Tracee said.

“What do you mean?” Sosie asked.

“Honey, this thing with Saldino is bad,” the redhead
explained. “It’s already all over the news. Saldino has made the entire police
department look like a pack of incompetent idiots. Not only that, but the NYPD
has already leaked Derek’s name to the press, saying he was the lead detective
on the investigation and making him the scapegoat. He’ll be lucky if the only
thing he loses is his job. He may have to face Saldino’s lawyers completely on
his own. The city is going to do everything they can to make it look like Derek
is the one to blame.”

Fresh tears welled in Sosie’s eyes. “Oh, no. This is
horrible. And it’s all my fault.”

“No, it isn’t,” Tracee said.

“Yes, it is. If I’d been honest with Derek from the
beginning, none of this would have happened.” She sniffed. “I have to fix it. I
have to make it right.”

Ignoring the confused looks the two women gave her, Sosie
got to her feet and hurried to the door, tears running down her face.

“Where are you going?” Tracee asked.

Sosie glanced over her shoulder as she yanked open the door.
“I’m going to prove that Derek didn’t do anything wrong.”

Sosie didn’t tell them any more than that. Tracee and Linda
would only try to stop her if they what she intended to do. Instead, she dashed
out of the apartment and ran down the hallway.

Her plan was crazy and dangerous, and there was no guarantee
Derek would forgive her regardless if she managed to prove he was a good cop
and that Saldino was a bad man, but she had to try. She owed Derek that much.

* * * *

Derek stared down at the untouched glass of whiskey in his
hand, wondering what the hell he’d done. Or more precisely, what he’d done an
hour ago. That was how long it’d been since he’d freaking lost his mind and
unloaded on poor Sosie.

He barely remembered what he’d said to her, but he knew it’d
been cruel. The memory of the tears streaming down her pretty face was like a
knife to his gut even now. He wanted to believe he’d been justified
interrogating her, or that Aaron was partly to blame for making him think Sosie
was responsible for what happened at that warehouse, but that was a load of
crap. He’d been pissed about his career blowing up in his face and he’d taken
it out on her, for no other reason than because she was there.

Despite all the accusations he’d thrown at her, he didn’t
truthfully believe Sosie had been part of some complex underworld scheme to
lure him into making a fool of himself and the entire organized crime task
force. Sosie might be naïve, secretive and more than a little unusual, but she
didn’t have a conniving bone in her beautiful body. Truth was, he didn’t need
anybody’s help in making a fool of himself. He could handle it fine on his own.

He set the whiskey glass on the coffee table and picked up
the stuffed reindeer he’d bought for Sosie at FAO Schwartz. The look of joy on
her face had been priceless. He swore under his breath. God, he was a damn
fool. His impending unemployment wasn’t the only reason he’d gone all mental on
Sosie. No, this was a pattern with him. Whenever things starting going good
with a woman, it tripped some internal self-destruct mode, leading to
relationship hari-kari.

This time was different, though. This time, he recognized he
was being stupid and he was damn sure going to find Sosie and do some serious
apologizing. He only hoped she’d be willing to listen to him after what an ass
he’d been.

Setting the plush toy back on the table, he got to his feet
and headed for the door, but then stopped when he realized he didn’t have a
clue where to look for Sosie. She might be with Ben and Mabel, but Tracee and
Linda seemed the more likely choice since they were closer to her age. He’d
check with the women first, then with Ben and Mabel. If she wasn’t at either
apartment, he’d go to Central Park next. Sosie liked the park, so it made sense
she’d go there. He was terrified to think she might go there at night, but that
was exactly like her. She wasn’t very good at recognizing danger.

When Tracee and Linda greeted him with pissed-off
expressions on their faces the moment they opened the door, he knew Sosie was
there. He tried to see around them, but they blocked his view of the apartment.