Santa' Wayward Elf

by Paige Tyler

  * * * *

  Derek stared down at the untouched glass of whiskey in his hand, wondering what the hell he’d done. Or more precisely, what he’d done an hour ago. That was how long it’d been since he’d freaking lost his mind and unloaded on poor Sosie.

  He barely remembered what he’d said to her, but he knew it’d been cruel. The memory of the tears streaming down her pretty face was like a knife to his gut even now. He wanted to believe he’d been justified interrogating her, or that Aaron was partly to blame for making him think Sosie was responsible for what happened at that warehouse, but that was a load of crap. He’d been pissed about his career blowing up in his face and he’d taken it out on her, for no other reason than because she was there.

  Despite all the accusations he’d thrown at her, he didn’t truthfully believe Sosie had been part of some complex underworld scheme to lure him into making a fool of himself and the entire organized crime task force. Sosie might be naïve, secretive and more than a little unusual, but she didn’t have a conniving bone in her beautiful body. Truth was, he didn’t need anybody’s help in making a fool of himself. He could handle it fine on his own.

  He set the whiskey glass on the coffee table and picked up the stuffed reindeer he’d bought for Sosie at FAO Schwartz. The look of joy on her face had been priceless. He swore under his breath. God, he was a damn fool. His impending unemployment wasn’t the only reason he’d gone all mental on Sosie. No, this was a pattern with him. Whenever things starting going good with a woman, it tripped some internal self-destruct mode, leading to relationship hari-kari.

  This time was different, though. This time, he recognized he was being stupid and he was damn sure going to find Sosie and do some serious apologizing. He only hoped she’d be willing to listen to him after what an ass he’d been.

  Setting the plush toy back on the table, he got to his feet and headed for the door, but then stopped when he realized he didn’t have a clue where to look for Sosie. She might be with Ben and Mabel, but Tracee and Linda seemed the more likely choice since they were closer to her age. He’d check with the women first, then with Ben and Mabel. If she wasn’t at either apartment, he’d go to Central Park next. Sosie liked the park, so it made sense she’d go there. He was terrified to think she might go there at night, but that was exactly like her. She wasn’t very good at recognizing danger.

  When Tracee and Linda greeted him with pissed-off expressions on their faces the moment they opened the door, he knew Sosie was there. He tried to see around them, but they blocked his view of the apartment.

  “Can I come in?” he asked when neither woman invited him inside.

  “No,” they said in unison.

  Damn. This was going to be harder than he thought. “Look, I was a jerk, I know that, but I want to apologize to Sosie, that’s all. Can I please come in and talk to her?”

  Tracee exchanged looks with Linda. “Sosie isn’t here. I mean, she was, but then she left.”

  Double damn. “Do you know where she went?”

  “We thought she went back to your apartment,” Linda said. “When you find her, you’d better listen to what she has to say because she’s been trying to tell you something important for a long time and hasn’t been able to.”

  He frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “It means that for a detective, you’re not very bright,” Tracee said. “It’s her secret to tell, not ours. But I can tell you it has nothing to do with Saldino.” A worried look suddenly crossed her face. “Oh, no.”

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I didn’t think anything of it before because I thought Sosie was going back to your apartment.”

  It felt as if he was interrogating a suspect. “Think of what? Spit it out, Tracee.”

  “Sosie said she was going to make things right,” the redhead explained. “She said she was going to prove that this thing with Saldino was your fault.”

  Derek’s heart dropped. There was only one way he could think for Sosie to try to make things right.

  Shit.

  Leaving the two women to stare after him, he turned on his heel and ran back to his apartment. He went inside long enough to grab his gun and his car keys, then raced down the stairs to the parking garage.

  What the hell was Sosie thinking, that she could simply talk to Saldino and somehow get him to…what? Confess he was a mobster and had set Derek and the task force up to look incompetent? Derek didn’t want to think Sosie could be that naïve, but he knew in some ways she was. Hell, she probably didn’t realize how dangerous Saldino was.

