Sworn to Protect Read Online Free PDF

wishing the drive would never end. That he’d wake up from this nightmare and be glad that none of it was real. But it did end, all too soon, as Daisy pulled the truck to a stop outside the massive iron gates of Brad’s estate.
    Outside it was fully dark, the night broken by the flashing of red and blue lights in the yard beyond the estate’s walls—and by the frenzy of the media on their side of them. An officer was stationed at the gate, and walked over to the driver’s door with an unwelcoming frown as flashbulbs created a strobe effect.
    “No press and no unauthorized access to the premises,” he intoned, waving a hand in motion for them to get lost. “Please turn your vehicle around—”
    “I’m Detective Shane Ford, Sugarland PD, and I’m Drew Cooper’s legal guardian,” he barked, shoving the papers and his shield in the officer’s face. “I’m here to pick up Drew, and I want to see him
now
.”
    Arching a brow, the officer took the papers and scanned them with his flashlight. After a few seconds, he glanced up, his manner somewhat improved. “Hang on, Detective.” As he turned and walked a few feet away, Shane heard him speak into the microphone clipped to his shirt. “Got a man here, says his name is Detective Shane Ford . . .” His voice faded as he moved off.
    I probably could’ve handled that better,
Shane thought, but right now, he didn’t give a shit.
    A couple of long minutes later, the gate began to swing open. The officer walked back to the car and returned the papers and shield, thoroughly scrutinizing Shane and Daisy before saying, “You can go on through. The boy is outside with Officer Anita Daniels.”
    “Thank you.”
    He stepped back and Daisy pulled slowly down the drive, searching for a good place to park that would allow them to leave without being blocked in.
    “I’m going to pull around back,” she said thoughtfully. “That way when we leave, he can crouch down until we’re out and the gawkers won’t know what vehicle he’s in.”
    “Good idea.”
    She found a spot in the driveway in back, and turned the truck around to face the entrance before shutting off the ignition. Glancing out the window, Shane saw Drew standing on the wide back deck with several uniformed cops, including the woman that must’ve been Daniels.
    The boy looked so lost in the sea of activity. So alone. His shoulders were slumped, head down. And then he glanced up and spotted Shane getting out of the truck.
    Drew cried out and bolted straight off the deck, running for Shane as fast as his legs would carry him. Shane met him halfway, caught him, and wrapped the boy tight in his embrace. Drew clung to him and broke down, face buried in Shane’s neck, sobbing his heart out. The kid might be almost as tall as Shane, but right now he was a hurting boy. Despite Shane’s effort to hold back, he couldn’t help the tears that slipped down his face and into Drew’s dark hair.
    “I got home from school, got a snack, and messed around for a while, and—and I wondered where Dad was,” he gasped between sobs. “He d-didn’t come out to ask me about my day l-like he always does.”
    “You don’t have to talk about this now if you don’t want.” But apparently the boy needed to get it out. Shane held him tighter.
    “I walked around the house, calling him, but he didn’t answer. I—I found him on the floor of his study . . . He wasn’t breathing and I tried to help him! I couldn’t— He wouldn’t breathe!”
    “I’m here,” Shane whispered over and over. “I’m here, and it’s going to be okay. I’ve got you.”
    Vaguely, he was aware of Daisy taking the shield and papers from his hand and then speaking softly to someone. He wasn’t sure how long he and Drew stood clinging to each other, but gradually he stepped back, keeping his hands on the boy’s shoulders. Even in the poor lighting, he could see that Drew’s vivid blue eyes were swollen, the boy’s handsome face—so