Undercover Read Online Free Page B

to her lips and held them there as she watched him walk away. Never in her life had she felt this way about a man. He was wonderfully handsome, sweet and sexy.
    And he was so struggling with his attraction to her. She smiled, a bit more satisfied than she should be. Grabbing up her duffle bag, she headed home, a block away.
    Funny how, when she wasn’t so aware of Derrick, she felt the dampness of her t-shirt and the fabric clinging to her back. What she wouldn’t give for a breeze to brush down through the buildings, but she’d lived here long enough to know that wasn’t going to happen.
    A cold shower would help cool down the outside surface of her skin and douse the inferno building on the inside - thanks to Derrick. She couldn’t shake the desire she felt when she was near him. There had been intense lust from day one but it had evolved beyond that. She liked the guy, a lot. And she had no business feeling this way. It was risky, stupid even, under the circumstances.
    She entered her apartment, a small, low-income hole in the wall where she could lay her head at night without worry. Situated above the local hardware store, it and she went unnoticed most days. Lost in thought about Derrick, she closed and locked the door.
    “Where in the hell have you been, Cordero?”
    Erica spun around, ready to defend herself and then clutched at her chest when recognition reached her brain. “Jeez, Steve. You scared the shit out of me.” She leaned back against the door and briefly closed her eyes.
    “I hope you were out making headway on this case.” Steve Rockwell, her supervisor, sat at her kitchen table, overwhelmed it really by his shear size.
    His tie lay in a heap on her table and the first few buttons of his shirt were undone. Erica smiled, couldn’t help herself, knowing how much Steve hated to wear a suit.
    “Lookin’ good, sir.” She pushed away from the door and headed to the fridge.
    “Don’t start with me. You’ve been on assignment for four weeks now and haven’t reported in once, which tells me you’ve got nothing.”
    Such the wounded bear, she thought. “Wanta beer?” The cool air that greeted her when she opened the refrigerator door reminded her how bad she wanted a shower.
    “Sure.” He snatched the offering out of her hands.
    “ Only four weeks. And I’m close. I had drugs shoved in my face the second day of class, but from runners. I want the seller and, if at all possible, his supplier.” She leaned a hip against the counter and took a long pull on the cold drink.
    “Nobody suspects?”
    “No.” She thought of Derrick and Joey, and felt a wave of guilt bubble up. They would be shocked, maybe hate her, if they ever found out she was a twenty-nine year old undercover officer. Chances were, they would never know. Once she had hard evidence, she would leave the school. The police would raid the grounds and arrest the suspects. No one would ever connect her disappearance to the arrests and she would likely never see Joey or Derrick again.
    She rubbed at the burn in the center of her chest.
    “I’ve got two main suspects. James Hufferman, whose brother, Henarez, is the leader of the Mercenaries. Henarez has a record, which includes possession of drugs, so it makes sense that Huff could be funneling them into the school, but I don’t have evidence yet. I’m hanging out with Joey Moreno and he happens to be a long time friend of Huff’s.”
    “One of his runners?”
    “It’s possible, but I’m not sure.” She wanted to believe he wasn’t, but the facts indicated the opposite. “They grew up together.”
    “What about your other suspect?”
    “Ricky Sanchez.” She shrugged her shoulders and took a seat at the table. “He’s a member of the Hell Boys. I don’t know if he’s dealing on his own or for the good of the group. I’d guess the latter. I’ve got the name of a few of his boys, but I’m not as familiar with them.”
    “Get familiar.” Steve finished off the last