Uncovering Officer Smith (The Discovering Trilogy #2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Uncovering Officer Smith

  Copyright

  Dedication

  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

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Dear Reader

  Acknowledgements

  Uncovering Officer Smith

  Copyright 2016 © Sheena Hutchinson LLC

  www.SheenaHutchinson.com

  ASIN: B01ED5A4WG

  ISBN10: 1532791240

  ISBN13: 978-1532791246

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Sheena Hutchinson except in the case of brief quotations embodied in a critic article or review.

  This book is a complete work of fiction. All of the characters, names, places, and events are the product of the Author’s imagination or are used fictitiously,

  Cover art: Cover Me Darling

  Copy Editing: By The Book Editing

  Content Editing: Starfire Press

  Formatting: Athena Interior Book Design and Cover Me Darling

  This book is dedicated to those battling addiction or depression. There is always light at the end of the tunnel, never give up. Things have a way of working out in the end, if it hasn’t worked out – it is not the end.

  “So…” The brunette pulls her dress over her head, dark hair tumbling down her back. “I’ll call you later?” Those nimble fingers of hers toss her morning-after hair into a messy bun before she sits that curvaceous frame on the edge of my bed.

  “Listen…” What was her name again? “Let’s just call this what it was.” My head leans against my loose headboard as she straps into her knee high boots.

  Her back straightens and she stands to her feet at the sound of my words. The woman turns to face me. Even after all the events of last night, her make-up is only slightly smudged. She has a Latina appeal, dark hair, eyes exotically shaped, and a beauty of a natural kind.

  “And what exactly is that?” Her hand finds its way onto her hip, dark eyes suddenly alive. A different kind of fire from the one I experienced last night. Here it comes.

  “A fun night.” I shrug. “As I recall, we both had fun last night.” I wink. She scoffs, kicking something under my bed. “But we can both just save the feelings and cut to the chase – we’ll probably never see each other again.”

  “You are such a dick.” Her hips swish and her bun bobs up and down, turning and stomping out of my room. What did she expect? She practically threw herself at me last night at the bar. A deep, meaningful relationship? – “Girls, man.” I sigh.

  “You’re welcome,” I scream. The front door slams shut.

  Finally. I slip out of bed stark naked and wander into the bathroom, waiting until the steam fills the room before hopping inside. Now, she was fun. I smirk as water cascades down the sides of my face. I stand, palms against the cold grey tile, letting the flashback set in. The moonlight plays across her face as her hips grind on top of me. Her thick brunette hair is tossed everywhere. Brunette – never a blonde, not after…

  A cough escapes me as I turn to lather up. These girls act like they don’t know what they are getting into. They flock around me like flies to shit and wonder why I treat them as such. They all want to be the one to change me – I’m not a dog. I can’t be tamed.

  I’m fully dressed in my uniform before I realize she left her purple socks. Oh, well. I toss them into the lost and found box in the corner. It’s almost full. I guess I’ll have to drop it off to the donation box soon. Strapping my gun belt around me, I check my watch. I’ll just have to pick up coffee on the way.

  Fifteen minutes later, I collapse into the cruiser and start her up. She takes a few tries before the engine turns over and Patrol Patty, as I’ve named her, roars to life. It’s a miracle this vehicle is still running. It’s older than me and has more miles on it than the girls I take home at night. The passenger door creaks open. My partner, Matt, plops in, still eating his breakfast sandwich. The smell of eggs fills the car, causing my stomach to churn.

  He glances over to me, while using his sandwich hand to point out the parking lot. “You look tired, Smithy. Long night?”

  “Can’t complain.” My smirk gives me away as it always does. “We’re making a stop for coffee.”

  “Maybe I should start bouncing. You never seem to run out of options.”

  I laugh, pulling out onto the street, flicking the siren on, and zipping down the road as fast as old Patty can go.

  “No, seriously.” He chews the last of the sandwich and crumples up the foil, tossing it onto the floorboard. “Are they hiring?”

  I shrug. “I can ask.” The cruiser zooms through a red light at the intersection.

  “Please, this summer has got to be better than this winter.”

  “Everyone has a dry spell.”

  “Dry? It’s like the Nevada desert! I think I’ve actually fractured my wrist.” He swirls his hand around for emphasis.

  “Dude, too much information.” We share a laugh as old Patty continues to roar down the road. The siren is probably unnecessary. You can hear her engine coming a mile away, two, probably.

  “What was it this time? Sheltered church girl? Just-turned-twenty-one partier? Cougar? Or just the typical drunk?”

  “Nah, she was a total babe. Columbian, maybe.”

  “Really?” Matt pauses, glancing out the foggy window before asking, “Are you going to call her?”

  I shoot him a look. “Seriously?”

  “Oh, I forgot – the Smith-Eternal-Bachelor rules.” He sighs. “You’ll get to a point where your rules go out the window because you’re going to want more than that.”

