Badge of Honor (5 page)

“Tiffany…” she said as she collapsed.

Nick stepped up, catching her before she hit the ground. Sarah called for the ambulance, picked up the plastic cup and shoved the other students away.

High-pitched voices screamed all around them, like the wave at an athletic event.

Nick carried the girl outside as Sarah cleared a path so the paramedics could pull the gurney up and examine her. “Did you catch her name?” he asked.

“Just Tiffany.” Sarah asked the medic for a bag for the cup. Maybe they'd be able to get an analysis of the contents. “She insisted she had only one beer, and she saw the kid pour it from a bottle. She claimed this was her cup.” She told the paramedics about the girl swaying and clutching her stomach as she'd interviewed her.

Nick shook his head as they walked back inside. “Don't these kids realize how easily bottles can be tainted, then recapped? Or drinks doctored? I mean, why else pour them into a cup?”

“Tiffany!” a young woman screamed, bolting past the officer guarding the door.

Nick stopped her. “You know Tiffany?”

“We're roommates,” she cried. “Is she okay? What happened?”

“We don't know yet. She collapsed. We need to get some information from you so we can contact her family,” Sarah said, hoping to get Tiffany's personal details from the roommate. When she had done so, Nick questioned the woman further about the party, while Sarah took the information to the paramedics, who were stabilizing their patient before transporting her to the hospital.

Sarah rejoined Nick after the ambulance left. Two hours later, they finally finished policing the party—weeding out underage drinkers, sending those who were sober back to their dorm rooms with campus security officers, and transporting half a dozen more who were dangerously intoxicated to the hospital. The renters of the house, however, were nowhere to be found.

The place was tucked among a full block of fraternity and sorority houses less than two miles from Beth's home. No one present tonight had seemed to know if this particular house was one of them, or just an unofficial place to party without putting any group's charter in jeopardy.

After they finished there, Nick and Sarah stopped at the hospital to check up on Tiffany. She had definitely been slipped something, but the drug hadn't been identified yet. She was going to be okay—for today.

When they got back to the precinct, Sarah logged on to the computer. She found just how easy it was to get to the message boards after creating a user name.

“Nick, look at this,” she said. “It's the announcement for the party. It doesn't even give a name for who's hosting, just an address.”

He leaned over her shoulder to read the invitation. A few seconds later, he pressed the print icon, making an electronic image of the post, then suggested she send it to the campus police chief and their detectives. “Maybe between them they can find out who posted the message.”

Sarah opened her e-mail and sent the link to both of the men Nick had suggested. “Does the Fossil Creek PD ever offer community safety workshops? I think this is something we need to make public.”

“I agree. I know this is a campus issue, but it pertains to everyone in the community.” Nick leaned closer. “It looks like there are also faculty and staff from the college on here.” He pointed to a name. “Is that a relative of yours?”

Sarah's eyes widened and her heart raced. “It's my sister.”

S
arah clicked on Beth Roberts's profile as Nick looked over her shoulder. “Is that correct?” he asked as he pointed to the home address space.

She didn't answer.

“She obviously isn't worried about someone finding her. You might want to remind her that with you working in town now—”

“I've already tried,” Sarah said, frustration spewing from her like lava from a volcano. “Believe me, I've tried.”

He noted the suddenly ashen color of her face. “Is there anything I can do?”

She closed the Web site and logged off the computer. “If you have any changes you want me to make on the reports, let me know. I need to go talk to my sister. Again.”

A few minutes later, Sarah rushed out of the women's locker room, dressed in her street clothes, and headed toward the exit. Nick stopped her. “We need to talk, Officer Roberts.”

“It's a family matter and has nothing to do with the…this case…Sergeant.”

He wanted more than anything to believe her. But there was fear in her dark brown eyes, as well as fury. “What
does
it have to do with then?”

Sarah looked around uncomfortably, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her fitted jacket. “My sister's…safety. I can't talk about it. I need to go.”

