Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021
Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 Box Set
Colton 911: Soldier’s Return
Colton Bullseye
Agent’s Wyoming Mission
His to Protect
Karen Whiddon
Geri Krotow
Jennifer D. Bokal
Sharon C. Cooper
Table of Contents
Colton 911: Chicago Soldier’s Return
By Karen Whiddon
Colton Bullseye
By Geri Krotow
Agent’s Wyoming Mission
By Jennifer D. Bokal
His to Protect
By Sharon C. Cooper
“How’d your family get-together go?”
“It went well,” Carly replied. “I told them about you being alive. And here in Chicago.”
Micha had suspected she might. “How’d they take it?”
“Well. You know how much they liked you. Several people asked why I didn’t bring you with me.”
“What did you say?”
“I changed the subject. Honestly, Micha, I’m still not sure how I feel about all this. Having you back and here with me is wonderful, but it’s also scary as hell.”
“Scary? How so?”
“Losing you hurt, Micha. It took me a long time to pick myself up and climb out of that deep, dark place.”
“Would you rather I hadn’t come back? Would you...” He had to swallow hard to keep his voice from breaking. “Would you rather you still thought I was dead?”
“Of course not. But I’m still struggling with the fact that you waited two entire years before even attempting to contact me. I know you have your reasons. But what you don’t understand is this. I can’t go through that again. I wouldn’t survive losing you a second time.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
* * *
Colton 911: Chicago—Love and danger come alive in the Windy City...
* * *
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Dear Reader,
Another Coltons book! Yay! As you know, I adore the Colton family. Writing about them reminds me of watching the TV show Dallas back in the ’80s. Never a dull moment.
In this book, I got to tell the story of Micha Harrison and Carly Colton. It’s a book about redemption and learning to trust again and knowing love won’t ever fail to heal old wounds. It’s got a lot of suspense as we try to figure out who wants Carly or Micha (or both of them) dead and whether or not it’s tied to the potential serial killer who murdered Carly’s father and his twin brother. The rest of the Colton family comes to visit, too. I truly enjoyed writing this story. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Karen Whiddon
Colton 911: Chicago Soldier’s Return
Karen Whiddon
Karen Whiddon started weaving fanciful tales for her younger brothers at the age of eleven. Amid the gorgeous Catskill Mountains, then the majestic Rocky Mountains, she fueled her imagination with the natural beauty surrounding her. Karen now lives in north Texas, writes full-time and volunteers for a boxer dog rescue. She shares her life with her hero of a husband and four to five dogs, depending on if she is fostering. You can email Karen at kwhiddon1@aol.com. Fans can also check out her website, karenwhiddon.com.
Books by Karen Whiddon
Harlequin Romantic Suspense
Colton 911: Chicago
Colton 911: Soldier’s Return
The CEO’s Secret Baby
The Cop’s Missing Child
The Millionaire Cowboy’s Secret
Texas Secrets, Lovers’ Lies
The Rancher’s Return
The Texan’s Return
Wyoming Undercover
The Texas Soldier’s Son
Texas Ranch Justice
Snowbound Targets
The Widow’s Bodyguard
Visit the Author Profile page at
Harlequin.com for more titles.
To my beloved husband and daughter. I love you both more than I could ever express.
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 1
The sun shone bright yellow in a blue sky speckled with fluffy white clouds. Happy clouds, Carly Colton thought. The kind she used to imagine were animals and ships when she was a child. All around her, birds were singing cheerful songs and the still-crisp air carried the promise of warmer temperatures to come. Typical spring in Chicago. One minute, cold enough for snow flurries; the next, warm enough to cause trees to start to bud and flowers to bloom. Finally, nice enough weather to enjoy the outdoors, to take more walks, maybe even visit the lakeshore.
Despite being outside, in the warm sunshine, Carly couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder. The beautiful April day did nothing to lessen her unease. For the past six weeks, whether shopping or taking a walk, she’d been certain someone was stalking her, even though she’d never actually been able to catch sight of them.
It was more of a gut feeling, a visceral instinct. She’d be walking along familiar streets and then feel someone’s gaze on her with a tingle of nerves in the back of her neck. Who? Terrified, she’d spin wildly, hoping to catch her stalker in the act. But so far, she’d been completely unsuccessful, unable to locate a single person or even a group of people paying her the slightest bit of untoward attention. Nothing, absolutely nothing, out of the ordinary. Enough to make her wonder if her father’s and uncle’s murders had made her become overly fearful.
These days, she had to make herself venture out of her home, despite craving the fresh air. Her neighborhood had always been perfectly safe, and she loved her street.
Even now, on a perfect spring day, she swore she could feel someone watching her. Unsettled, she managed to force herself to continue on her walk, though every instinct screamed she should run home as fast as she could. As usual, she resisted the urge.
Paranoid? Maybe. But then she had reason to be on edge considering her father and his brother had been murdered a few months ago. The killer had yet to be caught. Even so, she didn’t like feeling uneasy outside her own house in her wonderful Hyde Park neighborhood, the one place she should have felt safe. Until a month and a half ago, despite occasional bouts of bad weather, she’d always enjoyed her early-evening strolls around her block, waving at neighbors and enjoying a bit of fresh air.
Now not so much. In fact, she’d begun to realize she might need to consider stopping them altogether. Which would be a shame, since she considered walking her main