  If she was thinking of doing something that crazy, where would she go? She didn’t know where Saldino lived. At least Derek didn’t think she did. He’d never mentioned the mobster’s home address anywhere in her hearing, he was sure.

  He cranked the engine and put the car in gear, but then hesitated. Where would Sosie go to find Saldino if she intended to confront he man? The only place he could think she might associate with Saldino was the restaurant he’d been staking out the day she stopped by the wiretap van.

  Derek breathed a sigh of relief. Sammy Saldino might own the place, but it was unlikely Sosie’d find him there at this time of night, especially after the victory he’d won. The bastard was probably with his soldiers right now laughing at how he’d duped the cops. Derek squealed out of the parking garage.

  Please God, let him find Sosie standing outside the restaurant, looking forlornly in the darkened windows when he got there.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sosie wasn’t sure what she was going to do if she actually found Saldino. Maybe nothing more than give him a piece of her mind and tell him Derek was a good man who didn’t deserve to be fired. She didn’t imagine a person like Saldino would care what she thought about him, but she had to do something to help Derek.

  When she got to the restaurant, it was already closed for the night. Figgy.

  She cupped her hands together and peeked through the frosted windows, hoping someone might still be inside. If they were, perhaps they might be able to tell her where Saldino lived. Although she didn’t see anyone, she saw a light coming from the back of the restaurant. It was probably some poor cook or dishwasher cleaning up the place.

  Lifting her hand, she knocked on the door, then waited. When no one came out to open it, she knocked again, this time a little louder. Apparently, whoever was inside couldn’t hear her. Maybe there was another door.

  She quickly made her way down the sidewalk and around to the back of the building. She sagged with relief when she spotted a door. Rather than knock right away, she tried the knob and was surprised when it turned. Pulling it open, she cautiously stepped inside and found herself in a small entryway. She wondered if she should call out to the person in the kitchen, but hesitated at the sound of raised voices coming from that direction.

  “Did you think you could fuck with me and live?”

  Sosie froze at the words, her heart hammering in her chest. While she’d never heard the man’s voice before, she was positive it had to be Saldino. There couldn’t be many people who could be that mean.

  Her first instinct was to turn and run back the way she’d come, but then she realized this might be her chance to prove Saldino was the criminal everyone knew he was. All she had to do was catch him in the act of doing something illegal.

  She took a deep breath, then slowly edged along the hallway until she could see around the corner and into the restaurant’s huge kitchen. There were shiny, steel tables and wooden work surfaces, as well as stacks of freshly washed dishes and several large ovens. But Sosie’s gaze locked on the men in the center of the room. At least a dozen of them, they were standing in a semicircle around Saldino and a younger man she didn’t recognize. The younger man was on his knees, his hands out in front of him beseechingly as he begged Saldino not to kill him.

  Saldino waved the gun he held at the man. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice you were stealing from me?”

  Th
e younger man shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Saldino. I-I won’t do it again, I promise.”

  “Damn right you won’t.”

  Tears filled the younger man’s eyes. “Mr. Saldino, please, I’m begging you. You’ll get all the drugs back I stole, I promise. I’ll pay back every penny.”

  Sosie held her breath. The man sounded sincere and she certainly would have forgiven him, but apparently Saldino wasn’t moved by the offer because he laughed.

  “Too late for that, asshole. I need to make an example out of you so other people don’t think I’m a pushover.”

  Sosie looked around at the other men in the kitchen, wondering how they could stand there blithely while Saldino threatened the poor guy. She recognized the two lawyers she’d seen with the mob boss in the precinct that day. Neither one seemed pleased they were there. That made sense. She didn’t know a lot about what lawyers did, but it didn’t seem like a good idea if their clients let them see the crimes they committed. It’d be hard to argue their client was innocent of murder if they watched him do it.

