Free Badge of Honor by Carol Steward Page A

don’t want to lose either of you,” the supervisor said.
    Nick put his phone in his pocket and made the difficult decision to stay with his trainee as long as necessary. If she weren’t an attractive single female, this wouldn’t be an issue. Therefore, he would treat her like any other officer.
    The Crime Scene Investigators showed up, talked to Jeremy and drove off. Nick wasn’t surprised. An officer-involved shooting was a lot more important than a vandalized car and a murdered dog. He leaned against his brother’s patrol car, knowing Garrett was tied up several blocks away, and waited for Sarah to finish her call, repeating “I’m not on duty” over and over to keep himself out of the way of the investigation.
    A few minutes later, Sarah approached, appearing emotionally drained. “Sorry that took so long,” she said, finding it difficult to look him in the eye. “Anything new?”
    â€œNot a problem. There’s been an officer-involved shooting across town, so the CSI unit was sent over to that scene.”
    â€œOh, is everyone okay?”
    â€œI don’t know yet.” He’d been so worried about her, he hadn’t even asked. “What did you find out?”
    â€œYou didn’t hear?” She took a deep breath, shaking her head. She leaned a hip against the police cruiser, and Nick fully realized his trainee’s beauty and vulnerability. She had as much of a commanding presence out of uniform as she did when tucked into that Kevlar vest and blue uniform, but inside, she was one hundred percent woman.
    It wasn’t the kind of thing he should notice. And at the same time, he couldn’t deny he liked what he saw. He was relieved to see she wasn’t as tough as she led her fellow officers to believe. Now that he realized the problem, he could put his guard up and figure out how to keep his own interest under lock and key.
    Sarah continued talking, her voice oddly unsteady. “Nothing really. Mom and Dad spoke to her last weekend. They said she had a busy week, so they didn’t expect to hear from her until tomorrow night or so. I called my brother, too. He’s on his way from Denver, to stay here and wait with me. I want to run home and check my messages, then come back here to meet him. Do you think you could catch a ride back to the station?” she asked with her typical confidence.
    â€œI’m coming with you,” he said matter-of-factly. Nick told himself that he had to, until they found her sister. He expected her to argue, but for some reason she seemed relieved. “Too much is going on tonight. I don’t want you to be alone.” He felt like that gawky sophomore again, stuttering as he talked to the cute senior girl. “How are you doing, Sarah?” He started to put his arm around her, but caught himself. They stood on the front lawn waiting for the officers to finish searching the house.
    Sarah wrapped her arms across her chest and rubbed her bare arms. “I know I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but this just doesn’t look like she is involved. I think she’s off having a great time somewhere and will get back and act like nothing’s happened. And more than that, she’ll think we’re crazy to have been concerned.” Sarah’s lips twitched, and he was glad she was able to maintain a sense of humor despite all she was going through.
    As Nick glanced at Sarah, a twinkle of moonlight caught his eyes. He didn’t acknowledge the attraction. “Well, while your sister’s car being vandalized doesn’t appear to have anything to do with her incident the other night, it’s not a good coincidence, either. Does she disappear often?”
    â€œBeth is the youngest. She’s something of a crusader. That she’s settled down enough to finish her master’s degree is somewhat puzzling, except I think she also sees going on for her Ph.D. as a way to