by Jane Godman
“In what way?” Cameron asked.
“Turning up late, not showing up at all sometimes, not keeping in contact with Harvey. Now we know why, it makes sense. He had a whole other life that had nothing to do with law enforcement. Quite the opposite. Harvey, being a loyal deputy, covered for him, but things weren’t good by all accounts. The whole department was a mess.” The chief cast a sidelong look from Cameron to Laurie. There it was again. That measured look. Deciding how much they could take. “They’ve started the search for bodies out at the mine.”
“Your face tells me they’ve found something.”
“Three females and a male. So far. The male is very recent.” He coughed apologetically. “His throat had been cut.”
Laurie’s hand reached for Cameron’s. He closed his fingers tightly around hers. “Moreton.” Her voice was a whisper.
Chief Wilkinson nodded. “Your friend Samuels has already identified the body. The darnedest thing is, even though they haven’t been formally identified yet, each of the females was wearing the same footwear. The same brand of bright pink sneakers. Even looks like they may have been dressed in the same clothes.”
Cameron caught hold of Laurie as she swayed toward him. She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment before collecting herself. The police had taken away the clothing she was wearing when she was rescued for forensic examination. When she lifted her face to his now, her eyes were dark with pain. “I never want to see them again. If they ever give those clothes back, promise me you’ll burn them.”
“I promise.” He wanted to make more promises to her. That the dark days were behind them and they had sunshine to look forward to. That, no matter how strong she was, he would be there beside her, holding her and supporting her. That everything coming their way, good and bad, they would face together, side by side. He contented himself with smiling into her eyes and got his reward when she relaxed against him.
“We had a few problems out at the mine with a very persistent snooper.” Chief Wilkinson claimed his attention again. “At first I thought he was press, but he claimed to know you, Cam. He kept insisting we should be looking through the belongings for an Irish passport. Funny thing is, he was right. We found a passport in the mineshaft in the name of Marie O’Donnell.”
“Your snooper’s name is Toby Murray,” Cameron said. “His girlfriend went missing after Grant Becker gave her a lift to the airport eighteen months ago.”
Chief Wilkinson scratched his head, and Cameron suspected he might be regretting not listening to Toby. He experienced a pang of sympathy for the chief. He knew from experience just how infuriating Toby could be.
“While you were in the hospital, Vincente and Bryce spoke to Samuels about this other business.” Chief Wilkinson changed the subject, shaking his head mournfully. “Drug smuggling is bad enough, but human trafficking? That’s about as low as it gets.”
“What happened?”
“Your brothers gave Samuels all the information they had on Warren and Nichols and the drivers who were working for them. I got a call last night to say Warren had been arrested in Colorado. Samuels is confident he’ll get a confession from him and he’ll take Nichols down with him. From there, he’s sure they’ll smash that whole human trafficking and drug smuggling ring wide open.” He picked up his hat, preparing to depart. “Samuels told me to tell you Delaney Transportation will be okay, Cam. Vincente said that was what you were worried about.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I’m getting too old for this job. It’s time I retired.”
Cameron showed him out and then returned to Laurie. He held out his arms, and she walked into them as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “I can’t believe it’s over.”
“Believe it.”
“How’s your head, Mayor Delaney?”
“Still there.”
“Good.” She took his hand and led him toward the bedroom.
“Don’t tell me you’re still tired?”
She laughed. “I wasn’t planning on sleeping.”
* * *
“After the few days we’ve had, I’m not sure surprises are my thing.” Laurie studied Cameron’s profile as he drove, but he still wasn’t giving anything away.
“Be patient.”
She sighed. “That’s never been my thing.”
After the chief had gone, they had spent most of the day in bed. Not talking. Not with words. Now it was late afternoon and Cameron had decided they needed to go for a drive. Laurie could sense something in him, a sudden, burning restlessness that scared her. When are we going to talk about us? Oh, God, that was such a cliché. But she loved him with an intensity that scared her. Now the immediacy of the danger was over, it was time to find out where, if anywhere, this was going. Because I can’t be a Carla substitute. I thought perhaps I could, but my heart won’t take it. I’m too selfish. I need all of him...or I need to walk away.
To be fair to Cameron, she knew he had never cast her in that role. She was the one who had come here to play a part. He had always made it clear he saw her as Laurie, not Carla. The first time they made love, he had told her he wanted her, no one else. But the question was still there in her mind. Could he ever love me the way he loved her? And every time she asked it, she disliked herself for her selfishness.
