Cavanaugh Fortune Read online

  The Cavanaughs continue to thrill in this latest story of crime, feuding partners and…surprise seduction from USA TODAY bestselling author Marie Ferrarella

  A ring of murderous hackers is casting a wide net of destruction, bringing down financial institutions and ruining lives. Detective Alex Brody must get to the bottom of the case immediately, but he needs help. Normally he’d rejoice at the idea of gaining a sexy new partner, but not this one…not a Cavanaugh.

  Officer Valri Cavanaugh is pulled from the ranks to assist in a case that could make or break her career. She has the tech smarts, but her new partner thinks she’s a privileged brat. As they delve deeper into the mystery, these unwitting partners find they have more in common than just a case—sizzling chemistry that is both startling…and potentially deadly.

  Praise for Marie Ferrarella

  “Expert storytelling coupled with an engaging plot makes this an excellent read.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Cavanaugh Undercover

  “Strong writing, good pacing, sizzling chemistry and cool tension is plentiful in this lively read.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Mission: Cavanaugh Baby

  “A thrilling intrigue with just the right amount of sizzle to keep the pages turning faster and faster.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Racing Against Time

  “Marie Ferrarella brings readers back for a visit with her Cavanaugh Justice family and, once again, raw emotion, hot sex and real characters rule!”

  —RT Book Reviews on The Strong Silent Type

  “Sizzles with sexual tension, and the plot is edgy, dark and suspenseful. Ferrarella has penned a guaranteed page-turner!”

  —RT Book Reviews on Internal Affair

  “In Broad Daylight combines danger and conspiracy with breathtaking desire to produce an electrifying read!”

  —The Romance Readers Connection

  “Ms. Ferrarella creates fiery, strong-willed characters, an intense conflict and an absorbing premise no reader could possibly resist.”

  —RT Book Reviews on A Match for Morgan

  ***

  Be sure to check out the next books in this exciting new miniseries: Cavanaugh Justice—Where the law and passion collide…

  ***

  If you’re on Twitter, tell us what you think of

  Harlequin Romantic Suspense! #harlequinromsuspense

  Dear Reader,

  In a perfect world, computers never break down and the internet is a wonderful tool capable of unlocking a vast wealth of information and entertainment, all while keeping us safe. Sadly, we live in a world where a smartphone has the ability to outsmart its unsuspecting owner by, in effect, spying on us and making us vulnerable. All it takes is someone who is tech-savvy to take advantage of the system—and us. These days, the news has more than its share of stories about hackers stealing credit card information and using that information in ways normal, law-abiding people wouldn’t dream of.

  Since this kind of thing is happening more often, I thought it might make for an interesting story involving another Cavanaugh, a young police officer temporarily promoted to detective and teamed with another detective who balks at the idea of having to babysit a rookie cop. Such is the case here with computer expert and gamer nonpareil Valri Cavanaugh, the youngest member of her family, and Alex Brody, a man who finds himself temporarily without a partner. The murder of a popular gamer brings the two together and takes them into the dangerous world of hackers, a world that is as fascinating as it is frightening.

  I hope you enjoy this latest visit with the Cavanaugh clan. As always, I thank you for taking the time to read this book, and from the bottom of my heart, I wish you someone to love who loves you back.

  Wishing you all the very best,

  Marie

  CAVANAUGH

  FORTUNE

  Marie Ferrarella

  USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award-winning author Marie Ferrarella has written more than two hundred fifty books for Harlequin, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, marieferrarella.com.

  Books by Marie Ferrarella

  Harlequin romantic suspense

  Mission: Cavanaugh Baby

  Cavanaugh on Duty

  A Widow’s Guilty Secret

  Cavanaugh’s Surrender

  Cavanaugh Rules

  Cavanaugh’s Bodyguard

  Cavanaugh Fortune

  Harlequin romantic suspense

  Matchmaking Mamas

  Diamond in the Ruff

  Dating for Two

  Wish Upon a Matchmaker

  Ten Years Later…

  A Perfectly Imperfect Match

  Once Upon a Matchmaker

  Visit the Author Profile page

  at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  To

  Tahra Seplowin

  Welcome to

  Happy

  Chaos

  Contents

  Prologue

  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 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  Prologue

  Detective Alexander Brody opened the front door of his ground-floor garden apartment, bent down and picked up the morning paper from his doorstep.

  As was his habit every morning, he took the paper inside and dropped it on the counter beside his struggling coffee machine. The less than peak-performing machine was what commanded all of his attention at the moment. Gurgling, it gave every indication that it was just about in its last throes of life.

