Derek gripped the handrail. He wasn’t surprised. Rather, a powerful wave of sympathy rocked through him. “Your father ought to embrace your ambition and bring you on as a corporate lawyer. Surely with a company that large he has need of many lawyers.”
“He hires all he needs.” The elevator doors opened, and after a quick scan of the elevator well, Derek let Hannah step out first. “The society my parents circulate in is very old-fashioned. Women are expected to volunteer and have hair appointments and gossip over chicken-salad sandwiches for lunch at the country club. Women don’t work, let alone in a profession where men wear the suits.”
Pausing outside the law offices, he flashed her a wry grin. “So you’re the family rebel.” He’d known she had some independent tendencies given their history together, but he hadn’t figured it would go this far, to buck her parents’ expectations.
“My father is part of an old-boys network that works for his business. He’s not enough of a rebel to start a new trend. Everyone has to make their choices. This seems to be God’s will for me, and I choose His ways.”
At least she had parents who cared about her. Derek pulled the door open for her and watched her heels make footprints in the carpet as she strode into the reception area. She hadn’t been forced to finish her teen years with an aunt and uncle who thought she was an imposition.
God’s will. Had that been God’s will for him, his parents’ deaths when he was just a young teen? What a struggle of faith that had brought about over the years. And yet, here, right in front of him, was the reason he knew God had blessed him. The very woman who had helped his faith grow into something bigger and better. Despite his struggles, he knew the blessings had been plentiful, first with a position at the Heartwood Hill Police Department, then with a good friend like Reid Palmer, and now with a new position with the FBI with plenty of hope and possibility.
But first, he needed to get through this first assignment with his former love at his side. Those old feelings of inadequacy surfaced from wherever he had squashed them years ago and threatened to choke him. He tamped them down with a hard swallow and followed Hannah into the office. Despite all the time he had spent preparing for this moment, he still had no idea how to break the news. News that, most likely, would rip her world apart.
Could there be any further surprises today?
Hannah shook out her ruffled turquoise skirt and tugged at the hem of her black cardigan with trembling hands as she turned down the hallway and headed toward her desk. A nervous perspiration stuck to her like humidity on a muggy August day, but there was nothing she could do about it.
Maybe she should apply for a gun permit. Her brother had one, and her father certainly kept firearms in his safe room at their home. But a McClarnon woman with a little pink pistol in her purse? Then again, after heading off to law school, would a concealed-carry permit really be that shocking to her father?
Hannah drew in a shuddery breath, still trying to process the fact that she’d almost been killed today. If it wasn’t for Derek Chambers, of all people, who’d jumped into the fray on her behalf, who knew what might have happened. It was a blessing that he’d made an appointment to see her, though she still had no clue why. She never thought she’d see him again, especially considering the way he’d ditched her almost ten years ago.
She sighed, desperately wishing she could dash out for a few minutes alone and collect her thoughts, but the expectation to appear professional and get through whatever it was he needed to tell her weighed on her.
Before she could reach her desk, Mallory stepped out of her office and enveloped her in a warm hug. “Reid told me to stay here but I was desperate to come down and see if you were okay. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. A little shaky, but unharmed.”
“What a relief! No ambulance arrived, so I figured no one was hurt, but I still couldn’t help worrying.” She glanced behind Hannah.
Hannah turned to include Derek in the conversation. “This is Derek Chambers, FBI. Derek, this is my employer, Mallory Callahan. Apparently, he’s our six-o’clock appointment?”
“Yes. The timing of your appointment seems to have been rather fortuitous. I’m glad you were there for her, Derek. Thank you.” Mallory motioned to her office. “Shall we get started?”
“I think I ought to talk to Hannah first, and then we’ll proceed from there.”
“Fine. Take all the time you need.” A quizzical look crossed her boss’s face, but then she smiled warmly and returned to her office.
Hannah continued to lead Derek down the hall. She spotted his reflection in the glass of a framed print on the wall, and couldn’t help noticing how fine he looked in his khaki cargo pants and his navy button-front shirt, which hid his shoulder holster. He wasn’t a thin and gangly teen boy anymore, but a well-muscled and self-possessed man. Still, though, his law-enforcement position wouldn’t fit with her parents’ high-society world, no matter how much strength and self-command he exuded. They appreciated and supported the work of men in uniform, but guys like him weren’t exactly a part of the high-powered board meetings and fancy dinner-party circuit.
The muscles around her smile spasmed as she pointed Derek toward the chair next to her desk. “Have a seat. Will this take long? I have a few things I’d like to get done before I go home tonight.” And it probably wasn’t best if he stuck around any longer than absolutely necessary anyway. Even with another disappearing act, it would be difficult to tuck the memory of Derek Chambers into the recesses of her mind now.
Without an answer, he graced her with another subtle grin, the dimples in the corners of his mouth slanting into pleasant lines, like he was remembering a good joke or a fond occurrence.
Hannah sighed. What had happened to her day that she had so carefully planned out? Could her heart take much more?
He seemed at a loss for words as he pressed his lips together and looked everywhere but at her. This couldn’t be good, although she couldn’t fathom what this could be about. Sure, she had her difficulties, but nothing that would warrant the appearance of an FBI agent. “So, you said you’re with the Bureau? Is that why you’re here?”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat and met her gaze. “I actually just graduated from the academy, and have been given my first assignment.”
“And what is this first assignment?”
“You. My supervisor thought it best to send an agent you already know and, I hope, trust. I know it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, Hannah, and I realize what I’m about to tell you is going to come as a huge shock. But I need you to believe me and trust me.”
She crossed her arms over her middle and waited for him to continue.
“The FBI’s organized crime division has an agent on the inside of a crime family out of Chicago, and he discovered that a long time ago, one of their family captains had a baby with his girlfriend. When that little daughter was about a year old, the girlfriend and the baby went missing. Agents found her car. It had gone over a precipice and crashed in the field below. There was blood and hair in the car, but no bodies. She and the daughter had just disappeared, and local law enforcement ran out of leads. Case closed, or so they thought.”
“How terrible.” A million sympathetic thoughts and questions raced through Hannah’s mind, all left unspoken as Derek continued the narrative.