“Why
not
talk about it?” He motioned to their surroundings. “Not here, you mean? Not to me? What's wrong?”

“Not here, not with you.” She looked him in the eye and he knew something was really wrong. “Trust me, you don't need to know.”

Nick felt the knife in his back again. Except this petite woman was standing right in front of him, and had more power to bring him down than a Mack truck.

He took a calming breath. This wasn't the two fellow cops he'd trusted evidence to; she was asking him to let her handle her sister.

Like he and his brother had stepped in to help their sister just a few months earlier. “I've been down this road already, Officer. I'm your FTO and you're leaving before finishing reports. I'd say I need to know,” he argued. “You may have credentials to get you here, but it's my duty to make sure you know how to survive. And I can assure you, a distracted officer may as well be going in front of a firing line without body armor.”

The silence between them lengthened as footsteps echoed down the hall. Sarah's voice softened as she said, “I wouldn't do that to you.” She glanced up, pleading with him. “Never.”

What was that supposed to mean? Did she know what he'd been through? Was she testing him? What could he say? “It's nothing personal, Officer Roberts. I don't trust anyone anymore. I've been blindsided once, but I learned my lesson. So your sister innocently put her address on the Web. Almost everyone's information can be found on the Internet if you look hard enough.”

“I know that all too well.” She nodded. “But I've been trying to reach Beth for hours. She's not answering. I went by her house before our shift, and she wasn't there.”

“You typically check in on her more than once a day?” He crossed his arms over his chest and waited. There had to be more to the story than an overly protective sister. “Is there something wrong with her? I mean, sorry, Roberts, but you're sounding a little—”

She held up her hand to stop him. “Don't go there, Nick.” As if she realized she'd just called him by his first name again, she shook her head and looked at him. “Sergeant Matthews, pardon me. But don't even—” Her voice cracked. “I've got to go.”

“I didn't mean to upset you, Sarah.” He waited for her to question his own lack of protocol. “We're clearly off duty now.”

She nodded. “Let's take it outside then.”

Nick followed her as she moved toward the door. “I think you'd better tell me what's going on.”

She stopped and stared at him as if they were a couple of teenagers playing games. “I told you the truth. This isn't because of the case. I need to talk to my sister, as a sister, not as a police officer.”

“Your car or mine then?” he suggested.

He wasn't going to give in. “Fine, I'll meet you in an hour at a restaurant. Just tell me where.” She looked down at her purse and dug for her keys.

“No way. If you're not going to talk about it here in private, you think I believe you'll tell me what's going on in a public restaurant? Until I find out what this is about, I'm your shadow.”

She pulled the tie from her braid, unraveled her hair and tossed the thick waves over her shoulders. He recalled how soft it had felt when he'd touched it before their shift began.

“Fine, follow me to my sister's house. I'll show you. All I need to do is make sure she's okay.”

“I've seen your driving skills. I'm not going to try to keep up. So, do you want to drive, or shall I?”

“I will,” she conceded, heading out the door.

Nick followed, hoping he didn't regret pushing her so hard. He removed his uniform shirt and Kevlar vest, leaving just the sweaty under-armor shirt. He tossed the garments onto the floor of her sport utility vehicle as he got inside. “So what's going on?”

Sarah remained silent, backing out of the parking space quickly. “My sister isn't answering my phone calls. She had a confrontation after class the other night. I'm worried.”

“I got that. So what about the confrontation makes you think she's in danger?”

“She didn't know the guy, or have any idea why he'd been waiting outside the classroom for her.”

Sarah didn't say as much, but the clues were all there. Nick was beginning to despise the accuracy of his gut instinct. How could he tell her that he'd suspected she had some personal connection to the assault case? Everyone, all the male officers, had been talking about it at the station. It made no sense that she hadn't been. “I'm sorry, Sarah.”

