“I’m more worried about the food.”
Dwanda watched Darin slice brisket, put it in a roaster. “You have enough for twice this many people.”
“You should talk. I saw the bowl of potato salad you brought. Looks more like a dishpan. But what about the rest?”
“These meet and greets always turn out just right. Don’t worry about it.”
Dwanda’s kids, Kaleb and Kimberly ran over. “Is it time to eat?”
“Shoo! Go play,” Dwanda ordered, waving her hands at them. “Folks aren’t here yet.”
“Give them some cheese and crackers,” Darin suggested.
Dwanda made them a plate and sent them on their way.
“You should get yourself a couple of kids, Darin.”
Darin chuckled. “Now why would I do that, Dwanda? After watching you corral yours, it only makes me want to stay a bachelor.” But his thoughts automatically flew to Gina. Which scared the hell out of him. Over the years, he’d convinced himself he was destined to be the bachelor in the family. He was different than his siblings. Quieter. Definitely not the marrying kind.
In the very near future he and Gina would pretend to be husband and wife. That should prove interesting. Part of him was excited at the prospect because he’d never been undercover before. The other part gave him chills just thinking about it. Could he do it? Could they?
“Hey everybody,” Hank called out. With a large casserole dish in one hand and his son in tow, he ambled over. Jake saw the other kids and ran to join them. “What can I do?” He put the casserole on the table.
“Ice,” Darin said. “It’s in the freezer in the garage. There’s an ice chest there. You know the drill.”
Hank went off to do his chore as the rest of the squad showed up. Melanie and Leya were alone, bringing dishes of food with them. Ernie was with his wife, four kids, a case of soft drinks, and a huge chocolate cake. Joe Lennox walked in with a grin and a big box of Kentucky fried.
The only missing squad member was the honoree. Darin looked at his watch. She wasn’t late, as everyone else came early to help.
With plenty of food why was he so nervous? This wasn’t the first time he’d entertained. Hell, he’d had the entire family here right after he bought the house and wasn’t nearly this nervous.
There she was—her sister with her. His heart gave an involuntary stutter. What was wrong with him anyway? Why this reaction? He was glad to see she’d followed his advice and brought her sister. He wanted Gina to be comfortable and thought it would be easier with family.
Though he could see a resemblance the sisters didn’t look much alike. Her sister’s forehead was higher, her cheekbones wider. Both had blondish hair and gorgeous blue-green eyes. He thought Gina was the prettier. Today, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She had on a pair of white capris and a red T-shirt that hugged her body.
Everyone was dressed for the warm day. Most of the men were in shorts and T-shirts, the women shorts or capris. But no one looked as good as Gina. Her smile made the day brighter, and Darin found himself humming. Which was so unlike him he stopped immediately.
When she walked up to him and smiled his heart did a little bounce. “I hope you don’t mind. I thought you might like a couple of bottles of wine. Maddy made a batch of chocolate chip cookies.”
“Mind? Are you kidding? Where are those cookies? And wine is always good. We’ll open it later.”
Introductions took up the next thirty minutes as Maddy was introduced to Darin, then the squad. Family members came over to meet them with smiles and handshakes.
“Can I help?” Gina asked Darin when everyone had settled down.
“Nope. Just go and enjoy yourself.”
They exchanged a knowing look.
It didn’t play well to spy on his co-workers. As he looked across the lawn at them, they looked the same as always. Relaxed and friendly. At work they were friendly, but professional.
Innocent.
If so, how did the drug lord get inside information? Why had Hunter warned him of a mole?
Darin’s thoughts flew to the photo found in Hunter’s house. Could the snitch be their captain? He shook his head. He couldn’t see it.
Gina started to work the party. Watching her in action was like watching a choreographed dance. She shifted from one to another with ease. He’d bet each conversation was layered with questions.
She was a pro.
Even with misgivings about the job facing them, he felt lucky to have her working with him.
