“I’ll be up to check on you later,” Rosalie added. She hurried away, leaving Roy, Colt and her in an uneasy silence.
“You might have heard that Rosalie’s getting married,” Roy commented. “He’s a good man. Rayanne’s husband, too.”
Thanks to the town gossips, Elise had caught up on the McKinnons. All of Colt’s siblings were either married or engaged now and settling into a normal life. Well, as normal as life could be with their mother’s murder trial hanging over their heads.
Even though the conversation was civil enough, Colt must have picked up on the fact that she was well past the awkward stage, because he took her by the arm. “This way,” he said, glancing back at his dad. “Thanks.”
Elise thanked him, too, and made her way up the stairs with Colt. She remembered this part of the house, had even done a sleepover with Rosalie when they were kids. Right before Whitt Braddock had gone missing and Rosalie’s world had crashed down around her.
Colt’s world, too.
After the scandal and rumors of her murdering her lover, his mother had left with his twin sisters and had started the bad blood that she could still feel twenty-three years later. It didn’t matter that everyone had gotten on with their lives. Well, for a while, anyway. Until Jewell’s arrest.
And Elise remembering the events of that tragic day.
Colt took her to the room at the end of the hall. Once this had been Jewell’s sewing room, but now it was a guest bedroom decorated in dark browns and creams like the rest of the house. No trace of Jewell or the life that’d once gone on here.
“I’m sorry to put you through this,” Colt mumbled.
“I’m sorry to put you through this,” she repeated right back to him.
The corner of his mouth lifted, but the smile didn’t make it to his eyes. Because he looked in worse shape than she felt, Elise reached out, pulled him to her. She felt his back muscles stiffen, and for a moment she thought he might pull away. But he didn’t.
“Hugging is the last thing we should be doing,” he reminded her. “That goes for touching, standing close to each other or even thinking about doing any of those things.”
True. But that didn’t stop her.
Being with him like this pushed aside the sound of those gunshots and the other attack. Somewhat of a miracle. But Elise knew it couldn’t last. Still, she held on, needing this from him.
Colt must have needed it, too, because he put his arm around her, tugged her closer and closer until they were right against each other.
That helped distract her despite his warning that they shouldn’t be doing this.
And so did the touch of his mouth when he brushed it over her lips. Very chaste. At first, anyway.
Colt made a groaning sound that rumbled deep in his chest, and he deepened the kiss. That really helped with the nightmarish images, and they faded fast, replaced by the instant heat that the kiss created.
Elise hooked her arms around his neck. Anchoring him against her. And she let that heat warm her in all the cold places. Soon, though, the warmth got much hotter when he pressed her against the door, closing it at the same time that he snapped her to him.
“Yes,” she mumbled against his mouth.
But Colt certainly wasn’t saying yes. She could feel the fight going on inside him. His muscles were corded. His heartbeat fast and wild. Like the kiss itself and the body contact.
Even though at least one of them should have had the good sense to back away, that didn’t happen. Hard for good sense to prevail, though, when his kisses brought back the flood of emotions that she’d been trying to bury for the past decade.
Colt had had her hormonal number back then. And he still had it now.
The kiss raged on, but it didn’t take long until it wasn’t enough. Her body begged for more, and even though she didn’t ask, Colt figured it out and gave her more. He aligned their bodies so that the front of his jeans was against hers.
“Yes,” Elise repeated.
It was exactly what her body wanted. What she needed. But it was also something that shouldn’t be happening. Not right now, anyway.
Did that stop them?
No.
But the knock on the door certainly did.
Groaning again, Colt moved away from her. “Yeah?” he managed to say, though his breath was gusting.
“Sorry to bother you,” Rosalie said from the other side of the door. “But Elise has a visitor waiting on the front porch. It’s Robert Joplin, and he’s not alone. There’s a man named Tim Sutcliff with him.”
Colt looked at her, questioning whether she knew who that was. She didn’t. But with the stunt that Joplin was trying with the mistrial, there was no telling who this other man could be.
“A couple of the ranch hands came to the porch when Joplin arrived,” Rosalie went on. “They’re armed and said you gave them orders to keep an eye out for him or anyone else who might show up while Elise was here.”
Colt had indeed done that with a phone call he’d made on the drive out to the ranch.
“I’ll be down in a few minutes,” Colt answered. “Don’t let Joplin in the house. Keep him on the porch with the ranch hands.”
Rosalie paused, maybe waiting for an explanation, but finally said, “Okay.”
Colt paused, too, his gaze combing over Elise, and then he cursed, shook his head. “We look like we just had sex.”
Elise couldn’t help it. She laughed. And because she thought they both could use it, she brushed a kiss on his cheek. A chaste one like Colt’s that had started this whole kissing session.
“Well, for years I did dream about having sex with you,” she admitted.
He’d already reached to open the door, but that stopped him. “You did?”
Elise nearly blurted out that she’d been attracted to Colt since the first moment she realized the difference between boys and girls. Before that, he’d been her friend. Yes, she’d had a thing for Colt McKinnon most of her life.
