Undercover Holiday Fiancée

by Maggie K. Black

  Trent let out a long sigh. “Okay, that leaves Aidan and Hodge to evacuate the building. Everyone good?”

  They nodded. Then Aidan stuck his hand out in the middle of the circle and Third Line piled their hands in. Trent placed his hand on top and whispered a prayer. Then they ran.

  * * *

  Pain shot through Chloe’s right leg, from where Royd’s bullet had grazed it. Her arms ached from the zip tie fastening her hands together behind her back. She was down on the damp, concrete floor of a storage room, watching helplessly as Johnny and Lucy packed equipment into crates and Royd supervised, gun in hand.

  Please, Lord, whatever happens to me, may my phone call to Trent have given him enough information to make sure justice is done.

  “Lucy, Johnny, you don’t have to go with him,” she said. “You have a choice.”

  “Shut up, you!” Royd turned and focused his gun on Chloe.

  Johnny’s face had gone pale. Royd had taken his gun. “It’ll be fine,” he said. “Royd knows people. He’ll set us up somewhere where Lucy can have a lab and he’ll help my business expand. We’ll be fine.”

  “You’ll be owned by a gang member!” Chloe’s voice rose. “What do you think life in a gang is like, Johnny? Because it’s not all fancy parties and flashy cars. It’s violence, ugliness and constantly looking over your shoulder wondering who you’ve got to be afraid of hurting or killing you.”

  “I said, stop talking!” Royd cuffed her across the face. Pain exploded through her jaw. He glanced at the clock. “Hurry up. I’m not waiting all night.”

  Lucy’s hands shook so hard the glass beakers rattled.

  “Listen to me, Lucy, Johnny’s just using you.” Chloe grit her teeth and talked through the pain. “Just like he used Poppy and Nicole. He doesn’t love you. He’s never going to protect you from people like Royd.”

  Lucy didn’t look at her. She was on her last box now. The fire alarm switch loomed bright and red on the wall, like a giant self-destruct button.

  “That’s it,” Royd growled. The gun jabbed hard into Chloe’s forehead. “I thought maybe I could use you for some kind of leverage. But you’re just too much trouble.”

  Her eyes closed. Silent prayers fell from her lips.

  “Royd, put the gun down. This isn’t going to end well for you.” The voice was deep and strong, and it filled her heart with hope. She opened her eyes.

  Trent was standing in the doorway, with Brandon behind him. Trent’s eyes met hers. His voice dropped. “Hey, Chloe.”

  “Trent, you’re here.”

  “Well, seemed only fair to return the favor,” he said. But his eyes were serious as they looked at the gun digging into her flesh. Then he turned to the criminal behind it. “Royd, you and I go way back. So, I’ll make you a deal. If you let Chloe, Lucy, Brandon and Johnny leave, I’ll let you take me as a hostage in their place.”

  “On your knees, both of you.” Royd’s eyes cut toward the doorway. “You’re in no position to bargain and nobody’s going anywhere. You so much as move and I’m going to put a bullet right through her head. Got that?”

  “Got it.” Trent knelt. His eyes closed and she watched as a silent prayer moved across Trent’s lips. Then his eyes met hers. Worry filled his gaze. She had a bullet wound in one leg, her hands tied behind her back and a gun aimed at her forehead, while Trent still had his shoulder in a sling and was down on his knees. But somehow, through all that, she felt safer than she had in a long time.

  “Johnny,” Royd snapped. “Handcuff them.”

  The athlete grabbed a zip tie then hesitated, looking at the shoulder sling. He handcuffed Trent to the metal shelf by the door. Then he glanced from Trent to Brandon and back again, and reached for a new zip tie. “I’m sorry about this. But I kind of have to.”

  “Guess dabbling in crime isn’t turning out to be as much fun as you hoped,” Trent said. He glanced sideways at Johnny, like Royd wasn’t even there. This was one of his favorite tactics—verbal warfare, using his words as a weapon to get under a criminal’s skin. “I’ve been there. Believe it or not, Royd here got me messed up and involved in crime when you all were still babies. Don’t worry. I’m going to cause a distraction in a minute. When that happens, Brandon I want you to grab Lucy by the hand and run. Johnny, I sure hope you wise up and run, too. Trust me, you don’t want to work for Royd.”