  “I doubt it.” I whip the cruiser into the café parking lot. Flipping off the siren, I unbuckle my seat belt and grasp hold of the door handle.

  “Trust me, dude, one of these days this is all going to catch up to you. You’re going to see—”

  Slamming the door, I walk into the coffee shop. Matt doesn’t know crap. He’s fresh out of the academy. He wasn’t there for… her.

  My mother always says, ‘Patience is a virtue, Becca.’

  That may be true, but sometimes it’s worn pretty thin when you’re waiting for your college roommate to p
ick an outfit for the night. I’d say three hours of back and forth is enough.

  “What about this shirt?” Meggie stands before me, her curvy frame accentuated by the corset she’s trying to stuff herself into.

  How do I put this nicely?

  “I think I liked the other one better,” I casually state from her bed, Meg’s PC in my lap as her jade-green eyes leer at me. She knows I’m growing annoyed, but that sure as hell won’t stop her from looking her best tonight. She’s planning on meeting up with some guy she met online… well technically they haven’t met yet. This will be the first night they meet, and I get to be the lucky third wheel along for the ride. Yippee.

  “The black one with the ruffles?” Her hand falls to her hip before she spins to glance back at her closet again.

  “God no, no ruffles! The red one like I told you two hours ago.” I turn back to the laptop. Lord, this is going to take a while. She hasn’t even started her hair or make-up. I begin reading over my assignment for school. The only reason I agreed to be her wingman is that I finished my paper this afternoon. I ran out of excuses to get out of it. The mouse must hover in the corner too long because a different window pops to the front.

  Hey, baby can’t wait to see u tonight.

  Me 2 boo

  Wear somethin’ sexy for me

  U know I will ;)

  My roommate sleeps like a rock so we can –

  “Meg!” I blush. “Are you sexting this guy already? You haven’t even met him yet.”

  “What?” She peeks her head up from a pile of clothes on the floor. “Oh, God, Becca don’t read that!” Meggie climbs up and deletes the window, but not before flashing me a dirty look.

  “Hey.” I throw my hands up. “Don’t look at me. Your sexcapades just popped up.”

  “Hater.” She flips her hair over her shoulder slipping back to the floor.

  “Ouch, that hurts.” I mock being stabbed in the heart.

  “Yeah, that was a low blow. Sorry, Bee.”

  Don’t get me wrong. I’m no virgin, but after a really bad break up at the end of last summer, I just haven’t been dating. Like at all. If it were possible, I think I’ve been re-virginized. At least, according to Meggie, who doesn’t understand not being able to have casual sex… or monogamy, in general.

  “Okay, how’s this?”

  I turn to see her in a lace flower shirt, words that should never go together. For the sake of my sanity, I nod in approval. “Yeah, looks great.”

  Another hour later, Meggie has her curly, red hair straightened, make-up done to perfection, and she’s changed three more times. She decided on the red top (like I told her from the beginning), but she had to double check by ensuring every other top in her closet just wouldn’t do. Shoes… thank God, nothing else matched, or that would have taken another forty-five minutes.

  I sigh. “Are we ready yet?”

  “Just take a shot with me before we go. I’m so nervous.” Her fingers are beginning to twitch in front of her.

  “Yeah, sure.” Truth is, I’ve already stolen a few drinks while she was running back and forth.

  Her hands shake slightly as she grabs the bottle of vodka off the kitchen counter and pours two glasses. I pretend not to notice. If I’m good at anything, it’s keeping people comfortable, deflecting with humor and sarcasm. I reach for my glass and Meggie for hers, before she glances at me again.

  “To a good night.”

  “To a good night!” I agree, tossing the shot back and chasing it with the vodka seltzer in my other hand.

  “Woo!” Her freckled face distorts before returning to normal. “Another?”

  “Sure, why not.”

  We have another shot before finally heading out of our room.

  We descend the three flights of stairs to the first floor of the new luxury dormitories my mother insisted I live in. Walking across the foyer, we hear whistles. I turn to see we are attracting the attention of a few students in the game room to our left. One has his face up against the window, gazing longingly.

  “Where are you ladies headed?” A guy I had calculus with last semester calls from the open door.

  Another behind the pool table yells something I can’t quite hear.

  Meggie basks in the attention, tossing her long auburn hair over her shoulder. “The Bar. You boys should meet us there.” She leaves them with a wink.

  I awkwardly follow behind her. They call after us with a few more remarks, none of them worth responding to. Meggie glances back as she comes to the arched dorm entranceway. The automatic doors of the vestibule open and she loops her arm through mine. “Cab is here. Let’s go, wingman.” She leans into me.

  “Let’s go.” I nod, walking through the open door.

