Free For Love & Bourbon by Katie Jennings

anything.”
    “The FBI agent?”
    “Yeah.” She stopped pacing and took a deep breath, held it, released. A scowl tightened her face at the memory. “Agent Cooper Lawson. Bastard came into the distillery for a tour yesterday, acting like some normal guy. Then he comes back today and flashes his badge in my face with a goddamn warrant.”
    “So we have no idea what the charges are?”
    “None.” Feeling her energy waning, she sat down beside her mother and sighed. “And we won’t know until Daddy gets home.”
    On edge, Adam walked to the kitchen, poured a glass of whiskey. He brought it and the bottle to the living room and sat down across from his family. After taking a sip, he passed the glass to Ava.
    She accepted it, meeting his eyes. “Sorry you had to find out from Beau. It slipped my mind.”
    His head dipped in a nod. “I get it. I can be easy to forget.”
    Ignoring his statement, she drank the last of the whiskey, then refilled it and handed it to her grandfather.
    “Thank you, dearie.” Joe held it in his hands, giving her a cheery grin. “We’ll get this straightened out. Don’t you worry.”
    “How can you be so calm?” she managed. She looked to her mother. “Both of you. You make me feel like I’m overreacting.”
    Sandra patted her knee. Before she could speak, the front door opened.
    Ava’s eyes shot to the entryway. Her father came in, set his briefcase down like normal, and removed his coat.
    All the words she wanted to say seemed stuck in her throat as she stared at him, going about his routine like nothing was wrong. It took Adam saying something for her to snap out of it and jump to her feet.
    “What’s going on, Dad?” Adam asked, storming up to their father as he entered the room.
    Ava was at his side in an instant. “The FBI? What do they want?”
    Ty let out a slow exhale, his eyes tired as he faced his children. He attempted a reassuring smile. “It’s just a routine thing. Nothing to worry about.”
    “Routine? How so?” Ava demanded, wanting nothing more than to wrestle the truth from him. Already it felt like pulling teeth.
    “The IRS is concerned I may not have paid taxes on a bit of money. I’ve already spoken with the attorney and we’re in the process of gettin’ this cleared up.”
    “So why is the FBI searching your computers?” Ava frowned.
    “They’re just looking into the financials of the company to verify where the money went and if there’s any other money that went unclaimed on the tax return.”
    Though she wanted to be reassured by her father’s words, Ava couldn’t let go of the dread she felt. And though she was certainly no expert, she found it implausible that the FBI would bother with something as mundane as tax evasion. “This is all just about taxes, then? Nothing more?”
    “Nothing more.” Ty rubbed her back, then faced his son. “I promise.”
    Adam let out a rush of breath, relieved. “Well, that’s good, then.”
    Sandra smiled and rose to her feet. “See? I told you kids it’d be just fine.”
    Joe also stood and went to his son, slapping him on the back. “Damn tax man can never take enough, can he?” he joked with a wink.
    Ty’s gaze drifted to Ava’s, and she knew he could tell she wasn’t satisfied by his explanation. He pulled her in close for a hug, and she tried to let his presence comfort her.
    “Don’t worry, baby. Everything will continue on just like normal.”
    She wanted to remind him that the whole town was already in a gossipy frenzy over the news. In the end, it wouldn’t help.
    Instead, she’d check in on their little FBI friends in the morning and make sure everything was as it seemed.

    THE FIRST thing Cooper did upon returning to his hotel room for the night was open the bottle of 101. He didn’t even give it a second thought—he simply twisted off the top and poured himself a shot. He lifted the glass, sniffed, then swallowed.
    Ready for the burn, eager for it, he sucked in a breath and let