The Heartbreak Sheriff. Elle Kennedy

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СКАЧАТЬ he exhaled in a rush “—until after you’ve been booked and processed.”

      She blinked, and then horror dawned on her achingly gorgeous face. “Finn….”

      “I’m sorry, Sarah, but you’re under arrest.”

       Chapter 2

      Under arrest. Sarah couldn’t wrap her head around it as she silently endured the humiliation of getting her fingerprints taken and posing for a mug shot. A mug shot.

      How was this happening?

      I’m not a killer! she wanted to scream as Anna Holt inked up the pads of the fingers on her left hand.

      It wasn’t Anna’s fault, the woman was just doing her job, but Sarah was having trouble remembering that as the deputy gently took the impression of her thumb.

      “It’s procedure,” Anna apologized, her dark eyes swimming with compassion. “But we do already have them on file, you know, from that Proactive Crime thing you did in high school.”

      And, boy, didn’t she regret that decision now. For her senior-year law course, she’d done an independent study on crime prevention, with the hypothesis that if citizens were required by law to submit fingerprints and DNA, crime in an area would reduce drastically. As part of the project, she’d organized a program called Proactive Crime, which involved getting all the seniors to submit prints and saliva swabs to the police. Which meant that her information was in the Serenade department database.

      And for some inconceivable reason, she’d been flagged when the Donovan evidence had been logged in.

      Sarah’s head continued to spin as she followed Deputy Holt down the narrow staircase leading to the basement of the station. She’d never been down here before, but she knew what she would find. They were going to put her in a cell.

      Because she’d been arrested. For a crime she hadn’t committed.

      Again, how was this happening?

      Sarah felt all the color drain from her face as she got her first glimpse of what a jail cell looked like. Seeing one in a movie didn’t count. This was real. And terrifying. Her pulse raced as she stared at the long row of small cells lining the lockup area. The steel bars seemed to glare at her in accusation. The clinking of keys sounded, and she turned to see Anna unlocking one of the doors.

      “You’ll have to wait in here until your lawyer arrives,” Anna said softly.

      The metal door creaked as the deputy dragged it open. Sarah’s hands trembled. The cell was maybe fifteen by fifteen, boasting a narrow cot with a thin wool blanket. That was it. No toilet. No window. Nothing but this claustrophobia-inducing little space, illuminated by a single bulb dangling from the ceiling.

      “I’m sorry,” Anna added.

      Sucking in a shaky breath, Sarah willed up some courage and forced herself to walk into the cell, head high. She only prayed that the criminal lawyer whose name she’d picked at random from the yellow pages showed up soon.

      When she was on the other side of the bars, Anna dragged the door closed, and both women flinched as she locked it into place. “The sheriff will be down soon,” the young woman finished in a strained voice.

      Tell him not to bother.

      Sarah swallowed down the bitter retort, then watched as the deputy hurried across the cement floor in the corridor. Her footsteps faded, and then Sarah was alone.

      In jail.

      She sat on the cot and reached up to rub away the tears pooling in her eyes. How could anyone think she’d killed Teresa? No matter what those damn DNA results said, she hadn’t been in Teresa’s house the night she died. She’d never been in that woman’s house.

      So why did the evidence indicate she was there?

      It was a question she’d been asking herself ever since Finn showed up at the gallery earlier, but so far, the answer continued to elude her. Well, not quite. The answer was actually simple: someone was framing her.

      But that only raised a whole slew of new questions. First and foremost—what the hell?

      She didn’t consider herself Ms. Popularity or anything, but people in town liked her. Even after her breakdown, most of the folks stood by her, offered their support during her struggle.

      Not all of them, a voice laced with hostility pointed out.

      That’s right. One person had no problem leaving her to face it alone.

      As if his ears had been burning, Finn suddenly appeared in front of the bars. When she noticed the anguish creasing his handsome features, all she could think was too little too late. He could look as devastated as he wanted, act as concerned as he felt like, but she didn’t need his damn support. He hadn’t given it to her when it actually mattered, and she had no use for it now.

      “The lawyer you called just phoned,” Finn said gruffly. “He’ll be here in two hours.”

      Two hours?

      She willed away a fresh batch of tears. Okay. Two hours. She could do this.

      “Thanks for letting me know,” she said in a clipped voice.

      She expected him to walk away, but he stayed rooted in place, studying her through the narrow bars.

      “What?” she snapped.

      “I just … are you okay in there?”

      She gawked at him. “Are you serious? Do I look like I’m okay?”

      Finn shifted, looking utterly miserable. His unmistakable turmoil did nothing to soothe her. Just being in the same room as this man brought back unwelcome memories, lingering pain that she’d tried desperately to overcome. It didn’t help that he was as gorgeous as ever, with those piercing blue eyes and scruffy black hair. The broad, muscular body that used to send a thrill up her spine, the roped arms that once brought her solace.

      Patrick Finnegan had been the love of her life, the only man to ever have a complete and total claim on her heart.

      But then he’d gone and broken that heart. Crushed it between his big, strong fingers, leaving her to drown in sorrow. Alone.

      She hadn’t thought she’d ever recover from Finn’s betrayal. Hadn’t thought she’d ever be able to regain the capacity to love again. But she’d survived. Let go of the trauma of the past, became strong, stable, capable. And now she had Lucy, the beautiful baby girl she adored, who’d changed her entire life and gave her a sense of peace and fulfillment.

      Oh, God, Lucy!

      “What is it, Sarah?”

      She’d forgotten he was still standing there, and when she lifted her head, she saw the alarm washing across his rugged face.

      “Lucy,” she burst out, fear wrapping around her throat like a boa constrictor. “The day care closes at СКАЧАТЬ