Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries)

Addison, and that’s what I’m waiting for.”
    “Well, who is it?”
    “I can’t talk about it. This is a small town, and I don’t want to give him the opportunity to make my job harder.”
    “Are you saying you think I’m going to take the information you give me and run around telling everybody who the killer is?” I asked. Blood rushed to my ears and I could only hear the sound of my heart beating in anger. “What kind of person do you think I am?”
    “A civilian,” Nick said patiently. “This is my investigation and you’re already too involved. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
    “Your investigation,” I said, understanding. “I’m right in the middle of this mess and you don’t want to involve me in your investigation. You’re threatened because if you tell me what your suspicions are I might catch the murderer before you do . It’s because he and I have some sort of twisted connection.”
    “You’re out of your mind. You think you’re Magnum P.I. since you started working for Kate, but you have no clue how dangerous the situation you’re in is. I’ll handle this, Addison. I don’t want you interfering. I want your word.”
    “I don’t think so. These are people from my town that are being targeted, and I feel like it’s my fault. Their deaths are weighing me down until I feel like I’m going to suffocate. This isn’t about you doing your job. It’s about your protective instincts as a man. I’m just as capable of drawing the killer out as you are. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
    We were both standing at this point, tension and anger radiating off both of us in waves.
    “If you know something or are planning some harebrained idea you need to tell me. I’m the investigating officer on this case and you do not want to be charged with obstruction. You are a high school history teacher. Do you see how there’s one of us that needs to be kept in the loop, and it isn’t you?”
    “What a horrible thing to say. I’ve helped you with this investigation from the beginning. You came to me asking for help. I have as big a stake in it as anyone. Bigger as far as I’m concerned.”
    “I’ve got plainclothes officers in place doing round the clock surveillance. You snooping around and stirring up trouble is not going to help me.” His voice had increased in volume the longer he talked.
    “You’re yelling at me,” I said, surprised.
    “I’m not yelling. I never yell,” he said doing just that.
    “I bet I can find out who the killer is before you. What do you say to that?”
    “You’re turning this into a competition?”
    “If you want to be crass about it, then yes.”
    “I can’t believe this. Why couldn’t I have found a nice girl somewhere who just wanted to make a nice quiet life with me and keep me warm at night?”
    “Nobody could make a nice quiet life with you. You’re completely unreasonable. As far as keeping you warm at night, it sounds like you’re wasting your time with me. What you need is a lapdog.”
    Nick growled low in his throat and for a second I feared I’d pushed him too far. “What does the winner of this farce get?” Nick finally asked.
    “Ohmigod ,” I said and burst into tears. “I can’t believe I’m arguing with you like this is some stupid competition after I just killed Greg.” Nick wrapped his arms around me. “I’m s…s…sorry. I c…c…can’t h…h…help it.” I snuffled and snorted and soaked his shirt while he held me tight and let me cry it out.
    “ It was an accident, Addison. And from the looks of him, it seems like somebody did a number on him before he ran in front of your car. From what you said in your statement it looks like Greg was definitely running away from something. We’ll find out for sure once we get the ME’s report back.”
    I cried harder. “ It’s okay,” he whispered. “You’ve had a lot to deal with over the last two weeks. I’d be worried about you if you weren’t having this kind of reaction.”
    Greg’s death had hit me harder than I’d thought. He’d been out of my life for months and I’d only wished bad things on him. It looked like my wishes had come true, and guilt was eating at me from the inside out.
    I wiped my eyes on a towel he gave me and backed away. “Thanks,” I said mortally embarrassed. This was not a good way to start a relationship—extreme adrenaline rushes followed by bouts of lust followed by the bizarre, the surreal and finally the