  She let her gaze wander over the rest of the men. Standing in the back of the group was another man she thought she recognized, but she couldn’t quite place him. He’d been at the precinct that day, she was sure of it. Was he another one of Saldino’s lawyers?

  Then it came to her. He wasn’t a lawyer. He was Derek’s boss!

  She frowned. The captain was a cop, like Derek. Wasn’t he supposed to stop Saldino from shooting the guy on the floor? Maybe he was waiting for Saldino to shoot him first, so they’d have a reason to put the mob boss in jail.

  That didn’t seem right. Saldino wouldn’t shoot someone right in front of a cop, would he?

  All at once, a sick feeling entered her stomach. Suddenly it all made sense. Derek thought she’d betrayed him because Saldino had known exactly when Derek and the task force were going to bust him. Sosie’d been too upset at the time to consider who had actually set Derek up. Now she knew. Derek’s boss had been giving Saldino an early look at the Christmas list. He was the one to blame for the trouble Derek was in.

  Sosie chewed on her lower lip. She should call Derek and tell him Saldino was about to do something terrible to that young man on the floor and that his captain was standing there watching the whole thing. But after the fight they’d had, would Derek believe her?

  She didn’t know, but she had to try to convince him anyway.

  Sosie started to back out of the kitchen when she felt a hand jab her in the back and give her a shove. Off balance, she stumbled into the kitchen. Everyone turned to look at her, including Saldino.

  “I found her standing in the hallway spying on you, boss.”

  Sosie turned to glare at the man who had shoved her, intending to tell him how rude he was, but the words died on her lips when she caught sight of the gun he had pointed at her. Uh oh, she was in deep reindeer poop.

  She turned back to Saldino to see him studying her from beneath bushy, black brows with eyes as cold as ice. A chill ran down her back.

  “Wait a minute. I recognize you,” he said. “You were with Clayton at the police station. What are you, another cop?”

  Sosie opened her mouth to answer, but Derek’s captain spoke first.

  “She’s his girlfriend.”

  Surprise flickered across Saldino’s face, but then his lip curled in a sneer. “His girlfriend? What, did the coward send you to do his dirty work for him?”

  Sosie bristled at the words. She knew Saldino was a dangerous man and that she should choose her words carefully, but as Tracee and Linda would say, that wasn’t how she rolled. Not when the thug called the man she loved a coward.

  Ignoring the gun in Saldino’s hand, she marched up to him and fixed him with her best glower.

  “For your information, Derek is the bravest man I’ve ever known. So, to answer your question, no, he didn’t send me to do his dirty work. In fact, he doesn’t know I’m here.”

  It didn’t occur to Sosie that she probably shouldn’t have added the last part about Derek not knowing she was there until she saw Saldino smirk.

  “Is that right?” the mob boss said. “Why are you here then?”

  Sosie lifted her chin. She might be terrified of Saldino, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of backing down. “I’m here to make sure you tell everyone that Derek is a good cop and that you set him up tonight.” She turned hard eyes on Derek’s boss. “And so are you.”

  Saldino stared at her for a moment in silence, then laughed. Sosie’s cheeks colored as the rest of his men joined in. If she weren’t a peace-loving elf, she would slap every one of their smug faces.

  “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard,” Saldino said. He motioned with his gun toward the man still cowering on the floor. “It’s almost enough to make me forget about capping this fucking bastard down here.”

  The guy looked up at him hopefully. “Really, boss?”

  Saldino scowled. “No.”

  Then, before Sosie realized what was happening, Saldino casually leveled his gun at the poor man and shot him right between the eyes. She was still standing there in shock when the mob boss turned his cruel, dark eyes on her.

  “Guess you’re next, little girl.”

  * * * *

  Derek parked his car two blocks down from Saldino’s restaurant, then waited for a few minutes to see if there was any movement inside before taking out his gun and jogging up the street toward the building. On a positive note, the windows of the restaurant were dark, which meant the place was closed. To his relief, Sosie was nowhere in sight. Hopefully, she hadn’t come here—or if she had, she’d already left. He wasn’t leaving until he was sure.