****
Gina couldn’t help but enjoy herself. Despite the fact she had a job to do it was a fun outing. The day was warm, but not hot. Festive tablecloths covered the tables. An American flag was stuck in the ground at the corner of the house. Country-western music blared from a CD player somewhere.
Various groups stood in the shade of an oak tree, sipping beer or tea, and watching the kids having a great time. A ball game was in progress in the far corner. It was a good thing Darin had a big backyard.
Gina had left Maddy to do her own thing. Right now Hank’s young son had her cornered. Good. Maddy loved children. They were her life.
Gina hadn’t been the least bit surprised at her sister’s choice of career. After their horrendous childhood why wouldn’t she want to work with the Children’s Protective Agency? She’d made it her goal to save as many children as she could.
Gina thought her sister took her job way too seriously. There were weeks on end when Maddy didn’t take a break.
Now, she looked at her fondly. Listened.
“Can you play ball?” Jake asked.
Maddy was down on her knees in the grass so she could look eye-level at Jake. “Are you kidding? I love to play ball.”
“Can you pitch?”
“Can I pitch? Wanna see?”
Jake laughed, took her hand when she stood. The two of them wandered off to join the game in progress.
Maddy was happier with kids than with adults. Which had been the selling point to get her out of the house today.
Smiling, Gina walked up to Melanie. “This is so nice of all of you to do this.”
“I thought the same thing when they threw one for me.”
“I thought I heard you talking about a boyfriend. Why didn’t you bring him with you?”
Melanie rolled her eyes. “Jimmy was coming until he got a call from one of his shop workers. There was a problem no one else could fix.” She paused, made a face. “It’s always like that. You wouldn’t believe the things he’s missed.”
“Tough for him, sad for you.” Dwanda called Melanie over to give her a hand, which gave Gina the opportunity to visit with Leya. She hadn’t quite made the rounds before Dwanda was banging on a bucket to tell them the food was ready.
Kids came running. Parents yelled for them to go wash their hands. For a while chaos reigned. But in the end everyone got served. Amid groans from the adults and cheers from the kids, Melanie and Leya set out the desserts.
Conversation never stopped.
They were like a big happy family. Only one of them was a mole. It was her job to find which one. It had been her good fortune when Darin asked for her help. It made her job easier.
She didn’t like the idea of playing husband and wife in an undercover sting any more than he did. If she could stop thinking of him as a good-looking available male, she’d do fine.
Gina looked over at Maddy. Jake sat on one side of her, Hank the other. Whenever Jake asked a particularly cute question, she’d turn to Hank and grin.
No sooner had they finished eating than Jake wanted Maddy to go play again.
Gina kept one ear on their conversation, the other on those around her.
“Why don’t you slow down for a few minutes, big guy,” Hank said. “Give the lady a break.”
“She likes to play ball. And she can really pitch.”
“I know. I saw her.” No amount of conversation would change his mind. Jake was determined to get Maddy up and
going again. “Go ahead. Start playing with the other kids. Maddy will be along in a few minutes.”
None too happy, Jake did as he was told.
“You made quite an impression on him,” Hank said.
Maddy chuckled. “He’s adorable. Smart, too. Is he in school?”
“Kindergarten.”
“He’s at an impressionable age.”
“He likes you. Believe me, Jake doesn’t like many women.”
“Oh? Why not?”
Hank’s brow wrinkled. “I think it’s because his mother died. He resents that other kids have a mom and he doesn’t.”
“How sad.”
“What do you do?”
Their conversation was off and running.
Gina was more than surprised. Other than on the job, Maddy had nothing to do with men. But there she was, deep in conversation with Hank. It was as if they were old friends.
Interesting.
Gina turned her thoughts to her job and made the rounds of the squad again. Thanks to her newbie status, her subtle questions didn’t raise an eyebrow.
The sun was tilting to the west when the party broke up. Ernie was the first to take his family and leave. The others drifted away soon after. Before she left, Dwanda walked over to Gina. “Tomorrow night, my house. Don’t forget.”
