Colton 911--The Secret Network

by Marie Ferrarella

  What had they done about it?

  Not nearly enough. Granted, he wasn’t a cop, but from his perspective their investigation had been seriously lacking. In his business experience, weak teams reflected the leadership. Sure, they’d found the body and questioned Orr, but they hadn’t seen any sign of blood on him and nothing connected him to the crime.

  In fact, Orr had fed them some story about jealousy and reputation that had the police taking a hard look at Antonio for the murder. He was furious but he should have expected it of the man after learning how willing he’d been to blur the lines to serve his own interests.

  He had a solid alibi, since he’d been helping out an elderly neighbor with yard work that afternoon, but the entire mess only reinforced Antonio’s long-held intention to remain as independent as possible. In business and his personal life.

  Although hosting weddings at his hotel was lucrative and a consistent boost to the bottom line, this was one contract he’d been tempted to override with a rejection. Fortunately, his business sense and community spirit trumped his temptation to be petty. Just because the GGPD lacked professionalism didn’t mean he had to stoop to their level.

  Someone knocked rapidly and the door swung open before he could issue an invitation.

  “Mr. Ruiz, there’s an emergency,” Victor said, breathless.

  For a split second, Antonio just stared. He surged up from his chair. “Tell me on the way.”

  “A little boy is missing from the wedding reception,” Victor began as they jogged for the stairs.

  Antonio listened, dread mounting, as the situation of the missing toddler was laid out for him. There was nothing worse than losing a child—at any age, in any manner. “How long?”

  Victor shrugged. “Maybe fifteen minutes. Chief Colton has a search started. I heard someone mention a tracking dog.”

  “Good.” Approaching the ballroom, he slowed his steps, refusing to add to the chaos and panic. But the expansive room was almost quiet and he found GGPD Chief Melissa Colton at the center, taking reports and giving orders. She wasn’t in uniform, but she was definitely in charge.

  “Tell security to start looking for anyone leaving this room. Tell them to go back thirty minutes.”

  “Yes, sir.” Victor took off at a run, but Antonio couldn’t focus on that lapse right now.

  He walked in and her gaze locked on him. Almost as if she’d sensed a newcomer invading her domain. Her department’s weak response had disappointed him when he’d reported Orr. Tonight, however, she projected fearless strength, competence and confidence.

  He wanted to pause and drink her in. Though he often saw her classic oval face and blue eyes unframed because she wore her hair in a ponytail or bun while working, she looked different tonight. Her beautiful red hair was swept up and back in a sleek, formal twist, with a few curled tendrils softly framing her face. Someone had done her eyes in a way that made them look bigger, and brighter than ever. Or maybe that was the crisis. Her skin looked as silky as fresh cream, her throat and shoulders shown to perfection by the forest-green dress she wore.

  He couldn’t recall ever seeing her out of uniform before. Certainly never in a dress that emphasized every supple curve of her lovely body. This was probably the worst time to register that she wasn’t just pretty, she was an absolute knockout.

  “Chief Colton,” he said, extending a hand. “Victor told me we have a situation. How can I help you find the boy?”

  “I appreciate the offer,” she began. “Your security office was my next stop.”

  “I have them searching for anyone leaving the reception in the past thirty minutes.”

  Her chin dipped in acknowledgment. For a moment, he could’ve sworn her eyes filled with tears. He braced for waterworks, then she blinked and her gaze was as clear and steady as her voice.

  “We’re searching for Danny Colton. Eighteen months old. Last seen right here, approximately fifteen minutes ago.” She turned the cell phone in her hands and showed him a picture of the little guy.

  “Please send that to the hotel security’s email address.” He spelled out the address when she was ready and watched her hit Send. “Do you need more searchers?”

  “My officers are working the area,” she replied. She paused, her nostrils flaring. “Creating a search grid,” she continued when she had control again. “Our K-9 officers will be on-site any minute. Most everyone in the room is local or federal law enforcement.” Her auburn eyebrows flexed. “I have no idea who managed a kidnapping under our noses.”

  It seemed the embarrassment was holding her other emotions in check, but there was a deeply personal panic just under that cool exterior.

  He considered himself a businessman, but dealing with people was his real specialty. His expansive success in the hospitality industry was due to his gift for reading guests, as well as his teams. Early on he discovered an innate ability to recognize the specific talents of his staff members. He loved matching the right person to a role where they could thrive. Every year, he headed up training sessions to teach his employees how to anticipate guest needs. The consistent rave reviews from guests spoke to their expertise. “I have surveillance cameras all around the property,” he said. It was a fact she should remember after he’d shared surveillance footage of Orr’s last visit to the hotel six months ago. “We can review all the angles in the security office.”

  She hesitated, her gaze sliding to the woman seated at the table, the only person not actively searching. “This is my cousin, Desiree Colton, Danny’s mother.”

  Antonio crouched in front of the distraught mother. “We will do everything possible to find your son. You’d be surprised how many fun places there are to hide in a hotel. With your permission, I’ll borrow Melissa for a few—”

  “Melissa!”

