Free Badge of Honor by Carol Steward Page B

avoid buckling down to get a real job. I just barely think I’ve figured her out, and then something like this happens and she throws me way off course. She’s driving me insane. If she were a criminal, a profiler would lose his job trying to predict what she’d do.” Sarah gave him a subtle look of amusement. “I just wanted her to talk to a professional counselor.”
    Nick laughed at Sarah’s assessment of her younger sister. He hoped it all turned out well so she wouldn’t look back at this and regret taking it lightly.
    â€œI need to go get my bag and plug my phone in to charge. If she hasn’t called back by now, another few minutes won’t hurt to be without it.”
    As Sarah went back to her car, Nick returned to the porch to join Jeremy Logan.
    â€œIs she going to be okay?” Logan asked.
    Nick wasn’t totally sure he understood why, but his gut told him she was more than all right, that she was more in charge of the situation than any of the rest of them. “Yeah, she’ll be fine.”
    â€œMan, this is a little freaky. This, then a gang member shooting at Sergeant Mitchell…It’s not a good night,” Logan said. “Do you know what her sister’s other case was about?”
    â€œShe told me a little. It’s Sarah’s call how much to share. We definitely need to keep an eye on the house for a few days. It seems pretty unlikely that the two incidences are not connected, but then again, it doesn’t appear that the house has been touched. Why?” Nick studied the surrounding houses, concerned that this area had never been targeted by gangs before.
    â€œThis looks a lot like the gang initiations we’ve seen this month. It could be a coincidence. Her sister isn’t in a gang, is she?”
    Nick shook his head. “I doubt it. She’s in graduate school. Maybe it’s a warning. Did you find anything inside?”
    â€œNo signs of an intruder in the house, but the stuffed animal out of the car doesn’t quite fit with gang activities, either. We’ll report it to the detective, see what they can figure out.” Jeremy glanced down the street, to see that Sarah had gotten into her car. “Where’s she going?”
    Nick felt a sudden panic. She wouldn’t take off, would she? But she merely pulled forward and parked in front of her sister’s house, restoring his confidence in her. “She wants to stay here and wait for her brother. I’m going to wait with her until he arrives. We’ll call you if there’s any concern.”
    Jeremy nodded as Sarah joined them at the front door. “Sounds good. We’ll get things outside cleaned up and get back on the road.”
    After a quick look around the outside of the house, worry returned to Sarah’s face. “It makes no sense, Nick. The house hasn’t been touched, but the damage to the car seems too personal not to be connected. And why is there no indication of where she is?”
    Nick motioned for her to go inside first then closed the door and made sure it was locked. “Does your sister have a boyfriend? Maybe she feels safer with him around….”
    Her eyes opened wide and she shook her head. “Oh, no. Not Beth. She wouldn’t spend the night at his place. They met at church. I think they’re both leaders of the youth group. Beth is, anyway. She takes her vow of abstinence very seriously. That’s part of why I’m so concerned about what happened the other night. Even though she was spared the worst, the assault was an attack on something that she held dear.” Sarah paced the main floor, studying every detail intently.
    â€œHow’s she dealing with it?”
    Sarah hesitated to answer. “She’s denying any reaction. I’m worried about how she’ll handle it when she realizes what could have happened. I want to get her to talk to a good assault counselor, before