“How could I?”
“It’s going to be leftover night.” She held up a foil wrapped package. “Brisket and potato salad, plus whatever else I can dig up.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
“Good. See you then.”
Melanie came over to say goodbye. “Friday night is happy hour at my condo. Why don’t you join us?”
“Who is us? Will I know anyone?”
Melanie laughed. “You’ll know everyone. We have girl’s night the first Friday of every month. The guys stay home, and we sit around, gripe, talk, and drink wine.”
What a break. Gina accepted with pleasure.
Only Hank and his son were left when Darin opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass for Gina, another for himself. Sitting down in one of the lawn chairs he breathed a loud sigh of relief.
“Was it that bad?” Gina asked.
“No. But I’m glad it’s over.”
Hank, Maddy, and Jake were at the far end of the table, Jake telling kindergarten jokes, Maddy countering with her own.
“They’re having a great time,” Darin said as their laughter carried down the table.
“They are.” Gina frowned. “It’s so unlike Maddy.”
“Why?”
Gina hadn’t meant to speak her thoughts. She shrugged in answer to his question. “She’s shy,” she said vaguely, vowing to keep her thoughts to herself from now on.
She looked at her sister again. Maddy wasn’t faking it. She really was having a good time. Which was a good thing. Gina frowned. Hank would be the next person on her list to check. Her sister would not be hurt.
“They look nice together. Like a family.”
Gina turned to Darin. “Do you have a large family?” She felt like a fraud. She knew about his family. All of them. Even about how years ago his sister TJ had saved the ranch from foreclosure. Her husband Max had helped, but that was before they were married.
It didn’t take much research to find out the oldest son, Donovan, had taken over the reins of the ranch after their dad was killed in a tractor accident. He’d helped raise his brothers and sister and seemed content until something took him to San Antonio for a month. His mom was forced to hire someone to help with the ranch chores. Gina had dug deep to find out what took the oldest son off the ranch, to no avail. Unbeknownst to the Callahans, Phyl, the new ranch hand, had a killer after her. Because the family was close and loving everything turned out okay and Donovan fell in love. They married, he adopted her son from her first marriage, and they now had a daughter. According to Gina’s report, they were a happy and contented family.
Darin’s lawyer brother Douglas had seemed destined to die a bachelor until he woke up to realize he loved his sister’s best friend, Lisa Kane.
Dugan, the county sheriff, was the easiest to research. It seemed Oaktree was a hotbed of gossipy folks where everyone loved their sheriff, but were divided as to whether he should get involved again with Kate Maroney, the woman who had broken his heart when she left him at the altar.
They did get back together, seem to be living in marital bliss, and were expecting their first child any day.
But Darin didn’t know she knew any of this. The knowing had her turn her head until she could control the strong thud of guilt that hit her.
Darin chuckled before he answered her question. “I do have a large family. They’re wonderful, but sometimes too caring. They were on their way from Oaktree when they found out I got hit on the head. It took some talking to make them stay put.”
“You’ll have to tell me about them.”
“Someday. When we have lots of time.” He dropped his voice. “Right now I want to know if you felt any out-of-the-ordinary vibes today.”
“Not a one. I have good instincts. At least I thought I did. If one of them is a mole, I don’t know which one.”
“We need to find out. Fast.”
“I see Dwanda and her family tomorrow, Melanie and the female members of the squad, Friday night. I’ll get to the rest as fast as I can.”
“I’ll do what I can on my end. But I guarantee, if Bernie Peters can’t find anything untoward, nobody can.”
They sat back, enjoyed their glass of wine and listened as the voices quieted down at the end of the table.
Leaning on Maddy, Jake had fallen asleep. Hank and Maddy were still talking.
Gina couldn’t believe her eyes.
On paper, Henry Kenton seemed an upstanding member of not just the squad, but his church, and participated in school events with his son.
