Page 46 of Billionaire Protector

“And there was talk of her getting stuck in a log. Let me guess. Snake?”

Cole smiled. Contrary to Sarah’s beliefs, there wasn’t a person in town who didn’t know about her phobia. “Actually, yeah.”

“But you’re not afraid of snakes. They said you werebothflushed when they found you.”

“The heat.” He sure as hell wasn’t going to explain what kind of heat.

“And then there was Cupid’s Day at Andy and Annie’s.”

Yeah, there was that.

“And there’s nothing you want to tell me?”

If word got back to his father, it must have gone through a lot of people. Far more than Bobby and Shannon and Angie and… “I know what you’re suggesting, but there’s nothing to talk about.” Not exactly true. But he wasn’t going to discuss it with his father until he figured it out.

“Well, that’s too bad,” Jack said affably.

How unexpected.While his mother was always happy to express her feelings on his love life, his father had never commented before. Did he know more than he was letting on? “Dad, when you were sheriff, there were other kids like Sarah, kids who got into trouble all the time, but you never treated any of them like her. You always got her off the hook. Why?”

Jack hesitated for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was low, measured. “You see things in black and white, and that’s because of how I raised you. You had every advantage, so I expected a lot from you. Too much, I realize now.”

What?His father had been affectionate but strict, and perhaps a little too demanding. He’d resented it at the time, but now he was grateful. It allowed him to fulfill his potential.

His father continued, “With Sarah, things were more… complicated. You didn’t know the entire story then.”

Did he know it now? “Is there something I’m not aware of, some reason you gave her a break? Did it have anything to do with her dad? I saw him again, by the way. He was lying on the sidewalk outside his apartment, moaning and groaning abouthow he deserved to be punished. Sarah could barely get him in the door.”

Jack swore. “That man will never change.”

Cole held the phone closer, lowered his voice even though no one was around. “If Sarah’s father was that bad, why in the world wasn’t something done?”

“He wasn’t quite so bad then. Despite his faults, he loves her. And at least in our small town, there were people to look after her. Neighbors, teachers, myse… others.”

He’d been about to say himself. How far had Jack gone to protect her?

“Believe me, it could’ve been far worse.” His father suddenly stopped. “It’s not my place to talk about this. You should ask Sarah, especially if something is going on between the two of you.”

“Dad, I just said there wasn’t–” Cole stopped. It was no use. He might be able to fool the townspeople, but his father could detect a misdirection from a mile away. “I better go. I’ll see you soon.”

Cole braced his hands on the desk. He’d never seen Sarah on the job without her equipment. Only now she was, not on an ordinary sting, but some secretive operation in another town. She must have forgotten it, and it was just like her to carry on without the necessary tools. He took another step toward the door, stopped and turned back. In more than one instance, he would’ve been in serious trouble if he hadn’t had his equipment. Those items could make the difference between life and death.

Burkeville was only an hour away, and he didn’t have anything planned for today. He could run the belt to her and be back before lunch. And while he was at it, perhaps he could do a little more investigating into the mystery that was Sarah Sloan.

* * * *

It wasn’t easy being a prostitute. Nope, not at all.

The hours were irregular, the company sketchy and the outfits – they were downright uncomfortable. Yeah, Sarah was glad she’d never taken the prostitute route.

Of course, that didn’t mean she didn’t pretend to be one occasionally.

One of the nearby towns had a small but frustrating problem with prostitution. Somehow the town had gotten labeled as a good place to get a girl for the night or hour, depending on your desires. They’d caught some of the prostitutes, but after a couple of nights in jail, they’d start again. The only way to make it stop, they decided, was to catch the men. If people started getting arrested for soliciting prostitution, they would look elsewhere, making the town an undesirable place to find a good time.

That’s where she came in. One of the limitations of police work in a small town was the difficulty of going undercover. It was hard to pretend to be someone else when half the town knew you since diapers. Thus when Burkeville needed female officers to provide the bait, it tapped the police in neighboring towns. Sarah had volunteered.

Going undercover as a prostitute might seem like a hard day’s work, but to be honest, it was a welcome break from Cole and the rest of the team. Cole was constantly sniffing around her business, even as his end game remained a mystery. Did he think she was the arsonist? Did the others think so, too? Donovan had never liked her and would take any excuse to get her removed as sheriff.

Unfortunately, as much as Cole affected her, she couldn’t stop herself from liking him. More than liking perhaps, but she would absolutely not explore that. He was dedicated to his job and had already proven a valuable asset to the force. She tried to avoid him as much as possible, but it would be difficult going forward. They needed to work closely to solve the arsonist case.Of course, they also had their prize, the trip to the Renaissance fair, this weekend. How was she going to handle that?

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