Colton Manhunt (The Coltons 0f Mustang Valley Book 6)

by Jane Godman

  “And is this standard police procedure?” She threw him a challenging look. “When a Mustang Valley citizen is in danger, one of your officers goes to live with them?”

  “No.” He appeared unfazed by the question. “But you are a special case.”

  “Why?” Suddenly, the answer to that question mattered almost as much as finding out who was behind the break-in.

  “I’m not sure.” Her heart started beating faster as he regarded her thoughtfully. “But that’s one of the things I intend to find out.”

  * * *

  Property crimes were not generally the highest priority for MVPD. But because Spencer himself had called in Katrina’s break-in to Chief Barco, they gave it greater importance. Even so, by the time the investigation team had finished processing the scene, it was late.

  Although Katrina reassured him that she was fine, Spencer had concerns about her emotional well-being. There was a lost look in her eyes, and she fiddled constantly with her cell phone as she spoke to his colleagues. It was as if she was expecting a call that never came.

  The living room was still a mess and he decided it could wait until morning. If the Linehan brothers were planning to deal with it, the best plan of action would be to leave it to them. Linehan’s Hardware Store had been established on Mustang Boulevard fifty years earlier by Clinton Linehan. After being extended and modernized by his son, Clinton’s four grandsons now joint owned the thriving enterprise.

  In the meantime, there were other issues to deal with.

  “If you make coffee, I’ll feed the dogs.” He steered Katrina in the direction of the kitchen. “Then we can order takeout.”

  She stared out of the window. “I’m not really hungry.”

  “When did you last eat?”

  An impatient frown flitted across her features. “I don’t know. Breakfast, maybe?”

  He took her arm and led her to the table. “Sit down.”

  “I thought you wanted coffee?”

  “I’m a multitalented guy. I can make coffee and give the dogs their dinner.” He watched her face as she checked her cell. “Are you expecting a call?”

  “Not really.” She slid the phone into her pocket. “I keep hoping Eliza will get in touch. A young woman called me today. Her name is Christie Foster and she’s an AAG member. She said she knew Eliza. We met in the park, but when she started to tell me what had happened to her, she got scared and ran off.”

  “That definitely sounds like it’s worth investigating.” He saw the flicker of relief in her eyes and was glad he could finally offer her some hope. Her kitchen was neatly laid out and he found everything he needed for the coffee. When it was made, he placed a cup in front of Katrina. “Where do you keep your bowls and dog food?”

  “There’s a storage box outside the back door. You’ll find everything you need in there.”

  As soon as Spencer stepped outside, Holly and Dobby came bounding up and sat beside the box Katrina had mentioned. Boris, strolling over at a more leisurely pace, seemed to give him a questioning glance.

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Spencer opened the box and took out three bowls. There was a large airtight tub of dog food and he read the label with approval. It looked like Katrina only bought the best products for her pets. “This could all go horribly wrong.”

  Two of the bowls were helpfully labeled with Holly and Dobby’s names, and marks to indicate the level of their food. Since he had a good idea of how much to feed Boris, he was able to estimate the amount to give him. Once the dogs were all nudging each other out of the way and happily eating from any bowl they chose, Spencer went back inside.

  Katrina was sitting where he’d left her with her gaze fixed on the window, one hand fidgeting with her cell. Her coffee remained untouched. The weight of his duty to this woman he barely knew hit him in that moment. He had a professional obligation to solve this case and ensure she was safe, but his responsibility to her went deeper and was more personal. After everything he’d been through in the past, the connection he felt should scare him, particularly as he had doubts about her emotional state.

  What surprised him was that when he looked at her, none of that mattered. The initial attraction he’d felt for her had grown into a stronger bond that nothing, not his past or her potential vulnerability, could dent. Could he allow himself to explore that? He’d become so used to shutting himself down from the idea of another relationship that his thoughts automatically shied away from the suggestion. All he knew for sure was that he wanted to help Katrina.

  And right now, that meant supporting her in a practical way.

  “I’m craving burritos. If I order Mexican food, will you join me?” He picked up his coffee from the counter and came to sit at the table. “I hate eating alone.”

  A slight smile flitted across her face. “That must make living on your own a problem.”

  He grinned. “Boris is good company, but I prefer the human kind.”

  She laughed and the sound warmed a point in the center of his chest. “Since it’s a favor to you, I guess I could manage some enchiladas.”

  He reached for his cell phone. “And maybe share some nachos?”

  “Sharing sounds good.”

  She was right. For the first time in as long as he could remember, sharing sounded wonderful.

  Chapter 7

  Later that night, Katrina was lying awake wondering why, among the many things that should be occupying her thoughts, Spencer’s nearness had become the most important. She had gotten used to the idea early in life that she was on her own. Her mom and sister had been a tight little unit, excluding her because she didn’t understand their choices, dramas and later their shared addictions. She’d had no choice. If anyone had asked her, she’d have said she liked it that way.

  Now there was a man she barely knew sleeping a few yards away, and a new dog sharing the already overcrowded dog beds in the kennel. And it felt...okay. More than that. It felt right.

