Free Trent (Redemption Romance Book 4) by Anna Scott Page B

Christine had been one of the officers involved when Hope had been beaten severely by her ex-boyfriend. Christine had witnessed Jake and Hope together multiple times over the months since and seemed to let go of whatever torch she was holding for him, after all that.
    Now I knew her a little better, though not well. She’d been teaching this class for a couple of years with Trent. He’d started to help out after he and Gavin had left the Marine Corps and had gotten their jobs with the Sherriff’s Office. I knew that Trent’s dad had been abusive to both Trent’s mom and his sister, though he didn’t talk about it much. I knew that his dad had gone to jail and now had no relationship with any of them.
    One of the things I admired most about Trent was that he was extremely dedicated to empowering women and giving them the tools they needed to protect themselves. It was one of the million things I loved and admired most about him.
    I would be eating alone tonight, so I decided that grilled cheese would fit the bill. Maybe if I was feeling productive, I’d even make myself a bowl of tomato soup to go with it. My plans were simple. I was exhausted already and not even half way through my week. I was seriously looking forward to chilling out with my cat and an entire season of "Vikings."
    When I finally fished the phone out of my purse, I was shocked to see the eleven missed texts and two calls. It had only been forty minutes since I last checked it, so I had no idea what could have gone sideways already. A chill crawled down my spine, worry flooding my veins and that the thought that something could have happened to Trent at work.
    Opening the missed calls screen, I hit most recent one from Dawn. Her calm voice upon answering soothed my worry. I had braced myself for a frantic, frightened woman.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked quickly after she answered.
    “Trent called. He was trying to get ahold of you.”
    “Is something going on?” I had no idea why him trying to find me would fill my phone with so many missed communications.
    “He and Gavin are being called in. Nothing crazy that I know of, not sure, but the sergeant pulled Gavin out of training for it.”
    After disconnecting with Dawn, I called Trent and when it went straight to voicemail, sent him a text to let him know I was home safe and that Snowball said hi. I quickly scrolled through the texts he had sent and didn't see anything I needed to worry about. Mostly, he was asking where I was, if I was okay and letting me know he wasn't going to make the self-defense class. Fortunately, I knew that sometimes Dan Dupree, another McKinney officer would help Christine if Trent and Gavin couldn't be there.
    Once I read through the final message, my body relaxed and I started to think back. The last time he’d tried that hard to find me had been the night Nolan died. Trent had been a mess, of course, and it was the only time I’d willingly spent time with him after I’d locked him out of my house. By the time Aurora texted me that night, I already knew what was going on, but couldn’t tell her. I didn’t want the focus to be on Trent and me when it needed to be on her and Luke. They had needed every bit of our support and focus during those weeks.
    That night Trent had come over after texting me repeatedly. He had needed me, and regardless of the fact that I was trying so hard to save him from a life with me, I couldn’t turn my back on him when he was hurting. He came inside my little house that night, and we held onto each other on the couch while we talked quietly. I’d cried as he told me stories about Nolan and their time in the Marines.
    I knew some about Nolan’s struggles once he’d gotten home already, everyone in town did. Nolan was a local hero, our small town story of strength, loss, and bravery. Once he was back state-side, Nolan's life was practically immortalized.
    It was after I started working with Aurora, that she and I had become such close