Star Spangled Cowboy by Paige Warren Read Free Book Online

it. If you hadn’t come looking for me, I’d be dead right now.”
    Tyson silenced her with a finger across her lips. “Don’t even talk like that. I got to you in time, and that’s all that matters. I’d like to have gotten there sooner and stopped him from hurting you, but you’re alive, and that’s what counts. With some luck, Carlos will be rotting behind bars soon enough.”
    “The deputy asked how long I’d worked for Carlos, but he never asked my age. Do you think it would make a difference if they knew he’d picked me up off the streets while I was still a minor?”
    “Oh, hell yeah.”
    She nibbled on her lower lip. “Will you call the sheriff’s department for me? I don’t think I can go through all that again, not right now anyway.”
    “I’ll take care of it while you shower. They may want to talk to you again when you’re up for it. Just remember, the sooner they have all the facts, the sooner they can arrest Carlos and charge him with prostitution and attempted murder, just to start.” He swallowed hard. “I have to know, Dacey. Did he ever touch you when you were still underage?”
    “Will it make you look at me differently?”
    “Not a bit.”
    “It was how I paid for a place to sleep until I had enough money saved to buy my trailer.”
    He felt sick and hoped the contents of his stomach didn’t make another appearance. He’d known things were bad for her, but he’d never guessed how bad. If he ever got his hands on Carlos, the man was dead. Forget jail time. That was too light a sentence for what he did to Dacey. He didn’t just force her into a life of prostitution, he killed her childhood, her hopes, and her dreams, and he made her feel like worthless trash. He didn’t deserve to draw breath another moment.
    He watched Dacey rummage through the sacks, find what she needed, and close herself in the bathroom. While she showered, he made good on his promise and called the sheriff’s department. When the told them about Carlos picking her up as a minor, and forcing her to service him as part of her room and board, he could hear the anger in the deputy’s voice.
    “That sorry sack of shit isn’t going to see the light of day if I have anything to say about it,” Deputy Watson said. “How’s the girl doing?”
    “Woman, deputy. She’s all woman, and she’s doing fine. The doctor said it would be six weeks before she was fully healed, but I plan to make sure she takes it easy and gets the rest she needs. And maybe while we have all this downtime, she can figure out what she wants out of life.”
    “Well, not to stick my nose into her business, but if she wants her G.E.D., there’s a class starting at the library on Wednesdays next week. They’re meeting on Wednesday and Friday for a month, and then during the last class, the librarian has arranged for an official test to be given. It will be open to anyone who wants to take it, and there’s a fee for both the class and the test, but if she’s interested, it would give her something to do while she heals.”
    “Thanks, deputy. I’ll make sure she knows about the class. Might be good for her to at least try it out, and if she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t have to keep going.”
    Tyson disconnected the call and started pulling Dacey’s new clothes out of the bags. He organized them on the bed so it would be easy for her to look through everything, and then he gave her some space. He’d seen her naked plenty of times, had even seen her scar already, but it didn’t give him the right to gawk at her while she was feeling so vulnerable.
    One way or another, he was going to help her regain her confidence. She knew she held all the power in the bedroom, that her skills could bring any man to his knees, but it was out of the bedroom that she seemed to feel unworthy of anyone’s love or time. Tyson wanted to change that, to give her back her freedom and her sense of self, even if he wasn’t entirely sure how to go about it.