In Colton's Custody

by Dana Nussio

  “She actually went?”

  “I talked her into it. She needed a break from sitting beside Dad’s bed at the hospital.”

  “You think we had any chance of keeping a secret about a bomb threat in Mustang Valley, especially when Garden Society runs like an intercom system?”

  At least his sister laughed at his joke instead of calling him out on his failure to take his share of turns at his father’s bedside. It wasn’t just because he was too busy at the ranch, either. He hated seeing his powerful father lying there, fragile and helpless.

  “What about Callum? Did you tell him?”

  “Not yet, but he’s probably already aware. Twin telepathy, you know.”

  He grinned. Marlowe was trying to joke, too, but the bomb threat had clearly shaken her. Like him, she had a child to protect. Automatically, his arms tightened around Harper.

  Rafe strode their way then. Sporting dress slacks, a modern untucked dress shirt and a short blazer, he wouldn’t have appeared different from any other day on his job as the Colton Oil chief financial officer if his dirty blond hair didn’t look as if he’d combed it with a rake.

  When Rafe stepped closer them, Asher stood, but their brother reached for Marlowe.

  “You doing okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said as she stood. “I’m thinking about making a sign that says that.”

  Rafe’s lips lifted. “You do that. I’ll even loan you my markers once we get back to the office.”

  As he glanced at Asher, Ainsley rushed over from the parking lot, Jace keeping pace next to her.

  “Oh, good,” Ainsley said. “You’re out here.”

  Asher looked back and forth between her and Jace. He was still amazed by how much the two of them resembled each other, even if Ainsley didn’t look like the composed Colton Oil corporate attorney she usually was at work. Her eyes were wide, she sounded winded and some of her chestnut-colored hair had fallen loose from the clip at the nape of her neck.

  Ainsley hugged her sister and brothers, something she rarely did with any of her siblings. Then she patted Harper’s head.

  “Wait.” She stepped back and pointed from Asher to his daughter. “What are you two doing here?”

  “He was in town,” Marlowe answered for him.

  Asher exchanged a look with Jace, but the other man didn’t mention the suspicious call that had caused Asher to rush from the ranch earlier. Another reason to like him.

  “Glad you’re okay.” Jace stepped forward, as if he intended to hug Marlowe, too, but stopped and shook her hand instead.

  Asher scuffed his boot on the ground. Well, no one was perfect, and their relationship was still tentative.

  “I was just taking Jace back to the ranch after the DNA test when Selina called,” Ainsley said. “She’s furious.”

  Marlowe rubbed her hand over a spot on her abdomen. “Not too happy about it myself. I had an important meeting with a potential account today. Now I’ll probably lose the deal when they seek out options at Robertson Renewable Energy instead. It’s getting too risky to deal with Colton Oil.”

  Or to be a Colton. No one spoke Asher’s thought aloud, but they all had to be thinking it.

  “You and Bowie trying to keep it in the family now?”

  They all laughed at Ainsley’s joke, added too late and referring to Marlowe’s fiancé’s position with Colton Oil’s rival company, but the levity sounded forced.

  “I had a meeting scheduled late this afternoon, too,” Ainsley told them. “Guess I’ll have to reschedule.”

  “What would Dad think if he saw all this?”

  Marlowe crossed her arms as if she regretted her words. For several seconds, no one spoke. Just four siblings, possibly five, wrestling with the notion that they might never know what their father thought about that or anything else. Marlowe’s ringing phone came as a welcome interruption.

  She reached down on the bench for it and glanced at the screen. “It’s Mom.”

  Asher exchanged a smile with Marlowe over her correct prediction as she answered.

  “Hi, Mom.” She stood and stepped away to continue the conversation. “Yes, I’m fine...”

  Suddenly, Selina Barnes Colton shoved open the building’s door and burst through, wearing sunglasses and a low-cut business-casual dress, a cell phone tucked between her shoulder and ear. As she marched toward them, her trademark long, dark honey-colored hair caught the breeze.

  “Well, look at who got to miss out on all the chaos this afternoon.” She slipped the sunglasses on her head.

  Since it was clear she was speaking to Ainsley, Asher didn’t bother answering her. He always tried to stay out of the path of the tornado that was Colton Oil’s vice president and head of public relations. He couldn’t imagine how Willow’s mom had once won over the hard-to-impress executive. That he’d only met Kelly Johnson’s fiercely independent daughter, and he was thinking about her there, in a crowd of displaced workers after a bomb threat, suggested that the women in her family knew how to make an impact.

  “I had an errand to do,” Ainsley said.

  She didn’t have to explain it since Selina was the Colton Oil board member who’d insisted that they should track down the real Ace Colton in the first place.

  Asher waved his free hand to get his older sister’s attention. “Any news about your ‘errand’?”

  Ainsley shook her head. “We won’t know anything for a week. I even tried to incentivize faster results, but the lab technician said they’ve received a few rush jobs, and they won’t be able to get to it sooner.”

  Asher shook his head. “The Colton name sure didn’t help us out there.”

  What would Willow have said about that? Something, he was sure.

