Beth Andrews - In This Town

She’s on a mission to get out—not get involved

Single mom Tori Sullivan is ready to grab the life she’s always wanted—away from Mystic Point. And initially, newcomer Walker Bertrand seems the ideal partner for her adventure. His appeal makes a girl fantasize about happily-ever-after. That is, until it’s clear this lawman’s strict moral code collides with her knack for bending the rules. Add in his investigation of her sister and that should be a warning that he’s not Tori’s fairy-tale ending, or her ticket out of town.

Yet, Walker seems bent on getting to the bottom of her secrets—something no one has tried to do in a long time. That he wants to know the real Tori, makes resisting him impossible. But being with Walker could be the one thing that holds her here.

There was no good reason to get involved with Tori

Walker knew there was no reason to let her get to him, to believe there could be something between them and a million reasons why he shouldn’t think about her, shouldn’t dream about her.

She was caustic and guarded and fake.

She was beautiful and smart and more caring than even she realized.

Hell.

He edged closer. She didn’t back up, didn’t move closer. She simply watched him, that coy half-smile of hers playing on her lips. “Did you want something, Detective?” she asked, all cocky and confident and challenging.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly, sliding his hand behind her neck to hold her head. Tugged her hair so her face tipped toward him. Her eyes flashed and widened, her hands went to his chest, laid there, not pushing or pulling, just heating his skin. “I want something.”

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for picking up a copy of In this Town, the final book in The Truth about the Sullivans trilogy. It’s never easy to say goodbye, and I have to admit that after spending the past year writing about Mystic Point, I’ll miss these characters. While it wasn’t always smooth sailing, I had a great time with the Sullivan sisters as they learned the truth about the past and found hope and love for brighter futures.

But In this Town isn’t just the third book of a trilogy, it’s also my tenth book for Harlequin Superromance!

Wow. Ten books. I can hardly believe it.

It truly is a dream come true, one born years ago when I was a young, stay-at-home mother. Honestly, the idea of writing romances for Harlequin Books hit me out of the blue but when it did, it took hold with an intensity unlike anything I’d ever known.

I wanted to be a writer. That was it. A simple declaration but one that changed the course of my life. Now I’m living that dream but I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family and readers.

So I want to thank you for your part in making my dream come true. Thank you for reading my stories, for sharing in the beliefs that love should be celebrated and that there’s nothing better than a happy ending.

Please visit my website, www.bethandrews.netor drop me a line at beth@bethandrews.net or P.O. Box 714, Bradford, PA 16701. I’d love to hear from you.

Happy reading!

Beth Andrews

In This Town

Beth Andrews

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Romance Writers of America RITA® Award winner Beth Andrews’s big dream came true when she sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance. Beth and her two teenage daughters outnumber…oops…live with her husband in Northwestern Pennsylvania. When not writing, Beth can be found texting her son at college, video-chatting with her son at college or, her son’s favorite, sending him money. Learn more about Beth and her books by visiting her website, www.bethandrews.net.

To Andy.

Thanks for being my biggest fan.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Assistant Chief Mike Ward of the Bradford, PA, Police Department.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE detective Walker Bertrand shifted in the hard seat and drummed his fingers on his thigh. He’d been in the small, coastal tourist trap of Mystic Point for all of forty minutes, the past thirty of those spent in this chair while the district attorney and mayor did their best to tactfully explain to the police chief and his assistant chief why they were in a shitload of trouble.

Though Walker was certain explanations weren’t necessary. Ross Taylor and Layne Sullivan had to know that sleeping together would cause them problems. If not, they deserved to have their badges taken away from them.

Walker leaned forward, let his hands dangle loosely between his knees while silently urging Jack Pomeroy, the long-winded D.A., to wind things the hell up so Walker could get to work. Finally, and with a great deal of reluctance and regret on his puffy face, Pomeroy handed Chief Taylor a paper.

Taylor’s expression remained impassive as he read the allegations against him and Sullivan. To Walker’s right, Mayor Seagren looked as if he’d rather perform dental surgery on himself—minus Novocain—than be the bearer of bad news to his two highest ranking police officers.

Walker let his gaze slide over Assistant Chief Layne Sullivan.

Women were a mystery, one of life’s greatest. But being the only son in a family with four daughters gave Walker a certain edge. He’d been surrounded by females since birth, after all. He understood them. Knew how they worked and could easily read their moods, gauge their thoughts.

Not that he needed a PhD in the psychology of women to know Sullivan’s mood was hostile, her thoughts contemplating murder.

His murder.

Waves of animosity rolled off her, battered Walker with resentment and anger. She didn’t want him here. Not in her town. Not sitting across from the chief in her police department. Not sticking his nose into her professional life and career.

Life was tough that way.

Being a cop meant he often went where he wasn’t wanted.

He didn’t take it personally.

Walker stretched his legs out in front of him and met Sullivan’s heated gaze with a bland one of his own—which only seemed to piss her off more.

“If you fire Chief Taylor,” she said to the mayor, her long, lean body practically vibrating with outrage, her fisted hands on her hips, “then I quit.”

A passionate response, though a bit predictable for his tastes. Had it been brought on by respect for her boss, the man who—from all accounts—had won the position she’d wanted for herself? Devotion to the man she was sleeping with? Or loyalty to her partner in crime?

Taylor set down the paper. “They’re not firing me.”

Not yet.

Maybe not at all. But everyone in the room knew it was a distinct possibility.

“Any matters regarding termination of employment are up to Mystic Point’s city council and mayor,” Pomeroy pointed out. “Not me or Detective Bertrand.”

Sullivan jerked her head in Walker’s direction. “Then why is he here?”

“I’m here to help,” he said easily.

He was there to get to the truth.

Working for the state attorney general’s office, Walker was often tasked with investigating alleged wrongdoings in local government. City council members and mayors and police chiefs who abused their power or took bribes. Police departments accused of everything from cover-ups and mishandled cases to illegally obtaining evidence.

Most cops considered him the enemy. A traitor to the brotherhood, one who tore through the Blue Line and turned his back on his comrades in arms so he’d get promoted, maybe receive a few accolades as he climbed higher and higher in his career.