Now she didn’t know where this burst of energy, this need to drive out of town, had come from. His fingers drummed constantly on the steering wheel and a slight smile played about his lips, but she could almost feel his nervousness. It was directed at her. What the hell is this all about?
“Almost there.” He turned off the highway, taking the narrow track that led to the old Dawson ranch.
Laurie had seen this place only once, and that had been from the ridge above. Now, as Cameron halted the car, she was able to appreciate the full splendor of the ranch. Encircled by majestic mountains, the ranch house itself lay within a circle of verdant green. Although it had been neglected, the beauty of the natural stone and golden wood house shone through. Catching hold of Laurie’s hand, Cameron led her up to the front porch.
“My dad used to bring us out to visit Culver Dawson now and then. They’d sit on this porch and talk, and I always thought this was the most beautiful view in the world.” He swept a hand out, indicating the vista before them.
Laurie turned and saw what he meant. It had everything, with the grass and wildflowers in the near ground rising up to meet the pine-topped ridge and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. For a moment, she forgot her anxiety and sighed with pleasure. “Imagine waking up to see that every morning.”
“Can you?”
She turned her head, a slight frown in her eyes. “Sorry?”
He laughed, his nervousness even more apparent now. “I’m making a mess of this, aren’t I?”
“You’re certainly not making any sense.” But her heart was beginning to thud wildly, because the look in his eyes was so warm, so loving...
“Laurie, I’m trying—but very badly—to ask if you could see yourself living here, with me, as my wife.”
“But you have a house.” Dear God, was that all she could think of to say?
Cameron shook his head. “I’ve been thinking of selling the lake house for some time. It was mine and Carla’s, and when she died, it never felt the same.” He was silent for a moment, and she sensed him searching for the right words. She knew it was because he’d mentioned Carla.
Laurie reached out a hand and placed it over his on the porch rail. “I know how much you loved her. I would never try to take that away.”
He smiled. “I did. And now I love you. The two things are separate. There is no overlap between them. When she died I thought there would never be room in my heart to love someone else, but I’ve learned hearts are amazing things. They expand to fit the love you n
eed. Oh, I know what people will say, but I don’t care. You look like her, she was your cousin, she’s only been dead a year, we’ve only known each other just over a week. None of those things matter. We’ve packed a hell of a lot of loving and living into that week, Laurie. Enough for me to know my own heart.” He was watching her face carefully as he spoke. “I’d like to think I know yours, as well.”
She felt the tears she’d been holding back spill over. “I don’t usually cry.” It was an anguished wail.
“Is that a yes?”
She hurled herself into his arms, clutching the front of his shirt tightly and nodding into his chest. “I love you so much. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you.”
“And I was right about this place? You’d be happy to stay in Wyoming?” Cameron’s face was anxious as he waited for her answer.
Laurie’s smile reassured him. “I would be happy to stay anywhere as long as you were there.”
* * * * *
We hope you enjoyed this first installment in
Jane Godman’s thrilling new miniseries.
Don’t miss book two, available in July 2017 from
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COLTON UNDERCOVER by Marie Ferrarella
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Colton Undercover
by Marie Ferrarella
Prologue
“You, lady, are a real piece of work.”
At the moment, there was no one else in the FBI field office in San Antonio, Texas with Special Agent Joshua Howard. His words were addressed to the photograph of Livia Colton he had pulled from the file on his desk. A file he had gone over and reviewed countless times in the last few days.
Livia, or rather, her untimely escape from prison, was the reason he was about to temporarily relocate to Shadow Creek, a place unofficially known as “the town that Livia built,” and with good reason.
Josh shook his head as by now all too familiar details danced before his brown eyes. The life of the attractive, blond-haired, fifty-two-year-old illegitimate product of a one-night stand between one of the wealthier Coltons and a drug-addicted prostitute read like something out of a Hollywood movie, right down to the part where, by all indications, Livia’s once-unchecked sociopathic behavior rivaled that of a classic “bad seed.”
While behaving lovingly toward her easily manipulated father, Livia was ruthless toward her half siblings. Rumor had it that, by his own admission, Livia was the only person whom Matthew Colton, her convicted serial killer half brother, truly feared. In Josh’s book, that was saying a great deal.
