Hot SEAL, April's Fool by Becca Jameson (top 10 most read books in the world TXT) 📕

from him as if he’d burned her with his touch. Was she mad at him for the fact that Chamberlain had held her against her will? Probably, and she had a right to feel that way.

Cole did feel responsible for getting April tangled up in this mess, but he still didn’t understand why she’d come to Chamberlain’s house in the first place. Had the man threatened her in some way to get her to come over?

Unfortunately, Cole needed to deal with Chamberlain right now. He would catch up with April later. After watching her drive away, he turned and stomped back into the house.

Rodney was already in a heated discussion with the mayor who kept his eyes wide and repeatedly insisted he hadn’t locked April in his library while his henchman tried to extort money from Cole.

Violet seemed more contrite than Cole had ever seen her. She didn’t contribute much, but she did repeatedly glance at Cole. As Cole stared at her, he realized with bile in his throat that she’d told April about that fateful day ten years ago. Now the only question was, what exactly did she say?

Cole jerked his attention to Rodney.

“The police are questioning Dewey Hartman,” Rodney informed Chamberlain as Cole forced himself to deal with this issue first.

“About what?” the mayor asked. “For trying to collect on a debt I’m owed? That’s not against the law.”

“Holding a woman hostage to extort money from someone is a felony, sir,” Rodney informed the mayor. Cole heard sirens in the distance, and they were growing louder.

Chamberlain shook his head and ran a hand down his face. “This is all a misunderstanding. I did not hold April McKay against her will. I’m telling you the door was stuck.” He spun to face Violet. “Tell them, honey. Tell them that the door sticks sometimes.”

Violet winced as she nodded. “It does get stuck.”

“See?” Chamberlain waved a hand toward the door. “I need to have a locksmith come out and look at it. I asked Ms. McKay to come here today to help me with a real estate deal. That’s all. Nothing nefarious.”

“Where were Jeffery and Maxine? I banged on the door for a while.” Violet asked.

“Jeffery took Maxine to the grocery store.”

“Convenient,” Cole groaned. He wished Chamberlain would give him a reason to slam his body against the nearest wall and squeeze his neck until he saw stars. “If what you’re saying were true, then why did Dewey have fucking pictures of April here in your home to use to get me to hand over the title of my business?”

Chamberlain played the shocked card yet again. “I don’t know anything about any pictures. That is not what happened.”

Cole narrowed his gaze. “Your fucking henchmen showed them to me. It’s obvious you took pictures of my girlfriend at your home and texted them to Dewey to use as leverage to get me to sign over my business.”

Chamberlain shook his head. “That never happened. I simply told Dewey to let you know April was on board and helping me work on a deal for the local businesses.”

Cole took one step closer. “That’s a fucking lie and you know it.”

Chamberlain smirked. “What’s a lie? I called Ms. McKay and asked her to come over and help me with the deal. She came willingly. She was going over the files while I took a conference call upstairs.” He pointed at a pile of files on the conference table.

Several police officers entered the room, followed by the butler, who seemed to have miraculously returned now that the crime was over.

As the police started rehashing what happened, Rodney nodded over his shoulder for Cole to follow him. They walked outside before Rodney started speaking. “The police couldn’t arrest Dewey.”

Cole groaned. “Of course not. From that asshole’s point of view, I’m the one who committed the crime.”

“Exactly, but he didn’t press charges.”

“Well, isn’t that special.” Cole spun around and threw his hands in the air. “Fuck. Just fuck.”

“I know it’s little consolation right now, but the department is getting closer to being able to charge Chamberlain.”

“With what?” Cole asked, still seething and now starting to worry about April.

“He’s been using all kinds of tactics to get control of the properties on those two blocks. All of them come precariously close to crossing the line. Combined, I think there’s enough to take him down.”

“I hope so, but I’m not sure how that’s going to help me with the debt my dad managed to accrue over months of gambling.”

“Don’t be so sure. There may be a way out of it. Give me a few more days. It’s hard to keep the case moving forward since my boss is in Chamberlain’s pocket. He puts up roadblocks at every stage, but he can only do so much. Eventually, he won’t be able to keep up the ruse.”

“I’m glad you’re getting close, but I leave in two days either way. I don’t have a choice. I have to be back on base Sunday night.”

“Understood. Worse comes to worst, I’ll keep you informed from here. And Cole, I can keep an eye on the shop for you while we work this out. It’s not like Chamberlain can strongarm you into signing over a deed that’s in your name while you’re not in town.”

Cole rubbed his forehead. “True. What a fucking mess.” He inhaled deeply. “Listen, I hate to leave, but I need to find April. I’m worried about her.”

“Of course. Go. I’ll call you if anything changes.”

Cole turned to leave but then glanced over his shoulder. “And Rodney, figure out how Chamberlain got those pictures of April he sent to Dewey’s phone while he was fucking holding her.”

“On it.”

Cole took the steps down to his car two at a time, a sense of urgency spurring him forward. He didn’t drive nearly as fast as he’d driven to get to the mayor’s house, but he still pushed the speed limit to get to April’s apartment.

Unfortunately, her car wasn’t anywhere around, and when Cole went inside,