Authors: Jeri Odell
He dribbled the ball, pondering his unanswered questions. Were his decisions about women and God made too prematurely, before he had the answers? He shot and missed again, his focus gone.
God, are You real? Is what I’m feeling for Delanie real? And are both of you worthy of my trust, or will it be another hard lesson in the letdowns of life?
Chapter 10
From your reports and surveillance observations, we all agree the attorney has to be George Benavides.” Sarge looked from Eli to Delanie and back again.
Eli nodded. His cop’s instinct was certain.
“We haven’t been able to get information from any of his clients, so it’s time to try a different tack and take a more aggressive stance. We’re sending Delanie in undercover.”
Eli’s heart stopped beating for a split second. Fear clenched his gut. “You mean both of us, right?”
Sarge shook his head. “I mean Delanie—alone. We’re hoping he’ll feel safer and less threatened by a single, desperate, pregnant female. Word has to have gotten back to him that we’re nosing around.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Eli didn’t care for the plan and certainly didn’t want Delanie put in any danger.
Delanie sat up straighter. “You still doubt my abilities as a cop?” Her question held disbelief. “Come on, Eli. When are you going to believe I can handle myself out there?” She rose from the vinyl chair and walked to the window.
“She’ll be wired. I’ll keep you as close as possible, only seconds away. We’re checking into the office one door down the hall. It appears to be vacant. We’ll have several officers in the building, ready to respond, should the need arise.”
Eli nodded. He knew he was overreacting, but Delanie mattered to him—too much. Definitely much more than a partner should.
The phone rang. Sarge answered, then excused himself momentarily, leaving them alone.
Delanie glared at him from her spot by the window, arms crossed over her chest. “I can’t believe after working together almost four months we’re back to square one.”
He fought the urge to take her into his arms and tell her he couldn’t bear to lose another person, especially her. Instead, he joined her by the window.
“I have no doubt you’re a good cop, far better than most I’ve seen.”
Her expression softened when he acknowledged her abilities as a police officer. “What is your deal, then?”
What could he say? She wouldn’t let up until he gave her some sort of answer. He cleared his throat. “I care about you.”
Her face became guarded.
Maybe he’d misread her, because he thought she at least considered him a friend. “I don’t make friends easily or lightly. Since you’re one of the very few I have. . .”
The only one I have.
Her face relaxed, and she smiled, sending his heart sailing.
“I only want you safe.”
“Thank you.” Her voice sounded croaky. “For counting me as a friend. I feel the same about you. And thanks for acknowledging that I’m a good cop. That means more than you know and rarely happens around here.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.” He smiled, hoping to lighten things up. The mood was getting far too sappy for his comfort.
Sarge reentered the office, stopping just inside the doorway. His head tipped a tad to the side, and his gaze bounced from one to the other. “Things okay in here?”
“Fine,” they both answered, sounding like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Sarge raised his brows, nodded, and took his chair behind the desk. “This is the way we’ll play this out.” He began detailing the plan. Delanie and Eli returned to the chairs, both listening to their instructions. Eli still hated sending her in alone.
“Delanie, if you want to head downstairs, they’ll get you wired and ready to roll. I’ll go over the building plans with Eli.”
“Sure.” She headed out the door.
“Something going on between you two?”
Eli shook his head.
Only in my heart.
“The scene I walked in on looked pretty intimate.”
“How? We were standing together by the window—nothing more.”
“Maybe it was the rapturous expression on each of your faces, the air crackling with emotion, that misled me.”
Eli’s heart took flight. Based on Sarge’s observations, maybe Delanie’s feelings ran deeper than she was willing to admit. . . .
“So why do you object to her going in alone?” Sarge pressed.
Eli rubbed the back of his neck, trying to work out a knot. “I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks—with her or with me.”
“That’s your story?”
“Yep.”
“You know department policy. You two can’t work together and be involved. I’d have to transfer one of you to another unit.”
Eli knew. He also knew he’d failed to convince Sarge, but other than unspoken attraction, nothing was going on between them.
Sarge went over the blueprints with Eli, showing him where the two other cops would be. They’d all be connected to Delanie’s wire, just as Eli would. An officer had confirmed that the space across the hall was vacant, so they’d secured permission to use it. Eli needed to dress the part of a businessman in case he ran into anyone in the hall. “Don’t want to raise suspicions.”
“Will you let Delanie know I ran home to change?”
Sarge nodded.
“Tell her I’ll meet her back here at noon.”
❧
Joe had to leave for a lunch appointment, so Delanie waited in his empty office for Eli. All sorts of emotions swirled through her—excitement and anticipation over their assignment this afternoon, and tenderness over Eli’s declarations. For a moment she’d feared he was going to proclaim his love or something awful like that. If he did, she’d have to reject him, and hurting Eli would just kill her. Looking back, she knew that was a crazy notion. She did, however, feel blessed that he counted her among his friends.
“Delanie? You awake?” Eli startled her.
“Sorry. Daydreaming.” When she turned away from the window to walk out the door, she stopped midstride, and her heart shifted into overdrive. Eli had gotten his hair cut, had shaved, and wore a gray business suit. “Wow. You clean up nice.”
He struck a model-type pose. “You like?”
She nodded. His new look only increased the attraction.
“Sarge said I needed to dress the part.”
“And dress the part you did. I hardly recognized you.”
Eli held the door open for her, made his way around the car, and climbed in. He turned the key; the engine roared to life.
