Guarding Red Riding Hood

by Rita Hestand

  Guarding Red Riding Hood

  Rita Hestand

  Guarding Red Riding Hood

  Book Two of the Connor's Series

  Rita Hestand

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright© 2016 by Rita Hestand

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN # 9781370151882

  Cover Design by: Sheri McGathy

  License Note

  This book, Guarding Red Riding Hood is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without express written permission of the author. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy or copies. If you did not purchase this book or it was not purchased for your use, please go to Smashwords.com to purchase your personal copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Guarding Red Riding Hood is a work of fiction. Though some of the cities and towns actually exist they are used in a fictitious manner for purposes of this work. All characters are works of fiction and any names or characteristics similar to any person past, present or future are coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  About the Author

  Rita's Other Books

  ~Dedication~

  Crime and witnessing a crime can be a harrowing experience. For all those who have been in the witness protection program, I salute you for your patience and hope you eventually get to lead normal lives. God Bless

  Rita Hestand

  Chapter One

  "So how long are you going to be gone this time, bro." Leanne asked as she watched Daniel stick his wallet in his back pocket and grab his keys.

  "Heaven only knows sis."

  "I wish you'd get a nine to five job so we could see each other more often." She wailed.

  His sister was so cute when she pouted. She had beautiful dark hair, and equally compelling dark brown eyes that could nail him at fifty yards. He did miss her, she was the baby of the family and he felt bad about the fact that he couldn't spend more time at home, especially since she broke up with her boyfriend. Daniel wasn't even sure why they broke up. He hadn't heard all the details yet.

  "Look, I promise I'll spend more time at home when this one is over. I'm going to take a long needed vacation and you can tell me all the sordid details of your breakup. How's that."

  "You promise?"

  He dotted her nose with the crook of his finger. "I do."

  "I love you," she called to him as he headed out the door.

  "I love you too!" He paused to give her a smile.

  She smiled back shyly.

  He felt guilty, but his job dictated his time. And his family had to deal with it the best they could.

  He was closer to Leanne, mainly because she was young and he felt protective of her. But they confided in each other more too. He had a great respect for his brothers too, but Leanne was the only girl.

  ***

  Daniel had no idea why his boss called him in the office this morning, but he really had work to do and wished he'd hurry up and get to the point. He had a pile of paperwork he had to do something with and Harry had been on him all week to take care of it.

  Harry Graves was a big man, usually with a cigar stuck in the side of his mouth, his hair was unruly. For all general purposes, Harry wasn't a good looking man but he had the greenest eyes that penetrated when he looked at you, Daniel thought to himself. It was a known fact that Harry was a slob, but Daniel had a soft spot for his boss for some crazy reason, mainly that he backed his men up one hundred percent of the time. The respect that grew from that action created a bond with his men. The entire department functioned because of a dysfunctional man, Harry.

  Harry eyed him a minute, then glanced at the paperwork in his hand. He managed to shuffle his feet and spread the paperwork on his desk. He glanced from Dan to the paperwork and frowned.

  It was a definite signal that Dan was not going to like the assignment. Dan knew Harry so well, even the way he shifted himself and tried to set that paperwork down neatly told Dan all he needed to know. Still, he knew that before he ever came into the office this morning.

  "You're not going to like this, but it's your baby, literally. She's the daughter of a Senator." He handed Daniel a picture of the girl.

  "Oh no, not another one." Dan didn't even look at the picture, but stared at Harry. "You're kidding, right. You promised you wouldn't do this to me again for a while. My family is so upset they never see me. I'm living with strangers all the time now."

  "'Fraid not, I've got orders to pull you off the detail and put this in your hands. Don't look at me like that, you are the only one with the security clearance we will need for this job. I'm afraid it's that clearance that puts you in this situation all the time. I can't help it. I suggested Phillip, but his clearance isn't as high. And in this case the Senator insisted on the highest level clearance."

  Dan sighed then looked at the picture.

  The picture seemed to look back at him. She was mind blowing beautiful. Young, red-headed, with the sweetest looking pink lips he'd ever seen. But this aside, he was angry to be pulled from the detail. He was angry that his life existed with strangers.

  "What's her name?" He sighed heavily.

  "Officially, Gabriella Elizabeth Winslow. But she's known as Gabby. That's what they will call her. That's what she answers to."

  Daniel drew breath, she was so lovely. But he had to remember who she was. Distance, that's what this kind of job called for. Professional distance.

  "And we believe she is involved in the drug ring somehow." Harry was saying. "But we don't know at this point. That's what I want you to do, find out if she is. If she isn't, if it's just a love interest thing, then we need to get her out of there before we make an arrest or this could get sticky. If she's involved, then it's going to be even more tricky. I'm sure you are quite capable of handling it."

  Dan heard Harry talking, but he wasn't listening. If he hadn't done his time in the marines after he got out of high school, he wouldn't be this qualified.

