Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 by Karen Whiddon (good e books to read txt) 📗

the showroom. Immediately, several salesmen appeared, talking quietly among themselves, their suits nearly identical in color and style. Finally, one man detached himself from the group and strolled over, smiling broadly. “Can I help you?” he asked. “I’m Johnnie.”

“As a matter of fact, you can,” Micha replied. “I’m interested in a Jeep Wrangler out on the lot.” He led the man over to the one he’d chosen.

“Would you like to take it for a test drive?” Johnnie asked.

Micha declined. “I’ve driven them before.” Instead, he asked the man to name his best price without doing the usual talk-to-my-manager dance. At first, Johnnie looked a bit startled, but then he grinned. “Give me a minute,” he said, jotting down the inventory number and motioning to Micha to come inside with him.

Two hours later, Micha found himself the proud owner of the sweet black Wrangler. Johnnie told him he’d have it cleaned up and ready to go by Tuesday morning, but Micha insisted he needed it now and was willing to wait. He planned to leave Carly’s car parked at the dealership until he could pick up Carly from work and swing back to get it. The lot had numerous cameras, so Micha figured that would be the safest option. And he’d be driving a vehicle that no one would associate with him.

“Now, huh?” Johnnie asked.

“Please.” Micha grimaced. “I really need it immediately. Or as soon as you can get it to me.”

With a shrug, Johnnie pointed toward the waiting area. “I’ll put a rush on it. Might be an hour or two. There’s coffee and snacks in there.”

Micha sat down to wait. He figured he could use this time to handle the car rental agency and the insurance. Just after he got a cup of coffee and took a seat, his cell phone rang. After glancing at it, he went ahead and answered, even though he didn’t recognize the number.

“This is Special Agent Brad Howard,” the caller said. “Is this Micha Harrison?”

After Micha replied in the affirmative, Brad got down to the reason for his call. “We have more information on the car explosion. It was a highly sophisticated setup, usually practiced by those with military experience. Rigged to detonate the instant the engine came on.”

“I suspected as much,” Micha said. “I saw a lot of similar bombings when I was stationed in Afghanistan.”

“Interesting background,” Brad allowed. “Which, of course, we looked into. I’m sure you guessed we’d be checking on you.”

“I’d have been disappointed if you hadn’t.”

“Could you provide us with a list of people who might hold a grudge against you?” Brad asked. “Even if some of the names seem improbable, they might be worth looking into.”

Micha thought back to his time in special ops. “Any enemies I made were terrorists or people working against the USA. None of them would have had reason enough to hunt me down two years later. If someone had wanted to take me out, their best bet would have been during my extended hospital stay. I was in a coma for a long time.”

“We’d still like you to compile a list,” the special agent requested. “It never hurts to check all angles.”

“I’ll get you something by the end of the day,” Micha promised. “Any news on the double homicide? The one that seemed similar to the elder Coltons’ murders?”

After a moment of hesitation, Brad replied. “The victims were older males, both shot in the head. We believe their murders were the work of two gunmen with rifles. I’ve been tasked with investigating a serial killer possibility. So far, I’m still working on that.”

Which meant he either had nothing, or he didn’t want to tell Micha. Understandable.

“I’ll save your number in my phone,” Micha said. “Is it okay with you if I text the list? It’s probably going to be really short, anyway.”

“No problem. Let me know if you think of anything else.”

After ending the call, Micha spent a few minutes trying to come up with names of anyone stateside who could hate him enough to want to kill him. He couldn’t think of anyone. Maybe that guy Carly had been dating until Micha showed up again? But no, Carly had said her former boyfriend had willingly let her go. Which meant he clearly hadn’t cared deeply for her.

Since he wasn’t getting anywhere, Micha decided he might as well call the car rental agency and let them know what had happened to their car. The police had promised to email a police report, and since Micha had taken out insurance, he’d need to file a claim.

Dealing with all of that took a little more than an hour. After hanging up, Micha eyed the clock on the waiting room wall and decided to go search for Johnnie to see if he had an estimated wait time.

Just as he approached the salesman, Johnnie looked up and grinned. “We’re all set,” he proclaimed. “They’re bringing around your new vehicle now.”

Walking out front with Johnnie, Micha waited patiently while Johnnie went over all of his new vehicle’s features. Finally, he accepted the keys and drove off in the Jeep, feeling confident that whoever had blown up the rental car wouldn’t recognize him.

For now, he considered himself essentially invisible.

* * *

Troubled and restless, Carly got busy immediately after signing on to her shift. For over a month now, she’d gone through her days with a vague sense of unease, starting after her father and uncle had been murdered. At first, she’d attributed all of that to grief. Then, when she’d begun to suspect someone was stalking her, she’d wondered if she’d gotten paranoid. The discovery of a video camera on her kitchen window and a car bomb blowing up Micha’s rental car had definitely proved she wasn’t, as well as upped the stakes. Another set of double murders, a possible serial killer on the loose in Chicago and the sudden return of a man she’d believed dead was enough to cause anyone to stumble.

Now that Micha had come back