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

Jones started his behind-the-scenes tour. Carly half listened as he described the process of making beer. Malted barley, mash, boil, cooling, fermentation, straining—it all sounded like a lot of work. Judging by the animation in both his voice and expression, Jones clearly loved every step of it.

As he led them back into the main bar area, he beckoned to Tatum to join him at the front of the room. “And now for the big announcement!” he said. “Tatum is going to be serving Lone Wolf Brewery beer at True. It’s going to be wonderful exposure for us, especially since her restaurant is packed every single night.”

“Not every night,” Tatum chimed in, grinning. “But pretty darn close!” She and Cruz locked gazes and she blushed, going doe-eyed. Carly looked on, happy for her cousin.

“Everyone, feel free to sample any of our craft beers,” Jones announced. “And let me know if you have any questions.”

Everyone clapped and began congratulating Jones.

As people began circulating, January and her fiancé, Sean, made their way over. Carly introduced Micha. The instant the other man heard the name, he frowned. “I swear I heard about you the other night while at the precinct. Aren’t you the guy who had someone put an explosive device inside your car?”

Unfortunately, Sean’s question rang out just as one of those occasional odd silences fell over the room. Carly tensed up as just about everyone’s heads swiveled around to stare.

Micha nodded, making a face. “We’re trying to keep that quiet,” he murmured. “Can we talk about something else?”

Too late. Now January looked from Micha to Carly, clearly horrified. “When was this? Were you there when that happened, Carly?” she demanded.

Sean, noticing how everyone had stopped talking to listen in, rapidly tried to change the subject, but January wasn’t having it. “Were you?” she persisted.

“Maybe,” Carly muttered, wishing she were somewhere else, anywhere else.

“Good grief. Was anyone hurt?” Clearly oblivious to everyone else’s interest, January grabbed Carly’s arm. “When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell any of us?”

The entire family murmured agreement and moved closer, circling Carly and Micha.

“Chicago PD and the FBI are working on it,” Carly said. “It’s over, no one was hurt, so let’s talk about something else, please.”

Heath, clearly catching on to Carly’s need for a distraction, cleared his throat and tapped his beer glass with a knife. He waited until everyone’s heads had swiveled around to face him. “The police have assured me that they are actively working the investigation. They’re not sure if Carly was the target or Micha, though I believe they’re leaning toward Micha.”

He took a deep breath, waiting until everyone had a few seconds to digest his words. “Now, I’d like to talk a little about the serial killer investigation,” he said. “Since Sean here works in the homicide division, I’ve asked him to give us an update.”

Though Sean appeared nonplussed for a second, he quickly regained his composure and strode to the front of the room. Meanwhile, January sidled over to Carly and tugged on her arm. “You’re not getting out of this so easily,” she whispered. “I think everyone is going to want to hear about this.”

“Probably,” Carly whispered back. “Now hush so I can hear what your fiancé has to say.”

Unfortunately, Sean informed them that the investigation had very little new information. He reiterated that Chicago PD was working jointly with the FBI, touched on the recent murders, but was unable to contribute any new information.

“This is very disappointing,” Simone said, once Sean had finished speaking. “I’ve been doing a lot of research on serial killers and I’d be happy to share what I’ve learned with anyone who is working the case.”

“Thank you,” Sean replied. “But since the FBI is very knowledgeable in that area, I figure they have already brought in more than one expert. I’ll give them your name, just in case.”

Simone nodded.

“Now tell us about this car explosion that Micha was involved in,” January chimed up, giving Carly a pointed glance. “I want to know if Carly was there. And I want to hear exactly what happened.”

Both Farrah and Fallon nodded. Tatum narrowed her eyes and she and Cruz began murmuring to each other. Simone, who until that moment had been lost in reading something she’d written in her notebook, blinked and raised her head. Heath grimaced, one arm still around Kylie. He mouthed, I tried, in Carly’s general direction.

Now everyone stared at Micha and Carly, even Jones, clearly waiting.

“Sorry,” Micha whispered to Carly, though he kept his arm around her shoulders. Keeping his tone level, he relayed the chain of events, ending with the gunshots destroying Carly’s window. She noted he left Jones out of it, which was kind of him, though she figured the family would learn about her brother’s presence during the shooting sooner or later.

By the time Micha wound down, you could have heard a pin drop in the room. Carly’s mother and aunt clung to each other, wearing identical horrified expressions.

“You need to come home,” Fallon declared. “Right away. I won’t have you staying at that house if you’re in danger.”

Carly refused to argue with her mother in front of the entire family. “Let’s talk about this later,” she said. “Right now, we’re here to celebrate Jones and his fantastic beer. Let’s try to focus on that.”

“Agreed.” Jones jumped in to save her. Though Fallon’s expression made it clear she didn’t like it, she dropped the topic, at least temporarily.

Once everyone had started talking again, Carly tugged on Micha’s arm. “I’m seriously thinking about trying to sneak out before my mom can get to me.”

“You know she’ll just catch up to you later.” He kissed her neck, making her shiver. “You might as well just go over and talk to her. She’s worried, that’s all.”

“You make sense,” Carly grumbled. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Fallon and Farrah had taken a seat at a little round table in the corner, from where they had a view of the entire room. Jones had made