  Until this point, her relationships with men had been superficial. She’d dated a few times, but always retreated if things started getting serious. Katrina understood why that was and, if she’d ever experienced an occasional pang of regret when she observed the deeper relationships that other people enjoyed, it had been fleeting. Trust was a basic requirement when it came to commitment.

  Yeah. I don’t do that.

  So why did her feelings toward Spencer confuse her so much? From the moment she’d met him, he had made her feel secure. That alone made him different from any other man she’d known. Was security the same as trust? How could she tell, when she had never known what trust looked like?

  Born to a teenage mom, she and Eliza had never known their dad. Mollie Perry had never had any hesitation about telling her daughters that she didn’t know who he was.

  “Could have been any guy in the bar that night.” Mollie would switch to a familiar refrain. “If I hadn’t been so drunk, I would’ve been careful. You think I wanted to be stuck with a couple of babies when I was only a kid myself?”

  Growing up in the shadow of their mom’s issues had been tough. Mollie’s parents had given their daughter as much help as they could. Despite her grandparents’ love and support, Katrina, older by three minutes, had always felt responsible for her younger fraternal twin. Sweet and pretty, but vulnerable, Eliza was a mirror image to Mollie. Living with a sibling and a mom who both had addictive personalities, and who could turn any situation into a drama, Katrina had felt out of place in her own home.

  “You don’t know what it’s like to have feelings.” It was an accusation both Mollie and Eliza had hurled at her regularly when, in the middle of one of their many crises, she would be forced to step in and deal with the practicalities. Let down time and time again by their sole parent, each twin had developed different coping strategies.

  Eliza had done everything she could t
o please her mother. Katrina, on the other hand, had learned how to stand on her own two feet around the time she was studying her letters and numbers.

  No matter how hard Katrina and her grandparents had tried, Eliza had taken the same route as her mother, spiraling into a life of addiction that started with alcohol and quickly progressed to drugs. Even Mollie’s death from an overdose at the age of thirty hadn’t halted her younger daughter’s decline. Katrina had continued to care for Eliza as best she could. As they grew older, and Eliza became increasingly resentful of any interference in her life, it had gotten harder. It hadn’t stopped Katrina from trying.

  She had built up her own defenses. She’d put her head down and learned to blunt the noise and confusion of her home life with work and study. Her love of dogs had become her profession and her escape route. When colleagues commented that she was a workaholic, she knew she’d developed her own kind of addiction. It was just as intense as her mother’s, but not as destructive. It had also become the way she kept the rest of the world at arm’s length.

  Go on a date? Sorry, I have to take care of the dogs. Meet friends? I have a training course to attend. Go away for the weekend? But who would take care of the business?

  The only person who had broken down the barriers was Suzie. Somehow, Katrina’s assistant had managed to keep trying until they had developed a lasting friendship. Until now, Katrina would have said she was happy with the way things were. Why had it taken Eliza’s disappearance, a series of threats and a blue-eyed cop to make her question that? And, more importantly, what was she going to do about it?

  You don’t know what it’s like to have feelings.

  It was the old accusation, one she’d always believed to be true. She shivered. Sitting up in bed with her knees tucked under her chin, all of a sudden, she wasn’t so sure.

  * * *

  “You can’t start the day without breakfast.” Spencer shot a sidelong glance in the direction of Katrina’s rear as she puttered around the kitchen in shorts and a tank top the following morning. He didn’t want to come across as creepy, but her curves really were irresistible.

  “Takeout last night. Breakfast this morning.” She opened the door and shooed all three dogs outside. “Are you on a mission to feed me up, Spencer?”

  He held up his hands in a “whoa” gesture. “One of the things my mom taught me and my siblings was to start the day right with a decent breakfast. I guess those habits stick with you.”

  “Of course. You told me you’re a triplet.” She came back into the room, regarding him with an intrigued expression. “What was that like, growing up?”

  It was a question he got asked a lot once people knew about his family situation. Sometimes he dismissed it with a flippant remark, other times he gave a brief reply. For some reason, he wanted to provide Katrina with a more detailed answer.

  “Naturally, my brother Jarvis, my sister Bella and I were very close. As I said, my dad was a distant cousin of Payne Colton, but he wasn’t close with him. Although our parents were hardworking, they were low income. They both died in a car crash when we were ten.”

  “Oh, my goodness.” Katrina placed a hand on his forearm. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay. At the time, it was like our world had ended.” He lifted a shoulder. “And it’s still not a good memory. But I can talk about it. One of the worst things was that we didn’t have any family we were already close to.”

  “What happened?” Her voice was soft. “Please tell me you were allowed to stay together.”

  “We were. But it was only because a childless aunt reluctantly agreed to take us in.” His lips tightened as the contrasting memories came flooding back. “It was a big adjustment. The home we shared with our parents was full of love and warmth, but our aunt Amelia didn’t like kids and she didn’t know how to handle us. It wasn’t a good time.”

  In the silence that followed, he caught a glimpse of Katrina’s own emotional storms in the depths of her eyes. It shook him up to realize that she wasn’t cold. The distance she kept from him wasn’t to do with lack of feeling. It was about fear. Katrina was scared of feeling too much. Just as he was coming to grips with what he’d just discovered, she lowered her lids, shutting off her expression.

