Colton Under Fire

by Cindy Dees

  She’d known then things would never be right again, and she hadn’t been wrong. Her entire life had been an exercise in searching for normal. And to date, she’d failed.

  She simply couldn’t do that to Chloe.

  “I’m okay. You?” she gasped.

  “It missed me by a hair. You sure you’re okay? I tackled you pretty hard.”

  How were they still alive? That car had come straight for them. Almost as if it had targeted them.

  She took a more detailed physical inventory. “I hit the back of my head, and I twisted my ankle. But considering the alternative of being flattened, I’m fine.”

  Liam gently set her back on her feet.

  “Did you get a license plate?” she asked.

  “I got a partial.”

  She said breathlessly, “That poor driver probably lost control and scared himself silly. He or she might not have even seen us jump out of the way.”

  “Or...” he hesitated and then said in a rush, “the vehicle was waiting for us to leave the restaurant and intentionally tried to run us down.”

  “Paranoid much?”

  He shrugged. “It’s not paranoia if someone’s really trying to kill you.”

  “We’ve established that my stalker only wants to wreck my life and make me suffer. If someone actually tried to kill us, that would make you the target. Who wants to kill you?” she challenged him.

  Liam stared at her for a long time. Long enough for the cutting cold to freeze snowflakes against her cheeks. “I did ask around at the Denver Police Department today about. April Thomas. She’s the missing girl whose mother visited me. She might be tied to the murder at your brother’s ranch.”

  “How publicly did you ask around?”

  “The division I visited was set up as an open bay of desks. I made no secret of what information I was looking for. Anyone could have overheard me.”

  “Maybe you were the target of that driver, then. But still. I think the odds are much better that the driver just skidded on the snow and lost control.”

  Liam shook his head. “That SUV had big new snow tires and chains on them. Plus, it was traveling toward us on the other side of the street. It had to swerve across three lanes of traffic to get to us. If it were out of control, the vehicle would have gone ahead and crashed into the building. But the driver had enough control to steer back out into the street and drive away without any problem.”

  She stared at Liam in dismay. “So it really was intentional?”

  “I don’t think we can interpret it any other way.”

  Chapter 13

  Liam was by turns livid and scared stiff. Someone had nearly succeeded in killing him and Sloane. Question was: Which one of them had been the target?

  He didn’t much like the answer either way.

  If he was the target, he’d obviously kicked a bigger hornet’s nest than he’d realized when he started asking around about the disappearance of April Thomas. He didn’t like the implications of that.

  And if Sloane was the target, was this payback for him taking Bill Gunther out of the picture? If so, it was awfully swift payback. It meant the client had an employee ready and waiting to attempt murder on very short notice. He really didn’t like the implications of that.

  If the client was this dangerous, what were the odds Bill Gunther hadn’t been entirely forthcoming with him earlier? Hell, had that been Gunther driving the SUV that nearly mowed them down?

  Liam knew one way to find out. He’d dropped Gunther off at the east Denver house the client had rented for the surveillance operation on Sloane.

  “Can you walk?” Liam asked Sloane grimly.

  “I don’t think my ankle’s seriously injured. The pain’s already subsiding.”

  That could also be shock setting in and dulling any pain she felt. But it wasn’t as if they had any choice. They had to get off the street. There was nothing to keep that SUV from turning around and coming back to finish them off. He said, “Take my arm and lean on me. We have to move.”

  Sloane looked behind them and lurched against him in alarm. “That SUV isn’t coming back to kill us, is it?”

  “I doubt it. But I have someplace to go.”

  “Are we going to the police station to report a near hit-and-run? No crime was actually committed, but assuming we can find the driver, we can press charges for intent to cause grave bodily harm—”

  “No. We’re going to visit Bill Gunther.”

  “The guy who has been watching me?”

  “One and the same,” Liam bit out.

