by Tara Randel
“I watched her on the sidelines as the artists were having a good time and was struck by the sadness in her eyes. Here everyone else was having a grand time and I couldn’t help but sense there was something missing in it for her.” June shook her head. “Then I realized Jonathan wasn’t there. He had a prior commitment and couldn’t make it.”
No, that wasn’t it, Derrick thought, but he still couldn’t decide what kind of jerk Prescott was for not being there for Hannah at such an important moment. In reality, Hannah had imagined a future working in the art world and this was the closest she got. And still threw a party for the artists when he had to imagine her heart was breaking over the realization that her dream had slipped through her fingers. He’d robbed her of the experience.
And now he had to make it up to her.
He cleared his throat. “Thanks for sharing that with me. Anna’s pretty tight-lipped about her life here.”
“I’ve chalked it up to her being a private person. Nothing wrong with that.”
No, there wasn’t. But most people had never lived through witness protection and had to give up on their dreams.
“And I’ll talk to the boys about inappropriate roughhousing.”
June ran a hand over her belly. “Is this what I have to look forward to if this is a boy?”
Derrick chuckled. “I’m afraid so. I know what I’m talking about. I have three brothers.”
As June returned to her office, Derrick went outside to see the last of the students board the bus.
“Everything under control?” he asked as he strode to the vehicle.
Hannah looked up at him, eyes pinched. “For now. I spoke to the boys. They were upset about what happened.”
“They’re good kids.”
A shrill ring came from the direction of Hannah’s purse. With a frown, she fished out her cell phone, in the process knocking the bag off her shoulder. It fell to the ground, the contents scattering over the asphalt. Derrick sank down to the balls of his feet, picking up the bag to retrieve the belongings while she checked her phone. He lifted a small compact to toss back inside and froze.
Underneath the compact was a bright green gem that sparkled in the sunlight. His head jerked up to meet Hannah’s eyes, which were wide with surprise.
“What on earth?” she muttered.
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
She shook off her shock and drew back. “What do you mean?”
He pointed to the stone. “Is this yours?”
She blinked a few times before scooping it up and standing. He slowly followed suit.
“I...ah...it must have come loose from a pair of earrings I tossed into my bag the other day.”
Right. And if she thought he’d buy that explanation, she was sorely mistaken. “You expect me to believe that?”
All emotion wiped from her face, she tugged her purse against her side, turned and stepped into the bus.
Yeah, he was pretty sure the stone wasn’t from an earring. More likely it was one of the gems from the collection that had gone missing.
Hannah had some serious explaining to do.
CHAPTER TEN
MORTIFIED, HANNAH SAT across from Mrs. Muldoon. The principal rested her elbows on the pristine blotter of her wide desk and peered through bifocals at the two people sitting across from her. This was the second time Hannah could recall being summoned into the principal’s office. With the same person who had talked her into an ill-advised stunt back in high school.
She tried to ignore Derrick, but he made it difficult. When he leaned toward her, she caught traces of his tantalizing cologne. The close proximity of his body warmed one side of her. Derrick Matthews was one-hundred-percent unadulterated trouble.
“I know this was an accident,” Mrs. Muldoon droned on. “But this isn’t the first time Tommy has been part of an...incident.”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Hannah started to say, but the principal held up her hand.
“Be that as it may, I don’t like hearing from the museum director informing me our students set off an alarm.”
“If it helps,” Derrick intervened, “I spoke to the director before we left. The painting wasn’t harmed and the museum won’t need to take any further action.”
Hannah jerked her head toward him. He’d spoken to June? That explained why it took him so long to emerge from the building when they were loading up the bus.
“Fine.” The principal sent Hannah another long look. “This will not happen again.”
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t,” Hannah assured her, which was no guarantee. These were kids and stuff happened, even when she had them under her eagle eye. In the future, she’d have to keep better tabs on Tommy and his friends.
“There’s still a half hour until the final bell rings. I suggest you return to your class, Anna.” The principal turned to Derrick. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to speak to the class. Remind them that their actions were unacceptable, from a security point of view.”
“I will.”
Hannah fumed. It was her class; she should lead the conversation, but she wasn’t about to contradict the principal. Not after this dressing-down. As they rose to leave, she scowled at Derrick and sped out of the room before him.
“Hey, wait up,” he called as she strode down the hallway.
“Why?” she said over her shoulder. “So you can beat me to the classroom and undermine my authority?”
Or ask about the green gemstone that fell out of my purse? Where on earth had it come from?
“Not at all.” She heard his footsteps pick up speed and then he was at her side. “More like you let me be the bad guy. I’ll put the fear in them and you’ll still be their favorite teacher.”
She snorted a laugh. “Like that’ll work.”
“Watch me.”
