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“What?” She searched his gaze as if what he was about to say would be stamped there.
“They’re gone,” he managed to say.
“Oh, no,” she said with a little more alarm than seemed appropriate under the circumstances. She shouldn’t care about him or his family anymore. “What happened?”
“Tommy’s investigating their deaths,” he said, and a curious look overtook her features. Sheriff Johnson was a close friend and grew up with all six of the O’Brien boys. He was more like family and was taking the murder investigation even more personally as a result of how much he cared for the O’Brien family. Colin couldn’t pinpoint what was pinging through her thoughts but he could almost see the wheels churning. What was that all about?
“I’m so sorry,” she said, and she looked stunned. Maybe a little guilty, too.
Colin had every intention of figuring out why.
“Are you telling me that you didn’t know?” he asked, surprised, his curiosity getting the best of him.
“No.” She shook her head as though for emphasis. Did she really hate him so much that she’d completely cut herself off from any news about Bluff? About his folks? She’d cared about them once. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long. This is just a quick stop on my way to—” she paused and he figured she was about to make something up. “Galveston.” She raked her teeth across her bottom lip. “I’m so sorry about your parents.”
She’d been especially close to his mother. His mom had made sure that Melissa was included in all their family celebrations, saying over and over that it was about time there was a little more estrogen at the table. Mom had said that after being surrounded by six boys—boys that she adored—for most of her life that she couldn’t wait to have a girl in the family.
For a minute, she looked shocked and a little frail, which was unlike Melissa. She must’ve figured out what he was thinking because her defenses flared. “I always cared about your parents, you know that. Especially your mother. I would’ve sent something if I’d realized.”
Her voice broke and a look passed behind her eyes that he couldn’t quite pinpoint when she said that last word.
Did she know something about the murders?
No. No way. She didn’t even know his parents were gone before he told her.
Chapter Three (#ubdfa2a4f-f3cc-5fc4-ae6e-e1877221bb1f)
The only things keeping Melissa upright and on her feet were sheer determination and willpower. The second she’d heard the news about Colin’s parents she’d almost buckled. Had her worst fears been realized? Had Richard gotten to them because of some sick need to punish her? So many other questions swirled. If Mr. O’Brien was having an affair, could that be connected to the murders? Melissa quieted her internal thoughts. It was dangerous to give away her reaction to the news. She couldn’t risk Colin having any suspicion about Richard.
The news would spread soon enough that he was a criminal on the run, and Melissa would be long gone. Her handler, Marshal Davis, had been keeping the situation out of the news until Melissa could disappear. Speaking of which, it was almost time to meet him. If she didn’t show at their rendezvous point, he’d start looking for her and she didn’t need him asking around or giving more cause for concern. There were enough red flags in the air and she’d done enough damage on her own coming to Bluff.
An immediate problem of six feet two inches of raw masculinity stood in front of her. Melissa needed to think of a way to get him out of there so she could grab her sleeping infant and run. A wave of guilt assaulted her at thinking how much Colin had missed—how much he would miss—of his daughter’s life. But with Richard on the loose, it was even more important to keep Colin and the baby separate for both of their protection.
If Colin knew about his daughter, it would be impossible to keep him away or stop him from fighting for custody. Once things settled down, the ranch would be an obvious place for Richard to look. As long as he was on the loose, Angelina was in danger.
But it was Colin’s parents. She had to know if there was even a slight possibility that Richard could’ve been involved. “Like I said, I’m truly sorry to hear about your parents, Colin. When did it happen?”
“They were killed September of last year.” His words were a sober reminder of how dangerous Richard could be. A thought struck. Could she leave Angelina with Colin? The ranch was probably safer than the US Treasury.
No. It wouldn’t work. Richard believed Angelina was his daughter. If he heard or saw her with Colin it would be too easy to put the pieces together. Until Richard was safely locked away or dead, she couldn’t risk it. She mumbled an apology under her breath and a prayer for forgiveness.
“What happened to them?” she asked.
“At first, we believed Dad had a heart attack while driving and wrecked with both him and Mom in the car. Something felt off to Tommy so he ran labs. Toxicology report came back with poison in their systems,” he said.
“That’s awful. How on earth could they be poisoned?” Melissa’s heart broke at hearing the details.
“Tommy doesn’t know. It would have to be someone who had access to both of them. Mom had hosted their annual party for local artists earlier that night, so a few people had admission to the ranch,” he said.