  Coming to a stop in front of the restaurant, he looked casually up and down the block, then took a quick peek in the window. The place was empty, locked up tight for the night.

  He let out the breath he’d been holding. At least Sosie wasn’t here. Where the hell was she then?

  Thinking he should check out Central Park next, Derek was about to go back to his car when he saw a flash of light coming from the back room of the restaurant. It was immediately followed by a loud, unmistakable bang. The sound of the gunshot was still reverberating through the building when a woman’s scream rang out in the night.

  Sosie.

  Derek didn’t stop to think. He charged to the door of the restaurant and kicked it in. The glass shattered, echoing like thunder as it hit the floor inside, but he barely heard it as he darted across the room. He hadn’t gone more than ten feet when the sound of multiple gunfire came from the direction of the kitchen.

  Had a mob war started?

  Derek didn’t know and didn’t care. Sosie was back there in the midst of all that shit. He had to get her out.

  One of Saldino’s men came running out of the kitchen, the gun in his hand visible in the light coming from behind him. It took him a moment to see Derek advancing on him in the dark, but as soon as he did, he raised his weapon to fire.

  Derek got off his shot first. The man spun in a circle as the round tattooed him through the center of his chest, then fell to the floor. Derek hesitated only long enough to make sure the lowlife was down for good before heading toward the kitchen again. He stopped outside the door and peeked around the jamb, jerking back as a piece of the wall exploded right next to him.

  He waited a second, then took another quick glance in the room. Saldino and his men were hunkered down by the stoves along the wall just inside the door, while another group of thugs was firing at them from the far side of the kitchen. There was so much lead flying around in there, it might as well have been a war zone.

  Derek leaned back against the wall, contemplating his next move. Sosie’s scream had come from the kitchen, so she had to be somewhere in the middle of all that gunfire. He had to get to her regardless of how many men were in the kitchen or the danger they posed.

  On the other side of the wall, the gunfire slowed. The men were probably reloading
. Derek cautiously poked his head around the corner.

  He didn’t see Sosie, or Saldino for that matter, but there were so many people in the kitchen, it was difficult to see anyone. He cringed when he saw bodies on the floor, but thankfully, Sosie wasn’t among them. From the looks of it, most of the dead men were from Saldino’s side. Whoever the guys over by the door were, they were damn good if they could take out Saldino’s crew this quickly. A few more minutes of this and Sammy Saldino wouldn’t be a problem for the city of New York anymore.

  Derek was afraid where that’d leave Sosie.

  He scanned the kitchen. When he finally found her, his gut clenched. Saldino was crouched down on the floor behind her, one arm tightly wrapped around her waist. The bastard was using her as a shield. Her face was pale, her eyes wide and frightened.

  Derek tensed, preparing to launch himself at Saldino before Sosie got hit by a stray bullet, but a voice coming from the other side of the room stopped him in his tracks.

  “Hand over the girl and we’ll be on our merry way.”

  Derek craned his neck, trying to see who’d spoken, but he couldn’t. The guy must be hiding behind one of the food prep tables. Derek could see the other men with the guy quite clearly, however. They were the same ones who’d been spying on him and Sosie at the restaurant a few nights ago. Who the hell were these bastards and what did they want with her?

  “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Saldino shouted back. “You don’t have a fucking clue who you’re fucking with, you stupid fucks!”

  The man behind the table shook his head. “Tsk, tsk. That foul mouth is going to get you put on the naughty list. I couldn’t care less what you get in your stocking next Christmas, though. Hand over what’s mine and you can go back to grunting like the dirty pig you are.”

  From his cowardly position behind Sosie, Saldino’s face turned red. Derek raised his weapon, aiming it at the mob boss. Saldino was going to do something stupid and Derek wasn’t about to let Sosie get hurt because of it.