They entered the room to find the students seated at their desks, more subdued than usual. Backpacks were lying on the floor at the back of the room, discarded jackets and mittens piled up nearby. The two chaperones left and Hannah took a seat at her desk, waving her hand to give Derrick permission to start. He stood at the front of the room, the blackboard with grade-four assignments written in chalk an incongruous backdrop to the handsome and confident man.
Why did she have to notice so many attractive qualities about him?
He began to pace. “Seems we have a problem.”
A few heads bowed and some of the students looked anywhere but up front.
“Here’s the thing about museums,” he continued. “Artists trust the authorities who work there to keep their artwork safe. They know the public is going to observe their creations, but they don’t expect a total disregard of their property by those visitors.” He stopped. Let his words sink in. “Imagine if someone came into your house and started to fight, breaking your belongings in the process.”
A girl in the front row said just above a whisper, “That’s just rude.”
“Exactly.” He folded his hands behind his back. “What went wrong today?”
A boy with glasses slowly raised his hand. “The alarm went off.”
“Because?”
“We weren’t paying attention.”
“Which is?” Derrick prodded.
Tommy straightened his shoulders and said, “Disrespectful?”
Derrick nodded. “Next time you go on a field trip, you’ll pay better attention, right?”
He received a smattering of yeses.
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Yes, sir,” came a louder response.
Hannah raised her hand to her mouth to cover her smile. The children had been sufficiently chastised by a man whose opinion had come to matter to them. She hoped they would remember this moment for the future, providing the principal allowed her to take the class on a field tri
p again.
Out of the view of the children, Derrick winked at her. Her heart nearly melted. The bell rang and over the commotion of the children digging for their coats and backpacks, she instructed, “Don’t forget your science papers are due tomorrow.”
Before leaving, Tommy stopped beside her desk. “I’m sorry, Miss Rawley. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
She nodded. “I know. Next time get my attention instead of taking care of a problem yourself.”
“Thanks.” His bright smile cheered her. “You’re the best.”
Shrugging on his backpack, Tommy bolted from the room. Which left only Derrick behind.
“See? I told you. He thinks you’re the best.”
Like she was going to admit Derrick was right. She rose and moved to gather up the permission slips to file away. “Shouldn’t you be outside supervising the car line?”
“I had Glen cover for me today in light of the field trip.”
“I see.” Why did he have to stick around? She was already on sensory overload with him. Did she really need more conversation? Especially when she knew exactly what he wanted to talk about?
He leaned a hip against her desk and his muscles strained under his shirt as he crossed his arms over his broad chest, waiting.
Is this what it felt like to be under interrogation? She was as jumpy as a cat and he hadn’t even asked any questions yet. She dropped the papers and squared her shoulders. “What?”
He slowly shook his head, lips pressed in a grimace.
Instead of saying what he wanted to hear, she went another way. “Thank you for helping today.”
The grimace disappeared. “You’re really going to make me ask?”
She shrugged.
With a sigh, he said, “Why was that green gemstone in your purse?”
She opened her mouth but he held up a hand to cut her off. “And don’t give me the excuse it broke off an earring.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said grudgingly.
He seemed to smile. Almost. “Let’s try again. Why was that green stone in your purse?”
She played with the hem of her sweater. “I don’t believe it myself.”
“Try me.”
Debating what to say, and how, she burst out, “That’s the first I’ve seen of it. I swear.”
“No earring?”
“No. I was as shocked as you were to find it on the pavement. I didn’t want to draw attention to it in front of the children.”
“Okay. Where do you think it came from?”
She met his gaze, imploring him to trust her. “I have no idea.”
“Wrong answer. I’d say it’s another stone from your father’s collection.”
So would she. Even though the odds of a gem showing up in her purse were downright mind-boggling.
A slight frown marred his forehead and his jaw worked, like he was thinking hard. Finally, he asked, “Did you leave your purse unattended any time today?”
She thought back to the steps she’d taken since arriving at the museum. “I put it in June’s office before we took the tour.”
“We both know June left her office a few times while we were there.”
What was he getting at? Did he think June had something to do with the gemstone?
“I’m going to ask you something, Hannah, and I need you to be completely honest with me.”
Hannah gulped. Nothing like being on the hot seat.
“At any time during the day did you feel as though you were being watched?”
Surprise rendered her speechless for a moment. “Watched?”
“Like you explained to me the day we were at the home-improvement store.”
Had anything felt off? Besides her increasing awareness for a man who wasn’t her fiancé? “No. Today was normal. I know my dad was paranoid about being followed, but since Mom and I came here, I’ve only had the feeling a handful of times.”
“Such as.”
“When you came to town.”
What she imagined was disappointment crossed his face, but his eyes still held a serious glint. She wondered if he was this intent when working on a case.
