The Undercover Chef

Chapter 2

At dawn, in her old precinct, the Chief sat across from a handsome man dressed in jeans and a cowboy shirt, a white cowboy hat perched on his head.

"She agreed to come, Mr. Landon, she should be here in a few hours."

"Call me Darryl," the man said, and I know she is the only that can handle this job. I've heard of her reputation, and I am impressed. These guys that are bringing in these drugs across my land are hazardous to our health and to my ranch. They are killing my cattle, stealing my horses, and they shot one of my men. They need to be caught and soon."

"Do not worry, Anna is very good at her job, and she will bring them down."

"I have had the FBI helping me out too, but they can't spend any more time on my ranch, they have other more pressing issues, so they tell me," he frowned. "And another thing, my brother does not know that the detective is coming. He only knows that I am coming to find a new cook for my ranch since the last one left because of what is going on on the ranch. So she needs to make sure not to tell him or anyone else on the ranch who she really is."

"I will make sure that she doesn't utter a word of who she is. Now, why don't you just make yourself comfortable or go get some breakfast, and then you can meet Anna in a few hours."

"I might grab something to eat; I haven't today, want to join me?"

"I will pass, but thank you. I need to get the badge made up for Anna when she gets here and get her a new gun."

"You are making her a lieutenant?"

"I am, she deserves it, she is an incredible cop."

"What made her quit?"

"Her fiancé was killed in the line of duty."

Darryl winced. "That sucks."

"It did, and she quit on me the day after he died. It broke my heart to see her leave. How did you find out about her anyway? That she was a cop and a caterer?"

"Actually an old colleague of hers told me who she was. She catered the Cattlemen's Association's dinner a few months ago. I met up with a guy there. He seemed like he was watching Anna. When I asked him about what had him so intrigued, he told me that he used to work with her right after she graduated from the academy. He was surprised to see her as a caterer. He wasn't sure if she was still a cop, and being intrigued I looked her up. I had to ask the FBI who has been helping me out to dig into her files since they were sealed. All they told me was that she was retired and that she had quite the reputation for taking down criminals. I am glad you told me why she quit. I hope that I don't regret hiring her. Do you think she is stable? I don't want someone who is mentally unstable working for me."

The Chief chuckled. "I can assure you, Darryl, she is quite stable. I know she is still sad, but she won't let it get in the way of her job."

"Good to know," Darryl said, standing. "I guess I will go get some breakfast then."

He headed out the door, pondering about the news that the Chief had told him. Her fiancé, dead. He wondered about it. What had gone down to have her fiancé killed? Would he dare ask her about it? Maybe down the road, he would. He remembered she was quite a lovely woman. She was about 5' 7", dark brown hair that was cut short and piercing green eyes. She had visited with everyone that had walked through the buffet. She seemed upbeat and had everyone smiling. He remembered how incredible the food was too. She was really good at her job. But he had seen a bit of sadness lingering in her eyes as she had handed him his plate of food. He had thanked her and moved on, wondering what had hurt her so, and now he knew. He sighed as he walked into a café down the street from the police department, wandering to the counter, ignoring the giggles coming from a table in the corner. He ordered a coffee and pastry and went to sit down. As he did so, two girls walked up to him, both of them underdressed and way too much makeup. He frowned. "Can I help you?"