  Sloane’s limp gradually diminished as she moved and put weight on her ankle, but it was still an interminable walk to reach his truck a few blocks ahead. Every loud vehicle approaching from behind them made him and Sloane both whip their heads around in alarm, and he caught himself reaching for his sidearm each time.

  Finally, they arrived at his truck. He helped Sloane climb inside, and she sighed in relief to sit down and get off her ankle. She wasn’t being honest with him about how hurt she was, dammit.

  He climbed into the driver’s seat and made a phone call on the vehicle’s Bluetooth system as he pulled out onto the street.

  “Denver PD Dispatch,” a brisk voice said.

  “Liam Kastor. Roaring Springs PD. I need a partial license plate compared to a name.”

  “Go ahead.”

  Liam rattled off the digits he’d seen and then said, “I need to know if a William Gunther is associated with those letters.”

  “Standby one.”

  Liam drove in grim silence as the heater fought back the storm to warm the interior and defrost his windows.

  The dispatcher’s voice filled the truck cab. “Negative. Nobody named Gunther is associated with any license plate in the state of Colorado with that combination of numbers and letters.”

  “Thanks.” Liam disconnected the call, frowning. If the would-be hit-and-run driver wasn’t Gunther trying to take out Sloane, did that mean the driver had been targeting him?

  Surely not.

  Gunther and his mystery client had to be involved, somehow.

  Even if Gunther hadn’t used his own vehicle in the hit-and-run attempt, it still had to be the PI who’d tried to run them down. After all, who else would have known where to find them? He could believe Sloane had one enemy, but multiple enemies trying to come after her at the same time? No way.

  How much had the client offered to pay Gunther for killing Sloane outright?

  Liam’s jaw tightened in outrage that was quickly building toward fury. By the time he pulled into the driveway of the dingy house, Liam was having to resort to anger management techniques he’d learned as a cop.

  Good. Lights were on in Gunther’s place.

  “Stay in the car,” he told Sloane tightly.

  “Not a chance. I want to meet this guy who’s been making my life hell.”

  “Not a good idea. And I’m sure he won’t be watching you anymore, now that we’ve made him.”

  “All the more reason for me to meet him,” Sloane insisted. “I’ve got demons of my own to put to bed, thank you very much.”

  He was tempted to ask what demons she was carrying around, but right now, he needed to have a small conversation with Gunther about trying to kill the woman he planned to—

  —he planned to what?

  Shock rolled through him, abruptly derailing his fury. He carefully set aside the thought for later consideration. Now was not the time for such things.

  But when would it be the time? How many years had he spent secretly wanting this woman? Fifteen? Twenty? All of his adult life, for sure.

  Wow. He had it worse for Sloane than he’d realized. And he already realized he had it for her bad.

  Mentally, he shook his head. Must. Focus.

  “I’m serious, Sloan
e. Stay in the truck. If this goes down ugly, I don’t want you caught in the crossfire.”

  “All the more reason for me to be with you,” she retorted. “You’ll know where I am and can keep me safe. You know you would worry about me if something bad were to happen and you didn’t know if I was okay. I would be more of a distraction apart from you than right behind you.”

  She was right, dammit. “Fine. But stay behind me and do whatever I tell you to without question.”

  She nodded, her eyes even wider and rounder than usual.

  Well, hell. He didn’t like dragging her along with him, but what other choice did he have? Liam climbed out of his truck and stomped up the front steps to Gunther’s door with Sloane on his heels.

  He banged hard and insistently on Gunther’s door. On the other side of it, a male voice yelled out for him to hold his horses. When the door finally opened, Gunther stood there in a long, sloppy bathrobe and socks.

  “Oh! Hey, Detective. What brings you to my door at this time of night?”

  “Have you been out this evening?” Liam asked without preamble.

  “Do I look like I’ve been out tonight?” Gunther retorted.

  “Appearances can be deceiving.”

  “What’s got a burr up your ass, kid?” Gunther asked. “Man, it’s cold out there. Come inside so I can close the flipping door.”