“I’m guessing Tommy already checked everyone out at the party, including staff,” she said, still trying to absorb the news. It was selfish to think about the fact that Angelina would never know her grandparents. There was always some small part of Melissa wishing things would magically work out and she and Colin would end up together. It was a crazy notion that had given her the tiniest sliver of hope in what had been the worst year of her life save for the birth of her child.
“He did. All he has so far is the poison. He doesn’t know how it got in their systems or what the motive for murder could be,” Colin said. “There’s a slight chance that they ingested the poison accidentally.”
“Except what are the chances they both ingested the same thing at the same time?” she said out loud, not meaning to. She shouldn’t add fuel to the fire. Colin might find out the truth about his father and that would crush him. She still could scarcely believe that the man would have an affair. She’d argued with Richard, putting up more of a fight than she knew better to, refusing to accept his accusation at first. And that had led to an even bigger fight between them when he’d accused her of defending the O’Briens because she still loved Colin.
In order to survive, she’d had to swallow her emotions and convince Richard that she loved him. Only him. If someone had told her that she’d be able to sell that lie a year ago she would’ve laughed. Finding out she was pregnant had changed her priorities. Nothing mattered more to her than keeping Colin’s baby safe.
As a mother, she’d found a new well of strength to draw from than she had ever known existed inside her. Angelina’s safety took precedence over everyone and everything.
“It’s late, Colin. I need to go,” she said, using all the courage she could muster to speak those words. Being with Colin again was taking a toll on her, body, soul and mind. She was grateful that Angelina was a sound sleeper. Melissa had a prayer of getting out of this situation without doing any more damage.
Coming back to Bluff had been a mistake. Seeing the pain in Colin’s eyes was heartbreaking. And that would be the last image she would have of him to hold on to. She had hoped to see him happy, to see his charismatic smile. His sexy half grin that had been so good at making her pulse race and her body ache in that perfect way. She hadn’t counted on seeing him still so miserable. Or wanting to touch him so much that she physically hurt.
Blocking out the pain, an act she’d mastered in the past twelve months, she pushed past him and then opened the front door wide. She needed to meet her handler so she could disappear. The thought she was running from her problems struck. She pushed it aside.
Yes, the man standing in front of her was an issue. Yes, he deserved to know about Angelina. Yes, his daughter deserved to know about him. Not now. Not if it meant putting their little girl in danger. Even Colin would agree that Angelina had to come first.
She pushed the door open as wide as it would go.
“Please, Colin, don’t make me ask again.” She prayed he didn’t pick up on the desperate note in her tone.
* * *
COLIN SAT IN his vehicle contemplating the conversation he’d just had with Melissa for a good twenty minutes. Something about the way she’d asked him to leave didn’t sit right. Forget the electricity they still shared, sex had always been a whole other experience with her, and it was muscle memory causing the heat between them to sizzle like it was yesterday. He’d felt the chemistry, loud and powerful, when her back had been against the wall and there wasn’t more than a foot of space between her full breasts and his chest.
She was married to someone else and Colin would never act on his impulses. He’d stopped having sex for sex’s sake when he became old enough to fight for his country. He’d done a tour and then returned home. His reputation for dating around might be true, but he was selective when it came to who he spent time with and even more so with women he slept with.
Colin had an ironclad commandment about not messing around with another man’s wife. Even if he and Melissa had belonged to each other at one time, his rule was etched in stone and applied no matter how much his heart tried to protest. Or tell him that she was still his after all this time.
Logic ruled. It was time to move on.
Then there was the reaction she’d had to the news about his parents and the questions that had followed.
What was the point of worrying about it? She’d said that she was about to move and was homesick. Colin needed to accept it and move on. He was just about to start his ignition and drive off when he saw twin headlights exit the alley. Curiosity got the best of him, so he followed Melissa’s car. All he needed was to see her with Richard to imprint the new reality of her being married to someone else into his brain. Colin was visual and he needed that image in order to stamp out all those other thoughts that kept creeping in. Thoughts of how sweet she still smelled, all floral and sunshine. Thoughts of how soft her skin still was when he’d touched her arm. Thoughts of how rapid her breathing had become when they were standing too close. All of which was dangerous for Colin to acknowledge.
Melissa was married to Richard Rancic. The words sat bitter on his tongue as he cut right, allowing enough distance between cars so that she wouldn’t realize she was being followed. She’d made her choice. She was Melissa Rancic now. It was high time his mind caught up.