  None of his coffeemakers were long-lived and he’d been through this before. Alex judged that he’d probably have to buy a new coffeemaker sometime in the latter half of next week—if not sooner. As a rule, he hated to shop, but this was more important than his dislike for standing in a checkout line. He could function fairly well with little to no sleep and a lot of other things, but he couldn’t function at all without that first cup of coffee in the morning.

  Usually followed by a second cup—and a third if he was skipping breakfast.

  The newspaper was part of his morning ritual, as well. Not that he usually had time to read it. Most days he took off a couple of minutes after he brought the paper into the apartment. Like so many of his under-thirty-five generation, most—if not all—of his news came from the internet. And, on occasion, from the radio he listened to while driving in to work.

  Still, he wouldn’t dream of terminating his newspaper subscription. He considered it a tragedy that the written word was dying out. A great many newspapers around the country had already permanently closed their doors, ending, in his opinion, a fine old tradition. He was not about to add to that and help bury that longtime industry by withdrawing his support from the local Aurora paper. Though basically not an optimist, he did still hang on to the very clichéd belief that every little bit helped.

  Alex had a soft spot in his heart for newspapers. He always had. For a while, when he was about ten or so, he had delivered newspapers to people’s doorsteps in an attempt to earn some money of his own.

&
nbsp; Honest money.

  Even then, honest money had been a rarity in his family.

  But he’d tried.

  Alex poured himself a travel mug’s worth of thick black liquid, guaranteed to wake up every fiber of his body whether he wanted it to or not. The people he worked with in the department claimed it could probably also be used to fix the cracks in the street asphalt.

  Preoccupied, he wound up filling the mug too high. Some of the coffee escaped as he screwed on the top of the mug. Slipping down the sides of the steel-gray thermos, the black liquid began leaking onto the front page of the newspaper.

  Swallowing a few choice words that normally didn’t get voiced until he was already a couple of hours into his shift, Alex reached for the dish towel hanging off the handle on his stove.

  With quick movements he tried to wipe away the coffee before it blurred the front headline.

  Which was when he read the words.

  And how he wound up reading the article instead of leaving for work right at that point.

  The headline that fairly screamed across the front page this morning was about a robbery. Specifically, a break-in in one of Aurora’s high-end developments. Apparently, according to the journalist covering the local story, it was the third such robbery of its kind in a short period. The owners of the house had been away in Europe and returned to find that their priceless art collection had been stolen.

  Nothing else had been taken.

  Alex read the article from start to finish, carefully taking in every word. A wave of nausea came over him as he read.

  “Oh God,” he muttered under his breath as he came to the end of the article, no more reassured now than he had been when he’d started reading. “This isn’t you, is it?”

  The question was addressed to a man who was not there.

  Alex’s voice, and the question he’d asked, echoed about his small kitchen, haunting him with the possible implications.

  Alex tossed the newspaper back on the counter. This was supposed to be behind him, he angrily thought.

  Who are you kidding? It’s never going to be behind you.

  The words, coming from deep inside him, taunted Alex.

  The pinched, sick feeling he had been experiencing in the pit of his stomach accompanied him all the way to the precinct.

  With luck, he’d catch a case and be distracted.

  Alex crossed his fingers.

  Chapter 1

  Brian Cavanaugh, chief of detectives of the Aurora Police Department, was well aware of the very fine line that existed between nepotism and utilizing the right person for the right job. He’d walked that line countless times since assuming his present position.

  To his own satisfaction, he had never been guilty of nepotism, although there were those who would swear differently. They were the ones whose potential did not measure up to the job and they found it easier to point fingers and complain than to undertake the hard work of evaluating and improving themselves.

  Brian didn’t much care when the insults, born of bruised egos, were directed at him. After all his years on the force and in this chair, he’d become used to fielding the ones that needed to be dealt with and ignoring the ones that would die of their own accord. But he was always extra judicious because he did mind if the person he was singling out for a special assignment came under fire through no actual fault of his or her own, other than having the same surname as he did.

  Granted there were a great many Cavanaughs spread through the different divisions within the police force, but as a rule, Cavanaughs worked twice as hard as the person beside them to do the job and prove that they had earned the right to be where they were. Not a single Cavanaugh had ever been promoted without first demonstrating that he or she not only had the necessary potential to do the job—whatever it might be—but also knew how to use it.

  As was the case with the blonde, blue-eyed patrol officer who was currently standing, looking somewhat uneasy, before him in his office.

  “You can sit, you know, Officer Cavanaugh,” he told the young woman.

  “If you don’t mind, sir, I’d like to stand.”

  Standing made Valri Cavanaugh feel just a little more in control and slightly less vulnerable than if she were sitting, although in this particular situation, the petite blonde had a feeling that the nervousness wouldn’t abate even if she were hanging from the ceiling like a circus trapeze artist.

