He might have been a millionaire, but he rarely opened his house to the public.
Now Suzy couldn’t help but wonder why.
A hush fell over the crowd before she could voice the question. The man of the hour appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Mistrust aside, Suzy felt her focus snap to attention.
James Callahan was a man you immediately thought about taking to bed. At least, Suzy did. He was tall, broad shouldered and admittedly good-looking. He wore his black hair short, cropped above the ears with some height at the top. It made him look authoritative and crisp. The consummate businessman. Yet the most attractive thing about him, for Suzy at least, was the charm behind every smile. That was his weapon. And that was what he wielded against the audience.
“First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out,” he began, crystal-blue eyes scanning the people closest to him. Town council members, the local police and fire chiefs, and the mayor. The “it” people of Bates Hill. “I know it’s been a stressful year, so I’m glad that I was able to offer up some levity by way of a party. You all work very hard to make sure this town stays afloat, and for that, I say thank you. And, as a token of my appreciation, instead of boring you with a speech, how about this—” He scooped a champagne flute off a waitress’s tray at the base of the stairs and held it up. “Please make sure you take advantage of the food, drinks and live music on the patio! And have fun!”
He cast that charming smile out to the crowd as a whole. Its effect spread quickly. Soon even Mara was grinning.
“I think that man could read the alphabet and people would cheer,” she whispered. Suzy snorted but didn’t look away. James’s gaze swept over her and then stopped. Heat rose from her belly, but she tried her best to keep it from reaching her cheeks.
“Why don’t we go check out that food?” Suzy suggested, breaking the stare.
She might have had questions for the man, but now that she was here, she needed time to collect her thoughts.
It didn’t help that James Callahan looked damn good in a suit.
* * *
THE PARTY WAS going better than he’d expected. It was nearing ten at night, and most of the attendees were still there, the party in full swing. They rotated in and out of the house, splitting their time between dancing, drinking and mingling. Most did, at least. James noticed the chief deputy kept the same glass and company for most of the party. Only briefly did she step out to talk to the police and fire chiefs before they left.
James was surprised at how much of his attention Suzanne kept without even trying. Even when carrying on his own conversations, he felt hyperaware of her presence. Like she was a glowing blip on his radar. A sound he always heard. A woman he couldn’t ignore.
It was surprising at best, distracting at worst.
The way her brow furrowed when she was having a particularly serious talk and the small smile she wore when he bet she was trying to be polite were details that filtered in seconds after he found her again in the crowd. She seemed most comfortable with the sheriff’s wife and her friend. When talking to them, her body language changed to become more relaxed, more animated. She’d tuck her long dark hair behind her ear or widen her brown eyes before laughing. He knew those eyes were the color of honey in the right light.
He’d looked down into them when holding her bleeding body.
James had wanted to approach her the moment he saw her in the crowd, but given the cold shoulder she’d shown him for the last four months, he decided to keep his distance. She didn’t trust him, that much he could tell.
And she had every right.
Because Gardner Todd wasn’t just some thug gunned down as justice for his past deeds.
He was James’s brother.
“Mr. Callahan.”
James turned to one of his friends who ran security for his events. Douglas was several inches shorter and as bald as a worn tire. James had once seen him body slam a man much bigger than either of them like it was a breeze.
“I told you not to call me that,” James said after excusing himself from the group he had been in. “Makes me feel old.”
Douglas snorted. “Just wait until I tell you who just called me and what it was about.” James already felt the sigh coming out of his mouth before Douglas could explain.
“Let me guess—it starts with Chelsea and ends with pain-in-my-backside.”
Douglas laughed. “You got it, boss.”
James rolled his eyes but didn’t feel any real annoyance. He flipped his smartwatch around to see the date.
“Considering her bio lab test was last week, I’m assuming this call has something to do with the grade she got on it?”
But Douglas kept tight-lipped. “She wants you to call her back after the party,” he said. “And told me I’m not allowed to tell you one way or the other.”
James couldn’t help but laugh. “I should worry how easily my sister wraps you around her finger, but then again, I’m there, too.” He clapped Douglas on the shoulder. “I’ll go call her now. I didn’t help her study for that lab every weekend for the last month for nothing. Keep this party going in my absence. If anyone asks where I went, just tell them I’m in the wine cellar getting toasted.”
It was Douglas’s turn to laugh as James left the main room and went to the small set of stairs in the kitchen. He bounded up them two at a time and headed toward his office. He pulled out his cell phone and was calling before he even reached the doorway.
* * *
SUZY WATCHED AS James was pulled from his conversation by a member of the security team. Whatever the situation was, it didn’t appear to be serious, yet after they were done the man of the hour left the party. Curiosity filled her so quickly that before she had time to process what she was doing, Suzy had excused herself from Mara’s side and followed the millionaire.
Billy’s request that she question James within reason repeated in the back of her mind as she waited a few seconds before going up the stairs behind him. She walked slowly to keep her heels from making a sound until she was standing in the upstairs hallway. If James caught her now, she figured she could come up with a valid excuse for following him. Yet she found her feet stalling on the landing.
What exactly was she hoping to find?
Did she really expect the man to buckle beneath her questions, giving up answers that she had been looking for?
Suzy felt a swirl of adrenaline in her gut. Something she’d often experienced out in the field. A feeling she’d been missing for the last four months. For one small moment, she reveled in how it made her heart beat faster, her senses more alert and her mind more clear.
If James really was involved with what had happened to Gardner Todd, then that meant he was someone to exercise caution around. Add in his fortune and connections and being on his own home turf?
She was putting herself in a dangerous situation.
She was being careless.
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