Page 86 of Billionaire Protector

She was still his.

“Okay,” he said softly. “I’ll let myself out. I’ll see you at the station later?”

“Sure.”

He stifled a smile at her forlorn expression. Clearly, she didn’t want him to go. He didn’t want to leave either, but now he really did have somewhere to be.

It was time to discover the truth about Sarah Sloan.

The questions started the moment Cole walked through the door of his parents’ house.

“Did you send someone to the hospital?”

“Did you admit to high treason?”

“Did you kiss Sarah in front of an entire audience?”

So the “news” from the Renaissance fair had already travelled back to Harmony Creek, as usual, embellished to fairy tale dimensions. “No to the first two,” he told the man who was an older version of himself. “I didn’t even break his nose. Not that he didn’t deserve it. As to admitting to high treason…” Cole contained his laugh. Somehow his saying no comment to having broken the law had transformed into a capital crime. “Not even a little bit.”

His dad looked only slightly mollified. “And the third?”

“No comment.”

“Excellent.” His father rubbed his hands together, his lips curling into what represented glee for the typically restrained man. “It’s about time.”

What?His father was happy he’d kissed Sarah in public? That was definitely not a subject he wanted to discuss. “Actually, I have my own questions about Sarah. How long have you known she was being accused of crimes she didn’t commit?”

His father’s slightly raised eyebrow was the only sign of surprise. Would he confirm the truth that was now so obvious? It only took a moment. “Since she was in middle school.”

Regret, guilt, horror.Cole took a deep breath of all those, plus a dash of pure grief. All those times he’d accused her, lectured her, argued over her behavior, and she didn’t deserve any of it? “You got her off the hook not because you were lenient, but because she wasn’t guilty. You were both covering for someone, and I know who. Her dad committed those crimes, didn’t he?”

A brief hesitation, then a nod. “That’s right.”

Cole raked his hands through his hair. After all these years… How might things have been different if he’d known the truth? How might herlifehave been different?

“Cole, sit down.” His father waited until he did, then paced, his heavy boots reverberating on the wooden floor. “As you know, a sheriff sometimes has to make tough choices. We uphold the law, punish those who break it and protect the innocent. Only once in a while, those decisions clash in a way that leaves no clear path.” He paused. “You’re right. Sarah never did any of those things – her father did. And it’s absolutely disgusting that he let her take the blame for it. We could’ve easily sent him to jail after so many repeat offences.”

Cole stepped forward. “So why didn’t you? Why did you let me – and everyone – think she was some sort of career criminal?”

“Because I knew what would happen if I did.” For the first time in his life, Jack Carter seemed unsure of himself. “She would’ve been taken away from him and given to someone far worse. You’re too young to remember this, but Sarah had an uncle who used to live near here. I grew up with him, and even then, he was a bad seed. He was the type of kid who liked to hurt animals just for fun, yet he was far better at hiding his deficiencies than her dad. He moved a couple of towns over, and to the world he was an upstanding citizen.”

“When her dad first started having problems, I checked into what would happen if she had to leave him. I never thought the uncle would be interested in a little girl, yet the one time he visited, he was sniffing around her in a way that was just… wrong. He mentioned the possibility of her going to him, with a smile that made my heart stop. Again, it was too subtle for me to do anything, but he ticked every police instinct.”

“Back then, her dad wasn’t quite as bad. All the crimes were petty, stealing a pack of cigarettes or spray painting a fence.He loved her, and she loved him. Every time it happened, they begged me not to separate them. Plus, here the town could watch over her. I’m not the only one who knew the truth, you know.”

Cole didn’t hide his shock. “You’re not?”

Jack shook his head. “Her teachers looked out for her, too, which is why she did okay in school and got into a decent college. Most people just figured it out. Of course, we kept it from you kids because we didn’t want to make it even harder on her. Now obviously I wasn’t going to let her get punished for something she didn’t do, which is why she never went to juvie. She never had a record because we didn’t actually accuse her of anything.” Jack stopped, looked at the sky outside the windows. “Did I make the right decision? I’d like to think so. A few years ago, her uncle went to prison for the exact thing I feared. And she turned out pretty well. I can see you think so, too.”

“She turned out better than pretty well,” Cole all but growled. He looked down. He hadn’t meant to share so much.

But it didn’t matter. Clearly, his dad knew how he felt. Cole’s phone suddenly rang, and he looked down. He couldn’t stop the satisfaction as he clicked accept. “Hey there.”

The good humor vanished the second Sarah’s voice came, loud, clear and undeniably strained. “Cole, I need you.”

“What is it? Are you all right? What happened?” He sprayed the questions rapid-fire as training took over. “Where are you?”

“I’m not in danger,” she replied quickly. “But you need to come to the station right away. There’s been another fire.”

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