Eli pulled into traffic while Delanie updated him. “I tried to make an appointment to see the lawyer, but his receptionist informed me he doesn’t do adoptions, which I find interesting since a large percentage of the clientele we watched coming and going while staking out his office were indeed pregnant. Anyway, then it hit me: He isn’t on the adoption list, but the ‘George list.’ I think Brandi tried to help without helping, if you know what I mean.”
Eli pondered that idea. “It never occurred to me that George was a clue. Good work, Detective.” His smile told her how proud he was of her. “What is plan B?”
“Sarge said grab lunch, look over the blueprints he gave you, and you can fill me in on that end of things. At three, when the attorney’s office reopens after lunch and court, he wants me to be there—upset, crying, I hope, and insisting that my friend told me to come. Do you think I should use Brandi’s name? Or just pick a really common name and hope it rings true with him?”
Delanie looked up from her notes and discovered he’d brought her to Bertha’s for lunch. “You’re scoring all sorts of points with me today,” she joked as he opened her car door and helped her out. “You compliment my ability as a cop, bring me to my favorite restaurant, and promote me to your friend list.” She dared not also mention how attractive she found him in his new getup.
While they waited for a table, they talked about the youth center and how much his group of junior highers loved being there. “What about you? You’ve never told me what you think of the place.”
He shrugged. “It’s okay.” The subject seemed to make him uncomfortable.
Delanie nodded.
“I mean, it’s a great place for the guys, and I appreciate everyone welcoming them and making us all feel right at home. Don’t get me wrong—I’m grateful.”
“Do you miss having more time—just you and them?”
“I do.”
The host called them and led them down a few steps to the back of the room and a little booth for two.
Eli looked up. “I hadn’t noticed this before.” The ceiling on this part of the restaurant wasn’t wood like the rest, but Plexiglas.
“It’s kind of weird being inside yet seeing the sky overhead, isn’t it? I think my dad said they added this part later. See the half wall with the large pots on it? That used to be the outside wall. My favorite time to come, though, is in the summer when they open their outdoor patio and you can eat outside in the shade of a big tree.”
“You’re an outdoor girl at heart, aren’t you?”
Delanie nodded. “One reason I chose this job.”
“Do you hunt?”
“I have with my dad.” She scrunched her face. “I don’t enjoy the blood-and-guts part of it. Fishing’s the same way. I don’t mind the catching part but hate the cleaning part. How about you?”
“I do love any outdoor sport, and I like spectator sports, as well. I’m a huge Angels fan.”
“So I noticed by your caps and attire.” She winked at him.
“Guess I’m not the classiest guy around, huh?”
“I think you’re pretty classy, at least in the ways that matter. Any single guy who dedicates his life to a group of neighborhood kids is the classiest.”
The smile he shined on her jump-started her heart.
The waiter arrived with hot plates of food, interrupting the moment.
Delanie took a bite of her enchiladas. “Do you think I should mention Brandi’s name when I get to the lawyer’s office,” she asked again, “or will that draw suspicion?”
“I’m not sure, but let’s err on the side of safe rather than sorry. I’m afraid mentioning Brandi’s name might increase wariness. What’s a fairly common girl’s name?”
“Amanda, Melissa. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll try not to mention a name but just refer to ‘my friend.’ ”
They ate lunch and chitchatted. Delanie loved their easy conversations. If not for her attraction, she’d love to work with Eli forever; but as things stood, she’d decided that when the case closed, she’d request a new assignment. Sarge would understand.
Eli paid the bill. Their short drive to the bank building was quiet. She was planning what to say, and Eli was engrossed in thought, as well.
❧
Eli had never experienced so much apprehension about an undercover assignment before. He hated Sarge’s plan and wished he had tried harder to dissuade him. His feelings for Delanie were messing with his mind and impairing his judgment as a cop. This was the first case ever where he wasn’t willing to get the guy whatever the cost. He could barely stand the thought of her going in alone.
The irony of the situation was that when they started this case, he worried about Delanie’s ability to handle things, but now he was the one struggling to keep a cool head and stay unemotional about her safety on the case. If there was a God, He must have a sense of humor.
“I’m going to park in this garage, which is a couple of blocks away. Right outside the garage is a bus stop where you can wait while we get set up.”
Eli drove all the way to the roof of the garage. Only three cars were up there—all empty—and not a soul to be seen. He pulled into a spot, gave Delanie last-minute instructions, and got out to walk her to the elevator.
He struggled to let her go through with the plan. He couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to her, and he knew these people weren’t afraid of murder.
Delanie reached for the elevator button, and he grabbed her hand. “Wait.”
Her brows drew together as she studied him. “What?”
I’m in love with her, totally and completely.
Fully acknowledging all of the feelings floating around in his heart caused Eli to throw caution to the wind. He pulled her into his arms and watched several emotions play across her features. The first was surprise, but as his lips found hers, he saw the same longing he felt.
He pulled her close, which wasn’t close enough at all with her fake tummy between them. As the kiss deepened, he wondered how it had taken him so long to recognize the love between them. She felt it, too; he was sure of it.
When the kiss ended, he held her tight for several seconds and whispered her name.
She pushed out of his arms. Her expression reminded him of a deer in headlights—dazed and confused. “What are we doing?”
“I have feelings for you, and I wanted—”
“Don’t!” She backed up a couple of steps, just out of his reach. “Don’t have feelings for me.” She pushed the elevator button and turned accusing eyes on him. “I asked you not to
ever
kiss me again.” Her voice grew demanding. “Now I’m telling you—never again! You got it?” She pointed her index finger at him.