Starks' Reality by Sarah Storme Read Free Book Online Page B

rage. She took a deep breath and started again.
    “When the ambulance got there, they took Coop to the hospital. He had two broken ribs, and Tran had a broken nose.
    “At the trial, Boudreaux said Coop had assaulted Tran, and that they’d had to wrestle him to the ground. They didn’t know who broke his ribs. Then I showed up and offered sexual favors in exchange for my father’s release.”
    “What did your father say?”
    “He had been too drunk to remember anything.”
    “Didn’t Tran testify? Or his son?”
    “No.” She turned to look him squarely in the eye. “No one testifies against the cops in Port Boyer.”
    “So, they found Coop guilty?”
    “ He got one year of probation because Boudreaux was nice enough to ask for leniency. After all, Coop’s a war hero.” She cringed at the biting sarcasm in her own voice.
    He nodded slowly. “Thanks for telling me.”
    Silence settled between them for a while, accompanied by the steady rhythm of waves gurgling over sand.
    “Where do you go to school?”
    “UT. In Austin.”
    He stretched out, resting his weight on his elbows, and crossed his feet. “What are you studying?”
    “Engineering.”
    “Yeah? Hmm.”
    She pursed her lips against a smirk. People didn’t expect her to be interested in engineering. At the beginning of every semester, the professors gave her that another-one-hunting-for-a-husband look. But with one semester left, she still carried a 3.95.
    “It must be tough as an attractive woman in engine ering.”
    Her defenses ros e at first, but when she met Starks’ gaze, she realized he’d meant the comment only as an observation. She tried to ignore the heat running up her neck, knowing he thought she was attractive.
    “Sometimes,” she said.
    “Yeah. People look at you without seeing who you are. Once they find out I’m a cop, they never treat me like a human being again. I’m just a badge, someone who’s out to catch them doing something wrong. Sometimes it sucks.”
    “B ut you don’t have to be a cop. I can’t change the fact that I’m female.”
    “You can change your major to art history.”
    “I hate art history.”
    He smiled at her. “And I’ll never be anything but a cop.”
    The man had an incredible smile.
    Heather leaned back on her hands and stretched her legs out in the sand.
    She felt better than she had when she’d left the bar, although the sudden connection with Starks wasn’t exactly relaxing. In fact, sitting beside him on the beach was a little too exciting. And the more she tried to convince herself that he was just a guy like any other guy she’d known, the more she knew it wasn’t true. There was something special about him that she couldn’t quite define.
    “How long hav e you been in school?”
    She sighed. “A while. I haven’t been able to go straight through, with Coop and all.”
    He nodded. “I figured as much. You’re file says you’re twenty- eight.”
    T he idea that he knew so much about her made her uncomfortable. What else had they recorded in her file ?
    “How long have you been a cop?” she asked.
    “Sixteen years with the Dallas PD.”
    “Why are you here? Is this like a promotion or something?”
    He hesitated a few seconds. “I needed a change.”
    The hard note in his voice tightened her chest.
    Jake Starks was running away from something. Whatever it was must be terrible. He didn’t seem like the type to run from simple adversity.
    ~~**~~**~~
    Kenny pulled into Jake’s driveway close to seven-thirty that evening, still in uniform, and still amazingly unwrinkled.
    Jake leaned against the squad car. “Have you been on duty all day?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Isn’t it about time for you to go home?”
    “Ye s, sir, I’m headed that way now.” Kenny stood in the open driver’s door. “I just wanted to let you know we had two more people sick.”
    “That brings the total to ten.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Any of them serious?”
    “I don’t think so. The doctor I