Once a Hero. Lisa Childs

hope I didn’t miss anything,” a woman interrupted as she rushed up to join them.

      Sergeant Terlecki stepped back. “Not at all. Class hasn’t started yet,” he assured her, before turning and walking back to his fellow officers.

      Erin released the breath she’d been holding, as the other woman emitted a lusty sigh.

      “Oh, I think I did miss something,” the newcomer insisted, staring after Terlecki.

      Erin pushed her organizer farther down the table and settled onto a chair away from the younger woman. Erin was the one who’d missed something—hearing about whatever Sergeant Kent Terlecki wanted to do to her. But given the articles she wrote about how inept he was at his job, at keeping the public informed, she could guess….

      HE WANTED TO WRING her pretty little neck. Kent relaxed his fingers, which had clutched the Chronicle so tightly the newsprint had torn. He tossed it on the table behind which most of the officers were talking amongst themselves, as the citizens filed in for class.

      The watch commander, Lieutenant Patrick O’Donnell, glanced up from marking notes on index cards. “So what’s her deal with you?” he asked, nodding toward Erin Powell. “Did you break her heart?”

      Kent snorted. “I doubt she actually has a heart. Or a soul.”

      Paddy, as he was called by his friends, chuckled. “How do you really feel about her?”

      Kent wished he knew. She was so damn infuriating, yet she fascinated him, too. “I think I need my head examined for agreeing to let her join the academy.”

      Paddy narrowed his eyes, which were nearly the same reddish brown color of his hair, and scrutinized Kent. “I left it up to you. I would have been happy to decline her application.”

      Paddy had begun the Lakewood Citizen’s Police Academy before he’d been promoted to watch commander, but even after his promotion, he continued as lead instructor. The program was his pet project and meant a lot to the lieutenant.

      “I’m sorry about her article,” Kent murmured.

      Paddy shrugged. “Why? You can’t control what she writes.”

      No, he couldn’t, despite his best efforts. She always found something wrong with his press releases about accidents or shootings. She always accused him of hiding something from the public no matter how open he was with information. “She didn’t give you the credit you deserve.”

      The lieutenant chuckled again. “I’m perfectly happy with her not writing about me.”

      “That’s why I okayed her joining,” Kent admitted. “I’d hate to think what she would have written if you’d turned down her application.” Chances are she would have accused them of conspiring against her.

      He glanced over, to find her scribbling something on her ever-present pad. Since class hadn’t started yet, he doubted she was jotting down notes on the CPA. She was probably working on another article about how incompetent he was in his undeserved position.

      A lock of silky brown hair slid across her cheek until she pushed it behind her ear. Her eyes were the same chocolate-brown. And her figure…it was tall and slender, with curves in all the right places. How could she be so damn pretty, yet such a witch?

      “I’m really not worried about her writing about me,” Paddy assured him. “She seems pretty focused on you.”

      “Too focused.” Since Erin had been hired at the Chronicle a year ago, Kent had often been the subject of her articles. She was young, ambitious and obviously trying to make a name for herself, so he tried not to take it personally, but he couldn’t help thinking that it was personal.

      Again he looked toward the table where she sat. While the young girl who’d interrupted them waved, Erin glared at him. “I don’t know what I could have done to her,” he murmured.

      Paddy followed his gaze. “You’re sure you didn’t break her heart?”

      Kent shook his head. He would have remembered if he’d ever dated Erin Powell. Her dark hair skimmed the edge of her delicate jaw, emphasizing those wide brown eyes and sharp cheekbones. She was really beautiful, but he’d rather date one of the K9s than her. The police dogs were less likely to bite.

      FRUSTRATION SET ERIN’S nerves on edge. She hadn’t expected much from the Citizen’s Police Academy, since she was convinced that Terlecki had started it to promote the glowing image he constantly tried to sell of the police department. He had some reporters convinced he was great and wonderful; the local television networks fawned over him.

      Erin had intended to make the most of joining the program, but even when the district captains and the chief had introduced the officers of the Lakewood Police Department, the public information officer had been the one who’d answered or evaded her questions.

      “Chief,” she called out as she followed the giant of a man down the corridor leading away from the conference room. After the chief had given his speech, the watch commander had called for a break.

      Chief Archer stopped midstride and glanced at Erin over his broad shoulder. “Ms. Powell, can I help you?”

      “Yes,” she said, some of her frustration easing now that she had him alone. “You can answer some of my questions.”

      Archer grinned the infamous trust-inspiring grin that had probably helped him earn the top spot in the department at a relatively young age. “You have more? It seems Sergeant Terlecki answered everything you asked during class.”

      “Not the ones about him,” she pointed out.

      The chief tilted his head, studying her. “What would you like to know about the sergeant?”

      “How did he get his cushy job as your public information officer?”

      The chief’s grin faded. “He earned it, Ms. Powell.”

      “How? What did he have to do to become your golden boy?” she persisted. The nickname she’d given Terlecki fit him more aptly than Bullet. “How many innocent people did he have to arrest?” Besides her brother.

      The chief’s jaw grew taut. “You really know nothing about the sergeant, Ms. Powell.”

      She knew more than they thought she did. Even if Terlecki remembered Mitchell, he wouldn’t connect her to her half brother because of their different last names. Despite the year she’d spent scrutinizing the sergeant’s reports, she hadn’t found the proof she needed to free Mitchell. “He didn’t hold the Lakewood Police Department arrest record before his promotion?”

      “Ms. Powell, the sergeant is—”

      “The one who’s supposed to be answering your questions,” Terlecki interjected as he joined them in the hallway. “Thank you, sir. I know you’re in a hurry, so I’ll handle Ms. Powell.”

      The chief sighed. “Kent, you should just tell her—”

      Terlecki interrupted again with a shake of his head, then waved off his boss as if Kent was the superior officer.

      “Tell me what?” Erin asked as he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and drew her down the hall.

      “Nothing you need to know,” he said dismissively.

      Since she’d started at the Chronicle, he had been trying to dismiss her. She tugged on her wrist, but his grasp tightened. “So this is how you’re going to ‘handle’ me?”

      After leading her into an empty room, Kent closed the door, then released her. “I’d hardly risk an accusation of police brutality, Ms. Powell. I simply thought you’d like some privacy for your interview.”

      Shut inside a small room with no furniture, only cardboard boxes sitting about, Erin realized how completely alone they were. Terlecki stood between her and the door, blocking her escape. Unnerved, she licked