Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Dana Mentink (novels to improve english txt) 📗

file again. Her landlord said she’d told him when she left for Furnace Falls that her intention was to return in five days. She asked him to collect her mail. We went through it. Nothing of note.”

“Cell phone?” Beckett asked.

“None found. Receipts tell us she had one of those pay-as-you-go phones, so we couldn’t trace the number anyway.” He looked toward the courtyard, the lights of the torches glimmering in the distance.

“Rita knows something,” Laney said.

Jude scrubbed a weary hand over his face. “At the moment, I don’t have probable cause to get a search warrant for Rita’s car or belongings. She hasn’t broken any laws, and she isn’t a suspect in Pauline’s murder.”

Beckett flinched, and she knew what he was thinking. No, just him.

Her self-control unraveled. After all that had happened, it seemed to her that each moment was of the essence—there must be no more holding back. She put down her coffee. “Jude,” she said, “you don’t still think Beckett is guilty of Pauline’s murder.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “That’s not what we’re talking about here.”

“Yes, it is. Rita, Pauline’s mysterious mission in Furnace Falls, now this fire… You have to see that there are circumstances behind her death that none of us were aware of.”

Jude toyed with the coffee mug.

Beckett lifted a shoulder. “It’s okay, Laney.”

“No, it’s not,” she snapped. “You are cousins, family. Maybe you take that for granted because you both had blood relatives who raised you, but I don’t. What happened in high school changed you both. It could have brought you closer but instead it ripped you apart. You let it do that. Beckett didn’t kill Pauline, Jude, and you know it.”

Jude opened his mouth, then closed it. Beckett stared at her until her cheeks went hot and there was something soft and sweet in his gaze.

Jude finally spoke. “I think there is reason to believe Beckett was not at fault.”

Laney rolled her eyes, but Beckett broke into a smile.

“That’s good enough for me.”

Jude quirked a smile. “Good, ’cause that’s all you’re going to get for now.”

Laney sighed. It would have to do. “Now we can move on.”

Jude fingered his radio. “I could take another crack at talking to Rita.”

Beckett shook his head. “If you do, she’ll clam up. We may never find out what she knows.”

Laney chewed her lip. “Do you think it was Kenny who started the fire?”

Jude frowned. “Actually, he was spotted at a bar in Beatty two hours ago. That’s where I was before I came here. He’d already gone when I arrived. He could have had time to return and set the fire, or get his uncle to do it, but why would he when…?”

“When he’s got his original target so close by,” Laney finished. “Me.”

Beckett glowered as she told him about the shadow moving across her window. She stalled his complaint. “I know I should have mentioned it before, but it just plain slipped my mind. Besides, maybe it’s paranoia,” she said.

“You should go stay with Aunt Kitty,” Beckett said.

Jude chimed in. “Mom would love to have you.”

“And who is going to help Herm run this place?” she said.

“I will,” Beckett said.

“The last time I left you in charge of the laundry service, the washer exploded and we had suds up and down the hallway.”

“I’ll read the manual this time.”

She shook her head. “I’m staying here. We have a family checking in on Monday.” She held up a finger to silence Beckett and Jude. “If I am a target, I’m safer here with Herm and Levi looking out for me.”

She was gratified to see Jude nod. “She does have a point. Lots more people around here to keep her in their sights.” He got up from the table. “Got work to do. I’ll talk to Clouder and see if he can figure anything out from the burn patterns, and I’ll assign a unit stationed at the entrance for the rest of the night.” He kissed Laney on the cheek. “Stay safe, okay?”

“I will.” She shot him a teasing look. “Sure you don’t want some coffee to go?”

“Uh, no, thank you.”

She laughed and let him out.

Beckett got up from the table. Before she realized what he was up to, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. Her stomach tensed. She’d allowed him to get too close, opened the door for a deeper connection. Anxiety rolled through her in waves.

“Beckett…”

“That’s a thank-you kiss.”

“To thank me for what?”

“Getting Jude to admit that there might be the slimmest chance that I’m not a murderer after all.” She heard the slight hitch in his voice. “I never thought I would hear him say it.”

Let it be a new beginning, she prayed. Let God shine a light through the crack she’d just witnessed in his self-loathing. Before she could think it through, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. He went still.

“Do you think…?” he murmured into her neck. “If I can prove I’m innocent, is there a chance we could…?”

She stopped him with a squeeze, head still pressed under his chin. “I’m not sure,” she whispered around a surge of emotion she couldn’t name. What did she want? What was God leading her to? Could her tattered heart survive another crushing disappointment?

He gulped in a breath, pressed another kiss to her temple that lingered, and straightened. “I won’t push. It’s enough for me that you didn’t say flat-out no. I know I hurt you and broke your trust, but if there’s the slightest possibility that I can have a second chance, I will be content with that.”

“I didn’t know you wanted another chance,” she managed. “You were going to leave.”

“I didn’t think I deserved one, but now…”

“Now?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m feeling just reckless enough to ask.”

“Because there’s a baby?”

His eyes roved her face. “You said that I never talk about how I feel, so I’ll say it. The baby is a part of it, yes.”

Of course. The baby. He didn’t want to walk away from his duty as