They’re on a cold trail and running out of time.
Convinced his brother was wrongly convicted of murder years ago, detective Cash
Ryland’s determined to find the real killer—even if it puts him in the
crosshairs. But he needs help from cold case investigator Mae Vogel, whom he
mistreated in high school. Can they put their past aside to solve the
murder…before the killer succeeds in silencing them for good?
Buy Cold Case Double Cross by Jessica R. Patch
She moved toward the lawn chairs Mom and Grandma Rose
were sitting in, glanced up at the radiant display and smacked into marble.
Nope. A man.
She peered up to apologize, but the words died on her
lips as recognition dawned. Cash Ryland. Mae hadn’t laid eyes on him, by
design, since high school.
Maybe this was the origin surrounding her jittery
feeling.
She put some pep in her step and moved backward, but
Cash’s tanned arm reached out, as if assuming she’d stumbled and not retreated
from him.
She swatted away his steady hand. “I’m perfectly fine.”
No need for physical touch between them.
His thick eyebrows tweaked upward. “Sorry.” His voice had
grown deeper, huskier since he was a kid. Cash shoved his hand into his pocket,
drawing her eye to the badge clipped to his thick black belt looping through
well-fitted jeans.
What? How in the world did Cash Ryland make it into any
branch of law enforcement and why would he want to? His teenage years had been
spent as a juvenile delinquent. Not that she’d imagined what Cash might be
doing now, but if she had it would be more along the lines of doing time for
drug possession or grand larceny or maybe both. Not on the grounds with a
criminal investigations division badge from Willow Banks Sheriff’s Office.
Unbelievable.
“You never were too good at masking your feelings.”
She glanced from his badge to his face and his lopsided
grin rolled another wave into her stomach. How dare her body betray her common
sense by being attracted to his strong, chiseled features.
His blond hair had turned a little sandier, but it worked
for him, unfortunately. His eyes hadn’t changed—they were still the same
intense shade of blue that won the hearts of girls determined to rebel against
their parents. Cash had never been meet-the-parents material, unless a girl
wanted to give them a heart attack and end up grounded for life.
Not Mae.
Mae knew better.
And she’d still been charmed then burned.
Speak, Mae. You have to at least speak. “I’m just
surprised, I guess.” As if she were still a high school girl enamored by the bad
boy of Willow Banks and unsure of herself, she folded her arms, which felt like
dead weight across her chest.
Cash Ryland—a detective. She’d seen it all.
“Well, it’s a surprising thing. Um…” He scratched the
back of his neck. “I actually was looking for you. I saw your family and hoped
you would be here. Your brother mentioned you were in town on vacation.”
Why did Barrett have vocal cords? He hadn’t mentioned
Cash to her. But then, why would he? Barrett was clueless about what had
transpired during her senior year with Cash. All he knew was Mae had tutored
Cash in English. But if anyone had been schooled that semester, it was Mae.
“Barrett talks too much.” She tried to pass around him,
but he blocked her. “Detective or not,” Mae said, tossing grit into her tone,
“if you don’t move, I’m going to move you. And I promise you, size doesn’t
matter. I can do it.”
While Cash towered above her five-foot-one frame, she was
not porcelain, and attached to her petite frame was the muscle to maneuver him
if necessary.
His hands shot up in surrender, but there was no teasing
in his eyes. “I have no doubt, Mae. You’ve always been strong.”
No one had ever uttered those words about her before,
but flattery wasn’t going to get him one solid inch. His charm no longer
affected her.
He cleared a path for her to flee. “I just want to talk
to you for a minute or two. Please?”
About the Author
Publishers Weekly Bestselling author Jessica R. Patch is
known for her dry wit and signature twists. When she's not hunched over her
laptop, you can find her cozy on the couch in her mid-south home reading books
by her favorite authors, watching movies with her family, and collecting
recipes to amazing dishes she'll probably never cook. Sign up for her
newsletter "Patched In" at www.jessicarpatch.com.
Connect with the Author
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
0 comments:
Post a Comment