Undercover (10 page)

“Erica.”

Her heart stuttered at the sound of his voice. She turned. God, he was beautiful, she thought as her heart leapt and then squeezed tight in her chest. He came down a few steps closing the distance between them.

“Derrick?” Any other words she might have said stuck in her throat.

“Surprised to see me?” He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his tan Dockers.

“Yes, I am.”

“You wouldn’t be if you knew anything about us. LeAnn was from our neighborhood, someone we cared about because she was one of us. Something you wouldn’t understand or care about.”

“That’s not true. You know I cared about LeAnn.”

“No, I don’t think I know any such thing. I don’t even know who you are, but I take it you aren’t a seventeen-year-old senior in high school.” The last said with an understandable amount of bitterness.

“You’re right, I’m not. I’m twenty-nine and I went into Fairmont undercover.”

“Would I have been a bonus arrest?”

Her head snapped back. “No. What do you mean?”

“If I would have given in to your little game of seduction, you could have gotten me on child rape. It wouldn’t have mattered that you weren’t seventeen, only that I thought you were.”

“No.” She shook her head in disbelief. “That was never part of the plan.” She reached out to him but he jerked back just out of her reach. “You can’t believe that.”

“I don’t know what to believe, Erica.” He lifted his arms in a half shrug. “What were we then? What part did Joey and I play in this game of yours?”

“This wasn’t a game, Derrick. I had a job to do, which was to identify the drug dealers in the school and shut them down. Joey is friends with gang members and we weren’t sure who was bringing the drugs into the school. I didn’t know, at first, where Joey fit. Hell, at one point, I though you were involved.”

“What? Are you kidding?”

“Think about it, Derrick. You’re inked with The Mercenaries tattoo.” She pointed to the spot on her own wrist where the “M” would have been. “And the day I brought my car to you, you took a manila envelope out to Henarez Hufferman. It looked like a wad of money to me and I don’t have to tell you he’s the leader of The Mercenaries.”

“We were friends, are friends, but it doesn’t mean I approve of his life style.”

“I understand that. The thing is, if you had been involved, it wouldn't have changed how I feel about you. I can see what a good man you are and the struggles you face with getting Joey to college. I made excuses, telling myself that you were doing what you had to do to survive.”

“I don’t need you making excuses for me.” He started down the steps, walking away indicating he was done with this, with her.

“I wasn’t making excuses for you. They were for me, so I could justify why you were a gang member. But you aren’t one of them.”

He stopped and spun back toward her. “I was one of them, Erica. And it wasn’t for survival. It was of my own free will.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she insisted.

“You’re right. It doesn’t. I realized right away that it wasn’t for me, so I divorced the group. I made sure Joey didn’t join, but Henarez and Huff are our friends.” He didn't wait for a reaction but continued down the steps.

“What about us, Derrick?”

He stopped but kept his back to her.

She had to tell him what was in her heart. It was now or never. “I’m in love with you.” She rushed the words out. “That wasn’t supposed to happen but it did. I’ve gone over and over in my head how to make things right, how to explain to you why I had to lie, afraid that nothing I said would make you understand. Now, I’m just afraid that if I let you walk away I will never see you again, never feel this way again.” Tears trickled down her cheeks.

Derrick looked back at her, sadness and distrust reflected in his beautiful eyes. “I don’t know what to think or believe, Erica. I can’t just push the lies aside that easily, even knowing the reasons behind them. I’m sorry.”

****

Erica arrived at the community park a half hour early and tried not to check her watch a million times as she shot some hoops. The note stuck to her car window that afternoon had said eleven thirty.

It had been a week since she’d seen Derrick and declared her love for him on the courthouse steps. She had hoped, but hadn’t expected him to contact her.

“You’re early.” His voice carried to her and lifted her heart.

She dropped the basketball and looked to where he stood at the edge of the court. A silhouette against the night, but not an illusion.

He walked to her. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, even when I thought you were too young for me. What made me think I could stop now, I’m not sure.” He searched her face, taking in every detail. “I’ve never met a woman I wanted in my life, but I want you with me, Erica. More than anything. And right now, I want to kiss you for the first time without the guilt.”

He cupper her face, his hands sparking the desire that had been building for far too long, and his lips set her afire as they touched hers.

###

About the Author

Christina Wolfer's first compiled writings were gathered and stapled together when she was just ten years old. Those short stories often captured her life growing up on a 39-acre farm in Williamsburg, OH, a small town east of Cincinnati. There were horses, cows, pigs, dogs, and cats - basically, a zoo - which included three older brothers.

After pursuing a degree in journalism and a career in marketing, she moved back to her small hometown and bought the farm she grew up on as a child. Once there, she met and married her own real-life romance hero. Her other interests include horses, reading and photography.

As a writer of contemporary romance and romantic suspense, her stories no longer resemble those first compiled writings of long ago, but her passion and desire to weave a good story has remained a driving force in her life.

“Like any good story, my journey has just begun and the ending is yet to be written.”

Thank you for purchasing
Undercover
. Please continue on to the next pages for a sampling of my other stories,
Two Brothers
and
The Daughter.

