Badge Of Honor. Carol Steward

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СКАЧАТЬ Sarah didn’t dare let his compliment go to her head. Evaluation of a call was part of the job. She didn’t need his approval. Or so she tried to convince herself.

      A second later, he smiled. “Do you want to grab a soda on the way out, to celebrate?”

      “Celebrate what? An arrest? Thanks, but I don’t drink soda on duty.”

      “Coffee? Water? The machines have it all. My treat.”

      She finally gave in and turned down the hallway toward the lobby. “I need to call my sister real quick.

      If you insist on buying, I’ll take a water.”

      She found a quiet corner and dialed her cell phone. “Hi, Beth. How’re you doing?”

      “Fine, until you called to remind me I shouldn’t be,” her baby sister mumbled. “I don’t want to talk now.”

      Sarah paced the floor, knowing she’d feel much better if she was at home with her sister instead of counting on a bunch of uninformed friends to watch out for her. “Are your girlfriends there?”

      “Yes. We’re watching a movie and having pizza.”

      Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You didn’t let some pizza joint deliver to the house, did you? Did you even tell your friends what happened? Did you tell Steve yet?”

      “I don’t want to. I want to forget it,” her sister said vehemently.

      “That’s not going to make it go away,” Sarah warned in a hushed tone.

      The line went dead as Beth hung up.

      She felt a cold chill as a shadow made the corner go dark. “You okay?”

      Sarah spun around, realizing Nick had returned with her bottle of water, and one for himself. “Yeah, you ready to go?” She hoped he didn’t push for more information, because tonight, she didn’t think she could stay quiet. She didn’t want to be here at all, but she knew her sister’s stubbornness would be as annoying in person as it was from a distance.

      “I’m ready, if you’re sure you are,” he said skeptically. “Is your sister okay? You didn’t sound very happy.”

      Sarah couldn’t talk. Not right now. She walked past the good-looking officer who had been through the mill with his own problems. “I’m not.”

      “I don’t mean to push…” he said under his breath. “But if you need time off, it’s better to take it than try to carry on when you’re distracted.”

      She stopped and turned to face him. “Did I seem distracted out there?”

      He stepped back and crossed his arms in front of him, then dropped them to his sides, probably afraid he’d split the seams of his perfectly ironed shirt. “No.”

      “You probably know how irritating sisters can be when they make poor decisions, right?”

      He looked at her, puzzled. “How’d you know I have a sister?”

      Sarah couldn’t believe she’d opened her big mouth. For some crazy reason, she’d hoped he would remember her. “We went to high school together.” Suddenly she felt very awkward.

      He didn’t respond, but studied her. “She’s not even close to our age. How’d…?”

      “I saw her at basketball games.” Sarah had done enough interrogation in her career to know that his pause was due to discomfort. She was just rankled enough from her conversation with Beth to push the topic. “You don’t remember me, do you? I was older…. A geek with no social life….”

      “I presume you still are,” he said with an ornery smile. “Older, I mean.”

      She pursed her mouth and looked up at him. “Thanks for reminding me, Sergeant Matthews.” She shrugged. “Forget I mentioned it. It’s been a long time.”

      His lips quirked slightly, forming an adorable smile that she remembered from all those years ago. “I confess, I didn’t make the connection at first. I thought you looked familiar. In this line of work, it’s hard to remember where I’ve met someone. You’re Joel’s twin sister. I still can’t believe you two are twins, he’s so much taller….” Nick’s face turned a shade pinker with her silence. “Sorry….”

      She shook her head. “Yeah, thanks again for the reminder.”

      “He was a senior on the basketball team when I made varsity my sophomore year.”

      Sarah nodded in confirmation and his embarrassment faded. “And you bumped him out of the last quarter of the state championship game.”

      Nick shrugged, the blush returning with her statement. “Is the chip on his shoulder, or yours? That happened…” He paused thoughtfully “…fourteen years ago.”

      Sarah laughed at the puzzled look on his face. “Oh, I think it bothered the rest of us a lot more than it ever did Joel. He was just happy that the team took the championship.”

      “We all were,” Nick said as he opened the door to the parking yard. “For the record, you were a brainiac, not a geek. That’s what everyone said, anyway.” They continued out to the squad car in silence. Sarah’s mind sped right back to high school, and the days she’d spent wishing she could be like the other girls for a change. The ones who were tall and pretty and knew how to flirt with boys, well enough to have gotten a date to the prom. Nothing scared high school boys away faster than a “brainiac,” apparently.

      So she’d reminded him. But was it a good thing that he remembered her, or bad?

      She tore her mind from those days long ago and refocused on her sister. Sarah planned on making a slight detour by Beth’s house, to make sure all was quiet.

      “What’s Joel doing now?”

      Nick’s question startled her. “Married with twin daughters, for starters. He teaches middle school in Denver.”

      “Sounds fun. And where’s your sister?” he asked as they reached the cruiser and went to their respective doors.

      At home, she hoped. Safe and sound. “She’s here in town.” What was Beth thinking, giving out her name and address the day after someone assaulted her? Didn’t she realize how fortunate it was that a group of students had happened by exactly when they did? Sarah got into the car and turned the key.

      “Unlock my door,” Nick called as he knocked on the passenger’s window.

      She hit the button, then offered a quick apology when he slid inside. “Well, that was a fun way to start the night, wasn’t it?”

      “Yeah,” he said. “That ought to keep our blood pumping for a few hours, anyway.” He asked a few more questions about Joel, but after that, it wasn’t long before he became the strong silent type once again.

      She wanted to keep him talking, but this being their first night of a four-week assignment, she decided to let him make conversation when he was comfortable doing so. She’d pushed enough for now.

      Nick СКАЧАТЬ