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

pictures, both taken at the gazebo the previous morning. In the first photo, a trio of people—Julia, Doc Lambert and Luis—stood on the stairs while talking. The caption read Sheriff McCloud, Dr. Lambert and Former Denver PD Member Luis Martinez Consult at the Scene of an Unknown Death.

The second photo showed a full body bag being wheeled into the coroner’s van. The caption: “Julia McCloud, Sheriff of Pleasant Pines, has no comment on a body that was removed from the town park. Nor does she have a comment on why Luis Martinez, a police officer with a history of gambling addiction and astronomical debts, has been given access to the scene.”

Luis set aside his phone and pinched the bridge of his nose. Despite the fact that he was no longer looking at the screen, he could still see the words.

Gambling addiction. Astronomical debts.

Who in the hell was the source for Peter Knowles?

Gambling had ruined Luis’s life once. Even though he hadn’t placed a bet in more than a year, was it about to ruin his life again?

Julia tapped the toe of her shoe on Luis’s boot. “Hey. You look like you’re about a million miles away. Everything okay?”

“I should be asking you the same thing. What’d the NP say?”

“Most important, it’s not a concussion. Just a bad bump. Ibuprofen if I get a headache.” She sat in the seat beside his. “So, what’s up?”

The last thing Luis wanted was for Julia to see his flaws. “I checked out the article.”

“I’m sorry about what happened with the editor...” she began.

He shoved his phone into her hand. “Just read.”

Julia stared at the phone, her eyebrows drawn together. “It’s bull, the part about the gambling. I wanted to tell the editor to shove his lying crap. But if I told him that, then it’d be confirming your involvement.”

“It’s not bull,” said Luis. His voice was low, even though no one else was around. “You know I was friends with the QB who died, right?”

“Joe,” said Julia. “I remember.”

“We grew up together, kind of like brothers.” Luis dropped his gaze and stared at the floor as he spoke. He knew he could stop the story now. Julia would never press him to say more. Then again, if he didn’t speak now, would he ever? “Joe was a wonder kid on the field. I was good, sure. But Joe, well, he was great.”

Julia placed her hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. Whatever happened, it’s in the past and it’ll be okay.”

He wanted to believe her. But nothing had been okay—not since the first time he placed a bet. “It was my first year of community college. Joe, he was at a big university. I was talking smack with one of my teammates who was saying that Joe wasn’t the real deal. Joe was my boy, so I had to put down a Benjamin to protect his honor. It was against the rules to wager on games, but only if we got caught. And then I won. The feeling...aww, man. It was like my first kiss, sex and giving a glass of water to a man who was dying of thirst, all at the same time.”

“So what the reporter said wasn’t bull?” Julia asked, her palm still on his shoulder.

He brushed her fingertips with his own. God, it felt good to touch her hand. “I kept chasing that high. You win some, you lose some. But I never had a rush like the first time. And then, I quit winning and it was only lose, lose, lose.” He cleared his throat. “I lost everything. Borrowed so much money from my family that my own sister wouldn’t take my calls, even now. Joe was my last resort to pay off some serious loan sharks. He gave me the cash, but I had to go to Gamblers Anonymous. At the second meeting I figured out what I needed to do to stay clean. That was the day he died.” Luis’s throat was dry. He coughed. “I never got a chance to thank him.”

“He knows,” said Julia. “Somehow, he does.”

“You really believe that?” Luis asked, his fingers still twined through hers. “I never took you for a religious type.”

“In this life.” Still holding his hand, she stood and pulled Luis to his feet. “You have to have faith that things will work out in the end. Otherwise, there’s no point to what we do.”

They stood facing each other, so close that he could feel the whisper of her breath on his chest. He still held her hand. All he needed to do was pull her closer, and then she’d be in his arms.

Is that what he wanted? And what about her?

How much would one kiss ruin their friendship and comradery?

Julia cleared her throat and stepped back. “Come on, let’s get to work. It’s late already.”

A wall clock gave the time as 7:25 a.m. Most mornings, Luis would still be in bed.

With a shake of his head, Luis remained where he stood. “You should call Wyatt and get him to partner with you. If I stay on the case, I’ll just be a distraction.”

“To who? Me? Forget what the newspaper published and let’s go.” She let her hand slip from his. “And thanks for trusting me with your confession. For the record, your past doesn’t matter to me. But I appreciate your honesty now.”

She walked away, leaving Luis with a choice to make. Did he follow? Or did he give up on the case, on RMJ, on Julia? No, the job with RMJ had saved his life. He owed the agency everything. And Julia?

Well, how he felt about her was a bit more complicated...and those feelings, he decided, were best ignored.

CHAPTER 8

Julia showered at Luis’s apartment. While she was getting ready, he’d picked up breakfast from the local diner, Sally’s on Main. They ate quickly, and soon they were walking down the stairs of his third-floor apartment to a private door on the street level.

On the landing, Luis opened