  Selina frowned at them both by turns and then stepped over to their houseguest and held out her hand.

  “You’re Jace.”

  He nodded. “I am. And you’re Ms. Barnes Colton.”

  “Call me Selina.”

  Jace glanced past her and gestured toward the crowd of Colton Oil workers. “I’m so sorry that this has happened to you all. It’s awful.”

  They all nodded their thanks. Introductions out of the way, Selina drew Ainsley, Rafe and Asher out of earshot of any possible eavesdroppers and filled Ainsley in on the events she’d missed while she was out of the office.

  “As if Colton Oil PR wasn’t difficult enough already, this is a nightmare. How am I supposed to spin these stories? I’m still getting calls from media outlets asking for confirmation that Ace Colton was switched at birth.”

  “You haven’t answered the question, right?” Asher asked.

  She shook her head. “I’m continuing to give them the official company line that it’s a private family matter.”

  Ainsley used her appeasing attorney smile.

  “You’re doing a wonderful job, Selina, even in these tough circumstances. Payne will be so proud of the work you’ve done when we get the chance to tell him about it.”

  Asher was impressed, both that Ainsley’s voice didn’t break when she referred to their dad and that Selina appeared to be softening, at least for a moment.

  “Even so,” Selina said, pursing her lips, “it’s only right that the quote ‘There’s no such thing as bad publicity’ is attributed to P. T. Barnum, of Barnum & Bailey Circus fame. This is a circus, minus the big top. The quote’s wrong, too. This publicity is downright destructive to our brand.”

  She pointed at Asher. “And you have to do something about all those reporters camped out by the gate at the ranch.”

  He nodded. They were getting annoying, calling out questions to him every time he pulled into or out of the property.

  “I thought that the earthquake would be enough to send them packing or at least give them something else to report on, but they probably just called in reinforce
ments. I doubt a bomb threat is going to help the situation. We can’t keep it out of the press.”

  He gestured to the media trucks already lining the road just off the Affirmation Alliance property. “Just like here, I can’t do anything about reporters, as long as they stay off the Triple R or Colton Oil land.”

  “Well, your father would do something about it.” Selina slammed on her enormous sunglasses and walked away. Rafe waved and strode toward some of the other employees.

  Ainsley was chuckling when Asher shifted back to her. “She sure told you.”

  “Well, that ‘official company line’ of hers only confirmed that the story about Ace was true, anyway,” he said. “All the papers and TV reports I’ve seen have reported it as fact. We might as well just address it.”

  “Oh, no. I want to stay off Selina’s bad side, so I’m going to stick with the official statement.” Ainsley grinned. “Say it after me, ‘private family matter.’”

  Marlowe shuffled back over to them, apparently having convinced their mother that she and her baby hadn’t been blown up at work. Asher shivered at just the thought of that, a reaction he hoped the others missed. They were the ones who could have been killed that day. Not him.

  Selina crossed back them. “When do you think we’ll be getting back into the building?” she asked Marlowe. “I’m already getting calls for a statement, and I don’t have my laptop to be able to draft a press release. It will need to be a good one.”

  Marlowe shook her head. “I didn’t even shut down my computer or lock my office.”

  Asher glanced down at Harper, who was again nodding off on his shoulder. “Hey, everyone, I’ve got to get back to the ranch. Anyone need a ride anywhere?”

  “And miss our chance to ride in a school bus for the second time today?” Marlowe said, earning laughs from the rest of them.

  But as Asher stepped away, a Mustang Valley Police Department cruiser pulled to the curb without flashing lights or a siren. In his navy blue uniform, Sergeant Spencer Colton climbed out and walked straight toward them.

  “Hey, Sergeant Colton,” Asher said as the police officer passed him.

  Spencer nodded and kept walking. He stopped in front of Marlowe. This was clearly official business.

  “I need to update you on the situation at Colton Oil. Would you like for me to do this privately?”

  Selina lifted a hand as if to assert that she deserved to hear the news as well, but Marlowe scanned the group, her gaze stopping on Jace.

  “I’ll be right over there.” He pointed to a far bench and started that way.

  Marlowe crossed her arms and faced the sergeant. “Okay. What do you have?”

  “The bomb squad and the explosive-detection canines have swept the whole complex, including the grounds, and there were no suspicious devices located.”

  “You’re saying it was a false alarm?” she asked.

  “You mean a hoax?” Selina said.

  Spencer shook his head. “Whatever you call it, making a bomb threat, whether explosives are located or not, is a serious crime. If arrested, the suspect will face felony charges.”

  “But at least we have determined that there is no active threat, right?” Marlowe pointed out. “When will we be allowed to return to the building?”

  The sergeant stared at her. Asher could understand his sister’s need to minimize the situation, if only to calm her own rattled nerves, but their cousin appeared to be having none of it. Spencer crossed his arms just below his shiny badge.

  “The building will reopen in an hour or so, but this investigation isn’t over. We not only have to know who targeted your staff but why. We also need to find out if this threat is connected to the attack on your father.”

  He paused, as if to let that first part sink in, and then continued.

