Prince Charming Wears a Badge Read Online Free Page A

and documents that had been packed into boxes and were now taking up much of the walking space in his already cramped office.
    He’d received an anonymous email late last week about discrepancies in the town’s financial records. With no ability to track down where the email had originated, he had immediately requested a court order before the records could be doctored. After Judge Parsons had signed off on it, Tyler had requested the records be brought to his office from a building down the street. He’d never imagined there would be so much paper involved.
    What happened to going digital like the rest of the country?
    Then he considered where he was living. A small town in western Maryland. Even though a few residents commuted to DC or Baltimore, the majority had lived here most of their lives and rarely ventured more than an hour or so away. They preferred to keep their lives simple.
    His phone rang. “Chief Garrett.”
    â€œGood morning, Chief Garrett. This is Dr. Jeffrey Hammond. I’m a psychologist in Bethesda and I have a court-ordered patient who will be coming to Whittler’s Creek to do her community service. I sent you an email over the weekend with the details.”
    Great. Just what he needed. Another criminal coming to town. “I haven’t gotten to email yet this morning.” He glanced at the banker’s boxes surrounding his desk and shook his head.
    â€œI understand.” Dr. Hammond went on to give Tyler a few details. “I’m not at liberty to explain too much about Ms. James’s current situation, but she grew up there and still has family in town. I trust that you will provide adequate supervision for her court-ordered community service?”
    â€œAbsolutely.” Ms. James? As in Callie James? If that’s who it was, he hadn’t seen her in years. Not since he’d witnessed her explosive temper the night he’d walked her home from a party. He’d had a huge crush on her, asking her out several times but getting the same negative response from her each time. The night of the party he thought he’d been the luckiest guy in Whittler’s Cove until her true personality revealed itself.
    He fired up his dated desktop computer while Dr. Hammond continued talking.
    â€œThank you for understanding and for your discretion.” By the time Dr. Hammond disconnected, Tyler’s computer was finally opening the email program.
    He needed to take a look at the town’s budget and see about new computers. How was he expected to do his job if he couldn’t even check email in a timely fashion?
    He wiped sweat from the back of his neck. The air-conditioning was on the fritz again, too, and the outside temperature on this July morning was already in the low eighties.
    The program finally opened and he found Dr. Hammond’s email. There it was. Callie James. Grew up in Whittler’s Creek and has family issues to deal with.
    No kidding. Callie’s stepsister used to hang out with Tyler’s sister back in high school, and the stepsister had been a terrible influence on Isabelle. Thankfully, the two young women had gone their separate ways after high school.
    Had Callie changed since high school? Obviously not, if she had community service hours to fulfill. According to his sister and what he’d witnessed, Callie could be as mean and nasty as an angry wasp.
    What about physically? Had she let herself go as much as others he’d seen around town? She’d always kept her light blond hair long, allowing it to swing to and fro or weaving it into a thick braid. Was it still long? Did she still twist it around her fingers when she became nervous?
    He remembered her cupid’s-bow lips, shiny with lip gloss. How he’d always wanted to taste her mouth, wondering if she used fruit-flavored gloss like some of the other girls their age. But he’d kept his distance because his sister had always insisted that Callie