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

He just broke up with a long-term girlfriend—Tiffany Soames. He was real upset. Last night, I thought meeting someone new would be good for him. Damn it, I can’t believe he’s gone.” Sean took a deep breath and shook his head.

“We are sorry for your loss,” said Julia, echoing Luis’s earlier words, feeling the man’s pain as an ache in her chest. “Take your time.”

Sean nodded and drew in several deep breaths. “Thanks.”

“Do you have information for his parents? I can let them know what happened.” Sean had a phone number and names in his phone and held up the screen for Julia to see. She tapped the information into her phone, saving it with her other contacts. “What about his ex-girlfriend? Was she as upset as Tom about the breakup?”

“I don’t think so. She dumped him and married some doctor.” Sean pointed to a suitcase that sat open on the desk. “That’s his stuff.”

“When was the last time you remember seeing Tom?” Luis asked.

“To be honest, I’m not completely sure.”

“Take your best guess,” said Julia.

“Eleven. Maybe eleven thirty. It was definitely after ten thirty—we all did a shot then. I left the bar at midnight and Tom was already gone.”

Luis removed a new set of latex gloves from his pocket—he’d probably gotten a couple of pairs from Doc Lambert before leaving the park—and began to sift through the contents of the bag.

“Bingo.” He held up a black leather wallet. Odd that it would be in his suitcase and not with him.

Moving in closer, Julia watched as Luis opened the front flap. A piece of paper fell from the interior and slowly fluttered to the floor. Luis picked it up and cursed. It was half of a two-dollar bill—a calling card left by Darcy Owens with all her victims.

Julia stilled.

The MO with regard to the money had been kept pretty quiet—only the RMJ team and a few federal agents knew about it. Finding the half bill wasn’t a coincidence—it was an undeniable link between Darcy Owens and the newest killing.

But how? Darcy was in custody.

Julia met Luis’s gaze and saw her deepest fear reflected in his eyes. She knew he felt the same way she did, no matter how much he would try to deny it to her.

She might be behind bars, but somehow, Darcy had managed to kill again. And Julia couldn’t even begin to imagine how you stopped a murderer who was already behind bars.

But one thing was certain. She was damn well going to find out.

CHAPTER 4

Cold sweat broke out on Luis’s body. Sure, on some level he suspected that there might be a connection between Tom Dolan and the other victims of Darcy Owens. But he never imagined it’d be so concrete as the money, a clue too blatant to brush off as coincidence, a clue kept quiet enough it would be difficult to claim that the killer was a random copycat.

Removing his phone, he snapped several pictures of the wallet and the bill, ripped in half, that was lying on the ground. In that same split second, Luis knew that something wasn’t quite right.

“Why is the wallet here?” he asked. “And not with Tom?”

“We all charged drinks to the room,” Sean said. “Seemed easier than cash or keeping track of a credit card.”

It also meant that the killer had been in Tom’s hotel room, as well—and they might have left a trail of evidence behind. “This place needs to be dusted for prints,” said Luis.

Julia was already sending a text. “I’ll have the deputies come over as soon as they’re done at the park.”

“Sean, I hate to do this to you, man,” said Luis. “You’re going to have to keep out of this room while it’s searched.”

“I mean, whatever you need, you got from me.” Sean swallowed and blinked hard, holding back tears. He blew out a gust of air. “I guess I have to tell the other fellas about Tom. It sucks. Just do me one favor—find out what happened to him. He was a good guy and deserved better than, well, whatever. You know.”

“We know,” said Julia. “And stay close to the inn. We’ll need to get official statements from everyone in your party.”

“Sure, we’ll be here.”

They all left the room and Luis, still wearing gloves, closed the door behind him. Walking down the hallway, the thrill of the investigation sparked in his veins. “We need to get more than fingerprints from the room,” he whispered, to avoid being overheard. “The killer was in this hotel. There might be other witnesses. Or video of the crime.”

“That means getting a look at the hotel’s surveillance videos. Who know what we can find that would be useful?” said Julia as they approached the front desk.

“May I help you?” the clerk asked. Kate added, “I talked to the owner and he said to assist you in any way possible.”

“Can we see video footage from last night?” Luis asked.

The young woman pointed to a door that was set behind the front desk. “We have monitors in there.”

In a large hotel, such as one found in downtown Denver, Luis would’ve expected to find a separate suite for security purposes. But he wasn’t in Denver anymore and there was a lot he still had to get used to. A set of three boxy monitors sat on a table in the back office. Each screen was broken into four separate pictures. The hallways, both upstairs and downstairs, had been covered from three different angles. There were two shots of the lobby. One was of the front entrance, along with live video of both the restaurant and the pub.

Luis asked, “Can you show us video for the lobby outside of the pub from eleven o’clock until midnight?”

“Sure thing,” said the clerk.

Kate typed on a keyboard attached to one of the monitors. The screen went black for a moment before being filled with images of late-night partygoers. They stared at a smaller screen that was filled with a grainy image of