“Me, too, since she lives alone in a little house right off campus. She hasn't returned my calls in days. Yesterday, she wasn't home. Now I find her street address on a college community Web site? How can someone with a master's degree be so naive?” With each sentence, his partner seemed more and more relieved to be able to share her concerns.

Nick remembered all the turmoil stirred up by his own problems. “I don't know your sister, but I really do understand how you're feeling.” Would he be opening himself up to more pain by sharing his own mistakes? Or did she already know? “As your FTO, I have to remind you to stay out of any active investigation. Is there one?”

She came to a stop at a red light and turned to him. “I don't need a training officer right now, Nick. I'm not investigating, I'm checking on my sister.”

“Because of information you found that you think links her to a crime. I shouldn't have to tell you, that's a pretty fine line.”

“I can understand why you're suspicious, but I'm not here to test you. I am separated from the FBI, forever. I'm the one at
your
mercy right now, and believe me, I wish you weren't here.”

He gave her a critical stare.

“Right now, I'm a big sister.” She held out her hands. “Look, no uniform, no badge. I'm a civilian. If you're going to search me, my gun's in my bag.” She stared at him.

“You're blowing my concern all out of proportion, Sarah.”

“Even if I do seem like a bossy big sister, I'm sorry, that's who I am. So if you have a problem with that, get out now.” The light changed, but Sarah didn't move. “Does that mean you're okay with this?”

“It's green and you're blocking traffic. Get going,” he said impatiently. He understood her position, but after being stabbed in the back, he wanted to avoid any questionable calls.

She drove on through the intersection, not giving him another chance to climb out.

“You're going to talk to your sister. Nothing wrong with that.” He didn't dare tell Sarah he was concerned about her, too. He shouldn't be, he knew; he'd seen firsthand that she could take care of herself. Still, he didn't understand this need he had to find out more about her and her obsession to take care of her sister. He didn't like the fact that he wanted to get involved. “As soon as you confirm she's okay, call the detective, leave him a message about what you've found, and walk away.”

“But if something
is
wrong, I'm not walking,” she said as she swiftly turned the next corner.

“If it means a conviction or not, you will, on your own or by force. I'll handle it if necessary.” What was he saying? Why would he put himself on the line for a trainee, after officers he'd known for years had betrayed him?

“If something's wrong, you call dispatch and get lost,” she countered. “I'm not going to put
your
career in jeopardy, Nick. You shouldn't even be here now.”

“If your sister was involved in a case,
you'd
better get lost….” They tossed warnings back and forth like a hot potato, but when it came right down to it, he knew it wasn't in the nature of either of them to walk away. If something had happened, they'd both be right in the middle of it to the very end.

And that scared him to death. How could he have jumped right into another mess when he was being so careful to hold the world at arm's length?

“You're not even out of training yet. You can't start stepping on toes.”

A smile teased Sarah's lips. “Like you'll let me after that? I'll look forward to accepting that offer one day, Sergeant.” Suddenly the tension broke, as Nick realized that was not a professional response.

He didn't dare answer. Yeah, she was cute, and feisty, and just the kind of woman he could probably relate to, but she was his trainee. That was a flashing red light if he'd ever seen one.

Imminent danger.

Pulling away from the next stop sign, Sarah did what he should have long ago. Changed the subject. “It's pretty clear that everyone thinks I'm working for Internal Affairs. They don't trust me, and you don't, either.” She waited, as if he'd missed a question in her statement.

Nick shook off the realization that he'd like to accept her challenge. He forced her last comment to replay in his mind. “I don't trust anyone anymore. Don't take it personally. Only my brothers, and thanks to my careless mistake, no one trusts them now, either.”

“That's a pretty heavy burden to carry.”

“Apparently this issue with your sister is, too. You going to tell me what happened?”

She shook her head. “First, I need to make sure she's okay. She doesn't want to believe—”

As Sarah turned the corner, they both saw the flashing red and blue lights of three police cars ahead. She stopped right there in the middle of the road.

“Sarah, what…why are you stopping?”

“That's my sister's house!”