Colton's Deadly Disguise (The Coltons 0f Mustang Valley Book 7)

by Geri Krotow

  At least, that’s what she’d thought before she got to know him so well.

  “Keep your cool and remember to not let them see you sweat.”

  “Funny.” Her clothes were soaked with perspiration and had been all day. “At least this is the last bit of today’s rehearsal.”

  “Still, we can’t take any chances. Be aware.”

  “Got it.” She didn’t want to be short with him but each night Holden had gone over what he thought she needed to do, to survive any possible attack by the killer. Stay alert, aware and always ready to run.

  “I know you do.” His confidence in her buoyed her when she would have wondered just why she was doing this in the first place. So far she’d uncovered nothing nefarious about the Ms. Mustang Valley Pageant, and in fact had learned that it took a lot of work and dedication for the competition to continue year after year.

  Was Gio’s mother right? Had Gio’s talk near the end been delusional, brought on by her advanced disease?

  “You’re frowning. Need to talk about it?”

  “Not here. Maybe later.” But what would she tell Holden? He’d take her admission that there was nothing the pageant could do to prevent Gio’s illnesses as surrender. She wasn’t going to ever claim being a reporter was in vain.

  “Bella.”

  “Yes?”

  “You’re doing great. You’ll get your story, don’t worry.” His smooth tone hid the depth of thought and intuition its accuracy required.

  “How do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Know what I’m thinking, what I need to hear?”

  He gazed at her thoughtfully. “With you, it’s easy.”

  “Break time’s over!” Selina’s command was her bidding, at least for another week. The ex-wife of Payne Colton still commanded a room as if she still was married to the state’s richest man. Bella wondered how Payne’s current comatose condition, affected Selina personally. It had to be difficult to be on the Colton Oil Board of Directors and not have the chairman present, knowing he might never return. Payne had been her husband once, after all. But as much as Bella had tried to talk to Selina alone, or asked others if they knew more about her, she hadn’t been able to dig up any more dirt on the Colton Oil empire’s current situation. Spencer had told her in the strictest confidence that there was big drama going on as to who the eldest biological heir to Payne’s legacy was, but she wouldn’t be able to use that for a report unless she heard it from a different source.

  Which left her with doing what she came here to begin with—Bella needed to find the original records of the Ms. Mustang Valley Pageant that had been in the file cabinet.

  “Okay, ladies, thank you for such a great day. I’m going to leave you with Dawn Myers, Mustang Valley’s own winner of several pageants and the winner of Ms. Mustang Valley ten years ago. Please welcome her and follow her lead on how to get through your talent portion.”

  Crap. Bella had written on the original application that she’d be presenting a verbal essay on why reporting mattered in today’s world of insta-news and social media. But she’d done nothing to prepare in the meantime. While many of her competitors were staying up late working on their talents, she’d been writing assigned articles for her paying job.

  And lying awake too late, wondering what Holden was doing in the other room besides guarding her and laying his long, sexy body on her poppy-red sofa.

  “Bye, Selina.” Dawn was a perky blonde whose hair was in a twist, her figure still perfectly trim in white capris with a slinky sleeveless pale pink silk top. Bella wondered how she stayed looking so cool in the heat. Air-conditioning made life bearable in Arizona year-round, but it was still roasting outside in the sun.

  For the next hour, the contestants were each grilled on their talent portion. Bella mentally prepared as much as possible, but when it was her turn to walk on and stand center stage without her colleagues she felt every bit the ingenue.

  “Hello, everyone. I’m Bella Colton, and I am so fortunate to be able to earn my living doing what I’m most passionate about—bringing the truth to you, the reader, no matter how difficult it may be. Since I’m used to public speaking, I’ve picked poetry reading as my talent. I’ve chosen a poem—”

  “Stop, stop!” Señora Rosenstein ran up to the edge of the stage, her cell phone in hand. “There’s been a terrible accident!”

  Bella looked around for Holden, and met his gaze with trepidation. Was this another distraction from the killer?

  “What is it, Ms. Rosenstein?” Marcie stepped forward.

  “Selina’s car has flipped off the highway at the bend just out of town, on the way to Rattlesnake Ridge Ranch.”

  A collective gasp made the hairs on Bella’s nape raise, and she fought to keep her feet planted. All she wanted was to run to Holden’s arms as she had the night she’d received the crank call. It’d been easy to think the killer had changed his mind, that’s how quiet the pageant had been.

  “Is she okay?” Becky, who was still watching the pageant activities albeit with crutches and only as an observer, spoke from a theater seat in the front row.

  Holden walked forward down the main right aisle. “I’ve just spoken to MVPD Sergeant Spencer Colton. Selina appears to be completely fine, just shaken up a bit. She walked away from the crash. She’s being evaluated by EMTs.”

  “What caused the accident?” Bella asked.

  “We won’t know until a full investigation is completed.”

  Murmurs turned to panic amongst the women.

  “This is crazy. No scholarship is worth this.”

  “What’s going on, really?”

  “I heard that there were murders at two other pageants.” Leigh spoke up, her usually singsong voice shaking. “But remember, we can all be our best selves in the most trying circumstances. This is our chance to join together, to rise to be our best selves.”

