Colton's Texas Stakeout

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“Regina found happiness with someone as an adult, and he left her. She didn’t handle it well.” When Regina had been in a relationship, one that had seemed stable, it was the first time Jesse recalled seeing Regina smile and laugh. He had been worried when the engagement ended. Regina had her wedding gown and had seemed happy to be getting married. She would have had a chance to have a family and do the things she had been denied. A loving, attentive mother and a gentle, yet firm father who ate dinner together and took family vacations to the lake. Granted, Regina hadn’t said she wanted those things, but Jesse had imagined her new life being happy.

“What do you mean she didn’t handle it well?” Annabel asked.

He didn’t intend to give Annabel reasons to believe Regina was unstable. “She grieved for the loss of her fiancé. She was obsessed with winning him back. I told her no man was worth the nonsense she was carrying on about, and she should let go. Anything was better than being emotionally attached to someone who didn’t want her in his life. I suggested online dating, therapy, joining a soccer team. But Regina wasn’t ready to move on.” She had been consumed by her anger, and she didn’t want his advice. Not that he was an expert in love. “My dating history isn’t pristine. I was the wrong person to advise her.”

“You have a history of having problems with women you’ve dated?”

She was misinterpreting what he was saying. Her question didn’t sound related to Regina. It sounded personal. He could be misreading her, but he felt something simmering unsaid between them. “Don’t jump to conclusions. I’m not married. Obviously, I don’t have the key to making a relationship work either.”

Annabel frowned, and her eyes narrowed slightly. She looked beautiful when she was thinking. She had a lot going on between the ears.

“Do you remember anything about your sister that would make you think she could harm someone? Maybe her bitterness turned violent? Maybe her emotions boiled over, and she acted out?”

She was weaving a twisted tale, leaping from one conclusion to another, making it sound as if Regina was crazy and violent and capable of murder. He didn’t take kindly to someone talking garbage about his kin, and something in him snapped. “Are you asking me to help you pin those murders on Regina? I won’t do that. I have answered these questions again and again for your brothers. I am done being questioned like a criminal. I have done nothing wrong, and I don’t appreciate the implication that I would break the law and hide someone or that I’m withholding critical information. I know there’s some psycho out there killing women. Do you think I’m indifferent to that?” His mother had been a victim of violence, and violence against women was something he would not stand for. He worried about Grace, with her long brown hair, being a target.

Annabel seemed uncertain what to say. “I’m sure you’re not indifferent to it. But we’re putting all our resources into finding the Alphabet Killer, and we have strong reasons to believe Regina knows something about the murders.”

Jesse tried to put a lid on his anger. “Can you take it or do you just dish it out? You ask me questions about my sister, like I’m supposed to have any rational reasons for why someone would run around Blackthorn County killing women. You’re the cop. Tell me about your father. Does what you know about him follow with Matthew Colton, serial killer? From what I understand, he’s the mastermind behind the Alphabet Killer murders.”

She inhaled sharply. “Matthew Colton has been in contact with Regina Willard. She’s obsessed with him, but he is not directing her to kill anyone.”

If she believed that, she had blinders on when it came to Matthew Colton. Jesse had read about the case online. The media was having a great time connecting the two cases, drawing on similarities between the murders. “Matthew Colton is making you dance like puppets. Why don’t you turn your screws on him? Make him tell you who is doing this.”

Annabel’s expression was icy. “I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but you don’t know the details of this case.”

He had crossed a line bringing up Matthew Colton, but the Coltons felt free to dig around in his life and in his business. Maybe they should get a taste of how it felt. “I get my information from the same screwed-up place everyone in this town goes for news. Rumors and gossip on Main Street.”

“This isn’t about my father. I am here to do my job.” Her voice was low, but the ire in her eyes burned hot. She handed him the coffee mug. “I have the right to be on public property, and I would caution you to remember I am an officer of the law and I will arrest you if you try to impede me.”