  "Now naturally, we don't want a scandal on our hands. The Senator would like to keep his name out of such a operation, and we will do all we can to comply with that wish." Harry said, clearing his throat and adjusting his tie. "If she is involved, but there are circumstances, get her out. In other words, get her out of the line of fire so we can catch these guys in action. We can deal with her problems later. Understood? Your job is to protect her until such time as she won't need it or we put her in some kind of witness protection. You will have to keep her safe during the trial and all, so I want you and she under cover for a while."

  "Do they know who she is?"

  "We doubt it. Yet. Or they might have held her ransom by now. No, she's involved with Joe Beaton and he's part of the drug ring for sure. All we know is she left her home one day and never came back, that was three weeks ago, we just got a line on her the other day. Her nickname, "Gabby" came up in conversation with one of the lower members of the Beaton bunch that we arrested on charges of possession.
r />   "What was said about her?" Dan wanted to know.

  "Only that Joe had a cute little red-headed dish in his apartment, they called her Gabby and he wouldn't mind doing her."

  Dan shook his head. "So she's romantically involved with Beaton?"

  "We don't know that for fact."

  "Oh God." Dan shook his head. "Is there anything you do know for sure?"

  "Look, the FBI are in on this, so we have to handle things right or our department will be in trouble. So you get your butt in there, get hold of her and get her out of there before this hits the tabloids and exploits us all. Whether she's guilty of anything or not, we don't know. But because of who she is, we have to handle this with kid gloves. Your job is simple, take her out, protect her until we are done."

  "Since when have you worried about tabloids?" Daniel asked, his brow shot upward with a skeptic glance.

  Harry squirmed a bit, but thrust his chest out. He took a swig of coffee in his Styrofoam cup and made a face, it was cold. He threw the cup in the wastebasket and it splattered.

  Dan saw his pants get splashed, he did his best to hold a straight face.

  "Since the Senator himself came to me and ask me to get her out before it gets bad. I've got to do everything in my power to grant his wish. He said she is completely innocent of the whole thing; I have no idea. He's her father, he would think her innocent. And we have to act as though she is until we know better. We almost have enough to fry that gang and we will, but he wants her safe and out of reach before we move in. So that's what we are gonna do. And I want you to move on this fast. We've wasted enough time on Joe Beaton."

  "I never knew you were a politician sniffer." Daniel laughed.

  "This isn't funny, Daniel. Women gets mixed up in these kinds of things because of their feelings. She's no different. So getting her out, without anyone knowing could be a problem. But it's your baby, like I said."

  "How'd she get mixed up with them anyway?"

  "We aren't sure. But we think she's sweet on Joe and so now she's involved. I don't care how you manage it, just do it. She isn't running drugs, she isn't selling drugs, she's just with a man that is. So far, she's an innocent in this, and we want to keep it that way."

  "Aw, come on Harry. This isn't my kind of thing. I'm going for the juggler with this bunch. I can't worry about some dumb broad who can't keep her pants up."

  "I wouldn't advise you going around saying things like that in front of the Senator." Harry reprimanded.

  "Okay, okay." Dan frowned.

  "Look the kid is just there. She doesn't need to be there. And I promised she wouldn't be when it goes down. You know as well as I do that we can't pick and choose our jobs. You've got your assignment; I expect you to carry it out. You are the only one with enough clearance to handle this job, so you are elected. Get in, get her out, and keep her safe."

  "Then why don't you see to her yourself?"

  "That's what I got snooks like you for." He shot Dan a quick reprisal. "Now here's her picture and here's the last known address. You gotta work fast. This will all be over in a couple of weeks and we need her out. So do it. You are the only one I trust for this. If she wasn't a Senator's daughter, I wouldn't ask you to drop out of the case and do this, but she is. And remember, she needs to stay out of site for a while, so you'll need to find a place to keep her under wraps. If she knows too much; and she probably does, they might come after her. Do you understand? Once she is out, she will be in even greater danger, and so will you, buddy. She could be a star witness. She could be what puts these dopes behind bars once and for all. So she's important, in more ways than one. Arresting these hoods is just part of our job, Dan. Getting a conviction is what we want. Without a conviction all our efforts go down the drain."

  Daniel looked at the picture and was blown away. The girl was a knock-out. Young, beautiful and a real dummy obviously, Daniel surmised.

  "How come me?" Daniel wondered about that.

  "You got breeding, manners. You know how to handle women. We think you might be able to entice her out of there without any trouble? And there's the clearance thing. The job requires it."

  "What do you want me to do, romance her?" Daniel scoffed.

  "If you have to, yes." Harry replied blowing his cigar smoke away from him.

  "Aw…come on Harry…" Daniel looked at her picture again, the shrugged. "I'm no James Bond, you know."