Cutting right a few seconds after she did, he was flooded with memories—memories he fought to keep from overtaking his thoughts. Letting go of her wasn’t going to be easy but he’d find a way. He had to. Because a little voice, the one that still knew her, said that once she left town she wasn’t coming back this time. Colin’s heart fisted again. He reminded himself that it was a good thing to acknowledge and accept the situation for what it was.
Melissa made another turn into the parking lot of the lawnmower store at the edge of town. It was located at the edge of the last neighborhood in Bluff before hay bales and country roads dotted the landscape. The lots were one-to-two acres in this area.
On three sides of the parking lot were woods, basically mesquite trees with two feet of underbrush. It was most likely Colin’s military training that had him checking the perimeter for any signs of danger and not the hairs that pricked on the back of his neck. Why would she meet her husband after midnight in an empty parking lot?
Scenarios started running through his mind as he pulled past the lot, turned off his headlights and then made a U-turn. Was it his heart and not his logical mind saying that she wanted out of the marriage? If there had been abuse she would be smarter to meet out in the open in a busy place, like a restaurant. This would be the worst possible spot. Empty, abandoned for all practical purposes. Images of her being abducted against her will assaulted him. And that was most likely his training taking over. Now he really needed to stick around to make sure she was okay.
There was a street lamp in the middle of the empty parking lot, and that was the only light around. The building was completely blacked out. All of Colin’s danger radar flared. He wanted her to park under the light at least.
She didn’t.
Melissa parked at the far corner of the lot with woods to each side. What was she thinking? He thought he’d trained her better than that in personal safety in the time they were together. She might be meeting her husband but any whacko could take advantage of this situation.
Did she really not have sense enough to think this through? Or had he rattled her? He blamed himself for that, figuring their conversation had upset her more than she’d wanted to let on. Seeing her again had certainly done a number on him.
Colin pulled over to the side of the road where he could see vehicles as they entered and exited the lot. There was only one other place a car could turn in and it came from a country road that ended at Sander’s farm a half hour down the road.
He wanted eyes on Rancic. And then he could finally convince himself to let her go.
A light blue sedan turned right into the lot fifteen minutes later. Colin exited his vehicle and moved stealthily along the tree line in order to get a good look at the exchange, telling himself that he needed to be close enough to see their faces. Maybe he was a glutton for punishment, and it seemed his heart would agree with that statement as a knifelike pain stabbed through him with each forward step. He told himself that he was making ground on being able to let go of the grip she had on him, still had on him. That thought carried his steps forward.
The headlights illuminated Melissa’s car and Colin could see her clearly from his position as she exited her vehicle. She should be happy to see her husband, shouldn’t she?
All Colin saw clearly was fear as Rancic parked and cut the lights. Colin moved to get a better look. Melissa’s attention shifted from Rancic to the backseat of her car as she backed away from him.
What was that all about?
Colin’s fear that their marriage had gone sour seemed to be playing out in front of him. Based on her expression, she was scared to death of the guy.
All his instincts told him to walk away. Melissa had made her choice and it wasn’t his place to interfere with a husband and wife. And yet he knew without a doubt that he was about to do just that...interfere. She could thank him or curse him later.
As Colin broke out of the tree line, the sheriff’s cruiser sped across the lot. Melissa used the distraction to lock herself inside the vehicle. Smart. He’d hang back behind her car and let Tommy do his job.
Rancic dove into his vehicle and managed to come up behind the wheel. He gunned the engine in reverse, burning rubber. His tires finally gripped the concrete and he sped backward.
Tommy must not’ve seen the barrel of the shotgun poking out from the driver’s side an inch or two as he hit his brakes, no doubt ready to turn around and give chase. Fire shot out the end as the blast split the air, burning through Colin’s ears as he pushed off the back of Melissa’s vehicle and bolted toward the sheriff’s SUV.
Rancic was out of there by the time Colin reached Tommy.
He pulled his friend from his vehicle and laid him out on the cement. Blood was everywhere as Colin scanned Tommy’s body, assessing the damage.
“Damn shotgun,” Tommy said, and his voice was a little too calm. No doubt, he was in shock.
Colin knew enough about weapons to know just how dangerous shotgun shells were to bulletproof vests. They weren’t rated for those because they didn’t have a consistent velocity. Tommy had taken a bullet to his left side and blood covered his shirt. A red dot flowered. Colin needed to stop the bleeding.
“How bad is it? Be honest,” Tommy said as he searched Colin’s face, no doubt looking for a reaction so he could gauge his injury.
“You’re going to be just fine.” It was the lie every soldier had told no matter how grave the damage looked.