“You used to kill spiders for me in my tree house,” she settled for saying. “Those kinds of heroics stay with a girl.”
“Killing spiders, huh?” He shook his head. “That’s what it took to be a hero in your eyes?”
“It’s helped.”
Despite their visitor, and their messy situation, they shared a smile. Too brief. Because then Colt opened the door, stepping in front of her.
“I don’t want you near Joplin,” he reminded her as they went downstairs. He was all lawman now. Ready to stomp on more spiders for her if necessary. “Stay in the foyer while I talk to him.”
Elise didn’t argue, mainly because she didn’t especially want to see Joplin after the hellish day she’d had. However, she did want to know why he was there, so she stayed just inside the doorway when Colt opened the door.
Rosalie stepped next to her, standing shoulder to shoulder with her. That’s when Elise realized Rosalie was holding a gun by her side. Obviously, she, too, thought there might be reason for concern. And maybe there was. After all, someone had attempted to hurt her twice in the past twenty-four hours.
“Colt,” Joplin greeted, but there was no friendliness to it. The man hitched his thumb to the pair of ranch hands who were clearly guarding him from each side of the porch. “Is this necessary?”
“Yeah,” Colt answered without hesitation. “We’re a little tired of dodging bullets and falling barn roofs. How’d you even know Elise was here and what do you want?”
Those brusque questions didn’t ease the tightness around Joplin’s mouth. “When she wasn’t at the sheriff’s office, I figured you’d bring her here.” He stepped to the side so that Colt and she would get a good look at the man he’d brought with him.
Tim Sutcliff was short and stocky with bushy brown hair. He gave his thick wool coat an adjustment so that it hugged the back of his neck. He was obviously cold, but Elise knew that wouldn’t gain him or Joplin entry to the house.
“Mr. Sutcliff is a therapist,” Joplin exp
lained. “He’s here to hypnotize Elise to see what else she remembers about that day she saw Roy in the Braddock cabin.”
Elise wasn’t sure who groaned louder. Colt or her.
“This can wait,” Colt insisted.
“No, it can’t. At the rate things are going, Elise might not live long enough to testify about what she saw.”
Even though she wasn’t standing directly in the gusting wind, that chilled her to the bone. Because it was true. And it might be true because of Joplin.
“Please tell me you didn’t have anything to do with what’s been happening to me,” Elise said.
Oh, Joplin did not like that. But she didn’t care. She wasn’t especially fond of what had gone on, either, and right now, Joplin had a strong motive for the attacks against her.
“I wouldn’t hurt you,” Joplin snapped. “I’m trying to help you. Don’t you want to remember that day?”
“Of course I do, but I’m not sure you have my best interests at heart.” Something that’d taken her a while to figure out, but she certainly had it figured out now. Joplin’s first and foremost concern was Jewell.
Elise’s gaze shifted to the therapist. “Let me guess—you and Joplin are friends?”
The man opened his mouth, sputtering out a few frustrated sounds, before he answered, “That has nothing to do with your situation. Like Robert, I only want to help you.”
“Robert,” she repeated in a mumble. “I’d say that’s the answer to my question, that you two are indeed friends.”
Sutcliff shook his head. “Again, that has nothing to do with anything. I’m here to help you,” he repeated.
“It has everything to do with this situation,” Colt argued. “If Elise wants to see a hypnotist, then it should be someone she chooses. Someone who’s not a friend of my mother’s attorney.”
Neither Joplin nor Sutcliff actually denied the friendship, but both look riled to the core. “Why would it make a difference if we happen to know each other?” Joplin challenged.
“I can think of a reason,” Rosalie said before Colt or Elise could answer. “A dishonest or untrained therapist can plant false memories in a person while they’re under hypnosis. Memories that you might use to clear your client.”
Colt gave her an odd look, maybe because he was surprised that Rosalie wouldn’t do anything and everything to clear her mother’s name. “I only want to know the truth,” Rosalie explained. “And I don’t want Elise bullied into doing something she’s not ready to do. Especially by someone who might not even be qualified to do it.”
“Thank you,” Elise told her and then turned back to Joplin. “I’ll make my own appointment to see a hypnotist, and no offense, Mr. Sutcliff, but it won’t be with you.”
She didn’t think it was her imagination that Sutcliff seemed extremely uncomfortable about her decision. Had Joplin pressured his old friend to do something illegal? Probably. Joplin was pulling out the stops when it came to this trial.
“You don’t trust me,” Joplin said to her, his voice low and filled with emotion. Well, one emotion, anyway. Anger.
“No, I don’t,” Elise readily admitted.
Joplin’s nostrils actually flared. “This is a bad decision on your part. I’ll petition the court to have you removed from Colt’s protective custody.”
“Good luck with that,” Colt grumbled, obviously not overly concerned about that happening.
Still, Joplin could make waves, and that was all the more reason for her to get to a safe house where Joplin couldn’t just show up on a whim. Of course, that safe house might come with a huge string attached.
Colt might not be there with her.
In fact, after that latest kiss—which he would see as another lapse in judgment—he might try to distance himself from her. Something that Elise figured was best overall. But it certainly didn’t feel best at the moment.
