Free Cops And...Lovers? by Linda Castillo Page A

voices.
    The children had just reached the other side when a little girl in a pink sweater dropped one of her papers. "My picture!" she exclaimed as the breeze picked it up and tumbled it along the pavement.
    The traffic remained stopped, so Erin wasn't concerned. Thank goodness road rage didn't exist here in
Logan
Falls
, she thought wryly. She raised the flag higher, making sure she had the attention of the driver in the first car. The young woman behind the wheel rolled her eyes and smiled.
    Erin looked over her shoulder at the child. The little girl scrambled for the paper, catching it just a few feet away from Erin . "I got it!" she said.
    The low roar of an engine drew Erin 's attention. A dark sedan broke from the line of traffic several cars back. She saw a chrome grille. The sun glinting off a darkened windshield. Anger pumped through her that an impatient driver would endanger innocent school children.
    She raised the flag and angrily motioned for the driver to pull over. The car picked up speed, the engine whining like a jet engine.
    "What the—" Her anger turned quickly to disbelief when the driver cut the wheel and came straight for her. There was no time to react. Her only thought was that she couldn't let the little girl in the pink sweater get hurt.
    Spinning, Erin grabbed the child's arm and shoved her. The engine whined. She dove. A scream pierced the air—her own—followed by the sound of steel against flesh. The impact spun her in midair. Pain jolted through her right hip. An instant later, the pavement rushed up, and she tumbled into darkness.
    * * *
    Nick's pulse was still hammering when he walked into the
Parke
County
Hospital
and headed toward the emergency room. He hated hospitals on principle. He hated this hospital in particular, since it was in this very same emergency room three years before that his life had been turned upside down by another woman who'd taken one too many risks—and paid the ultimate price.
    He hadn't wanted to make the connection between Erin and Rita. He hadn't wanted to bridge that treacherous gap. But he could no longer deny what disturbed him so much about his new deputy. Aside from the fact that he was attracted to her beyond reason, Erin was a risk taker. He'd seen it on her résumé. He'd heard it in Frank's voice during the recommendation. Nick had experienced it firsthand the day before, when he'd watched her fight off a suspect twice her size.
    Only he had been too caught up in denial to acknowledge the truth about her. The pain was too great, or maybe he'd just buried it too deep.
    Rita, the woman he'd loved more than life itself for thirteen years, had been a risk taker. She'd been impulsive. Careless. Rash. She'd died because of it, and taken something vital and precious from Nick in the process. His heart. His daughter's happiness. His own. He couldn't tolerate recklessness. Not as police chief. Not as a friend. Certainly not as anything more.
    He wanted to blame Erin for getting herself hurt. He wanted to condemn her. Hell, he wanted to fire her. What had happened today seemed like as good a reason as any. He didn't care about being fair. He wanted to get her out of his life and rid himself of this insane attraction to her once and for all.
    The problem was that Nick knew the incident hadn't been her fault. He'd spent the last two hours investigating the scene. Witness after damning witness had absolved Erin of wrongdoing. No, he thought bitterly, she hadn't been at fault. And even though she hadn't given so much as a thought to her own safety, he couldn't condemn her for saving that little girl's life.
    The nurse at the station outside the emergency room doors looked up when Nick strode past, but she didn't try to stop him. He figured she'd seen his sour expression too many times to try to keep him out. He shoved open the doors and paused in time to hear a familiar female voice utter a curse. Something resembling relief flooded him. He told himself he