  “Since I have nothing suitable in the house, how about I take you to Bubba’s Diner for breakfast?” she asked.

  He plucked at the front of his shirt. “I need to go home, shower and get a change of clothes first. It’s still early, so I’ll meet you there in an hour.”

  “Okay. But...” She gave him a confused look. “Don’t you still have to go to work?”

  “I need to speak to Chief Barco about protecting you. If he’s okay with it, I can check in at the station each day, then do a lot of stuff from the office at your work premises.”

  “If you’re planning on staying here until this is resolved, wouldn’t it be easier if you brought some clothes over instead of going home to change each day?” Katrina asked.

  “That’s the plan.” He went to the door and signaled to Boris. “I’ll pack a bag while I’m there. Meanwhile, whenever I’m not with you, I want you to take your dogs with you if you go out and make sure you stick to public places at all times.”

  He headed for his vehicle, pausing briefly to look back at the house. The night had been uneventful, with no further attacks. That could have been for any number of reasons. Possibly, the person targeting Katrina was waiting to see what impact the break-in would have. Or Spencer’s presence might have put him, or her, off. Then again, if Katrina had fabricated the harassment against her, she was hardly likely to continue when she had a police officer living in her home.

  On the previous evening, as they’d eaten their takeout, he’d kept the conversation light while observing her closely. The only conclusion he’d reached was that Katrina was difficult to read. Now and then, he thought he saw some of the tension in her frame lighten a little. She was such a mystery it was hard to tell what that meant. Was she thankful that he was there to protect her, or relieved that her plan to gain attention had worked?

  The Payne Colton case was soon occupying his thoughts. Payne had been moved back to his original private room. Although he wasn’t in ICU, his family wanted to provide the best levels of care and security and these were available in the second-floor suites. Spencer figured the only way forward in the investigation would be to review what they’d already done. They needed to interview witnesses again, take a fresh look at security camera footage, and see if they could find a link that they’d missed.

  The move from the shooting inquiry to protecting Katrina had happened so quickly that it had caught him unawares. It wasn’t as if he wanted to give up on the Colton case, exactly. But if he thought about where he’d rather spend his time...

  When he reached his vehicle, he checked his messages. There was a missed call from Kerry and a message asking him to get back to her.

  “Harley Watts’s lawyer has been in touch.” Kerry got straight to the point. “Harley might be prepared to talk about who hired him to send the email. In return, he’s asking for a very reduced sentence.”

  “Set up a meeting for later this morning with Harley and his lawyers,” Spencer said. “Then ask Marlowe and Ainsley Colton if they are available to come into the station this afternoon for an update on the situation.”

  He was balancing a number of cases, including his new role of protecting Katrina. With careful planning, he could do them all. While Katrina was at work, she would be reasonably safe. He would have an alert put on her cell phone and make sure that, on the occasions he couldn’t be at Look Who’s Walking, he got a patrol car to do regular checks on the premises. He also figured Suzie would be a useful ally.

  Was Harley’s offer the breakthrough they’d been waiting for in the Colton Oil case? And, if so, would it lead them to the person who had shot Payne? He ended the call with Kerry a
nd opened his vehicle door. It was too soon to feel optimistic, but this was the first glimmer of hope they’d seen in a long time.

  * * *

  Before she met Spencer at Bubba’s Diner, Katrina took the dogs to the training ground and handed them over to Suzie. After finding the note threatening to feed them antifreeze, she wasn’t prepared to leave them alone in the house. Not even for the duration of a meal.

  “I’ll be back soon,” she told Suzie. “I’m meeting Spencer for breakfast.”

  Her friend gave her a thoughtful look. “Take all the time you need.”

  When she arrived at the diner, Spencer was already there. He was seated at a table near the window and he waved a hand to make sure she’d seen him. As he did, her heart did a curious backflip.

  Oh, my goodness. What was that?

  He was a good-looking man, but she’d seen handsome guys before. None of them had ever had the ability to make her heart perform gymnastics.

  As she took her seat, Spencer handed her the breakfast menu. Boris, who was lying under the table, wagged his tail against her legs. “Let’s order, and then you can tell me about Aidan Hannant.”

  She frowned. “I didn’t have much of an appetite, anyway. Now it’s gone completely.”

  He pointed to the lighter options. “Try the avocado toast with poached egg.”

  She managed a smile. “You’re very persistent.”

  “I am.” He beckoned the waitress over. “And the fresh-squeezed orange juice is good, too.”

  “Since you know the menu so well, I guess you should order for both of us.”

  When the waitress had taken their order and left, Spencer turned his attention back to Katrina. “Let’s do this before the food arrives. That way we can enjoy our breakfast.”

  She fiddled with a paper napkin for a moment, then nodded. “There isn’t much more I can tell you. Aidan Hannant came into the training center asking for advice. Although Suzie offered to help, he insisted on speaking to me. At first, he seemed like a regular client. He introduced himself and told me about his dog. He said it was a rottweiler puppy that had some chewing problems. Then, when I started to give him advice, he asked if I’d gotten the message. That was when he said the car had been a warning.”