  Johnny paused inches away from Brandon. The zip tie shook in his hands.

  “Are you trying to anger me, talking like that, Trent?” Royd snapped. “I don’t know what game you think you’re playing. But if you try anything, I’m going to shoot Chloe.” He glanced at Johnny and Lucy. “Now, see how big a mess you two caused by involving a detective in this?”

  “Now!” Trent shouted.

  Royd glanced toward him to stop whatever he thought he was about to pull. Chloe dove forward, head-butting Royd in the chest. The gun fired into the ceiling. Lucy ran toward her brother. Brandon grabbed her by the arm. Their footsteps echoed down the hall. Johnny paused. His eyes darted around the small, collapsing empire he’d created. Then he turned and bolted after them.

  Royd scrambled to his feet. The barrel of the gun swung from Chloe to Trent and back again. “Nice trick. You think this is funny? Neither of you are making it out of here alive. I’ll set the timer and go after them, leaving the two of you to blow up in this building.”

  He yanked the fire alarm. Nothing happened. He swore.

  Trent glanced at Chloe. “Milo really is an excellent electrician.”

  “I’ve had enough of you, Trent.” Royd swung around and pointed the gun at him. “All my life you’ve acted like you’re somehow better than me. When you quit the Wolfspiders and joined the police, I thought you were gone from my life for good. But you came back, and you kept coming back, again and again, convincing everyone you were special. Well, now I’m the one with the power. I’m the one that’s going to run payara distribution in Canada. You’ve got one arm in sling and the other tied to a shelf. Your girlfriend has been shot in the leg and has her hands tied behind her back. I’ve got the only gun in the room. And I’m going to destroy the only thing you’ve ever cared about right in front of your eyes.”

  A fierce and determined grin curved Trent’s lips.

  That dangerous spark she loved so much flickered in his eyes as Chloe pulled herself up onto her knees. Her eyes met Trent’s. He held her gaze.

  Royd turned and aimed the barrel of the gun between Chloe’s eyes.

  Trent roared in pain as he yanked the shelf from its bolts so hard the handcuff snapped free.

  Royd fired.

  Chloe dropped to the floor and rolled.

  Trent threw himself on Royd and wrestled the gun from his hand with one hand. Then he rolled Royd onto his stomach and pinned him to the ground with his knees and one good hand.

  “What happened to those zip ties Johnny was holding?” Trent grunted.

  Royd was still struggling and swearing.

  Chloe tuned him out like white noise. “By the door,” she said. “But what do you expect me to do with them, Cop Boy? My hands are still tied behind my back.”

  “Okay, fine,” Trent said. “Turn your back to me. I’ll pin him with my legs and cut your hands free.”

  “Got it!” She spun her back to him and waited as he yanked a knife from his pocket. The blade slipped between her wrists. He cut her hands free. She lunged for the zip ties and, with Trent’s help, forced Royd’s wrists together and cuffed them. “What’s his full name again?”

  “Roy Denver. Teachers would call out ‘Roy D’ in class, so he insisted we call him Royd, even before he started using steroids.”

  “Got it.” Chloe pulled out her badge and stuck it in front of his face. “Let’s try this again. Roy Denver. I am arresting you...”

  Her
eyes met Trent’s. The affection and respect echoed there filled her heart with joy. But still there was a question hovering in their blue depths that gave her pause.

  Now what? Now that the case was over and the source of the payara had been found, what happened now?

  FIFTEEN

  Snow fell in thick white flakes, swirling down from the dark sky above. People huddled in clumps behind the safety tape as police swept the sports center for both the remains of the drug lab and the hidden explosives. Flashing lights from emergency vehicles spun white and red, casting the scene in an odd, ethereal glow.

  The staff of Nanny’s Diner was serving hot chocolate and cookies. A group of the sports fans and players had gathered around the Christmas tree, phones raised above them like pinpoints of light as they sang Christmas carols. Christmas was only a couple of hours away and in the midst of the chaos the community had gathered together.