  Daniel could see he couldn't talk Harry out of this. He knew he was stuck saving the little girl, but he wanted to be in on the real action. He wanted to see those creeps taken out. He'd been on the detail nine months himself. Now he was a babysitter for a love sick kid. It seemed to always come to this. He was never in the big action, and it bothered him. It seemed to Dan that Harry had been using that clearance thing to get Dan out of the action. But why?

  "And what if she's the big mind behind all this?" Daniel laughed.

  "We know better than that. She's only been involved for about three weeks. If it is a love interest, she might easily be talked away from Joe and his bunch. If it's something else, we still got to protect her. Look, you got it easy on this one. Just do your job and maybe there will be a promotion in the end for this. I mean saving a Senator's daughter from this kind of thing is pretty big, in case you didn't know. It might sound easy, but once they find out she is loose from them and they have no control of what she says, then she's in trouble. And so are you. It'll be up to you to find a safe haven until we get these guys behind bars. We want Joe, but we want his boss too."

  "Don't you think it would be better to get Joe, then go after his bosses?" Dan recommended.

  "Sure, but, if we get Joe, then we gotta protect him from his bosses. You know how that works."

  Daniel ran a hand over his wild head of dark blond hair. He wore it long, but it was always manicured except when he went undercover. It was almost too hot in the office for his leather jacket, but he didn't want to take it off, he didn't want to be here that long. Disappointment lined his face. He knew just from Harry's expression he wasn't going to get out of this assignment and he knew the ribbing he gets from his fellow workers.

  "Okay Harry, you win. I'll get on it." Daniel said in a low murmur. The quicker he got this thing over with, the better.

  "I knew I could count on you. And believe me in the end you are gonna be glad you did this. You'll be the cop that saved the Senator's daughter. They'll have you before the camera's when this is over."

  "Lord I hope not. All I want to be is a cop Harry. Not a friggin' super star." Daniel smirked and walked out of his office. "It's going to be hard to keep my identity a secret when newspapers get a hold of what's going down."

  "We'll control that at least until she's back safe with her father. And that could be quite some time. I want to warn you of that."

  "My sister is so angry with you."

  "I'll bet. Send her my condolences." Harry smirked.

  Dan headed for the lockers.

  He glanced down at his clothes and shrugged. He guessed he wasn't too dressed, but he knew he should take the time to change. So he headed for his locker to see if there were some clothes in there he could use. He had to fit in with the area, he already knew that.

  He grimaced as he pulled out some worn jeans, a pullover that had paint on it, and a jacket that had holes all over it. Yeah, that was a fit. He quickly discarded his clothes and redressed. He'd need changes, so he filled a bag full of his good clothes that he kept in his locker.

  He put the clothes on and stored his nice slacks and leather jacket in the locker. He threw on an old knit hat and checked himself in the mirror.

  He was too clean; he knew that too. He took the cap off and ruffled his hair, it didn't ruffle, so he took a brush and made it look kind of wild. He kept working at it until he looked like a thug. He grimaced. Wetting his hair, he combed it into a reckless style he knew would be believable. So he grabbed some grease and put a little behind his ears. That gave him the right smell. He smiled. He hadn
't shaved this morning, so the stubble fit perfectly. His clean cut look had quickly given way to street smarts. He laughed at himself. Damn, I'm an actor…!

  He grabbed the pic and the addy his boss had handed him. The girl was beautiful in every way, too bad she had to fool with people like this. She certainly looked like she had some sense, but Daniel knew too many that had sadly gotten in the way of sleazebags like Joe.

  Then he glanced down and saw his perfectly shined shoes. That would never do. Dead giveaway. He wondered as he looked in the mirror what their appeal was to women.

  He glanced back at the lockers. Phil Turner was dressing to go home for the day.

  "Hey Phil, got any beat up shoes I could wear?" Daniel turned around to ask him. He knew Phil wore the same size.

  Phil laughed as he got a load of his disguise. "So you got the detail."

  "What detail?" Daniel asked innocently.

  "You are the one they chose to get the girl out of there. I kinda of thought they might pick you. You are a chump for a pretty face." Phil laughed. "Now let me give you some advice, don't fall for the pretty girl. You'll only end up hurting yourself."

  Daniel frowned. "How would you know? You ugly mutt."

  "I've heard the talk…" Phil laughed. "She's supposed to be a real looker."

  "I think I can control myself. But in case I can't you might have to come in and get me." Daniel frowned.

  "You fell for that blonde bimbo a couple of months ago; I’m just trying to save you this time." Phil chuckled.

  "Am I never going to live down that picture of her kissing me, for saving her?" Dan growled.

  "Well, I think it was a good one and it ought to last until next Christmas." Phil thumped him on the shoulder and handed him a pair of scuffed up shoes. "But I don't recommend you trying that same routine on the Senator's daughter."

  He took the shoes Phil tossed him and sat down to put them on. "Not a bad fit either. Thanks."