Deadly Disclosure. Meghan Carver

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СКАЧАТЬ of the best officers on the Heartwood Hill PD to work with, but sometimes we move on to other things. This your first assignment?”

      “Yes. Quite a start, don’t you think?”

      Reid raised his eyebrows. “Is there a history here? With Hannah?”

      “Yes.” Derek jammed his hands in his pockets. “That’s why I’m here. My supervising agent thought it best if the FBI sent someone Hannah knows. What they don’t know are the details of our past.”

      “And?”

      “We dated secretly in high school our senior year. Her family is super wealthy and upper class. My aunt and uncle were most definitely not upper class. We knew her parents would never approve, so we kept it a secret. Nearly every Friday night, we would go to the library to study. She just didn’t tell her parents that she was with me. We would drive in to the Indianapolis library, where no one knew us except the librarians, and they didn’t care.” Images of a seventeen-year-old Hannah contrasted in his thoughts with the Hannah he had rescued today. She had only grown more beautiful. More compelling.

      “Let me guess.” A frown creased Reid’s brow. “Someone found out.”

      Derek nodded. “Her father.” He shrugged, but tension made it difficult to relax his shoulders again. “I don’t know how. I just know that one day we were planning on attending college together, and the next, I was summoned to the McClarnons’. Her father told me clearly that I was to leave her alone. What else could I do? Mr. McClarnon was—is—a powerful man. I didn’t want to get on his wrong side. I knew I wasn’t good enough for her anyway. We had been naive to think that a relationship could work.”

      “So you didn’t see her again?”

      “I saw her at graduation a couple of days later. I never got close enough to talk to her. That was it. She went away to college. Her parents moved from Heartwood Hill to Lafayette, an hour away. The end.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “Yes.” She wasn’t his Hannah any longer. Never would be.

      “Does she know her father forbade you from seeing her?”

      That was the toughest part. “No.” Mr. McClarnon had also strongly suggested that Derek not tell Hannah anything of their meeting. As far as she knew, he had just abandoned the relationship.

      Derek prayed for the strength and tenacity to complete this first assignment for the FBI. He was over her, right? The fact that there had been no one else in the intervening years simply attested to his devotion to his job. But he couldn’t help wondering if his superior had known the specifics of their romantic past, would he have assigned someone else?

      It didn’t matter now. He was here, standing in the hallway waiting for the beautiful and sweet Hannah McClarnon to emerge from a meeting with her employer. This mission had no close alignment with his heart. It was just the first in what would hopefully be a long line of successful missions in his future.

      Reid shifted to lean against a doorjamb, pulling Derek’s focus from his inner thoughts, and nodded toward the office where Hannah was. “So what about her birth family?”

      “I don’t know a lot.” He jammed his fists in his pockets as if that could release some of his pent-up frustration. “The short version is that we have an informant on the inside of a crime family operating out of Chicago. One of their so-called captains has been looking for a former girlfriend and their daughter that disappeared over twenty years ago. Now, he’s found the girlfriend. We believe that the girlfriend was forced to give up information about the daughter. That daughter is Hannah.”

      “And the birth mother?”

      “I don’t know. That’s not part of my mission, but I do know the FBI hasn’t located her yet.”

      “I don’t know how much help I could be, but if there’s anything, don’t hesitate.” Reid clapped him on the shoulder. “Even though we’re not on the force together any longer, we’re a part of a brotherhood. And after the way you saved my bacon last year, you know I’ll do whatever I can to help you out.”

      “Thanks.” Derek appreciated the vote of confidence. He nodded toward the voices coming from the office. “You have any read on her?”

      “Hannah? She hasn’t been here long. Just started a few weeks ago, and she works primarily with Mallory. But I’ve heard both Mallory and Samantha say that she’s smart and reliable, both excellent qualities for a future lawyer.”

      “Yes, she was the same in high school.”

      Hannah stepped out of the office, followed by Mallory. Hannah’s stunning beauty made Derek’s mouth feel like sandpaper, and he swallowed hurriedly to cover the effect she had on him. He couldn’t let that get in the way of his mission. Get it done and move on. That was his mantra.

      But he couldn’t look away. She still seemed stricken. Upset. Whatever had been said in that meeting didn’t appear to have lessened the sting of receiving life-altering news that had rocked her to the core. He wanted to go to her, fold her in his arms, stroke her silky hair and whisper to her that all would be well. But not only did he not know if that was true, especially considering what she had just learned that afternoon, but it also wouldn’t do either of their hearts any good to follow the inclinations that would undoubtedly only lead to more crushing despair.

      He clenched his fists in his pockets, working valiantly to shift his gaze to the floor, to the window, to anywhere but at her. Reid’s lowered voice sounded near his ear. “She does have a certain quiet beauty, but that’s all I’ll say. I’m a happily married man, late for supper with my wife and daughter.”

      Derek shook his hand and watched his buddy leave through the back door. He stared at the closed door for a few moments, forcing his thoughts back to the assignment. It was time to move on.

      Hannah thanked Mallory and then motioned Derek into the tiny break room. “Would you like a cup of coffee? I can’t imagine I need the caffeine after the news you just dropped on me. But maybe holding the warm mug would help?” She turned to grab the canister of coffee and kept her back turned slightly to Derek, but he could still see that she fumbled for a paper towel from the roll on the counter and then dabbed her eyes.

      He cleared his throat gently. “Sure, coffee sounds good. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll get it?”

      She sniffled and pushed the paper towel in her pocket before she turned to him. A tentative smile flickered on her lips. “If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it.”

      “Of course.”

      From what he had seen out of the hallway window, it seemed that there was no sign of the truck or even any vehicle that seemed suspicious. The red-and-blue flashing lights of law enforcement were still visible in the parking lot below. Derek relaxed a bit but kept his attention trained on the door. Hannah could have a little bit more time to process this new information, but at some point, they would have to move on.

      As her sniffling subsided behind him, he started the coffeemaker and retrieved a couple of mugs from the cabinet. A few minutes later, he settled into the chair across from her and poured a touch of creamer in his mug.

      Hannah added sugar and creamer, then sipped gingerly from the cup. She had regained some composure, perhaps from holding her polka-dotted mug СКАЧАТЬ