  “Do you really believe your own lies, Leigh?” Becky, on crutches and standing next to the stage, was clearly not in the mood for fluffy sayings when they were all at risk.

  “There’s no reason to believe anyone here is a target.” Holden didn’t meet Bella’s gaze. “I’m just pageant security, but we’re surrounded by Mustang Valley PD, and the officers are conducting regular inspections. No one can get in here who isn’t a part of the pageant.”

  “But what if there’s a killer amongst us?” Delilah asked the same question that had given Bella nightmares all week.

  “We’re not going to allow negative energy to affect the positive motivation we all have to win this pageant, are we, ladies?” Dawn spoke up, her background in motivational speaking evident. “This is scary—I’ll grant you that. But we’ve got MVPD on our side, and I’m willing to be here today to do the work. How about you?”

  Bella was stunned at how quickly the panic turned to enthusiasm with the group. It wasn’t the sticky-sweet platitudes from Leigh, either. It was genuine.

  Pageant women were strong, and had reason to fight for their privilege to compete. They all wanted to improve their lives, and education was a valuable ticket.

  * * *

  Later that evening, Bella faced what she thought of as her firing squad. Holden, Spencer and Jarvis sat on her crimson sofa and looked at her with a gravity she wasn’t certain she could ever remember her brothers having before. Holden was almost always serious, especially about this case, so his granite expression didn’t surprise her.

  She sat in her recliner, a birthday gift from her brothers last year. It was one of her favorite places to write, but at the moment it felt more like an interrogation seat.

  “What gives, guys?” Her brothers had already been in her driveway when she and Holden pulled up.

  “Selina’s brakes were cut.” Spencer went for the jugular. “This matches all the information that Holden has on the killer. He goes a
fter anyone who insults his target. Selina and Becky both criticized you. At the last pageant he cut brakes, too.”

  “And we’re closing in on the time when he usually strikes. He likes to do scare tactics beforehand, but kills during the last week of pageant preparation, no more than three days out from the final performance.” Holden’s eyes held concern, but something else. An apology for not telling her these details sooner?

  “When did you find this out?” She kept her focus on Holden.

  “I found out about Selina’s brakes while you were going through your talent portion this last hour. I’ve known about the killer’s MO since I arrived in Mustang Valley but wasn’t able to share everything.”

  “Yet you didn’t mention it in the car. The part about Selina’s brakes.”

  “There was no point. I thought you’d need your brothers here for support, and I wanted you to be able to ask Spencer any questions, too.”

  “What’s different now? We know there’s a killer, and he’s after me because I made the unfortunate decision to streak my hair red.” What had possessed her to do it? Not that it would have discouraged the serial killer, she suspected. He’d have found a target one way or the other. At least this way Holden could protect her, and she could protect herself.

  “You should come stay with me at the ranch, sis. You can disappear until this blows over.” Jarvis looked at her. “No one gets on or off the Triple R without having to pass their incredible security system.”

  “What, and stay with the other hands in the bunks? No offense, Jarvis, but I’m, we’re thirty-one, not thirteen.”

  “Whoa, that’s not nice, sis. And you’d be able to stay in the big house, that’d be no problem if I asked.”

  “I know you have to live in a bunkhouse as a ranch hand, but I wouldn’t be comfortable there or in the Colton mansion. You know that, Jarvis. We’re not from that cut of Colton. Why are you still working on the ranch, by the way?”

  “Hold it.” Spencer stood up. “This isn’t about Jarvis and his career, or about me, or Holden. This is about you and your safety. I know you’ve already refused to quit the pageant, and we can’t make you, but Holden and I agree that there needs to be an undercover MVPD officer working to distract the killer.”

  She looked at Holden. “You told me it would take too long to find someone. We only have days left until the pageant finals.” Until the killer tried to end her life. Shudders shook her but she crossed her legs, folded her arms in front of her, hoping none of them noticed.

  “An FBI agent, yes, it would take too long. But Spencer has an officer who can do it.”

  “No.”

  “Bella, this isn’t your decision.”

  “Hear me out, Spencer. I’m the one who entered the contest to get information, remember? And not just for Gio. I can help you close this investigation and catch the killer like no one else, being a contestant. I’m not quitting. If you let your undercover cop come in now, it’ll spook the killer. Sure, it’ll keep me safe but we won’t catch the murderer and it will put more women at risk. That’s the point with serial killers, right? Catch them or they’re going to do it again. And again.”

  Jarvis shook his head. “I’m sure glad I’ve stuck to horses and ranches these past months.”

  Spencer looked at Holden. “It’s your call, Holden.”

  Holden met her brother’s gaze for a long stretch. It was impossible to tell his thoughts as his stone expression was back in place. She was once again facing Agent St. Clair instead of the Holden she knew and had come to care deeply for.

  What?

  Before she could analyze her thoughts, Spencer was pacing the room, shaking his head.

