Carla Cassidy - Cold Case, Hot Accomplice

Bestselling author Carla Cassidy brings in the Men of Wolf Creek to seek a missing woman

Roxy Marcoli cares about three things—her restaurant, her sisters and her aunt Liz. When Liz disappears, she’s forced to turn to shameless playboy cop Steve Kincaid. Every time the sexy detective turns on the charm, he gets Roxy’s hackles up.

Despite his reputation, Steve is no ladies’ man. His casual flirting hides the pain of an unbearable loss. As they search for clues, he discovers what lies beneath Roxy’s prickly exterior and sharp tongue. As his desire grows, so does his fear. Because it’s not just Aunt Liz the killer wants—but Roxy, too.

“What did my mother say to you?”

Roxy forced herself to look at Steve. “Your mother’s worried. She thinks you’re falling in love with me.”

“I am.”

Those two words turned her world topsy-turvy. “You can’t be. We said neither of us wanted a relationship.”

“I didn’t think I was ready. I thought all my heart could hold was grief, but I was wrong. There’s space for you there, Roxy.”

Roxy’s shoulders stiffened. “Don’t love me, Steve,” she said. “Your mother’s afraid I’ll break your heart, and I will if you love me.”

“If you’re about to tell me that you don’t care about me, then I won’t believe you,” he said.

“I do care about you,” she admitted. “I care about you more than I’ve ever cared about a man, but that doesn’t change the fact that I never intend to invite a man into my life.”

“What are you afraid of, Roxy? Why are you so afraid to love…to be loved?”

Men of Wolf Creek: Small-town lawmen charged with finding the lost...and uncovering true love.

Dear Reader,

Last year my husband and I got the opportunity to take a road trip through Pennsylvania, where we fell in love with the beauty of the countryside, the Amish settlements and chocolate.

The Men of Wolf Creek series was born from the places we saw and the people we met. I’ve taken poetic license in many cases, but hopefully you’ll find these books filled with hot heroes, strong heroines and enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your chair.

Thanks and happy reading!

Carla Cassidy

Cold Case, Hot Accomplice

Carla Cassidy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CARLA CASSIDY

is an award-winning author who has written more than one hundred books for Mills & Boon. In 1995 she won Best Silhouette Romance from RT Book Reviews for Anything for Danny. In 1998 she also won a Career Achievement Award for Best Innovative Series from RT Book Reviews.

Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write. She’s looking forward to writing many more books and bringing hours of pleasure to readers.

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To all the people in Pennsylvania who welcomed us into their homes with love and warmth.

I love you all and hope you find these stories as entertaining as we found all of you!

Love, Carla

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Epilogue

Excerpt

Chapter 1

For the first time in three and a half years, Aunt Liz was late. Roxy Marcoli checked her watch for the third time in the past five minutes and tried not to panic.

The older woman had never been late delivering the baked goods that were offered each day to the customers of the Dollhouse. She always arrived at six-thirty, a half hour before Roxy turned the closed sign to Open, signaling the beginning of another day at the restaurant.

It was now quarter till seven and still no sign of Aunt Liz. Roxy had already called her aunt’s house twice, and there had been no answer. She’d also tried Liz’s cell phone, but it had gone directly to voice mail.

“Maybe she’s held up in traffic,” Josephine Landers, Roxy’s manager, said as she checked the quiches that baked in the oven.

“Yeah, because traffic jams are such an issue in Wolf Creek, Pennsylvania,” Roxy replied drily. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard of a traffic snarl in the relatively small tourist town twenty miles up the mountain from the bigger city of Hershey.

“You know she’d never answer her cell phone if she was driving. She’ll probably be walking in here any minute now,” Josie said, obviously unconcerned about Liz Marcoli’s punctuality or lack thereof.

What worried Roxy was that her aunt Liz was the one person in the entire world she’d always depended on, the one person who had always been there for her. She checked her watch once again. Almost seven. This was so out of character for Aunt Liz.

A thousand scenarios played out in Roxy’s head, one worse than the other. Maybe she’d slipped and fallen in the shower. Or she’d been in a car accident and was at the hospital. Half the time she forgot to carry her purse with her, so if she was in an accident and rendered unconscious, it was possible that nobody would know her identity.

Stop it, Roxy commanded herself. Stop thinking so negatively. She’d been told often enough by both of her sisters and her aunt that she was prone to always seeing the bad side of any situation.

Maybe for once in her life, Aunt Liz had simply overslept. But then why hadn’t she heard the phone ring? “Maybe I’ll just give Marlene a call and have her run over and check in at Aunt Liz’s,” she said, more to herself than to Josie.

“Whatever you’re going to do, you’d better do it fast because our first customers should be coming in any minute.” Josie pulled the tray of homemade quiches from the oven.

Roxy grabbed her cell phone from her apron pocket and punched in her middle sister’s number. Marlene picked up on the third ring, her voice groggy with sleep.

“You’d better be profusely bleeding or on fire,” she said to Roxy.

“Neither, and I’m sorry to bother you so early, but I can’t find Aunt Liz,” Roxy replied. She leaned one hip against the large butcher-block island in the center of the kitchen.

“What do you mean you can’t find Aunt Liz?”

Roxy could hear the rustle of bedsheets and could easily imagine her blond-haired, beautiful sister sitting up in her bed in her tiny walk-up apartment bedroom. “She didn’t come this morning with the baked goods, and I’ve tried to call the house and her cell phone, but I get no answer.” Roxy tried to keep the worry from her voice, but it was obvious Marlene heard it.

“You want me to go over there and check things out?”

“Would you mind? I’m just about to open my doors, and I can’t imagine what’s held her up this morning. This has never happened before.”

“It will take me a few minutes to pull myself together and get over there, but I’ll call you back as soon as I know something.”

Roxy released a small sigh of relief. “Thanks, Marlene. And if she shows up here in the meantime, I’ll give you a call back.”