Free For Love & Bourbon by Katie Jennings Page A

the whiskey warm his insides. It sank into his bloodstream with a hot kick that sent a shiver down his spine.
    Feeling marginally better, he lowered himself into the desk chair. He stared at the whiskey, tilting the glass to admire the color of it in the light. It was a vivid, rich gold, much darker than the Honey or Distiller’s Choice he’d tried the day before. The 101 was heavier in every sense of the word. And at that moment, he was pleased with his choice. Beer, as much as he loved it, just wouldn’t do the trick. Something stronger was needed after the day he’d had.
    They hadn’t found anything usable on Ty’s computers. Not yet, anyway, he reminded himself. Regardless, he thought they’d be swimming in evidence after the first sweep. Instead they were coming up empty and it frustrated the hell out of him.
    The Swiss account alone was proof that Ty was hiding something. It was the very piece of evidence that had brought them down to Kentucky in the first place. If they were unable to prove Ty knew the money was being withdrawn by someone in Dublin, most likely Ned Brannon, then the entire case may fall apart. They needed something more substantial to tie him to the Irish side of the family, something like emails detailing dollar amounts or phone calls timed conveniently with the withdrawals.
    Cooper knew he had to have faith in his team to find it, whatever it was.
    In the next room over, he could hear the faint sound of the football game Marco was watching. Because it reminded him of home, he settled back in his chair and began to relax.
    He’d come a long way from the lively streets of D.C. He wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of finding the truth. Not even whatever twisted form of guilt he felt for involving Ava the way he did.
    Impartiality in a case usually came naturally to him. Never before had he felt the need to protect someone he didn’t even know, had no connection to. She was just another case file, an unfortunate bystander in the storm her own father created. Whatever happened to her or the Lucky Fox Distillery was none of his business. All he was allowed to care about was proving Ty Brannon’s guilt.
    And it needed to stay that way.
    He stood and went to the window, pulling aside the drapes. From his view on the third floor he could see much of downtown Fox Hills as everything shut down for the evening. In the wash of moonlight and street lamps, he watched people drift in and out of the local bar across the street.
    That was when he saw her. Face lit with laughter, Ava exited the bar and waved goodbye to whoever was inside. Though he couldn’t hear her, he imagined her voice in his head, that husky lilt such a warm contrast to the sharpness of her tongue. Keys in hand, she made her way to a blue pickup truck parked on the street.
    Her gaze drifted upward, landed on his. He tensed, then lifted his glass of bourbon in a silent toast to her.
    The smile she wore faded. She stared at him for a long moment, then climbed into her truck and drove away.

 
     

     
     
    S he did her best to run damage control. Though it took all her energy to put on a radiant smile and act like nothing was wrong, she felt she pulled it off. The townspeople had their answers, and her employees were confident the issue was being handled.
    A little bit of unpaid taxes. Completely accidental, of course. Leave it to the government to overreact and send the FBI knocking to confiscate computers over an innocent little accounting error. Nothing more than a routine search, she’d assured them. The company was doing just fine and soon everything would get back to normal.
    It had sounded so good that she almost believed it herself.
    Ava didn’t want to doubt her father. The rest of the family seemed content with his explanation, so why wasn’t she?
    Something in her father’s eyes had changed, she realized. There was a sense of apprehension in them now that never existed before. The cause of it could have been