Jesse had rattled her, and while it wasn’t his intention, he was irate, too. He could feel the hurt and fury shaking him. Regina wasn’t a murderer. The Colton family turning their attention to her was akin to turning a blind eye to the real killer.

“Maybe the Coltons should spend time thinking about how close to home these murders are and how that might mean you’re missing critical evidence. Blaming me and Regina is deflecting the real issue. A killer is stalking women in Granite Gulch, and you have no way to stop it.”

* * *

Annabel had never been so furious with a person of interest in a case before. Her stomach was tight, and her skin felt hot. Jesse seemed comfortable turning the tables on her and shoving her family history in her face.

Her father was tied to this case, and Annabel was careful about that. She couldn’t link the cases in her mind and see her father’s behavior as Regina’s. Her part in this case was minor, and letting Jesse drag her into a conversation about her father was nonproductive.

No one had ever spoken openly about her father. Her foster families, her classmates and her friends had talked about her father and what he had done behind her back. The few people she’d had a conversation with about Matthew and his crimes were gentle and sensitive, not asking too many questions or hurling accusations.

Was Jesse right? Did she have a blind spot when it came to the Alphabet Killer crimes? Every investigator was subject to their biases and their experiences. Her father’s killings had shaped her life, in some ways for the better and in many ways, for the worse. But the police were following the facts and the evidence. It didn’t matter what Annabel thought. The facts of what had happened and how they could stop the killer before she struck again were all that mattered.

Matthew Colton knew who the Alphabet Killer was, and he had pointed at Regina Willard. What the police and FBI had found in her boarding room in Rosewood had been damning. She had written the alphabet in a permanent red marker, a bull’s-eye drawn beside each letter. News clippings of the killings and the victims had been posted on the wall. Were they missing parts of the story? It was a long shot, but could Regina be investigating the murders? Could she have stumbled on to facts about the case and, realizing she was a person of interest, started building her defense? She was tied to the case and the victims too closely to not be involved.

Annabel couldn’t present Jesse with evidence in an ongoing investigation, but surely he saw the police were not making unfounded accusations. They had followed a process and the evidence.

A few months ago, before Regina Willard’s name had come up in connection to the murders, Annabel had worried her sister, Josie, may have been the Alphabet Killer. Years before, Trevor had tried to gain custody of Josie, but Josie had refused to see her siblings or leave her foster home. When she was seventeen, Josie had disappeared. Her young fiancé had dumped her and had been seen kissing a woman with long dark hair. Long dark hair, like the victims of the Alphabet Killer.

With evidence mounting against Regina, Annabel had been thrilled to have a new lead and a new suspect. More than anything, Annabel wanted to reunite with her sister, and she didn’t want it to be while she was slapping cuffs on her sister’s wrists. Now it seemed Josie was in the clear, and yet she was still in the wind.

Had the FBI and police investigators made the leap to Regina as the Alphabet Killer too quickly without considering the case from every angle? As Annabel worked the facts over, every road led to Regina Willard. Jesse’s denial didn’t mean the police and FBI were wrong.

After staying at the farm until dark, Annabel sent a message to her boss and her brothers she was en route to Granite Gulch. Then she sent a message to Mia, asking to meet at her place and to bring reinforcements, that is, Mia’s latest drool-worthy dessert. Annabel hadn’t shaken the argument with Jesse from her thoughts, and she needed someone to talk to.

Her former foster sister and, in many ways, her soul sister and biggest supporter, Mia Rivera worked at the Double G Cakes and Pies. She was talented in the kitchen and loved experimenting with treats and testing the results on Annabel.

Annabel had been alone with her thoughts for too long. Mia knew how to cheer her up. She could be honest without being brutal and wasn’t afraid to call Annabel out when she was lying to herself or ignoring the truth.

When Annabel drove up to her house and saw her kitchen light on, her mood lifted. Mia had a key to Annabel’s place. Annabel imagined the sweet smell of Mia’s dessert, and she felt better knowing her dear friend would steer her in the right direction.