Free Promise Renewed by Mitzi Pool Bridges

don’t know which. But we have to find whoever has them. When we do, we’ll have Hunter’s killer.”
    “Have you thought of a way to confirm any of your theories?”
    “I have. It will be risky. That’s why you’re here. I want to go undercover. It’s the fastest way to get to the truth. To do so, I’ll need help.”
    “You don’t have the time.”
    “I realize that it takes months, sometimes years to get embedded in an operation this big—”
    “What if you’re a buyer?” she interrupted. “You could change your looks. We could put word out on the street a dealer is interested in making a big buy.” She eyed him up and down. “I was thinking of a New York dealer, but you’d never pass the test. You’d have to be from Texas with ties to Mexico. Do you, by any chance, speak Spanish?”
    “Now why would you not think I couldn’t pass for anyone but a Texan?” he drawled. “But, yeah. I speak Spanish. Took it in college, mastered it on the job.”
    “Good. You’ll need it.” She looked at him, wrinkled her forehead, contemplating the idea. “Your Texas drawl is a dead giveaway for the area you came from.” She paused, reconsidering her impulsive suggestion. “I don’t know about this…”
    “It’s the only way I can see to get them in the open.”
    “It would be too dangerous. The two of us could never pull it off without help.” Understatement. She had issues with the whole idea. But Darin was paying no attention to her roadblocks.
    “I’ll go it alone then. I will find Hunter’s killer.”
    He was serious. And there was no way she could allow him to do this alone.
    “Okay. Let’s start over.”
    Another cup of coffee and an hour later they were still bouncing ideas back and forth.
    When Darin gave her an admiring look. Gina felt heat. For the first time in her life a man made her face warm. Not just her face, her entire body.
    This was definitely not a good thing. She had a job to do—a serious one.
    Out of the blue, Darin was making that job easier. Or was he making it harder by being so attractive? Should any of this bother her?
    “Do you have enough connections to set up a background for our fictional buyer?” she asked. “These guys didn’t get where they are by dealing with strangers. They’d want proof you are who you say you are.”
    “I don’t have it planned out just yet.”
    If he didn't have a way, she had enough connections to pull it off, including false IDs. She could almost see his brain churning with options. “I repeat, we’ll need help. A few members of the squad maybe.”
    He rubbed a hand through his hair. She wanted to smile at the way the gesture made the thick reddish-brown hair almost fall into his eyes. He raked it back, impatient to think through the logistics. “Might present a problem.”
    Gina could see multiple problems, but wanted to hear his.
    “We keep as close an eye as we can on the drug trade. We’ve arrested dozens of dealers, small and large. We have snitches that clue us in on much of it. The way I see it, for a load of drugs to make it to a warehouse and out again without a whiff of the deal getting to us they had to be confident HPD wouldn’t interfere. When Hunter showed up they were stunned enough to kill him. Is someone on the inside calling the shots? Is someone on a drug payroll as well as HPD’s so they can wheel and deal with greater ease? What makes me even more into this theory is seeing how our bust the other night should have been much bigger. Since it wasn’t, I want to know why. Even more I want to know if a member of the squad is involved.”
    Darin looked at her, his eyes intense. “I have a difficult time thinking such thoughts. I’ve always trusted every one of my co-workers. Had to. Our lives depend on each other. Besides, they’re like a second family. I don’t want to think like this. So I have to go this alone. I’d like one person on standby if I need help. That’s why you’re here.”
    Alone! Was he