He maintained his game face and could only pray that no major organs or arteries had been pierced as he shrugged out of his T-shirt and then used it to place pressure on the wound.
Suddenly Melissa was there, too, and sounds of a baby crying came from a distance.
“It’s getting colder out here,” Tommy said, already shivering.
“Stay with me, man,” Colin said.
“What can I do?” Melissa asked as Colin looked up at her.
“Call 911. Now,” he said.
Chapter Four (#ubdfa2a4f-f3cc-5fc4-ae6e-e1877221bb1f)
Colin paced in Bluff General’s waiting room after giving his statement to Deputy Garcia. The deputy had gone to speak to hospital staff, leaving Colin to wait alone for updates.
Blue carpet, blue chairs and stark white walls couldn’t erase the bloody images scrolling through Colin’s mind. There was blood on his shirt, Tommy’s blood. Tommy had been shot by Melissa’s husband. Estranged husband, a little voice in his head clarified. Colin could hardly wrap his thoughts around what had happened even though he’d seen it with his own eyes.
Tommy had been immediately taken into surgery, and Colin had called his brothers to deliver the news. His eldest brother, Dallas, was on his way to the hospital. The others would soon follow. Tommy needed all the family around him that he could get, and the O’Briens were a tight-knit bunch.
Personally, Colin had seen the inside of the county hospital a few too many times recently. As far as desirable places to end up went, Bluff General bottomed his list. In the six months since his parents’ murders, several of his brothers had ended up in a room not unlike the one Tommy was in now. Many of his siblings had also found the loves of their lives in recent months, but that was a whole different subject. Colin had believed that he’d found his in Melissa.
If that weren’t enough to make his head spin, Melissa had a baby. Colin didn’t want to acknowledge the anger burning through his chest, considering she’d been adamant about waiting to have children with him.
He forced himself to stop pacing and take a seat.
The thought of Melissa having Richard Rancic’s child hit Colin harder than a battering ram. It made her marriage to another man feel very real. Thinking back to the way she’d acted so cagey at the house and how quickly she’d ushered him out the door had him wondering if she’d wanted to hide her baby from him. Richard Rancic was a criminal and a jerk. For the life of Colin he couldn’t figure out why she’d marry the guy, let alone have his child. Colin stabbed his fingers through his dark hair. Speaking of Melissa, she should be there by now. He glanced around.
Dallas should arrive any minute. Tommy was more like a brother than a friend and he was fighting for his life. Going over the scenario again and again was about to make Colin’s head explode.
Caffeine. He needed a giant cup of black coffee about now.
Colin pushed off the chair as Melissa rounded the corner. A pink blanket swathed a small bundle cradled in her arms. Melissa’s baby was somehow tinier than he’d expected. The child must be asleep because she didn’t move.
“How’s Tommy?” Melissa’s eyes were wide and stress lines bracketed her mouth. She glanced down at her baby and another emotion flickered that he had trouble pinpointing. Guilt?
“He’s in surgery,” Colin said, noticing how she kept one arm underneath the little bundle and her other hand on the baby’s back. How much did it blow his mind to think that Melissa had a daughter?
Damn.
“What happened back there? You told me that you were meeting your husband and then you looked scared to death when he showed. What aren’t you telling me?” Colin asked, taking note of the dark look that passed behind her eyes when he said the word husband.
“It’s nothing. A misunderstanding,” Melissa said, and the corner of her mouth twitched in the way it did when she was scared.
“That’s impossible. Tommy’s lying on a bed being cut open right now and that sure isn’t because of nothing,” Colin said, his voice raised in frustration.
“I didn’t mean—” The little girl stirred and panic washed over Melissa’s features.
He needed to take a minute to calm down.
“I can’t talk about it right now,” she said quietly, motioning toward the baby.
Colin rubbed his chin and turned to face the other direction. He couldn’t help but notice how natural Melissa looked holding her daughter and he shouldn’t want the child in her arms to be his. She wasn’t. That reality crashed around Colin like a rogue wave, unexpected and all-consuming. It caught him off guard, but he couldn’t afford to care right now. Not with Tommy down the hall in surgery and Melissa tight-lipping his questions about her husband.
Part of his anger had to do with his pent-up emotions about Melissa. He’d have to figure out a way to make peace with the fact that she’d married someone else and was now a mother. The thought was going to take a minute to sink in. Seeing the little girl made good strides toward acceptance.
“Have you been happy?” He surprised himself with the question.
“About her?” she asked, and then answered before he could respond. “Absolutely.”
