Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel Read Online Free Page B

from agitation, to anxiety.
    After setting the parking brake, it took her a while to get out of the car because she hadn’t had a clue about the questions she would ask them. She couldn’t go inside and say “Hi, my name is Amour Graciette and I’m here to find out who possibly killed my mother twenty-seven years ago. I have no evidence, no possible suspects and no motive. In fact, I didn’t even really know her!” They would think she was crazy. She could start by showing them the research she’d found online and explaining to them what her father had told her but even that was all circumstantial; she wasn’t even sure if they would even consider even taking that seriously. Well, it was only one way to find out. Either she would roll the dice and take the gamble, or she would take her father’s advice and let it go. She definitely wasn’t going to do the latter even though that would probably be in her best interest. She had come this far though; so she might as well follow through. Besides, she’d promised her father that if things became too much for her to handle or she hit too many dead ends, she would leave L.A., come home and forget the whole thing. So what did she have to lose?
    Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she walked through the shaded entrance of the police station because she still hadn’t had a good grip on how to plead her case to them. Her eyes locked on the three vending machines by the door making her sick to her stomach at the sight of the food inside them. She hadn’t had anything but coffee all morning but there was no way she could eat now even if she wanted to; she was too nervous. Pausing at the door, she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a few seconds before slowly stepping inside.
    She approached the large wooden and white desk in the lobby and stood behind an older woman who was sobbing and had appeared to have been beaten up very badly. While she waited, she observed the lobby of the station and noticed the array of activities that surrounded her. Omaha police stations weren’t quite as busy as this one, at least not where she lived, but she figured a city like Los Angeles would have quite a lot going on considering what a huge town it was. A large wanted poster caught her eye that hang on the wall behind the desk offering a fifty-thousand dollar reward for the capture of an eerie looking man named Phillip Rucker. Fifty-thousand dollars? She thought. He must’ve really done something terrible for that kind of reward. Another officer had escorted the woman in front of her out of the room by the time she had regained her focus on the task at hand.  Her eyes locked with the female officer at the desk as she approached her.
    “Hello. What can I do for you ma’am?” The officer asked as she stapled a small stack of papers together.
    Ma’am? Really? “Hello. I’m looking for some information on my mother’s death. I was told that this was the police station that handled her case.” She placed the small red tote bag that held the paperwork she’d printed out on top of the desk.
    The officer’s eyebrows form a groove as her brown eyes lowered onto the tote bag. “Okay, what’s your name?”
    “Amour Graciette.” She slid the papers out of the bag and placed them on the desk. “My mother’s name was Carly Graciette. I’ve done some research on her death before coming here.” She looked back up at the officer. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”Her father had always told her to get the name of any person giving her important information.
    “I’m Officer Winslow,” the woman replied while skimming through the papers Amour had provided. “This case is over twenty-five years old; I’m not sure how much we can help you,” she said while handing the papers back to Amour. “And it’s been solved.”
    “I understand that this is a closed case but I’ve just received new information that gave me reason to believe that my mother was possibly