“I’ve also secured the Braddock cabin where Whitt was killed,” Joplin went on. “There’s a guard with the private investigators that I hired.”
It took Elise a moment to realize why Joplin had said that. Colt obviously got it right away because he huffed.
“My family and I have no intention of tampering with a crime scene,” Colt informed him.
“Maybe not,” Joplin said, speaking over his shoulder as he walked away. “But I’m removing the temptation just in case somebody puts something there that’d clear Roy’s name at the expense of your mother.”
Elise thought that part might be directed at her. Probably because she’d already admitted that she didn’t trust Joplin, he might think that mistrust extended to Jewell. It didn’t. She wanted to help the woman if she was indeed innocent.
“I don’t think you’ve seen the last of him,” Rosalie mumbled as they went back inside. All three of them stayed at the window to make sure Joplin and Sutcliff got in their car and drove away.
“It’s true about someone being able to plant false memories?” Colt asked his sister.
Rosalie nodded. “It’s especially easy to do with childhood memories. Some therapists have even convinced people they were molested and such when it didn’t happen.”
Mercy, and Joplin could have planned on doing that to her so that she believed Roy had been the one to kill Whitt Braddock.
And he might have been.
Even though her memories weren’t crystal clear, Elise was certain about one thing. Roy had been at the cabin that day.
Rosalie gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I know someone reputable who can do the hypnosis, and I can get you an appointment with her. But if you’d rather use someone else, I’ll understand.”
“No. Please make the appointment,” Elise insisted. “If you trust her, then so do I.”
Rosalie looked at Colt to see what he thought about it, and he nodded. “Thanks. For everything,” he added.
“Yes,” someone said.
Elise looked behind them and spotted Roy standing in the shadows of the adjoining family room. He came closer, his worn cowboy boots thudding on the hardwood floor, his hands jammed into his jeans’ pockets.
“I don’t know what you’re going to remember while under hypnosis,” he said. “But even if you saw something that leads to my arrest, I don’t want you to hold back.” His gaze drifted to Colt. “In fact, I don’t want anything you remember to have any bearing on anything else.”
Elise understood then. Roy could no doubt see the attraction simmering between Colt and her. Heck, it’d always been there, and it was getting stronger. Roy didn’t want her feelings for Colt playing into her testimony.
And it wouldn’t.
Still, she hated the thought of remembering something that might make all this worse for Roy, even if it made things better for Jewell.
“Who knows,” Elise said, “I might remember someone else being in the cabin that day. Someone else who had a reason to harm Whitt Braddock.”
There was no shortage of people who fell into that category. Even as a child, she’d known that Whitt wasn’t a well-liked man, and his supposed affair with Jewell, a married woman, certainly hadn’t helped his reputation any. Too bad all those people had airtight alibis, putting the blame squarely back on Jewell and Roy.
Colt drew in a long breath and made another check to ensure that Joplin had driven away. He had. And he took out his phone. “I’ll check on the status of the safe house.”
However, his phone buzzed before he could make a call, and Elise saw Reed’s name on the screen. Since the deputy was likely still at her place, she prayed that he’d found something to lead them to the identity of the person who’d launched the attacks on Colt and her.
Colt answered the call but didn’t put it on speaker. Still, it didn’t take Elise long to realize that something bad had happened. She groaned because she was tired of having this constant dose of bad news.
“Get in here, away from the windows,” Colt insisted. He took her by the arm and hurried her into the family room.
That caused the sk
in to crawl on Elise’s neck.
Mercy, what had gone wrong now?
Rosalie had a similar reaction. “My baby,” she said on a rise of breath, and she raced off toward the back of the house.
“It’s Buddy,” Colt said the moment he finished the call with Reed. And he drew his gun. “He was just spotted on the road leading to the ranch.”
Chapter Nine
“You should try to get some rest,” Colt reminded Elise.
But it was a reminder that fell on deaf ears because Elise continued to pace back and forth across the family room while they waited for yet another call from Reed. Colt hoped this one would be to tell them that Buddy had been captured. Putting Buddy behind bars might not be the end of their problems, but at least he could question the man and find out why he was on the run.
Innocent men didn’t usually run, and he was betting that Buddy had something to do with not only the barn falling but possibly the other attacks, as well.
“How long before your brothers get home?” Elise asked, glancing out the window again.
Well, glancing as much as she could, considering Colt had warned her to stay far away from the windows and doors. It was a necessity since shots from a long-range rifle could be fired at them from the woods across from the ranch. The ranch hands were all on alert, looking for anyone who might try to get close to launch an attack, but the ranch was huge and there was a lot of ground to cover.
“How long?” she repeated when he didn’t answer.
He lifted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. They won’t come here. Cooper built a house in that clearing near the pond, and Tucker lives just up the road in my granddaddy’s old place. Besides, Tucker and his wife took their twins on a family vacation.”
The only McKinnon sibling that Elise might have to face was his other sister, Rayanne, but Rosalie had already called Rayanne and asked that she and her husband stay in a hotel in San Antonio. With Rayanne being nearly six months pregnant, it was just too risky for her to return to the ranch.
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