  Gunther moved to one side for Liam to enter, and that was when Bill spotted Sloane. “As I live and breathe. If it ain’t Sloane Durant. You’re even prettier in person if I do say so myself, ma’am.”

  Liam didn’t have to look over his shoulder to feel Sloane’s scowl behind him. He knew it had been a bad idea to bring her along on this interview.

  “That’s not him,” Sloane blurted.

  Liam half turned to face her without losing sight of Gunther. “Come again?”

  “That’s not the man who was looking in my window in Roaring Springs.”

  “I never looked in your window!” Gunther exclaimed. “Hell. I never went to Roaring Springs except for that one time when I installed the cameras in your house. And I’m sorry about that, Ms. Durant.”

  “Colton. I dropped my ex-husband’s last name,” Sloane corrected him, still staring at Gunther.

  “You’re sure Bill’s not the same guy?” Liam asked.

  “Positive.”

  “Let’s all step inside so you can look at him in good light.”

  “I don’t need good light. It was shadowed and dark outside where I saw the Peeping Tom. I’m telling you. This man looks nothing like the one I saw,” Sloane insisted.

  Liam moved into Bill’s small house and loomed in front of the PI. “Tell me, Bill. Did your client hire a second investigator to tail Sl—Ms. Colton?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. But it’s possible, I suppose. Seems like it would be overkill if you ask me.”

  “Is it possible this second, hypothetical PI would have orders to take out Ms. Colton in the event that you didn’t find enough dirt on her?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah, I guess. I mean I’ve never been in the business of roughing anyone up. I was a cop too long to be comfortable using strong-arm tactics like that. I don’t do loan collections for that exact reason. Believe me. The money’s a hell of a lot better working for a loan shark than it is chasing down cheating spouses—”

  “I never cheated on Ivan!” Sloane exclaimed. “He cheated on me!”

  Bill shrugged. “That’s what I told my client this afternoon after I got back from the police station. I sent an email to whoever it is saying I never found a shred of evidence that you’re anything but a good mom living a quiet life with your kid.”

  “That’s exactly the kind of message that could have triggered a hit man,” Liam ground out.

  “A hit man?” Sloane exclaimed.

  “Where’s your kid?” Gunther asked, startling Liam out of his train of thought.

  “I beg your pardon?” Liam asked the older man.

  “I’m just sayin’. If a hit man went after Ms. Dur—Colton, a hit man could go after her kid, too.”

  “Ohmigod,” Sloane gasped. “Chloe. We have to get to her before someone hurts her!”

  Liam whirled to follow Sloane, who was already flying down the steps toward his truck. “Come on!” she cried out over her shoulder at him.

  “Sorry to bother you,” Liam tossed hastily at Bill before chasing after Sloane.

  “Good luck!” Gunther called after him.

  Cripes. Not Chloe. Poor kid had already been through so much—

  If he’d driven fast to Gunther’s place, he drove like a bat out of hell to the Durant home. Before he’d barely come to a full stop in the Durant’s circular driveway, Sloane was out of the truck and racing toward the home. The front sidewalk of the Durant mansion was black with ice, and Sloane eschewed the concrete to run up to the front door through the snow-covered grass. Liam winced as he charged after her. Sloane’s feet were going to be soaking wet and half-frozen by the time she hit the front porch.

  He reached the porch just as the front door opened. The sound of a child screaming was the first thing he registered. The second thing was the utterly shocked expression on the woman’s face at the door. A woman he recognized from his research into Ivan Durant as Carol Durant, Ivan’s mother.

  “What are you doing here?” Carol blurted rudely.

  “There’s an emergency, and I need to take Chloe home, tonight. I’ll be happy to reschedule another visit at your convenience, Mrs. Durant—”

  “We have legal rights, and just because you’re an attorney doesn’t mean you get to trample all over them,” Carol snapped.

