Sworn to Protect Read Online Free PDF Page B

like his father’s—the portrait of devastation.
    “There was nothing you could do,” he told his new charge, and prayed that was true. That, horrible as it might sound, Brad was gone long before the boy got home. “We’re going to get through this together.”
    Drew’s chin trembled and his gaze dropped to the ground. “I don’t know what to do.”
    “You’re coming home with me, all right? I’m going to see about getting inside to pack you a bag, and the rest we’ll worry about later.”
    “O-okay.” He sniffled, looking around in a daze.
    It hadn’t hit Drew yet that he wouldn’t be coming back here to live. That he’d not only lost his dad, but everything familiar to him as well—his home, school, friends, his entire way of life. Shane didn’t look forward to the coming explosion.
    And there
would
be one, he was certain.
    “Drew, this is my friend Daisy Callahan,” he said, feeling self-conscious about introducing her as such. She’d been
much
more than a friend. “We work together at the police department.”
    “Hi.” The boy tried to muster a smile, but failed.
    “Hey, Drew,” she greeted him warmly, placing a supportive arm around his shoulders. “I’m going to stay here with you while Shane gets your stuff and clears you to leave. Is that all right?”
    “I guess.”
    Tossing Daisy a look of sheer gratitude, Shane squeezed Drew’s shoulder. Then he turned to Officer Daniels, who motioned him several yards away from the stricken teen so they could speak discreetly.
    “Your papers appear to be in order, and they support the call we received from Mr. Cooper’s attorney. You’re free to take Drew home.”
    Shane blew out a breath. “Thanks.”
    The officer wiped at her tired, bloodshot eyes. “I gotta be honest. If the dead guy was anybody else, nobody would give two shits about this kid or where he went.” She shot a pointed glare in the general direction of the gate and the clamoring press beyond. “As it is, I hope you’ve got a giant set of brass balls, ’cause you’re gonna need ’em to fend off the sharks. I don’t envy you one single bit.”
    He merely nodded, not taken aback by her blunt observation. Cops tended to be direct like that with each other. But the reminder that the grieving young man would be under a microscope until the furor died down brought all his protective instincts to the fore. “We’ll be just fine.”
Eventually.
“Who’s in charge? I need to see about retrieving some of Drew’s belongings.”
    “That’d be Detective Lacey. Go on in, tell him I sent ya.”
    “Thank you, and thanks for taking care of Drew, too.”
    The older woman gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Not an unkind smile, but one of a cop who’d seen too much. “No problem. He seems like a good kid, and I hope things turn out okay for him.”
    “Me, too.”
    He left her and made his way up the deck steps and through the French doors leading into the living room. No one spared him their attention, focused as it was on the activity in the study on the opposite side of the room. With every step in that direction, the band around Shane’s chest grew tighter until he struggled to breathe.
    When two plainclothes detectives and the ME parted enough to give him a full view of Brad lying on the floor, arms and legs splayed helplessly, Shane had to stop. His best friend was faceup, lips blue, eyes open, staring sightlessly in what might have been mild surprise.
    Dead. Not a horrible nightmare. It was
real
.
    And poor Drew had seen his dad like this.
    Shane almost reached for the door frame, but ingrained training halted him from touching any part of the crime scene—if that’s what they had here. Instead he bent at the waist, hands on his knees, and concentrated on taking air into his lungs before he passed out and made their work more difficult.
    “Hey, man, you okay?” A hand landed on his back.
    “No.” He wasn’t sure he would be ever again.
    “You need to sit