Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“Nah. Cara offered to let me take the spare room at her new condo.”
Mike ignored the hot flush of jealousy creeping through his veins. It was as unwarranted as it was ridiculous. Sam and Cara were best friends and partners, but there was nothing sexual between them. And even if there was, Mike didn’t plan to pick up where they’d left off, so what was his problem?
“That was nice of her to offer.” Mike forced out the words.
“Yeah. I might take her up on it,” Sam said, sounding groggier by the minute.
“Hey, did you click on your meds while I wasn’t looking?” Mike gestured to the button attached to his brother’s IV.
Sam nodded, a goofy grin on his face. “Yeah. Feeling no pain, my man.”
Mike rolled his eyes. Time for him to go. He braced his hand on the bed and rose to his feet. “You get some sleep. I’ll come by after work. Mom said to tell you they’ll be here around lunchtime.”
“Okay. They came late last night for a quick hello, but I was pretty out of it.”
“Yeah, but they both slept better for seeing you.”
Sam didn’t reply because he was already passed out cold. Mike shook his head and walked out. First stop was the coffee shop, then he’d get lost in his work. Later on today, he’d deal with Cara Hartley.
Chapter Two
The morning passed quickly. A beat-up Trans Am blew through the stop sign at the corner of Main Street, forcing Cara and Dare to pull over a teenage driver who carried only a permit and wasn’t supposed to be driving without a licensed adult in the car. His attitude didn’t help his cause, nor did the fact that he should have been in school. They wrote up the ticket and gave the truant an escort to the high school before heading back to town and doing their basic drive-by.
“Man, I hope Tess doesn’t end up like that punk,” Dare said of his fifteen-year-old half sister.
“I’m sure having a cop for a brother will keep her from turning into Danica Patrick too soon,” Cara said with a laugh. “Although, knowing Tess, she’ll find a way to keep you all up at night worrying.”
Tess lived with Dare’s oldest brother, Ethan, and his wife in the landmark mansion on the edge of town. Making things more interesting—and titillating for the more gossip-minded residents in town—his middle brother, Nash, was married to Tess’s half sister. But whomever she lived with, they all worried about Tess, given her history before moving to Serendipity.
“I just hope Ethan doesn’t buy her an over-the-top car,” Dare said.
Cara shook her head at the thought. “Ethan has a level head.” She caught Dare’s look of disbelief. “Now. He has a level head now.” The whole town remembered his past.
Ethan had left Serendipity at eighteen after their parents died at the hands of a drunk driver, abandoning his brothers to state welfare. He’d returned last year, wealthy beyond anyone’s imagination, and had made peace with his siblings, Dare included.
“Besides, he’s got Faith in his life,” Cara said of Ethan’s wife. “I wouldn’t worry if I were you. Tess is in good hands.”
Dare grinned. “Yeah, she is. And so far, she’s staying out of trouble.”
“Coffee?” Cara pointed at Cuppa Café, the town’s only stop for a good caffeine fix.
“Yes.”
Cara pulled into an empty spot on a side street, and they walked into the coffee shop together. Dare ordered a black coffee while Cara chose a nonfat latte. They paid for their drinks, and Dare pulled open the door in time for Felicia Flynn, the town’s newest mayor, to enter.
“Thank you, Officer Barron.” With her jet-black hair, blue eyes, and tailored suits, she was striking in appearance.
“Ma’am,” Dare said with a nod of his head.
Felicia was the youngest mayor of Serendipity and the first female to hold the position. For that alone, Cara wanted to admire her. She’d run on an anticorruption platform, promising to weed out the old boys’ network that had been in place in Serendipity since what seemed like the beginning of time. Another reason for Cara to like her.
“Officer Hartley, I’ve been hoping to talk to you.”
Cara gritted her teeth and forced a smile. For all the woman’s positives, she was a pit bull and a ballbuster, making the liking and admiring Cara wanted to do too darned difficult.
“You owe me answers on a certain investigation,” the mayor said, pointedly meeting Cara’s gaze. “Are you avoiding me?”
Cara felt Dare’s curious stare. She shook her head as she answered the mayor. “I had an unexpected emergency. My partner is in the hospital with a bout of appendicitis, a car accident, and a serious concussion. It’s put us on hold,” she explained, hoping the mayor bought the white lie about why she hadn’t been in touch.
She and Sam had been avoiding Mayor Flynn and her tenacious please-the-people platform. Cara and Sam were looking into a cold case at least three decades old, involving ten thousand dollars in marked bills in the evidence room and ties to the motel on the border of Serendipity and Tomlin’s Cove, known as the old Winkler place. From the time they were old enough to understand sex, the kids in Serendipity had heard about how the Winklers had once rented out rooms by the hour. Older kids heard they’d also supplied the women, but nobody had proof of the rumors. It was also suspected that the old boys’ network in town had ignored any truth to the suspicions. Whatever went down there had long since ended, and, as Cara and Sam had confirmed, the place was deserted. The mayor just wanted all cold cases revisited and either solved or confirmed dead.