The Undercover Chef

Chapter 14

The men walked into the kitchen to see Anna and Lilac struggling to pull the roast from the oven. Derek stepped forward. "Let me get that ladies," he said, and taking the hotpads, he pulled it out and set it on the stove.

"There's another one," Anna told him, pointing to the other oven. He nodded and pulled that one out also.

"How did you get these in the oven?" he asked, noting how heavy they were.

"Three of us," Anna admitted.

"You helped?" he asked, frowning at her.

She shrugged. "Yes."

"But your shoulder," he pointed out.

"Yes, that, don't worry, it let me know that it was not a smart thing to do," she replied, rubbing it.

Camden chuckled. "You are something else, Anna. You get shot and just go about your daily business. I remember one day I was helping the local police on a case. One of the policemen had been shot in the arm. He was crying like a baby. You would think he was dying. The funny thing was the bullet had just skimmed his arm, it hadn't even gone through. A few stitches and he was good to go. I don't think he will ever live that one down," he chuckled. "That's what I admire about you Anna, you get kicked, you get right back up."

She nodded, "Thanks, agent."

Tricia walked in then, looking incredible as usual, but amazingly she was dressed normal, well, for her. She was dressed in jeans, a nice blouse, that only showed a hint of cleavage and sensible shoes.

"Hi everyone," she said, walking to Darryl and kissing him. "I am sorry for yesterday, I was jealous," she admitted. "Will you forgive me Anna?" she asked her.

Anna nodded. "Yes, as long as you forgive me for my comments."

"No biggie," Tricia shrugged, "you were right. What happened last night kind of woke me up, and I saw how awful I have been acting. I was wondering what I could do to make it up to all of you."

She looked at Darryl. He smiled at her, glad to see that she was acting repentant.

"Join us for dinner, and no commenting on getting fat," he told her.

"I can do that," she said, "just don't give me so much food."

"Very well then," Darryl replied, grabbing some plates and helping himself to the food.

After everyone was dished up, Derek and Darryl took food to the bunkhouse, Tricia and Camden following behind them, carrying plates of baked potatoes.

Anna sat at the counter with a sigh. She was truly exhausted. She hoped that she would be able to sleep that night without interruption.

Derek and Darryl walked back in a few minutes later, and Derek frowned, as he saw Anna, her head on the counter.

"Anna?" he asked her in concern. She raised her head, and he saw how weary she was.

"Eat, then head to bed, the ladies can clean this up," he told her.

"Thanks, I think I might," she sighed. "It's been a long day."

"No thanks to me to hurting you again last night," Tricia said, watching Anna.

"All is forgiven," Anna told her.

Derek picked up his food and hers. "Come on, let's go eat, and then you need to call it a night."

She didn't argue, she followed him into the dining room with Darryl and Tricia. She sat down, and Derek put her food in front of her. He then sat by her, watching her in concern. She didn't look good.

She picked at her food, as the men ate, Tricia joining in on the conversation. Derek kept watching Anna, who wasn't eating.

"Anna?" he asked her.

She looked up to see the men watching her.

She blushed. "Sorry, I'm just not hungry tonight, I think I am going to head to bed, I am sorry."

"Don't be," Darryl said, noticing how pale she was. "We can wrap up your food for later."

"Thanks," she said, and nodding at them, she headed out.

"I'm worried about her," Darryl frowned. "She doesn't look good."

"I'll go check on her after I eat," Derek assured.

"Make sure she takes some pain meds," Darryl commented. "I could tell she was hurting."

Derek finished up quickly and headed out to check on Anna. When he walked into her room, he smiled softly. She was sound asleep under her covers. He sighed. He was falling for her which was not a good thing. He had vowed never to love another, but this woman had captured his heart the first day he had met her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, and she smiled in her sleep. Satisfied that she was okay, he walked out, only to bump into Camden.

"She okay?"

"She's asleep."

"Good, she looked pretty awful."

"I suppose a gunshot would do that to you," Derek replied as the men headed back downstairs.

Camden nodded. "Yep, it does, believe me, been there, done that."

The men headed back to eat dessert that Anna had made, strawberry shortcake.

Camden sighed as he put down his fork. "That woman sure can cook. If she wasn't already taken, I would stake my claim on her."

Derek frowned at him. "Taken?"

"Yeah, I see how you watch her Derek. I don't stand a chance against you."

Darryl laughed. "You could always try Camden, it wouldn't hurt Derek to have some competition."

"No thanks, I don't want to be murdered in my sleep," he joked and then stood. "Gentlemen, have a good night, and Patricia, a pleasure to meet you," he nodded at her and headed out of the room.

"He seems nice," Tricia said.

"He is a good guy," Darryl acknowledged.

Tricia then looked at Darryl. "I wore better shoes tonight, want to go for a walk?"

"Yes, we can do that," he said, taking her hand in his and helping her up. She smiled at him, and the two walked out the door, leaving Derek alone. He sighed and got up, heading to his room for the night, hoping that Anna would be okay.

A while later, Anna awoke and frowned. Her stomach was protesting since she hadn't eaten earlier, but she had been too exhausted to do so. She pulled on a robe and went downstairs to the kitchen to find some food. Pulling open the fridge she found some milk and then made herself a sandwich. She was just sitting down to eat it when she heard whispering coming through the open screen door of the kitchen. Shutting off the light, so she wouldn't be noticed hopefully, she quietly walked to the door, to listen.

"I'm telling you, man, we need to shut this whole thing down for a bit," a man was whispering loudly.

"You are right, we had better, we have already lost too many men," came the response. The voice sounded familiar, but Anna couldn't place it. "We'll call it off for a few days, let the brothers get back to their routine, and then we can send some more men across."

"Okay boss," came the reply. "Think anyone is on to us?"

"No, I know they aren't. Why else would the FBI be hounding the men in jail, they have no clue."

"Good," the other man sighed. "So when should we do another run?"

"Let's wait four days, then I'll let you know."

"Sounds good."

Anna heard some shuffling then, and she hurried and hid under the kitchen table. The door creaked open and someone walked in. The fridge opened and Anna could see the outline of a man. She held in a gasp, it couldn't be. The man helped himself to some food, closed the fridge, then headed back outside.

Anna waited until she made sure he was gone, then cleaned up her dishes and headed back to bed. Darryl was not going to be happy when he found out who was behind the drug runs.