Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 by Karen Whiddon (interesting books to read for teens TXT) 📕

The searing pain in her chest took a bit to figure out. It was her heart, anticipating how she’d feel if anything ever happened to Stanton. Hoping against hope that he’d not get killed while standing out there, guarding her. How had she ever thought she could be with a man who faced life and death every day?

After what felt like hours, Stanton came back into the cabin.

His face, drawn and pale, made her already racing pulse stop in its tracks, before ramping up again. Maybe she’d been wrong to assume the interlopers weren’t dangerous.

“What?”

“It was a man and his teenage daughter, hunting. He’s teaching her how to track prey.”

“Do you believe them?” She didn’t think a father-and-daughter pair fit the description of cartel hit men, but anything was possible.

He closed his eyes, his way of giving himself space to think. When he opened them, their brightness was startling against the backdrop of the log walls. “Yes. I told them that they needed to keep their hunting to public lands. Our property backs up to state grounds, so it’s an innocent enough mistake. They’re not the first hunters or hikers to make it.”

“But usually you don’t have the worry of assassins stalking you.” She went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m so sorry you’ve been drawn into this.”

“I haven’t been drawn into anything. This was my choice, to take this particular job, remember?” He hugged her back, but then gently let go. She followed suit, unable to figure out where his heart was at. “We need to figure out our plan of attack. The midnight phone call is going to leave us with enough time to get in place, but only if we have several ways we want to work it lined up.”

So that was that. Stanton wanted to focus on why they were here in the first place, and it was a harsh reminder that he wasn’t here to work on their relationship.

Neither are you.

No, she was here to get the story. Clear Charlie’s name. Maybe help out Johnny Blanchard if she could, if he was able to help law enforcement pinpoint Jimenez’s location. It was the absolute pits that she’d figured out, too late, that she and Stanton might have been able to make a go of it. She’d had her chance to tell him how she really felt, her regrets included. The heat of their passion last night wasn’t the right time, and it appeared that he thought she’d been clearing the air for them to have another round of lovemaking. It was time to accept that she’d messed up, and let it go. Before the distraction got them both killed.

* * *

“Look, Stanton, I’m sending Troy up there along with two other officers, and I think I can get the DEA to cough up one or two agents. But there aren’t any guarantees. Isn’t there some way you can convince Dominique that she’s got as much as she’s going to get for her story? She’s got the solid facts now about Bowe’s involvement and how the evidence against Charlie was planted. I can’t overlook that this Johnny Blanchard meetup appears to be a big setup.” Stanton listened to his sister via wireless earbuds as he paced the cabin’s front porch, using his binoculars to continually scan the woods for any suspicious movement. Dominique remained inside, working on the information she’d already collected, culling it into salient prose. She never mentioned it, but he had to wonder how much of the pressure she put on herself was from her editor at the Gazette. It angered him that her boss might encourage her to risk her life for an article, no matter how important.

What really upset him, though, was that he’d not been able to figure out a way to convince her that she needed to call off the meetup with Johnny Blanchard. He’d already lied under oath on a witness stand. Why would she ever trust a perjurer?

“You know her, Melissa. I hate to say it, but she’s just like you. Once she’s made her mind up, she’s going to follow through. And she actually had a good point, about whether the meeting with Blanchard is for real or not. This is an awfully complicated ruse for a setup. The cartels like to keep it simple. A more straightforward manner would have been to threaten Dominique’s family if she didn’t lay off the Charlie Hamm lead.”

“Well, they did threaten her, and tried to kill her, three times. But you’re right—this cartel in particular is noted for its brutality. Luring a reporter who’s writing a story about an already dead prisoner and reformed drug dealer isn’t something I’d expect from Jimenez.”

“So you admit there’s at least a chance it’s not a setup?” He rested his binoculars on his chest, where his heart remained steady only because of years of training and surveillance experience.

“The chance that it’s legit isn’t great enough to keep me from sending backup.” Her frustration plucked at his conscience. His sister worked harder now than he ever had, and she wore the town’s safety around her neck without complaint. “There’s always the long shot that Jimenez will show, and we’ll nab him. That would solve a lot of problems for Grave Gulch. I found the clothing items you asked for, by the way, and I’ll have an officer drop them before you and Dominique leave the cabin for wherever the meetup ends up being. Once we know where and which resort, the logistics will be a little easier.”

“Thanks for doing this for me.” The depth of his gratitude surprised him, until he remembered his true motive. He knew he couldn’t live without Dominique. The last two years had been filled with an awful lot of desolation without her. Three near misses in as many days had brought him to his mental and emotional knees. He surrendered. The only way out of this was