Harlequin Intrigue April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2, Carol Ericson [good book recommendations TXT] 📗

Once the bombing was solved, she could take some personal time. If she could convince the Houston PD to reopen the case, if she could work it unofficially, maybe she could finally get some closure.

Seven years was long enough. She needed to be able to move forward. And for the first time, she wanted to truly move forward, to start living her life fully again.

It wasn’t hard to identify the reason. She’d never known a man like Jax Diallo, never connected so quickly to anyone.

He lived on the other side of the state, but that might actually be a good thing. It would keep any relationship from moving too quickly, from getting too serious before she was ready. Because wanting to move forward wasn’t the same as wanting to dive headfirst into a serious relationship. Still, she didn’t want to say goodbye when the bombings were solved.

She was pretty sure he was interested. Best of all, although he worked for the FBI, he wasn’t a law-enforcement officer. He wasn’t constantly running into danger. He was helping victims, but he wasn’t interacting with the suspects.

Sure, there were no guarantees. Everyone faced some level of risk just walking around in the world. Being a cop for so many years had definitely taught her that. But Jax was a much safer man to love than Juan had ever been.

The unexpected thought made anxiety and guilt bubble up and Keara shoved off her covers, stepped onto the cold wood floor in her bedroom. Love. That was an emotion way off in the future, if ever. Right now she had much bigger things to worry about.

Glancing at the clock on her bedside table, Keara groaned. Almost 8 a.m. It might have been Saturday, but she still had a long day ahead of her and she had planned to get an early start.

So much for that plan. Debating whether to jump into a fast shower or just start making phone calls, Keara opted for the phone. She started with the hospital, heart pounding faster as she waited for news on Nate and Talise.

“Both of their conditions are the same,” the nurse who finally came on the line told her.

She tried to quell the disappointment. At least they weren’t deteriorating. Both had faced serious injuries. Talise had gone through emergency surgery for her leg and Nate had gotten his head stitched up, only for doctors to open it up again a few hours later to release intracranial pressure.

Hanging up with the hospital, Keara sighed and headed to the kitchen. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing at the couch where she’d slept—much less fitfully—the night before last. Couldn’t stop herself from wishing Jax and Patches were sitting there to greet her again this morning.

When she’d spoken to Jax late last night, he’d been at a diner on the outskirts of Desparre. They’d talked about the case and then he’d had to let her go, to take a call from one of the agents. Even though she’d gone through everything she’d needed to tell him about the cases, she’d half expected him to call back. When she hadn’t heard from him, she’d heated up a frozen dinner, done a little kickboxing to combat her frustration, then headed to bed.

As she turned on her coffeepot, Keara pulled up Jax’s number. Before she could hit Call, her phone rang. It was a number she didn’t recognize.

“Chief Hernandez,” she answered.

“This is Ben Nez.”

The last of Keara’s sleepiness cleared away. Was there a break in the case? “Agent Nez. What’s happening?”

“We’ve been running down all of the victims in the two bombings, trying to nail down a potential target.”

From the beginning, she’d heard the FBI theorizing that a specific target was likely, since the bombs could have easily been placed in more populated areas or spots that would have gotten more publicity. Although the bombs had definitely made the news in and around Desparre and Luna, they hadn’t been large or spectacular enough to make much of a blip on the national news.

“Any luck?” she asked when he paused.

“Well, I wanted your take on something. We just discovered that one of the people who was killed at the Luna bombing is actually related to a victim in Desparre.”

“Who is it?” Keara asked, frowning. The connection was news to her.

“Aiden DeMarco was the victim in Luna. He posted the idea about the soccer game on the chat room, so the bomber would have definitely known he’d be there. He was eighteen, planned to leave Alaska to go to college in California. We looked into him early on, didn’t see any reason for him to be targeted, but we could have missed something. His aunt on his mom’s side, Gina Metner, was injured in Desparre.”

“I know Gina,” Keara said. The woman was a transplant from the lower forty-eight. She’d moved up to Alaska to be near her sister and escape from a violent ex. But the ex had since died and Gina had decided she wanted even more solitude than Luna offered, so she’d found herself a home in Desparre. She worked part-time at the library in Luna and part-time at the grocery store with Talise.

“Gina talked about her sister and her nephew, but I didn’t know his name,” Keara told Ben. “I didn’t realize he’d been killed in the bombing.”

“Can you think of anyone with a grudge against Gina?”

“No one living.” Keara explained about the violent ex, then added, “Gina and I got to talking a year ago, when she first decided to move to Desparre. She gave me a bit of a rundown on her life. But otherwise, she’s pretty quiet. She’s got a couple of friends here we can talk to, but I can’t imagine her having made a ton of enemies since she moved to Alaska two years ago.”

“We spoke to Gina already,” Ben said. “She said the same thing. It could be a coincidence.” He sighed. “But I was hoping we