  “Gosh dang it, Bella. You never, ever, can agree to do what’s easiest for you! This isn’t a race through the desert, though, or deciding on whether to double up on your majors.” Spencer referenced her decision to major in both journalism and environmental science in college. All while working as a barista to keep her student loans to a minimum. Her brothers had been in school at the same time, of course, and had watched her work herself into a bout of exhaustion that had taken the first six months after graduation to get over. But she’d landed her degree and the job at the Gabber within a month of each other. It didn’t feel like five years of work at the Gabber, though. It’d passed so quickly, because she really did love her job. But she’d enjoy writing more hardboiled reports even more.

  “Don’t throw it on me, Spencer, I’m not the killer!”

  “We’re down to the wire, folks.” Holden looked at her. Did her brothers feel the connection between them? “You’re not going to quit, so I say we do all we can to catch the killer before he does any further harm.” He stood. “I’d rather you left the pageant, too, frankly. But you’ve already refused to, twice, and I have to catch this bastard.”

  “Tell me again—when did he strike the last two times?” Jarvis was clearly at a disadvantage, not being in law enforcement.

  “Within the last few days leading up to the start of the pageant.”

  “Where we are now.” Bella finished Jarvis’s thoughts for him, wanting her brothers to accept her decision to stay. She needed them to leave, leave her alone. She had a pageant to prepare for, and Gabber work to catch up on. “I’m not going to lie to either of you. I’m scared. Of course I am. But it’s not like I haven’t been before, when I’ve been working on investigative pieces.”

  “I thought Gio’s report was the first one you were going for?” Spencer challenged her.

  She let out a sigh to give herself time. But there was no way around admitting her career failures. Except this time it was in front of Holden.

  “I’ve tried to get information on a lot of different subjects. I want to move to the next place in my reporting, in my career. The Mustang Valley Gabber’s been great, and it’s certainly paid my bills for the last several years. But I’ve been doing investigative work, writing up draft reports, for the past year.”

  “So why didn’t those articles get published already?” Jarvis stood, ran his hand over his head. “Do you really need this particular story, sis?”

  “The other stories haven’t published because I wasn’t able to get relevant information. And at the rate this investigative piece is going for me, my exposé for Gio’s sake won’t publish, either. I’m at a stalemate until I find the pageant’s archival records to verify which pageants each committee member served on, and if there are any indications that Ms. Mustang Valley really did cause Gio’s illness.” But even as she voiced her needs, she already knew the answer. There was no way one pageant, one event, could cause the kind of illnesses Gio suffered from. Not singlehandedly. And she’d learned a lot working in this pageant, enough to know that the majority of pageants as well as contestants were in it for the right reasons. Scholarship, community, empowerment. Still, for Gio’s and her reporter credentials’ sake, she had to close the loop. “Gio told me they were in a file cabinet in the staff room but I was attacked before I was able to look inside. When I returned, the drawers were all empty.”

  Jarvis let out a low whistle. “Is this worth your life, sis?”

  “It’s not about me. It’s about Gio.” And all the women who’d ever competed in a pageant, but especially the alumnae of Ms. Mustang Valley.

  “You’ll be able to write about the killer, once the case is closed.” Holden turned to her brothers. “If Bella’s not willing to quit, then at least she should have something for her sacrifice.”

  Bella was stunned by Holden’s words. Sure, she could write about the serial killer investigation, and it would prove a promotion-worthy article. But he’d never admitted it to her, never gave her a clue he’d be willing to bend his FBI rules to allow her inside information that she’d be free to report on.

  “I’d have to be careful, to protect the court case.”

  “Which I’m certain you will. You
’re a professional.” Holden didn’t hold back in front of her brothers. Not one bit. He closed the gap between them. “I completely trust you, Bella. I need you to trust me. It’s the only way I can promise to keep you alive.”

  Chapter 20

  Holden’s gut twisted as he said the words, as Bella’s brilliant green eyes widened and the blush on her cheeks deepened. Holding her hands, facing her, he knew what he had to say next.

  “I’ll protect you through every bit of this, Bella, as I have so far. But going forward, there probably aren’t going to be any more warning signs or incidents perpetrated by the killer to throw us off his trail. The next move will be to take you out.”

  She nodded. “I know that. And I do, Holden. I trust you.” She squeezed his hands and he squeezed back.

  To their credit, neither Colton brother groaned or made a rude comment. Which appeared to move her more than the prospect of facing her attacker again.

  Everyone knew this was a matter of Bella’s life or death.

  “This isn’t a crackpot criminal, Bella. You’re dealing with an evil we don’t usually find in Mustang Valley.” Spencer stood and looked at Holden. “I trust you with my life, buddy, and know I’m trusting you with Bella’s.”

  Jarvis didn’t say anything and Holden didn’t blame him.

  “I give you my word, nothing will happen to your sister.” He meant his words, but couldn’t fight his own worry over Bella’s involvement in such a dangerous pivot-point.

  Holden had to keep it together, because zero FBI backup was in the area and MVPD was spread thin.

  “I’m going to walk your brothers out. Stay here until I get back.”

  “I need a shower. Or is that off-limits?”

  “Fine. Get one but make it quick and don’t leave the house, not even to go out on the patio.”

  “Got it.”

  He caught up to the brothers and fell into step next to them until they were at Spencer’s K-9 SUV.