  Antonio stood up as two men came barreling across the room. He recognized both Clarke Colton and Ken Maxwell from previous professional visits to the hotel. Clarke, Melissa’s brother, was a private investigator. Ken, a wedding videographer, was one of the best around when it came to capturing every priceless moment for the bride and groom.

  “Have you found him?” Desiree asked, swiping tears from her cheeks.

  Clarke gave Desiree’s shoulder a squeeze. “We might have a lead,” he said, his hesitant tone indicating extreme caution. “It’s progress.”

  He tipped his head, indicating Melissa should step aside with him. “You need to see this.”

  Melissa soothed Desiree before joining Clarke and Ken at the next table. Antonio followed so he could see what they’d found, as well.

  Melissa gave him a sharp look over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”

  “Observing. If there’s a face or good angle of exit, I’ll know just which cameras to ask my security team to focus on.”

  “Right.” She turned her attention to the other men. “Show me.”

  With the four of them crowded around his camera, Ken tapped the screen and the video clip played, showing a small face peeking around the side of a woman.

  “That’s Danny,” she whispered.

  His little face was visible just long enough to leave no doubt. The abductor’s back was to the camera; she wore a navy blue dress, and a fancy hat. The video didn’t show her shoes, but it seemed either the weight of the toddler or something else was putting some stress on her stride.

  Antonio immediately put the images in context. The videographer had been across the room when he’d inadvertently caught the kidnapper’s exit through the side door of the ballroom. He made a mental note of the 6:13 p.m. time stamp in the corner of the screen and then asked, “How many children Danny’s age are here tonight?”

  “Only Danny,” Clarke answered. “He’s the youngest.”

  Melissa directed the videographer to enlarge the images as best he could. “I’m sure that’s a woman,” she said. “Nav
y dress, stylish spectator hat. I don’t remember seeing that hat at the ceremony. Can’t see her hair color. Do you have another angle?” she asked Ken.

  The man shook his head. “I’ll keep looking for her among the arrivals.”

  “I have more views,” Antonio volunteered. He nearly backed up a step under the combined weight of desperate gazes from Melissa and Clarke. “More tools, too. We might find her face as she entered the hotel or the reception.”

  “Yes, please,” Melissa said. “Clarke, coordinate with Troy and keep searching. He can run point while I’m with Mr. Ruiz.”

  They all gave a start when her phone chimed with an alert. The color drained from Melissa’s face as she read whatever had appeared on her screen.

  “What is it?” Clarke asked.

  “G-get Troy,” she replied, her voice hoarse.

  She swayed as Clarke rushed off and Antonio guided her to a chair. “Take a minute,” he said. “Just breathe.” He sent Desiree a reassuring smile before returning his attention to the chief. “Look at me.” He paused, waiting until those blue eyes met his. “The boy’s mother is watching your every move.”

  “I know.” Though she whispered, her voice cracked.

  “Then stay tough,” he said. “Show me the message.”

  “No.” Those soft tendrils swayed as she shook her head. “This is police business.”

  His gaze scanned the room. People were either searching for the child or on their phones. The place would be overrun with reporters any minute now, thanks to the miracle of social media. The brewing publicity nightmare wasn’t ideal, but it paled in comparison to the missing child.

  “It’s a ransom demand?”

  “Not your business,” she insisted, clutching the phone tightly in her hands.

  Before he could argue, Clarke and the man who must have been Troy arrived. Desiree rose and threw herself into his arms. “Shh,” Troy soothed her. “We’ll find him, sis. It’s going to be all right.”

  “I—I—” Desiree hiccuped and he eased her back into the chair. “He was just here one minute and gone the next.”

  Troy offered her a few more assurances and then extricated himself to join Antonio and Melissa. The chief stood up, reclaiming her professional distance and authority. He wished he could so easily dispense with the sympathy twisting his heart. The ache of his own losses, the wife and child taken too soon, never left him completely.

  “We have a ransom message.” Melissa tapped her phone and a few seconds later, Clarke and Troy checked their devices.

  As they lamented the message’s untraceable source, Antonio peeked at Clarke’s screen.

  You’ll get the kid back when you figure out how there is indisputable evidence that Everleigh Emerson murdered her husband when she is completely innocent. Her trial is a sham. Exonerate Everleigh, get the boy back. That simple.

  Clearly he wasn’t the only person in town with opinions and doubts about the GGPD. The kidnapper had to be desperate to cast a spotlight on an injustice if they’d resorted to kidnapping a baby with strong ties to the department.

  He looked up from the message to find Melissa glaring at him. “That implies the boy isn’t on hotel property any longer,” Antonio stated, getting nods of confirmation from the others. “We can verify that no one dressed like that made it to the elevators or stairs or anywhere else inside. My events manager will speak with the bride and groom about how to proceed with the reception, and I can open a conference room for you to work from, if you want to stay on-site.”

  “We do,” Melissa said. “This is our best chance of picking up a lead.”

  Her laser-blue gaze shifted to the others. “Troy, Clarke, find out more about Everleigh Emerson, anything about her case, where her relatives are. Find a motive. I’ll go with Mr. Ruiz. With luck, hotel surveillance will give us more information about the woman in the navy blue dress.”