  “I don’t mind,” Brian assured her in his easy, deep baritone voice. “But if you’re worried, I can guarantee that there won’t be any need for a quick getaway on your part.”

  In response, Valri offered him a quick, somewhat embarrassed smile and then slowly lowered herself into one of the two chairs situated before his desk.

  He couldn’t help noticing that his cousin Murdoch’s youngest daughter made contact with the seat as if she were anticipating being forcefully propelled out of it at any second. In what he could only assume was an attempt for stability, he observed her fingers wrapping around each of the armrests in what looked to be a death grip.

  Her attention, however, appeared to be focused entirely on him.

  “Do you know why I asked to see you, Officer Cavanaugh?” he asked gently, although ever mindful of the positions that separated them. Privately, he was family, but professionally, he was the chief of detectives and her ultimate superior. It was as the chief of Ds that he was presently speaking to this unusually gifted officer.

  “No, sir,” Valri answered honestly, then added, the corners of her mouth curving ever so slightly, “but I think it might have something to do with computers.”

  “It not only ‘might’ have something to do with computers, it most definitely does. The head of the computer lab recently brought your considerable skills to my attention.”

  It was a known fact that the head of the computer lab was an absolute wizard with computers. She was also Brenda Cavanaugh, married to Detective Dax Cavanaugh and one of the chief’s daughters-in-law.

  “She said that you were invaluable, taking on some of the overflow from her desk last month. She also mentioned that you recently helped get the goods on those two women who were killing senior citizens.”

  The case had been an involved one that seemingly had no connection at first. These were older people with no families who were dying from what at first appeared to be heart attacks. After some considerable cyberdigging, it turned out that each of these people had crossed paths with two seemingly kindly volunteers who ingratiated themselves to the senior citizens and offered to take out and pay for insurance policies that would cover all their funeral expenses when the time came. The time, for all of them once they signed on the dotted line, came a lot quicker than anticipated.

  One of the investigating detectives, Duncan Cavanaugh, had prevailed on his younger sister to do a little virtual research and she had been the one who had uncovered the insurance fraud.

  “I’m glad I could help, sir,” Valri murmured, wondering where all this was going.

  She had already met the man sitting behind the oak desk a number of times at her granduncle Andrew’s house. Tall, distinguished with a touch of gray at his temples, the man inspired loyalty and respect. She knew that he was always ready to listen, but she wouldn’t have dreamed of being informal with him in his office. This was the job. It required that she be a consummate professional in every way. The last thing she would have wanted was for the chief of Ds to think she was trying to cash in on the fact that she was a Cavanaugh and related to him.

  Suddenly finding out that there was a large branch of the family in Aurora had motivated her to apply for the police department here instead of remaining where she was, on the force in Shady Canyon, the city she had grown up in. But she hadn’t done that with the idea of advancement foremost in her mind.

  She’d al
so come here because she wanted to get to know her relatives better. After all, it wasn’t every day that a person discovered there was a whole cache of relatives less than fifty miles away whose paths had never crossed their own.

  “CSI Cavanaugh tells me that you’re quick and extremely good at what you do,” Brian went on, referring to his daughter-in-law. Brian watched the young officer closely as he spoke.

  She didn’t preen in response to the praise, which was in her favor, he thought.

  “She was being kind,” Valri told him.

  While she loved being appreciated and complimented, those were the very things that also caused Valri to fidget somewhat. She never knew quite what to say when she was on the receiving end of merited praise.

  “Yes, CSI Cavanaugh is kind,” Brian agreed. “But at the same time, she makes a point of being very accurate. Being in a league of her own, she is not impressed easily. And you, Officer Cavanaugh, impressed her, which is enough for me.”

  “Enough, sir?” Valri clearly didn’t understand what the chief meant by that.

  “Hunter Rogers was found dead in his apartment this morning,” Brian told her, then asked, “Is that name familiar to you?”

  She knew the name and the man. There’d been a time when her sphere of interest had been completely different from what it was now. Now her life was all about law enforcement and family. Then it had been the captivating and addictive world of gaming. In leaving that world behind, Valri felt she had definitely traded upward.

  “He’s a gamer, sir. Rogers makes—made,” she corrected, taking what the chief had just said into account, “his living taking on challengers in competitions around the country. He was always the one to beat,” she added. “In the last year, he more or less disappeared off the grid. He’s dead?” she questioned, surprised. She would have expected the man to have turned up playing in some tournament, not this.

  Brian nodded. “He was murdered.” The case, only a few hours old, had come to his attention rather quickly. Moreover, his gut told him that there was more to this than just possibly an argument that had gone wrong. “Turns out that he might have been a little bit more than just a gamer.”

 
-->