Marrying and discarding husbands as if they were used tissues, Livia amassed a considerable fortune and six children along the way, all presumably with different fathers. Resorting to her natural cunning, she managed to quadruple her fortune through organized crime. She’d trafficked in drugs, women and whatever else might have been profitable at the moment.
Her children, she barely tolerated unless there was a photographer within the vicinity to immortalize her with them. She had been a great one for photo ops. There had been one offspring, her oldest daughter, Leonor, whom people said she disliked less than the rest.
Not exactly a glowing testimony, Josh thought.
The living definition of a wild child Livia Colton had finally given, before her downfall, at least outwardly, all the signs of wanting to settle down. She’d gotten married again, this time to an Argentine horse breeder who it was said treated her children far better than she did. She had had her last child, Jade, with him.
Playing the part of a benevolent pillar of the community, Livia built the town she had adopted a much-needed hospital, funded most of their 4-H program, allowed other ranchers to use her water supply without charge and threw legendary parties. Shadow Creek’s society worshipfully revolved around her. No one questioned where her rather fabulous wealth came from, especially not those who benefited from it.
But eventually, the law, steadily collecting evidence against her over the years, managed to bring charges against Livia. Ten years ago the onetime queen of Shadow Creek was convicted of numerous charges, including murder. She had just barely avoided the death penalty—bribing the judge no doubt, Josh thought—and was sentenced to serve five life sentences in Red Peak Maximum Security Prison in Gatesville, Texas. Her neighbors all turned their backs on her, her vast fortune was confiscated and her six children were left to fend for themselves the best way that they could.
It sounded, Josh thought, like a perfect ending, with justice being served—except that, maximum security prison or not, Livia had managed to escape two weeks ago. The first thought that occurred to him was that one of her children must have been instrumental in bringing about her escape and was currently helping and sheltering her.
But which one?
He’d looked into all their backgrounds.
Josh spread out the six assorted photographs, some candid, some professional, of Livia’s children.
They were nothing if not an eclectic bunch, he thought. They only had one thing in common—well, two, if he counted that they all had the same mother—or at least that was what the birth certificates said. Claudia, her second youngest, had been born while she was traveling in Europe and there was only Livia’s word that she’d given birth to the girl.
Each of her children was good-looking in his or her own way. It was always harder confronting attractive people and getting them to confess, Josh mused. Somehow, they thought that their looks would help shield them from the dire consequences of their actions: in essence, their “get-out-of-jail-for-free” cards.
But he intended to confront them, because one—if not more—of them was responsible for Livia’s escape.
Finding out who it was, how they had engineered it and where they—and Livia—currently were was the job he’d been assigned by the Bureau. And it was why he had his “go bag” stashed in the trunk of his silver sedan. He was leaving for Shadow Creek.
Apparently all the siblings, except for River, Livia’s third born, were finding their way home after having scattered once Livia’s trial was over.
Of the six, his gut was pointing him toward Leonor Colton. Out of all of Livia’s children, Leonor was the only one who visited Livia while she was in prison. He knew that Leonor certainly had the money to finance her mother’s escape. He’d just conducted a check on her accounts and saw that there had be
en a large withdrawal made a few months ago.
Was that money used to bribe guards to look the other way?
And there was more. Leonor had just recently returned “home” to Shadow Creek and Josh had to wonder why. Was it to reconnect with her roots, or just with her mother? Granted, by all accounts, Livia Colton made Joan Crawford come across like Mother of the Year in comparison, but desperate times meant desperate measures and if the woman was to turn to any of her six children, it would be Leonor.
Livia had already been sighted once in these last two weeks, around the time when the man who had kidnapped her grandson, Cody, was killed. Josh had a strong feeling that the woman had been involved and was responsible, at least indirectly, for the man’s death.
That meant that she was somewhere in the state. Maybe even close by.
Working on this assumption, Josh got ready to go.
“Next stop,” he murmured under his breath, his voice echoing about the empty office, “Shadow Creek. Hopefully to slap the cuffs on you, Livia—and whoever it is that’s been helping you. Playtime,” he informed the woman’s photograph just before closing the file and putting it into his folder, “is over. It’s time for you to pay the piper.”
Smiling grimly, Josh left the office.
Copyright © 2017 by Harlequin Books S.A.
ISBN-13: 9781488016394
Covert Kisses
Copyright © 2017 by Amanda Anders
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9 Canada.