  “Until we know the answers to all those questions, we have to assume that Colton Oil employees and family members as well might be in danger.”

  Chapter 8

  Willow’s throat tightened the next morning as she pushed Luna’s stroller through the doorway into Mustang Valley General’s crowded lab waiting area. She’d arrived thirty minutes before their scheduled appointment so she would beat Asher there. She needed to have the upper hand with him in at least some small way.

  “Hey, Willow. Over here.”

  Asher sat in a chair in the corner, Harper on his knee. His diaper bag occupied the seat next to him.

  You’ve got to be kidding. She stood in the doorway, the wheel propping it open. At least Luna wasn’t fighting her stroller harness as much as usual. Willow should have known better than to think she could arrive earlier than a cowboy anywhere in the morning when they were equally familiar with sunrises in their jobs.

  “Come on.” He moved his hand in a circular motion. “We saved you a seat.”

  She strode toward him, having become the most interesting entertainment in a packed waiting room where a long stay was implied. In his uniform of jeans, boots and another dark T-shirt—this one navy—he seemed to pop out against the muted, pastel colors and seashell prints lining the walls. Did the man own any clothes that didn’t fit him like they were made for his exact brawny dimensions?

  What was she doing? She refused to notice how his sleeves strained when he pulled a cloth from his bag to dab at the baby’s drool. Nor would she consider that she might need a tissue to wipe at her own.

  Even if she was in the dating market, which she absolutely wasn’t, and if he didn’t happen to be a Colton who could take her child, which he was, Asher had all but admitted he was a ladies’ man. He’d mentioned his “adventures.” If her ex hadn’t taught her to avoid men like that, she didn’t know what would.

  Harper, looking comfortable in a onesie dress, squealed as Willow and Luna reached them.

  “Well, hello, sweetie.” She reached out and brushed the infant’s cheek.

  “Guess I’m not the only early riser.” Asher pulled the bag from the next seat and gestured for Willow to sit. “You know, I nearly had to throw down, twice, to keep this spot for you.”

  “Thanks for your sacrifice.”

  “Anytime.”

  She swallowed. He might not be so obliging to her once they received the test results.

  Willow pulled Luna from her stroller and handed her the chilled teething ring she’d packed in the insulated section of her diaper bag.

  “Is it always so crowded in here?”

  “Probably backed up from yesterday’s rescheduled tests.”

  “Because of the Coltons?”

  “No.” He stared at the appointment desk instead of at her, but finally he shrugged. “Well, not entirely.”

  “You can’t help it if people fall all over themselves to please your family.” She cleared her throat. “Now can we get this test over with?”

  “No problem. I’ll just march up to the desk and insist that because I’m a Colton, we should go to the front of the line. It worked like a dream for us yesterday.”

  He had a point. His name hadn’t gotten him any special treatment at the hospital.

  “I would just as soon forget yesterday happened altogether,” he said.

  “That’s something we can agree on.”

  And agreeing with a Colton, on anything, was something she’d never expected to do.

  “What happened with the state inspector?”

  “How did you—”

  She stopped herself as she remembered. What had she been thinking, blurting out that information to him the day before? As if the Coltons wouldn’t already have an arsenal of the best lawyers and community support to use against her if their babies really had been switched, she’d given him more ammunition against her in court. Now they would be aware that her business had been in trouble with the state, as well.

  “Oh. Right,” she said. “It turned out to b
e nothing.”

  “If that’s true, I’m glad. Because it didn’t sound like ‘nothing’ when you got the call.”

  “Why don’t we just say that yesterday was a lousy day and leave it at that?”

  “Okay.”

  She expected an argument, or at least for those perceptive eyes to stare at her until she spilled her story. He did neither thing, bouncing his daughter on his knee instead.

  “Our family had a rotten day, too,” he said after a long time.

  “Why? Was the caviar too salty? Or was the champagne flat?”

  This time he rolled his eyes. “Does making fun of my family ever get old for you?”

  She grinned. “Not yet. But, okay, I’ll stop.”

  “If you haven’t figured it out, I’m more a burger-and-a-frosty-mug type. But no, salty fish eggs weren’t the worst things that happened yesterday.”

  “What was it?”

  “I thought you followed the local news.”

  “I do, just not last night. Why? What did I miss? Did something happen with your dad?”

  He blinked a few times and then shook his head.

  Her next thought had her sitting straighter. “Did someone find out about our, uh, situation?”

  She shivered as she asked it. The only thing that could be worse than news of the possible switch getting out would be if it ended up being true.

  “Nothing like that. There was just a bomb threat at Colton Oil.”

  “A bomb threat?” she called out.

  At that, he chuckled. “I thought there still might be a handful of locals who hadn’t heard yet. Thanks for fixing that.”

  “Do you always make light of serious stuff?”

  “Maybe.”

  “So, what happened?”

  His voice just above a whisper, he gave her what had to be the bare-bones version of the story.

  “That must have been terrifying for your whole family. You’re lucky the police didn’t find anything.”

  “Even without my dad and Ace working there, I still had a sister and a brother in that building when the threat came in. Marlowe’s pregnant, too.”