She’d had to dig deep into his bank records to find an account in his son’s name where he deposited varying amounts at different times of the month. They weren’t large, nothing like someone working with a drug dealer would earn.
He didn’t have another job. She’d already checked.
For the moment she put him in the suspicious column.
She stood and put her glass on the table. “We need to go.”
Gina wouldn’t see her sister hurt.
Never again.
“What’s your hurry? Maddy’s having a good time. Relax.”
Too good a time.
“No. We go to church early on Sundays. We need to get home.” She turned to him; saw the look of disappointment on his face. “This was a nice thing to do. I had a wonderful time.”
“Even if you had to work?”
She chuckled. “Even if.”
Going to Maddy, she touched her shoulder. “It’s getting late.”
Maddy looked at her watch and sprang from the chair. “I had no idea.”
Hank stood with her. “Maybe I’ll see you again.”
“Maybe,” she said. “It was nice meeting you all,” she called back over her shoulder as she hurried after her sister.
Chapter Nine
By the end of the next week, Gina had cleared Dwanda, Leya, Melanie, and Hank. A visit to each of their homes showed no overt spending. Dwanda had confided how she and her husband Jesse had a college fund set up for the children, but found it difficult to put much into it. Jesse was considering a second job.
Melanie’s condo was gorgeous, her furniture top of the line. Gina recognized some of the pieces from Ethan Allen and Kincaid. When she admired a piece, Melanie was eager to tell her when she got it, how much it cost, and that Jimmy paid for it. More info than Gina bargained for, but she’d take it.
It was a fun evening. They’d all let their hair down. Even Gina relaxed and griped about Houston’s weather and traffic.
Leya’s small apartment was clean and neat. She had a cat named Lucy and several cousins, nieces, and nephews she either encouraged or helped out financially. She wanted to see
a successful generation coming up behind her. Gina couldn’t see Leya doing anything illegal.
Gina laughed every time she thought of Hank. The money he put in Jake’s college fund was money from his e-Bay account where he sold odd items he either didn’t want or stuff he found and fixed up. He told Gina it was amazing what you could sell. He was doing quite well with it.
While she was there, he asked about Maddy. Gina found herself asking him and Jake over for dinner. When Maddy found out she went into a tailspin. What to cook? What to wear?
Maddy’s response to the invite was so unlike her it made Gina wonder if her sister was smitten.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Jake monopolized the evening with his chatter. After dessert, they walked over to the neighborhood park.
Maddy was happy.
Gina turned her thoughts to her job. She still had a lot more legwork to do.
And Darin?
Though they would be working undercover and she trusted him, she couldn’t tell him she was with IA. Why? First, it was against protocol. Second, he’d be angry. Since they were working so well together she didn’t want anything to hamper their joint investigation.
That wasn’t all. More and more she found her thoughts straying to him. It was a distraction she didn’t need. She wondered how it would work out when they were thrown together to play their parts. Especially when they were face-to-face with a big-time drug dealer.
This was the biggest case of her career. So much rested on its success. Not the least of which was her future with IA, and Darin’s credibility with HPD.
It didn’t matter that her hormones were suddenly aroused. Their upcoming operation took precedence over everything. There was a killer out there they needed to expose—a mole in the ranks, and a drug cartel or two to bring down.
Just thinking about it made her wonder if they were out of their minds to even attempt such a dangerous undertaking.
According to Darin, they had no choice. The homicide division and their own narc squad had failed to turn up a single clue. Maybe he was right.
Besides, Gina Carlson wasn’t a quitter.
She and Darin had agreed they needed four people for backup. She’d already included Dwanda and Hank. Now she had to decide between Joe, Ernie, Leya, and Melanie. She’d dropped in at Ernie’s house a second time on the pretext she wanted to give the kids a batch of Maddy’s cookies since she had to be in the neighborhood anyway. If they weren’t home, she’d leave them with a note at the front door.
Promise Renewed Page 9