  Trent paced in front of the yellow police tape like a tiger prowling his cage, his eyes scanning the emergency vehicles and staff for one face—Chloe.

  After calling 9-1-1, he’d dragged Royd’s squirming and defiant form out of the sports center while Chloe hopped alongside him, using a broom handle as a crutch. Thankfully the gun wound had been not much more than a surface scrape and the police had arrived quickly.

  “Go,” Chloe had told him. “None of these cops know you as anything more than a hockey coach. You might as well try to preserve as much of your cover as you can.”

  He’d tried to argue that now that Third Line knew the truth of his cover, it was probably spreading like wildfire through the student body, until it ended up online, killing any opportunity of future undercover work. But Chloe had been insistent. So he’d waited until the paramedics reached her then he’d slipped back into the crowd and found his brother Nick and filled him in. That had been almost an hour ago. Nick had wandered off into the crowd, either because he realized his older brother needed space or because Trent’s restlessness was driving him nuts.

  It was Chloe’s case now. She got the glory. He prayed it would lead her to the promotion she’d earned and deserved more than any cop he’d ever known. And when she was done and came looking for him, she would find him there, waiting for her.

  Lord, what will I say to her? Where do I start?

  “Um, Coach?” Aidan’s voice came from behind him. He turned. All four members of Third Line stood in the darkness.

  “Guys! You were incredible!” His head shook, as he looked from face to face. “I’m in awe. Seriously. You disabled the alarm. You evacuated the arena.” He glanced at Brandon. “You saved your sister’s life. I’m so sorry I didn’t have faith in you all before. I’ve never met a more impressive group of young men.”

  Feet shuffled. Eyes glanced at the ground, at the sky and at everywhere but him.

  “It was nothing,” Hodge said.

  Right, he knew that tune. He’d played it many times himself. “How’s Lucy?”

  “Good.” Brandon nodded. “She’s shaken and scared. I’m not excusing what she did, but when she got in over her head with Johnny she was too scared of my grandfather to get help. Chloe introduced her to someone from Victim Services and also a detective friend of hers, and promised she’d be taken care of.”

  Trent let out a sigh of relief and nodded. “That’s good.”

  “Johnny tried to run,” Aidan said. A slight smirk turned his lips. “But Hodge and I saw him running. We caught up with him and made sure he stayed put. But just until the cops could arrest him, of course.”

  Trent chuckled. His eyes instinctively turned back to the flashing emergency lights. Chloe wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye again, would she?

  “Coach?” Brandon’s voice dragged his attention back to the group. “One more thing. We all talked and decided, collectively as a group, that none of us are going to ever talk about anything you told us about yourself in the alley. Not a word.

  “We told the police the truth—that you were our hockey coach and that you’d told us Chloe and Lucy were in trouble. But they didn’t ask us if we knew anything else about you and we didn’t volunteer that we did. We just wanted you to know that. You can trust us. We have your back. You are Coach Henri to us, and always will be. End of story. We promise.”

  Trent swallowed hard and let out a long breath. They were protecting his cover. He’d put his life in their hands and given them the opportunity to both blow his cover and ruin his career. Instead they’d promised to protect his cover and guard his secret. “Thank you. I really appreciate that.”

  “No problem,” Aidan said. “We owe you that much.”

  Trent stuck his hand in the middle of the circle and they piled their hands on top, like a team huddle or sealing a pack. “If you ever need me, for anything, you call me, okay? I’ll keep this phone number forever.”

  There were more nods and a couple of claps on his good shoulder. Then they glanced at something behind him and, as if with one mind, disappeared into the crowd. He looked back. Chloe was making her way toward him on crutches. Her eyes met his.

  She smiled. He leaped the police tape and ran toward her. But before he could reach her, she raised one crutch and waved him off. “Don’t you dare try to pick me up or I’ll throttle you.”

  His hands rose. “But you’re wounded.”

  “I’m fine. I’m just limping a bit.”

  “Got it.” A grin turned the corner of his lips. “Well, there’s a bench over there by the tree. Can I at least convince you to limp over there with me?”

  She pretended to frown but the smile in her eyes gave her away. “Sure.”

