Free In the Shadow of the Shield (Secret Lives Series Book 2) by Carolyn LaRoche

it in her purse on the bedside table. “I’ll always love you, but life goes on, and I need to go with it.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    “You look absolutely hideous.” Diana cursed the image in the mirror as she held her hair back and examined the nasty bruises that had formed on her forehead and around her left eye. “Carter’s going to take one look and run for the hills.”
    Why she cared what Carter thought, she didn’t know, since they were only supposed to be working on investigating Donnie’s death together. But care she did.
    She twisted Donnie’s ring around her thumb. It had sat in her purse for a couple of hours before the need to touch it again grew so strong, she couldn’t resist digging it back out. She still needed to tell Carter about it anyway. Wearing it would help her remember.
    As if she would forget.
    “I’m heading out, Mom!” Jackson called from down the hall. “You sure you don’t want me to stay home with you?”
    She left the bathroom and joined her son in the kitchen, where he was putting on his jacket. “I’ll be fine. You go on and have fun at the game.”
    “Call me if you need me, and I’ll come home. I don’t like basketball all that much anyway.”
    “You love basketball.”
    “But I love you more. Call me, okay, Mom? I won’t mind.”
    “I’ll be fine. Really. You don’t have to worry. I’ll probably go to bed early.”
    Jackson hugged her and left. The house fell silent instantly. She checked her pocket for her cell phone, set the house alarm, and then settled in the living room with the television remote. By nine o’clock she had pretty much given up hope that Carter would stop by.
    She was in the kitchen making a cup of tea when the doorbell rang. When she went to the front door, she could see him, hands shoved in his pockets of his jacket and breath clouding in the chill night air. He looked exhausted. After turning off the alarm, she pulled the front door open and stepped back, letting him in.
    “Whew! It’s a cold one tonight!” Carter rubbed his hands together as she secured the door and reset the alarm. “I hope it’s not too late?”
    “No. I was just making a cup of tea. Would you like some?” Diana did her best not to make eye contact. She was suddenly very self-conscious of the bruising and swelling on her face.
    “Actually, I would love some. My grandmother raised me on a cup of tea before bed.”
    She led the way to the kitchen, grateful the lights were dim in there. “Your grandmother?”
    “Yeah. My mom disappeared when I was a baby. Over the years she came by every so often, looking for money or food or a place to crash, but she was always so high my grandmother would send her away again.”
    “I’m so sorry.” His story saddened her. She filled the tea kettle and set it on the stove. While it heated, she busied herself with another cup and a tea bag for Carter.
    He shrugged. “No reason to apologize or feel bad. I had a great life with my grandmother. My mother did me a favor by leaving.”
    “Is that what made you go into police work?”
    Carter laughed without humor, and she snuck a glance at him over her shoulder. “No. A very kind judge is the reason I became a cop.”
    “A judge?”
    “Despite my grandmother’s best efforts, I fell in with a rough crowd when I was a teenager. They were into cars.”
    “What’s wrong with that?”
    “Nothing. Unless you steal them, dismantle them, and sell their parts. Chop shops are big business where I come from on the west coast.”
    “You’re a car thief?” She couldn’t even attempt to hide the shock. She'd let this man she hardly knew into her home, and he was a criminal. What was she thinking? Wait. He was also a cop. People could change.
    “Was. And I didn’t actually steal anything. I couldn’t bring myself to, so I was more like a scout. After school I hit the streets on my skateboard and took note of all the hot cars. After I reported in,