Read Online Undercover by Christina Wolfer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christina Wolfer
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to keep her involved in reducing gang activity.
Erica laid her head back against the couch and closed her eyes. She’d met some good kids here. She allowed herself to acknowledge that those same kids were gang members or associated with gangs. Hard to believe considering what she’d thought of them before she arrived at Fairmont. But good kids got involved in gang activities for a variety of reasons. They needed options, which had her thinking about starting a youth program that offered the acceptance they craved and a place to belong other than in a gang.
****
On Monday morning, half a dozen students watched as a blue van slowed in front of the school. They saw the side door slide open and the lifeless body of LeAnn shoved to the curb while the van continued to roll. No one thought to get the license plate number before the vehicle sped away.
LeAnn was dead.
Erica arrived after the police and ambulance and stayed back. She listened to the fear and sadness bounce around the gathering of LeAnn's classmates and friends. Those same emotions battered Erica inside along with the anger and guilt. She'd failed to protect. She'd failed to save yet another young life.
The pressure was too much, making it difficult for her to breath. She fled the school grounds before people started looking at her. They would blame her. They would say she should have stayed out of LeAnn and Ricky’s business. It was her fault Ricky killed her. How could she argue against them?
She’d abandoned LeAnn, left her standing in the open, alone and vulnerable. Once again, Erica found herself trying to make sense of her own decisions, to figure out how to right the wrong, how to stop the hurt she’d caused.
She spent the morning and afternoon driving aimlessly around town. Steve would be looking for her, so she couldn’t go to the apartment. And going to her family was out of the question. They would love and support her. They would say all the right things and tell her it wasn’t her fault, the way they had when her sister died. But she wouldn’t open those old wounds for them.
By the time she pulled to a stop down the street from Moreno’s Repair Shop, she had half dozen messages on her cell phone. Steve had made several attempts. Joey’s number had popped up a couple times and a few from a number she didn’t recognize.
The shop doors were open to let in the crisp breeze. She could see Derrick milling around under a car hoisted several feet in the air.
Having never felt this way about a man before, her love for Derrick overwhelmed her.
With the crosswind moving through the open windows of the car, the sun beating down on the roof and tears drying on her cheeks, exhaustion stole over her. She started to doze off, only to be jolted awake when her cell phone rang.
Steve. May as well get this over with . “Hello.”
“Jesus, Cordero, it’s about damn time. Where the hell are you?”
She held the phone away from her ear until he finished. “I’m fine.”
“I didn’t ask how you are. I want to know where you are.”
"I need some time to think."
"There's nothing to think about. We're going in tomorrow."
"But what about…"
"It's done, Cordero." Steve hung up.
She laid her head against the steering wheel. Ricky and his runners would get a slap on the hand, a minimum one-year in jail and three years probation for drug dealing. But he would get away with LeAnn’s murder. The Hell Boys would continue their supremacy.
Erica started up the car and drove off. No destination in mind or so she thought until she cruised by the Sanchez residence, the known hangout for The Hell Boys. The house, packed tight between other like houses, was unkempt, dirty and grey. She could imagine death happening inside those walls, the physical and the emotional.
She drove around the block several times, wondering what would happen if she walked into the residence with her gun drawn and demand the name of the asshole that killed LeAnn. A
Erica laid her head back against the couch and closed her eyes. She’d met some good kids here. She allowed herself to acknowledge that those same kids were gang members or associated with gangs. Hard to believe considering what she’d thought of them before she arrived at Fairmont. But good kids got involved in gang activities for a variety of reasons. They needed options, which had her thinking about starting a youth program that offered the acceptance they craved and a place to belong other than in a gang.
****
On Monday morning, half a dozen students watched as a blue van slowed in front of the school. They saw the side door slide open and the lifeless body of LeAnn shoved to the curb while the van continued to roll. No one thought to get the license plate number before the vehicle sped away.
LeAnn was dead.
Erica arrived after the police and ambulance and stayed back. She listened to the fear and sadness bounce around the gathering of LeAnn's classmates and friends. Those same emotions battered Erica inside along with the anger and guilt. She'd failed to protect. She'd failed to save yet another young life.
The pressure was too much, making it difficult for her to breath. She fled the school grounds before people started looking at her. They would blame her. They would say she should have stayed out of LeAnn and Ricky’s business. It was her fault Ricky killed her. How could she argue against them?
She’d abandoned LeAnn, left her standing in the open, alone and vulnerable. Once again, Erica found herself trying to make sense of her own decisions, to figure out how to right the wrong, how to stop the hurt she’d caused.
She spent the morning and afternoon driving aimlessly around town. Steve would be looking for her, so she couldn’t go to the apartment. And going to her family was out of the question. They would love and support her. They would say all the right things and tell her it wasn’t her fault, the way they had when her sister died. But she wouldn’t open those old wounds for them.
By the time she pulled to a stop down the street from Moreno’s Repair Shop, she had half dozen messages on her cell phone. Steve had made several attempts. Joey’s number had popped up a couple times and a few from a number she didn’t recognize.
The shop doors were open to let in the crisp breeze. She could see Derrick milling around under a car hoisted several feet in the air.
Having never felt this way about a man before, her love for Derrick overwhelmed her.
With the crosswind moving through the open windows of the car, the sun beating down on the roof and tears drying on her cheeks, exhaustion stole over her. She started to doze off, only to be jolted awake when her cell phone rang.
Steve. May as well get this over with . “Hello.”
“Jesus, Cordero, it’s about damn time. Where the hell are you?”
She held the phone away from her ear until he finished. “I’m fine.”
“I didn’t ask how you are. I want to know where you are.”
"I need some time to think."
"There's nothing to think about. We're going in tomorrow."
"But what about…"
"It's done, Cordero." Steve hung up.
She laid her head against the steering wheel. Ricky and his runners would get a slap on the hand, a minimum one-year in jail and three years probation for drug dealing. But he would get away with LeAnn’s murder. The Hell Boys would continue their supremacy.
Erica started up the car and drove off. No destination in mind or so she thought until she cruised by the Sanchez residence, the known hangout for The Hell Boys. The house, packed tight between other like houses, was unkempt, dirty and grey. She could imagine death happening inside those walls, the physical and the emotional.
She drove around the block several times, wondering what would happen if she walked into the residence with her gun drawn and demand the name of the asshole that killed LeAnn. A
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