Harlequin Intrigue April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Carol Ericson (short books to read TXT) 📖

following him out of the restaurant as she called out cheerily to the staff behind the counter. “Thank you. Have a great day.”

It was as if the hotter his rage burned, the colder she got in response. Did he expect tears? Did he want tears? The tears and recriminations from Tess had made him feel wanted. It was when his ex’s feelings turned to disinterest—and another man—that he knew their marriage was over.

He stalked to the car, and habit compelled him to open the car door for her.

Halfway into the car, she cranked her head to the side. “I’ll explain it to you. It’s silly, simple.”

He stuck his head in the car. “What makes you think I’m gonna believe anything you tell me?”

He slammed the door, shutting out her serene face with the slight curve to her full lips. He’d known women like her before. They sallied through life on their good looks, charming men into doing their bidding. Hell, she must’ve charmed Clive, of all people, into running a fingerprint test on that card.

He dropped onto the driver’s seat and punched the ignition with his knuckle. He peeled out of the strip mall, the spicy food now burning a hole in his belly.

Kyra cleared her throat. “I found the card.”

Jake tightened his jaw and clenched the steering wheel with both hands.

“I found it on the street, in the gutter, outside my apartment building.” She shifted in her seat and smoothed her slacks against her thighs. “I didn’t think it was a big deal or anything. Just one of those weird coincidences. If you look, it’s not a brand-new card, not like the ones with the bodies.”

The car jostled as he pulled into the parking lot of the station and Kyra bounced in her seat. He eased off the accelerator.

Turning to her, he threw the car into Park. “If it was no big deal, why hide it from me? I’m leading this task force. If I can’t trust actual task force members, I’m in trouble.”

She twisted her fingers in her lap, the first sign of agitation. “Look, I felt kind of silly. Why would the killer drop a playing card on my street in Santa Monica, of all places? I saw it and just reacted.”

He flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. “And got Clive to run a test on it, on the sly.”

She placed her hand on his arm. “Please don’t blame Clive or get on his case for this. He’s never done it before, and he made it clear he wouldn’t do it again.”

“What did he find?”

“Nothing.” She lifted her shoulders. “There were no prints at all. Just my fevered imagination making connections in my overactive brain.”

He brushed his hand against the outside of his pocket, where the plastic crinkled. “Kind of a strange coincidence.”

“Just what I thought.”

He pulled out the baggie. “Do you want it back?”

“That’s okay.” She lifted one shoulder. “Keep it, throw it away, whatever.”

“All right, then. Um, I’m sorry I may have overreacted back there.” He exited the vehicle and waited for Kyra to come around to his side.

“No problem. I get it.” She pressed her hand against his back, giving him a little shove. “You have some footage to review.”

“If you’re not busy, do you want to join us?” He dug his teeth into his bottom lip. He was just trying to make amends for his previous outburst. Maybe she’d see that and decline.

“I would like to join you, thanks.”

Did he really think she wouldn’t jump at the chance to insert herself further into this investigation? Did he mind? After all, surveying video could be mind-numbing work and the more people on deck, the better.

As they returned to the station, their appearance raised a few eyebrows. Jake put a scowl on his face to ward off any ribbing from his coworkers later. He called out a few names as he marched through the station and held up his finger. “Follow me to the war room.”

Brandon and his team had already set up several computers and loaded the footage on them. Before he’d left for lunch, Jake had instructed Brandon to divvy up the video between the different computers so that individual teams would all be reviewing a variety of times and locations.

Standing in the middle of the room, he directed traffic, assigning teams of two to each computer. As they huddled over the monitors, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

He didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. The sweet, dusky smell of roses hung around Kyra as if she crushed them against her skin every day.

Twisting his head over his shoulder, he said, “You can hang out with me until Billy gets here.”

He took a seat in front of his computer, security footage from Melrose Avenue queued up to start. He taped a picture of Rachel on the monitor next to his. “This is Rachel—black, shoulder-length hair, sleeve of tattoos on her right arm, piercings, about your height, medium frame.”

Kyra pulled a chair next to his and settled into it, propping her elbow on the table and balancing her chin on her palm. Her ponytail slipped over her shoulder, the ends of it tickling the keyboard. “What are we looking at now?”

“This is Rachel’s afternoon coffee run. By this time, she’s already had morning coffee at the same shop, been to work, gone out to lunch and visited her friend in another store. This is her last stop before going back to work.” His hand hovered over the mouse. “Ready?”

“Ready.” Her nostrils flared slightly and she parted her lips.

Jake clicked the start arrow on the footage, which Brandon’s team had queued up about ten minutes before the time Rachel had given them. They watched the busy shop as people ordered their coffee and food at the counter and drifted away to wait for their orders.

The cameras pointed at the registers only, so any other customer interaction they hoped to see would have to be in the background, beyond the people