Changing the Rules (Richter Book 1)(94)
Clearly Levine could have implicated Tony.
In the end, the outcome was the best Claire and the team could have hoped for.
Marie was in a protection program tucked so deep she’d probably never see her family again. But from what Claire had learned, that wasn’t a hardship.
Neil said nothing about Olivia, or indicated if the woman was still watching over Marie. Claire secretly hoped she was.
And now Claire was staring down three of her runners who insisted on calling her by her last name.
“Okay, Coach Claire. What do you think of this dress for prom?”
Claire looked at Leah, then the dress. “What does the back look like?”
Leah swiped the screen on her phone to the right. Claire blew out a breath. “Can you see your butt in that?” It dipped that low.
“Not really.”
“Who’s your date again?”
Leah told her and Claire smiled. “Okay, that dress is fine.”
“My date makes a difference?”
“Yeah, your date is too shy. He won’t know what to do when you walk in wearing that.”
They all laughed, and Cooper walked up behind Claire and rested his chin on her shoulder. “What are you guys looking at?”
“Prom dresses.”
“Girls!” he said, chuckling.
“Oh, yeah . . . show him.”
Leah turned her phone around and showed him the picture.
“No. Absolutely not,” Cooper said, deadpan.
“What about Coach Kelly, can she wear that dress to prom?”
Claire looked up at him, waited for his answer.
“Yes. Absolutely.”
More laughter.
The girls ran off and Claire relaxed in his arms. “Can you believe we’re out here in this heat while Jax is in the Bahamas on some beach drinking a mai tai?”
“I don’t care where we are, as long as you’re with me.”
“Awww. That totally sounds like a line.”
“Even if it’s true?”
“Yup.”
She turned in his embrace, wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m really glad you changed the rules.”
He leaned down and gave her a brief kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” And she did, a little more and a little harder every day.
“How do you think Jax would feel if I moved in while she was gone?”
Claire looked at him like he was crazy. “I thought you already did.” He’d stayed every night since the busts.
“Okay, then. That’s settled.”
“You might need to ask Neil.”
Cooper pulled her in close. “I have other questions for Neil.”
“Oh? What?”
“About changing more rules.”
Her suspicious bone tingled.
“Don’t I need to approve rule changes?”
“Sometimes you need a father’s approval.”
Never in a million years did she believe she’d be having this kind of conversation with Cooper Lockman.
“I’m a size six,” she said putting her left hand out in front of her.
He kissed her a little too hard and a little too long.
The athletes close by started clapping.
Claire clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Public displays of affection in front of the kids, what will they think?”
He pressed his lips to her ear. “Wear that dress to prom and we’ll really give them something to talk about.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I feel the need to take a moment here to stress that Auburn High and Bremerton High as detailed in this book are completely fictional. I’ve placed them in Southern California in ambiguous cities I purposely didn’t name. I did so to express that human trafficking can, and likely is, happening right where you live. In my research, I was shocked to learn of the prevalence of this tragic crime.
I want to thank all the teachers, coaches, and mentors that actively work to keep their students from falling victim. Thanks to the school administrators that do in fact have undercover operations in our high schools to flush out the criminals responsible.
I also need to take a moment to say that every track coach I’ve ever encountered has been nothing but incredible to their students, and to the best of my knowledge would never put their students at risk. But alas . . . I do write fiction, and someone has to be the bad guy. And sadly, in real life, the bad guy is often the one closest to the victims.
Slavery has never gone away, it simply went underground.
Education and awareness often lead to intervention. So please, educate yourselves and your children. The life you might be saving could be closer than you think.
Catherine
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It might sound strange, but I need to thank a few of my characters. Neil MacBain (Fiancé by Friday). When Neil first showed up on the page, I knew I had to write his story. Little did I know he would be a character that spans three of my series.
Sasha Budanov (Say It Again) was yet another of those characters that I couldn’t let go. Which led me to Claire Kelly and the first book in this new series.
Thank you to Amazon Publishing and Montlake, Maria Gomez and the team, for allowing me creative freedom to continue writing these dynamic characters.