“Did you feel like we were being watched?” she asked in return.
“No.” He dropped his arms and stuffed his fingers in the front pockets of his jeans. The blue pullover he’d worn today matched the warm color of his eyes. “I’ve learned never to discount anything out of the ordinary. Many times it’s the small details you might think unimportant that give us a better picture of what’s going on.”
For the first time since glimpsing the stone she relaxed. “Are you saying that you don’t think I’ve imagined being watched?”
“No. And that’s why another stone surfacing is so bothersome.”
“Do you think it was planted?”
“That would be my guess.”
“By whom?”
“That’s the twenty-thousand-dollar question.”
Hannah sank into her seat. He flattened his palms on the desk surface and leaned in to her. “These are not coincidences, Hannah. I received a stone. You didn’t know another was in your purse. Makes me question when the others will materialize.”
Her breath caught. “You’re making me nervous.”
“I don’t mean to, but I can’t wrap my head around the events. Why would someone be interested in revealing the stones when they’ve been missing since the trial? Why send me to you, now? I know we’ve voiced these questions since I arrived, but we’ve still come up empty.”
He’d told her he was looking into the old case, which made her nervous. She considered the glint in his eye before asking, “Are Mom and I in danger?”
He paused before speaking. “I can’t say for sure, but since your family willingly left WITSEC, you don’t have the protection you once had. Now you only have me.” She glanced up at him. His eyes blazed with an intensity that scared her. She saw him as the professional he was. She had no doubt he was good at his job. Question was, would she allow him to protect her?
She closed her eyes for a moment, letting reality sink in. The gemstones that had been the catalyst to send her family from their home seventeen years ago had recently resurfaced. She needed to know why.
Even though Derrick seemed deep in thought, she asked, “What happens now?”
He reached over to tip her chin with one finger. “Do you trust me?”
She didn’t hesitate. Answered honestly. “Yes.”
“Then let’s work together to figure this out.”
Their gazes remained locked for a drawn-out moment. Promises of the past and unspoken desires for the future hung taut in the air between them before he removed his finger. Gathering her wits about her, Hannah rose and walked to the window. She stared outside as she reined in her out-of-control emotions. Did they dare work together? Could they work together? Her answer was important. Would change her life once again, as she knew it. But what choice did she have? She heard him come up behind her, but he kept his distance when what she wanted was for him to take her in his arms and promise her everything was going to be okay.
“I have contacts,” he said quietly. “I can find answers, Hannah. It’s what I do.”
Shoring up her courage, she turned. “I can’t ignore this. And I don’t want to run anymore.” She paused. “I’m in.”
Derrick sent her a gentle smile that soothed her fears and made her blood race at the same time.
She broke the silence. “I have one request.”
He went all serious at her words and her stomach twisted.
“I need to tell Jonathan what’s going on. It’s only right.”
A flash of—was that impatience?—flared in his eyes but was quickly smothered. “How much?”
“Enough to explain why you’re here and what
our connection is. I never told him about WITSEC or the real reasons we left Florida. I planned to, before we got married, of course, but...” She held her hands wide.
“You’ll have to keep it vague.”
“Why? Do you suspect him of something?”
His stony silence said it all.
Flabbergasted, she said, “Derrick, there’s no way Jonathan has anything to do with the gems showing up.”
“And you know this for sure?”
“I...well...” Her confidence faded. “No.”
“Exactly. Until I can get more details, Jonathan should know only the bare minimum.”
That was going to be tricky, but she understood where Derrick was coming from. “Okay.”
Their gazes met and held again. With only a look, he still had the power to sweep her off her feet, if she wasn’t careful. As she composed her nerves, instead of kissing him like she wanted to, she watched Derrick back up. Placing a shaky hand over her stomach, she blew out a gust of air. What was wrong with her? This wasn’t the time or place.
She shoved aside her emotions and went to her desk, fuzzy about what she wanted to pack up for the night. How was it possible Derrick still had that much of an effect on her?
She rubbed her throbbing temple.
“You okay?”
“Hmm? Yes. It’s been a long day.”
A devastating grin curved his lips, putting her on high alert.
“That visit to the principal’s office was just like old times.”
“No, it wasn’t,” she fumed. “We’re adults.”
“Don’t you think it’s funny how we still end up in crazy situations together?”
She sent him a stink eye, not confessing the truth. Life was more interesting with Derrick in it.
Not one to let well enough alone, he went on. “I have to say, when I suggested we steal the flag from our rival high school after the baseball playoff game, I never thought you’d go along with me.”
“We were excited about winning. Going to the state championships.” She sent him a rueful grin. “I couldn’t resist.”
“Because you love an adventure.”
She lifted a shoulder instead of agreeing out loud.