  The cab drops us off in the back parking lot. We pay before we hop up the back steps of the bar and onto the patio. It’s a gorgeous spring night. You can almost see the stars glistening overhead. I say almost, because they are a little blurry at the moment. The red brick is glaring against the cast iron lettering “The ___ Bar.” No one seems to remember what the missing letters once read. It’s simply known as ‘The Bar’, the hottest spot on ‘The Ave’—Which is another term no one knows the real name for.

  I walk up to the bouncers by the door across the way and they look up when they see us approaching. I feel their eyes on me, only because the cute one is there. He’s the one with the tan skin, perfect hair, blue eyes, and big arms that make my skin melt. I don’t notice I’m biting my lip until Meggie elbows me in the arm. That’s when I realize the bouncer next to him is asking for my ID. I try to recover, slipping it out of my tiny wristlet and handing it to him. Bouncer McHot Pants glances to his left, acting like a couple of college girls aren’t on his radar.

  Once we enter, Meg makes a beeline for the bar. She squeezes her curvaceous figure expertly through the crowd before leaning over the bar, pushing that red shirt to its limit. It works like a charm. The bartender with the shaggy, blonde hair comes to her within seconds. She pulls his face close before whispering in his ear. He nods, pulling away a little too slowly for my taste. The strobe lights could be playing with my vision or I think he might have just winked at her. I wonder what she said to him. Isn’t she here to meet someone else? I swear her appetite knows no limits. Someone bumps into my elbow, breaking my thoughts. Wow, the bar seems fuller than usual. We must have won the North Commons baseball game or something. Not like I pay attention to such frivolous things: my degree is the most important thing on my mind right now. I have no time for sports, boys, or any other distractions, for that matter.

  “This is for you!” A drink is shoved into my hands before I hear Meg’s voice in my ear. “He just texted me that he’s here.”

  “Okay… that’s a good thing, right?”

  “No. I’m freaking out!”

  “Meg, you need to relax. You’ve done this a million times.”

  “Thanks a lot, jerk.” She looks offended and glances away.

  “No, that’s not what I meant…” I sigh. “I just mean relax. You got this.” She doesn’t look convinced, so I continue. “Look at you. You’re hot. He’s going to love you and if he doesn’t, I’m sure the bartender will go home with you!”

  The smile creeps back into her expression. “You think so? He’s super hot—Just enough hair to run my fingers through.”

  “Yes, he’s totally cute.”

  “Okay, thanks, Bee.” She nudges my arm.

  I feel someone push me to the left before I hear a deep voice vaguely mutter, “There you are! Hey baby.”

  My glare turns on a tall, familiar figure from the football team. This is whom she’s been talking to online? Troy Turner? Oh Lord. No wonder she was nervous. His muscles alone make my knees weak. He’s North Common’s star athlete, he’s the baseball team’s first baseman, the football team’s tight end – you name it, he excels at it. He’s super hot, and a total man-whore. He’s wearing a shirt that has an arrow pointing up, stating ‘The Man’ and ano
ther pointing down that says ‘The Legend.’ Need I say more? I don’t know what she expects to come of this. I think Meg sees these kinds of people as milestones. She needs them to validate herself, yet when they move on, it has the opposite effect until she finds someone hotter and more unattainable to focus on. I’m just fretting, envisioning how this new chapter could play out.

  “Hey, Boo, how are you?” She has to pop onto her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

  Just like that, I become invisible.

  It’s been an hour of them making out while I dance off to the side by myself. Oh, college boys have asked to buy me a drink, but I’m not interested. If anything, my buzz has been killed. All I can seem to worry about is Meggie. I know this isn’t going to end well. They don’t notice my angry glares as their lip lock starts to draw nearby attention. I continue self-dancing, so I don’t look like such a complete stiff. When the song changes, my hips begin to move to the hip-hop. I throw my long platinum hair over my shoulder when my eyes lock with his—The hot bouncer. Maybe it’s the lighting or maybe I’m hallucinating, but I can swear he’s looking at me. I can just make out the slight scruff growing in across his jawline. His hand reaches up and runs through his hair once before he turns his gaze in the opposite direction. I sigh. God, that man is beautiful. But like Troy, I have a feeling he knows it.

  “Hey, do you know someone from Oneonta College?”

  “No.” I turn my cheek away from the pair approaching me.

  “Well, now you do. I’m Pat and this is Brett.” The skinny kid offers his hand to me.

  Even I have to admit that was pretty smooth, so I shake it. “That was a good one, I’ll give you that.”

  “Thanks, it was the first time I’ve used it. I usually ask if it hurt falling from heaven.”

  “Original. I’m surprised that doesn’t work anymore.”

  “Right! Me, too! But you have to switch things up sometimes. Especially for—”

  The music beat starts bumping louder. “What?”

  “I said, especially for someone as hot as you. What are you doing alone?”

  “I’m here for moral support.” I glance over at Meggie and Troy rolling around in a booth now.