  Antonio extended his arm toward the main door. “This way.” Her efficiency impressed him and gave him hope that mother and son would be reunited.

  He didn’t speak, as he was unwilling to risk being overheard as they moved swiftly from the ballroom, through the central lobby and past the registration desk to the security office at the back of the hotel. Her heels clicked on the marble floor and her dress swished softly with every stride. Though he’d interacted with Melissa frequently at various community events, he didn’t recall smelling the enticing fragrance she was wearing before tonight. She smelled like lilies and moonlight. Which was a ridiculous distraction while a mother wept for her son.

  Pressing his access card to the panel near the door, he greeted the two men on duty in front of the array of monitors. “We’ve just cued up the wedding and reception arrivals, sir.”

  “Thank you,” Antonio said. “Any sign of the woman or child outside the hotel?”

  “Not so far.”

  “All right. Give us the room,” he directed, ushering Melissa to one of the vacated chairs.

  He didn’t care for this rush of awareness of her as a woman. She was a cop. The head of a department he didn’t have much faith in right now. He hoped, for the family’s sake, though, that this search ended happily for everyone.

  “Don’t feel like you have to hold back.” She leaned forward, her gaze already scanning the various images. “I know you don’t like me,” she said.

  “That’s not how I’d put it,” he said, hedging. He found her outrageously attractive this evening. Honestly, he’d always found her attractive, and also off-limits, especially after the fiasco over the summer. “I don’t care for the recent lapses in your department. Based on that ransom note, it sounds as if others share my view.”

  Her lips flattened into a stern line. “Is that supposed to be an attempt at diplomacy?”

  “Yes.” He turned his attention to the monitors, looking for any sign of the woman in the hat leaving the hotel with the boy. “You seem to care a great deal for Danny.”

  “I love that little guy as if he were my own,” she admitted. A frown pleated her auburn eyebrows as she studied the videos cycling. “Desiree is a single mom. He’s her entire world.” She pointed to a camera in the winter garden they’d created for the wedding. “There.”

  The woman hurried away, the hat blocking the only potential view of her face. Melissa swore.

  He followed the route through his cameras, but the woman had been smart about her exit with the child. She must have visited the hotel before to get a sense of where the cameras were. It gave him something to think about.

  “He isn’t wailing or trying to get away from her. The little guy falls in love with anyone who smiles at him these days,” Melissa murmured. “I can’t believe that woman is someone familiar to him.”

  “Why not?” he queried.

  “Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anyone familiar to Danny who is also this invested in Everleigh Emerson’s innocence.”

  The Emerson case was all over the news and on the front page of every paper since the trial began. Everleigh, a local barmaid, had allegedly cheated on her estranged husband, Fritz. Then she apparently had killed him with a paperweight during an argument over divorce.

  Using the controls like a pro, Melissa rewound the few seconds of video in the winter garden. “I do not recognize that outfit at all.”

  “Here.” He switched two monitors in the middle of the setup to show the arrival of wedding guests. “Let’s see if we can pinpoint her arrival for the ceremony.”

  “Reception,” Melissa suggested. “The ceremony was a small service. I’m absolutely certain no one with that hat was at the ceremony.”

  “All right.” Antonio adjusted the timing of his search. Within minutes, they found her. “Here,” he said, pointing.

  Again, Melissa leaned closer to the displays and this time her knee bumped against his. The pleasant simmer from the inadvertent con
tact surprised him.

  “Damn. Between the hat and the other guests, her face is blocked. You’d think the hat would’ve made it harder to tuck in close,” she said. “She knew what she was doing.”

  “Seems so,” Antonio agreed.

  She reached for her phone and made swift notes in some app. “Clearly, she cares about Everleigh. That narrows the suspect pool quite a bit.” She looked up at him then, her blue eyes deep with a desperate intensity. “Can you show me to the conference room you set up for my team, please?”

  “Absolutely.” The sooner he got her out of this small space, the better. Those eyes of hers drew him in, tempted him to offer more comfort than practical assistance. That was a dangerous line he didn’t dare cross.

  The desk phone rang and he checked the monitors instinctively, braced for more trouble. “Ruiz,” he answered.

  His event manager gave him an update. “Thanks. I’ll pass that along,” he said, replacing the handset. “The reception is winding down,” he told Melissa. “The bride and groom are saying their farewells while the staff creates to-go boxes for everyone with food and cake.”

  “I’m sure they appreciate that.”

  “Sounds like a friend is keeping the boy’s mother company so you can focus on the search,” he added, escorting her from the security surveillance room. “I’ve also been warned that the media is gathering,” he added. “We’re keeping them outside and offering no comment.”

  He’d been tempted to keep the presence of the press to himself, but a child was at risk. This wasn’t the time to let her walk into a media circus just to be petty. In the hallway outside the conference room on loan to the GGPD, he paused, giving in to that strange and persistent need to comfort her. “Good luck, Chief Colton.”

  Then he walked away, hoping they wouldn’t cross paths again anytime soon. She was temptation, pure and simple, and challenged his resolve to steer clear of anything with the potential for an emotional entanglement.