WAIT UNTIL DARK
EXCERPT
Jonah Wolfe was not what
she expected. Not at all.
April's best friend had
gone out with him a couple of times so she figured he'd be attractive. She hadn't imagined he would be at least
six-foot-two inches of handsome-as-sin, black-haired, lean-muscled male. With his perfectly symmetric features,
slashing black eyebrows, and brooding dark eyes, Wolfe was beyond good-looking.
Though in a way she was surprised
she'd noticed.
With the election bearing
down on them, she had no interest in men, hadn't dated in nearly a year. More importantly, she was consumed by the
murder of a man she worked with and terrified of what might happen to her.
She needed help, and Jonah
Wolfe appeared to be exactly the kind of help she needed. Murder was a dangerous business. The private investigators who worked for
Chase Garrett at The Max were reputed to be the best in Dallas. Wolfe wouldn't be there if he weren't extremely
good.
He returned to the
conference room with a yellow pad tucked under one arm and two Styrofoam cups
filled to the brim with freshly brewed coffee.
He set a cup down on the table in front of her, black, as she had requested,
and returned to his seat, stretching his long legs out in front of him.
"If we're going to be
working together," he said, "let's stick with first names, all right,
April?"
"All right."
"Start at the
beginning. Give me a quick run through
of your day, into the evening as far as you can remember."
She took a fortifying drink
of coffee, set the cup down on the oak conference table. "It started off as usual. I got up, got dressed, and went into the
mayor's campaign office. I had a meeting
scheduled with members of my staff to work on poster designs. Mark is up for re-election in November so we
have plenty of work to do."
"I'll need a list of
everyone in the office. Separate the
ones on your personal staff."
"All right."
"What happened after
the meeting?"
"I took the designs down
to the printer to get things started."
"And afterward?"
"I went back to the
office. We had a working lunch and kept
going. We didn't finish till about six
p.m."
"So you left around
six?"
"Some people left,
some of us stayed. It's not unusual for me
to work till seven or eight."
"What about Dean? Was he there?"
She nodded. It made her chest feel tight to think those
hours were the last David would live. "We
both stayed. There were five others
besides David and me."
He pulled a pen out of the
pocket of his jeans. "I need the
names."
She rattled off the names
of the two volunteers and three staff members.
"We all walked out at the same time. Since it was Friday night, we decided to stop
at the Derby and have a beer. It's just
a few doors down from the office. If we're
going somewhere after work, that's usually the place we go."
"You and Dean went
there together?"
"And Susan, Timothy,
Collin, Brad, and Peggy. Collin sprang
for pizza."
"What happened after
that?"
"David drank too
much. He's been known to overindulge on
occasion. He needed a ride home and I
was the only one with a vehicle parked close by. My car was in the lot behind the office so we
went out the back door and walked directly there."
"So you and Dean left
the bar together. The police will be
looking at camera surveillance in the area.
They've probably already found that out."
"I told them
that. It wasn't a secret." She took a sip of coffee, her hand trembling
when she picked up the cup. She took a
moment to compose herself. Wolfe didn't
rush her, for which she was grateful.
"Okay, so the two of
you are out in the parking lot."
"That's right. I remember feeling a little dizzy as I
reached my car. I was thinking maybe I
shouldn't be driving either. Maybe we
just should have shared a cab, but David's condo was only a few blocks
away. I knew I hadn't had that much
beer, and I'd eaten plenty of pizza, so there was no way I could be drunk."
"Go on."
She touched her forehead,
straining to recall more of what had happened.
She'd had a headache all morning.
The harder she tried to remember, the more her head throbbed.
"I got in my car and
David got into the passenger seat. He
was really drunk--or at least that's the way he seemed. I remember reaching for my seat belt, but I
was beginning to feel sluggish and I had trouble clicking the belt into place."
She looked up at
Wolfe. "I don't remember starting
the car. In fact, trying to fasten my
seatbelt is the last thing I recall before the police burst into David's
bedroom this morning."
April stared at Wolfe,
trying to gauge his reaction. She didn't
like the dark look on his face.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Wait Until Dark
P.I.
Jonah Wolfe knows trouble when he sees it. So when April Vale storms into his
office at Maximum Security, all his warning signs flash red. April’s been
accused of murder, except she has no memory of how she woke up in her
coworker’s bed--drenched in his blood--shot with her gun. As the campaign manager for the mayor, April’s
job is on the line. Even worse, her life
may be on the line if she doesn’t figure out who’s trying to frame her.
The clock
is ticking and the pair must find the killer... before April winds up dead.
WAIT UNTIL DARK
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CONTEST: https://www.katmartin.com/monthly-contest/
For October, Kat Martin is giving away a copy of AGAINST THE NIGHT to two winners (winner’s choice
of eBook or print format).
For November, Kat Martin is giving away a copy of AGAINST THE WIND to two winners (winner’s choice of
eBook or print format).
WAIT UNTIL DARK —
eBook on sale November 1st, but available for pre-order now!
Don’t miss the
thrilling prequel to New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin’s brand-new
series, Maximum Security!
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