Free A Tiger's Treasure (Tiger Protectors Book 2) by Terry Bolryder Page A

was born. And I didn’t like that. I wanted to choose. I realize now they were just trying to make me do my duty, but at the time, I was romantic. I had all these fantasies.”
    “You had a right to your fantasies,” Carter said.
    She gave him a sad smile and a nod, brushing away her rights with a wave of her hand. “Anyway, they were on their way to meet with that family that night.”
    Carter nodded.
    She took a deep breath, and he saw a slight tremble in her hand as she set her sandwich down. “The cops said there had been an accident. Their car had been recovered from a nearby pond, like they’d gone off the road.” She looked at him. “They never would have gone off the road. They had their faults, but…”
    “But they wouldn’t be so careless,” he said. “Did you try to talk to the cops about it?”
    “They said it was open and shut,” she said. “But here’s the thing. They brought me to the morgue to identify the bodies.”
    Carter sucked in a breath, but she kept going.
    “And yes, it looked like they had been in a car that had crashed into the water. But they also had claw marks. Under their clothes. The cops only wanted me to take a quick look, but that was enough. I think they thought I’d be too shocked. But I saw.”
    “I see,” Carter said, feeling sick at the implication.
    “I don’t know what they knew or what they were covering. But I knew at least one shifter was involved in this. And if the cops weren’t even going to look into it, even though I could scent there was at least one shifter at the precinct, something wasn’t right.”
    “But you were young, and no point fighting it,” he said.
    “Right,” she said. “And the thing was, even if I knew they were hiding something, I didn’t know what. But I thought one day if I was a cop, maybe I could find out.”
    “But how did the chief not recognize you when you came back?”
    She shook her head. “He did. But I just told him I was inspired by how good the cops had been to me when it happened, and he bought it.” She looked guilty. “I didn’t mean to mislead him, but I didn’t know if he was part of it.”
    Carter sighed and sat back. “So long ago. What do you think can be done about it?”
    “Justice,” she said. “I need to find out who the police were protecting. One of their own or someone else. I never even considered you as someone who would have info because you weren’t a shifter, or so I thought. Now that I know you are, do you remember anything like that?”
    Carter thought back. “No. I’m afraid I don’t. I’d need to go in and see the case files. Since it wasn’t ruled a homocide…”
    She nodded, looking defeated. “I found the case file my first week here. But info was missing. So I decided to keep poking around. And working with you, because I really do like being a cop.”
    “And I really like having you for a partner,” he said, tilting her head up because he couldn’t stand her being so downcast and sad.
    He reached out and gathered her against him, unsurprised when she shook lightly, small sobs escaping.
    “You must think it’s so pointless, don’t you?” she asked, holding on to him. “But you don’t know what it’s like. The worrying. The never knowing.”
    “Yeah,” he said. “I don’t. I’m going to do my best to help you figure this out. I just need you to promise me one thing.”
    “What is it?” she asked.
    “We’ll do our best to figure this out,” he said. “But the first priority is your safety. And no matter what we find out, your parents wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger simply to solve a mystery.” He stroked her hair. “You wolves are so obsessed with vengeance you forget to live.”
    “As opposed to you tigers, who are so obsessed with duties you forget to live?” she teased, already done crying. He guessed she was just the type who quickly moved on from uncomfortable emotions. And got busy working.
    Just like he did.
    As he held her, he