Page 60 of Billionaire Protector

“Any new leads?”

Sarah gasped and pivoted, dropping the file she’d been holding and spilling its contents all over the floor. Cole hovered right next to her, stalwart and authoritative, his muscular chest filling her vision. She hadn’t even heard him enter her office. Clearly, her usually sharp police instincts had hitched a ride with her mind and were currently soaring through the stratosphere.

This was getting bad.

“Let me.” Cole delved closer, but she waved him away, bending down to pick up the papers herself. Frustration tangled with annoyance, irritation and anger – not at him, but at herself. If Cole could so easily startle her in her own office, what would happen when a true emergency rose?

Yet even that awareness couldn’t stop the attraction – uninvited, immediate and all-encompassing. Today Cole wore blue jeans and a black shirt that molded to every single muscle.She should make a rule he wear something far less distracting, like a paper bag. Strike that, he would be attractive in a paper bag, especially if it just covered his… ahem. She wrenched her thoughts from the gutter, refocused on the man who was as tempting as a chocolate ice scream sundae she wanted to lick right up.

“What did you say?”

She looked up sharply. “What?”

“I thought you said something.”

Not good.Not only was she indulging in lustful thoughts about Cole, she was unconsciously vocalizing them.

“Something about licki–”

“Kicking!” she shot out. “I could be kicking myself right now.” To be fair, it was true. “But to answer your question, we don’t have any new leads.” She tossed the file on her desk. The case was frustrating, but even it didn’t overwhelm her like the force that was Cole Carter.

As always, he read her perfectly. “It’s hard to concentrate when you’re preoccupied. Are you ready to talk about it?”

She reopened the file, burying her nose in it. She wasn’t hiding from him, just studying intently. “Talk about what?”

His silence said she wasn’t fooling him. “I’ll give you time, but not forever. Eventually, you’re going to have to face me.”

Yes, she would.

Yet for now, she had a reprieve, as he backed away. “As for the case, there has to be some leads.”

Sarah sighed and lowered the file once more. “There really aren’t any, at least none that are apparent. The usual suspects didn’t pan out, and every possible culprit has a tight alibi for one or more of the incidents. Of course, there could be a group working together, but it’s much more difficult to hide that sort of thing. Usually someone gets careless.”

“What about theunusualsuspects?”

Sarah straightened. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “It sounds like you’ve ruled out the most likely culprits – people with long records or delinquents. However, the repeat offenders don’t always commit the crime.” He looked at her pointedly. “Sometimes you think of people in a certain way, and when something happens, you just assume. But maybe you have to look a little deeper.”

He was not just talking about the case, and not even about the present. Had he somehow discovered the truth? “Is that what you’re doing?” Immediately she wished she could take it back, even as curiosity soared. Was he planning to dig into her past? Was healreadydigging into her past?

He regarded her evenly. “It’s time somebody did.”

She stiffened. If he looked deep enough, he would discover a far different past than he remembered. She forced herself forward. “If you look at it that way, everyone in town is a suspect.”

The sides of his lips quirked up. “Then it’s lucky we don’t live in New York City.”

Small favors.It was a clever point from a far too clever man, and one to be taken seriously. It was easy to miss clues from the least expected culprit, just as it was easy to find unfounded ones in those you expect. She gestured to the bulletin board, where photographs from each incident were spread in a meticulous grid. “We’ve been speculating on possible motives. We don’t think he’s trying to hurt anyone or cause major damage since none of the incidents accomplished either, thank goodness. Of course, there’s always the ‘just for kicks’ or ‘not quite all there’ motive.”

“True.” Cole leaned back on the desk. “Although someone capable of committing arson due to instability is likely to already be on your radar. My money is there’s some sort of logic behind this.”

“If there is, we haven’t found it. We can’t connect any two of the crime scenes, much less all of them.”

“Maybe there’s something else that connects them. Something not related to their locations.” Cole studied the bulletin board. “Think about it. What are the repercussions of a crime spree? The town gets a reputation, the area isn’t as nice, people don’t feel safe.”

“This is the first time Harmony Creek feels unsafe.” Sarah fingered the badge she’d worked so hard to earn. Its point pricked the soft tissue of her finger, sending a shot of pain up her arm. “It’s during my watch. I feel awful about that.”

Cole turned sharply from the board, peered at her. “What did you say?”

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