  “This isn’t about trampling your rights,” Sloane said with barely contained patience. “Someone may have tried to hurt me earlier, and we have reason to believe that person may target Chloe, too. My daughter’s in danger and I need to get her to a secure location.”

  “Chloe most certainly is not in danger! She’s my grandchild, for goodness’ sake—” Carol broke off abruptly, as if suddenly realizing what she was saying and thinking better of it.

  Liam’s detective radar fired off a hard alert. What had the woman been about to say before suddenly clamming up? And why was Carol so sure Chloe wasn’t in danger? Sloane had just announced that someone had tried to harm her, and Carol hadn’t batted an eyelash.

  More screams pealed through the house, and a male voice bellowed from another room, “Will someone get that brat to quit caterwauling? She’s giving me a damned headache.”

  “Anna!” Carol called out loudly.

  The housekeeper appeared immediately, as if she’d been hovering nearby.

  “Please close Chloe’s bedroom door so we don’t have to listen to her cry anymore.”

  Sloane stared in openmouthed shock, and Liam did the same. He didn’t know much about kids, but it couldn’t be good for Chloe to be as upset as she sounded so soon after such a serious illness.

  “Give me my daughter,” Sloane declared.

  “I beg your pardon?” Carol replied, sounding huffy.

  “Right now. Give me Chloe.”

  “I most certainly will not. She’s here to spend the night. You can pick her up tomorrow.”

  “She’s my child, and you’re not rendering proper care to her. Don’t make a fight out of this, Carol. You will lose. I’m her parent, and I have legal custody of her.”

  Liam thought he heard Carol mutter something along the lines of, “We’ll see about that.”

  The woman reached for the big door beside her, and sensing what she was about to do, he stepped forward fast and put his police boot in the doorjamb. “I wouldn’t try that if I were you, ma’am.”

  “Get out of my house!” Carol screeched. “And take that woman with you!”

  “That woman is the mother of your grandchild,” Liam
said evenly. “And she does have custody of Chloe. I’m going to have to insist you surrender the child to her legal parent.”

  “Who are you? The police?” Carol snapped.

  Liam reached inside his coat and pulled out his badge. “That would be correct, ma’am. Detective Liam Kastor.”

  Carol physically took a step back at that, and he took advantage of her shock to push the front door fully open once more. He spied a woman in a uniform wringing her hands in the shadows. “Are you Anna?” he asked.

  The woman nodded.

  “Please bring Chloe and her things to Ms. Colton.”

  The housekeeper hurried up the curving staircase and disappeared from sight as Carol Durant shouted “Niall! Get out here!”

  A gray-haired gentleman Liam recognized as Ivan’s father stepped into the foyer, the expression on his face irritated. The second Niall spied Sloane, however, his entire demeanor changed radically. The man actually came to a halt to stare at her. He might as well have seen a ghost.

  What on earth? It wasn’t as if Sloane wasn’t well known to the man. And given that her child was here at the house, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable that she should be here. Sloane wasn’t supposed to come until tomorrow to get Chloe. But still. That didn’t justify the man’s utter, horrified shock.

  Liam glanced back and forth between Niall and Carol and caught the loaded look they exchanged with each other. What was up with that? Both of them had reacted out of all proportion to Sloane’s appearance at their front door.

  His train of thought was derailed by the arrival of Chloe, sobbing uncontrollably. The toddler caught sight of Sloane and all but fell out of Anna’s arms, she leaned so hard toward her mommy.

  Both arms outstretched, she screamed, “Mommy!” as if someone were tearing her limbs off and she was in desperate need of rescue.

  Chloe’s face was blotchy and swollen, her eyes red. She’d been crying for a while if he was reading her correctly.

  Sloane reached out and snatched Chloe from Anna’s arms. She hugged her daughter tightly, making soothing sounds. Chloe quieted immediately but continued to hiccup and draw sobbing breaths as she wrapped her little arms tightly around Sloane’s neck.