  They walked slowly through the snow together, side by side, toward the sparkling swell of lights around the Christmas tree. He lifted the police tape to let her pass underneath, feeling something swell in his chest as her head brushed against his arm.

  “I was just talking to Brandon,” he said. “He said that Lucy is willing to cooperate fully and you found her help?”

  “She’s still a bit uncertain, and I understand,” Chloe said. “Trust can be hard. Johnny’s been arrested. I don’t know what hope there is for him, but people do change and he’s young.

  “Butler is definitely going to be facing an internal investigation now. Nicole Docker probably will, too. It’s her fault Royd got bail after just one night in jail. She knew he was a friend of Johnny’s, so just booked him on a basic assault charge. But with everything we have against Royd now, he’ll be looking at being behind bars for a very long time.” She waited while he brushed the snow off the bench. They sat. “How’s Third Line?”

  “They seem determined to protect my cover,” he said. “They’re pretty amazing people.”

  “They are,” she said softly. “So, I guess this means there’s nothing to stop you from taking that big and long case somewhere far, far away.”

  “It was in the Arctic, actually,” he said.

  Her green eyes looked deep into his. “That’s pretty far.”

  “It is.” He took her gloved hand in his and held it. His fingers stroked hers. “And I’ve decided I’m not going.”

  Her eyes grew wider. Something flickered in their depths. It was beautiful and something he’d rarely seen there. Hope. He knew in an instant he’d move heaven and earth to see it there every day. He took off his gloves. “You made a good point about letting someone else go undercover for once and my becoming part of the planning, training and coordinating team. I’ve got a lot of experience and there are a lot of young cops who could benefit. My shoulder’s wonky. Plus, it would be nice to have a job that enabled me to still come home at night.”

  “I understand the feeling,” she said. “If I get this promotion to detective sergeant, then I’ll be a lot more stable, too.”

  “Oh, you’ll get it,” he said. “I have faith in you, and I’
m willing to fight for you any way I can.”

  Slowly he pulled her gloves off and cradled her hands in his, sheltering them from the cold. Then he pulled the ring of emeralds and diamonds from his pocket. “I think you should go back to wearing this again. It looks good on you and I kind of like telling people you’re my fiancée. I was thinking we could go back to my parents’ house tonight. Then tomorrow, head to your sister’s house for Christmas dinner.”

  She looked down at his fingers cradling hers. “I thought you didn’t date and don’t have time for a girlfriend.”

  “Who said anything about dating?” He slipped the ring over the tip of her third finger and let it hover there. “I’m asking you to become my wife.”

  Light danced in her eyes. “Trent Henry, are you actually trying to propose to me with a ring you found in a mud puddle at a truck stop?”

  “Would it help to tell you that I followed proper procedure?” he asked. “I turned it in to local police, waited to see if anyone claimed it and when they didn’t, I tried to trace its rightful owner. Then when I knew for sure it was mine, I gave it to you.”

  “All that for a mud puddle ring?” Her eyebrows rose.

  “Darling, I had it appraised. This ring is worth what I make in six months.”

  “You mean it’s real? All this time I’ve been wearing real diamonds and emeralds?”

  She pulled back, as if the ring was on fire. He caught her hand.

  “It is. And you threw it at me in the middle of a dingy grill in front of a bunch of criminals.” He gently slid the ring over the tip of her finger again. “It is as real, special, exquisite and precious as the woman I am trying my best to propose to right now.”

  She pulled her hand away again and crossed her arms. “Really? That is your best?”

  He groaned. Then he got down on one knee in the snow at her feet and took her left hand again. He held it firmly.

  “Chloe Brant, you drive me crazy. You challenge me, aggravate me, inspire me and invigorate me, more than anyone I’ve ever met. I’m crazy about you. I’m in love with you. I promise I will do my best to protect you, respect you and always be the steady, dependable rock you can rely on. Right now, I’m kneeling before you in the dark, in the very cold and very wet snow, on Christmas Eve, asking you very nicely to marry me. So, please, my love, my partner, my favorite person on this planet...please put me out of my misery and tell me you’ll marry me.”