Please visit me at the following places:

www.christinawolfer.com

www.christinawolfer.blogspot.com

Or follow me on twitter @ christinawolfer

On Facebook as Christina Williams Wolfer

Two Brothers

Available Now

from Turquoise Morning Press

At eighteen, Amanda Riley got her first lesson in love when Jacob Henderson broke her heart. But then she made the biggest mistake of her life – she ran off and married his younger brother.

Ten years later, she’s divorced and moving back to her small hometown. She’s made a name for herself in the cutting horse industry. That should count for something… Right? But decade old mistakes won’t be easily forgotten by everyone in town.

When Amanda and Jacob are thrown together to help an abused horse, old desires ignite and past truths are revealed. And just when they think they will get a second chance at love, the younger brother comes home.

An excerpt from
Two Brothers

Amanda Riley slammed out of the compact rental car, hit the lock button on her key and made a half-block mad dash to the church. The wedding march had already started.
Canon in D
floated like a soft breeze through the organ flues and out the rafters.

“Geez,” she muttered, taking the steps to the entrance of the old Catholic church two at time. She’d never hear the end of it. Her sheep’s wool couldn’t get any blacker with the last white hair plucked from her hide years ago. But all the same, she hated to give them cause.

It was the perfect country white church, really, the kind women dream of getting married in. It stood in the heart of the community as a symbol of the small farming town’s love for family, neighbor and God. The steeple peeked above the century-old trees that flanked both sides of the entrance to the church like guardian angels. Magnificent stained glass windows stood four feet tall and ran the length of the old building, each window inscribed in loving memory of a deceased member of the congregation.

The large double wood doors stood open to welcome all. Amanda hesitated there as if expecting lightening to strike. Pulling air deep into her lungs and then letting it out with controlled ease, she stepped just inside the entrance. She flexed her hands, gave herself a mental shake and approached the back pew. She motioned with her hand to the silver-haired man sitting there, asking without words if she could sit beside him. He frowned, the lines cutting deeper around his pursed lips, but he slid down the glossy wood pew to accommodate her late arrival. Out of habit, she genuflected and then took a seat.

She shifted her focus to the front of the church. Her little sister, Emily, dressed in a full Southern belle white dress, stood beside her soon-to-be husband, Todd, decked out in a long-tailed black tux. Behind them, candles sparkled like diamonds and white orchids adorned every available space on the altar. The priest, with his long, silk green-and-white robe, made the sign of the cross over the couple and blessed them. The cloud of incense hung above the congregation like a spicy perfume applied with a generous hand. 

Amanda’s sister had dreamt of and wished for this day since she’d been a little girl. What woman didn’t? If anyone deserved a day like this, Emily did. She’d done everything right. She’d gotten her nursing degree, worked for a year after graduation and dated the same guy through it all. It didn’t hurt that she’d picked the
right
guy.

Not that Amanda knew anything about that. She straightened the yellow gingham blouse she wore tucked into snug fitted Wranglers, along with her scuffed boots. Her clothes weren’t appropriate for a wedding, even in a backwoods town like Bedinford, Ohio. Her chin lifted a notch and she squared her shoulders. Let them talk. Let them speculate.

They couldn’t possibly say anything her father hadn’t already said about her. Amanda leaned out into the aisle. Peeking around the sea of bodies, she caught sight of her father’s head of dark hair, now sprinkled with gray. Daniel Riley’s tall, lean, muscled build had softened some over the years, but he remained unyielding, in more ways than one, for a man who would see sixty-five by the end of the year.

Thirty-some years ago, he’d been something of a town hero when he opened the only dentist office within miles of the community. Most people had given up going to the dentist altogether rather than drive thirty miles out of town. But her father had a way with people and his reputation for having a gentle touch spread like gossip. Now he had a loyal following, old and young alike. Even the opening of two other dentist offices over the last five years had done little to affect his bottom line.

Everyone loved him, Amanda thought, as she dropped to her knees along with rest of the congregation. The traditions came back to her with ease even though she hadn’t attended mass in years. She stood when everyone stood, knelt when they knelt, however, when it came time to receive communion she did not partake. She caught glimpses of other family members as they filed out of their pews, took the host and then circled back to their seats.

Her brother, Matt, held his three-year-old daughter, Tabitha, who squirmed and pushed in her effort to get down. Her behavior drew looks of disapproval from the older generation who already believed their descendants didn’t have a clue how to discipline their children. Matt’s wife, Natalie, whose belly bulged like an overinflated beach ball with their second child, sent a stern look at the little girl. Tabitha responded with an equally stern look then buried her face in her daddy’s neck.

After communion, everyone sat in silent prayer. Amanda watched Tabitha pull and tug until she stood at the end of the pew, one foot strategically placed in the center aisle. She made faces at anyone willing to make eye contact. Several times she tried to step further into the aisle but Matt’s firm hand stopped her. Then she spotted Amanda watching her and her squeal pierced the reverent silence. People jumped, startled from prayer, and heads turned in the direction of the commotion.

The outburst caught Matt off guard, giving Tabitha the chance to break free and tear down the aisle. The yellow and white ruffled dress she wore bounced around her chubby legs. “A’mda,” she squealed again. Everyone watched the little girl’s progress into Amanda’s open arms.

Heat leapt into Amanda’s cheeks as she latched onto her niece and lifted her with shaky arms like a shield against the stares aimed in their direction. She glanced up to apologize for the interruption and her eyes collided with those of Jacob Henderson.