Colton's Dangerous Liaison

by Regan Black

  He opened the door for the crime-scene unit and again when Desiree arrived with a police escort. Although he was happy for her, he couldn’t bear to watch the reunion. It cut too deep, left him staring at the aching emptiness of happiness he’d been denied because life wasn’t fair.

  It seemed like a lifetime ago. It was, in fact. He’d been twenty-two when Karen and the baby had died due to a complication with the pregnancy. If life was fair, he’d be headed home to a house filled with love and a busy, happy family. His oldest would be almost twenty now, leading a pack of younger siblings in Antonio’s dream world, and Karen would be more beautiful today than the day he’d fallen in love with her.

  “I had to do it,” the grandmother said again. “You didn’t give me a choice.”

  She hadn’t stopped that litany since they’d found out she was the kidnapper.

  “Everleigh’s own parents gave up on her. I had to do something,” Hannah wailed. “She’s the sweetest of all my grandchildren and would never hurt a fly. All her life, even crickets or spiders that wander into the house, she scoops them up and carries outside.”

  Antonio wondered if Melissa and Troy were even listening anymore. Worse, he feared it wouldn’t make any difference for Everleigh. With his mind still circling the what-ifs of family dreams long gone, he struggled to sort out his feelings and opinions of the entire mess. He was angry that anyone in this city felt the need to go to such lengths and he was equally angry that Hannah had made an innocent mother suffer.

  It was past time for Melissa, as the chief of police, to take a hard look at what was going wrong in her department.

  She appeared abruptly, as if his thoughts summoned her. “We’re heading back to the station,” she said, her gaze moving past him to the swarm of reporters crowding the path to Troy’s car. “I can’t order you to keep quiet, but I would ask you to please be careful if you choose to give a statement.”

  “Careful?” Was she serious? “Will you be careful with this case?” She flinched and he almost regretted his hard tone. “That woman is the personification of desperate. What are you going to do to help her?”

  Melissa’s mouth flattened, her blue gaze going sharp. “The kidnapping is a police matter,” she said. “The GGPD is grateful for your help in the rescue of a child.” She cleared her throat, her eyes still locked with his. “I am grateful for your help, Mr. Ruiz.”

  “Antonio,” he said.

  She acknowledged that with a nod. “Would you like us to drop you at the hotel?”

  “I’ll ride along to the station,” he decided. “Someone should make sure Mrs. McPherson is treated fairly until her legal team arrives.” He would personally see to it that she didn’t have to settle for a public defender. “I have personal experience with not being heard by your officers.”

  “It’s regrettable that you feel that way,” she said. After exchanging a look with Troy, they headed out and Antonio followed.

  Questions pelted them from all sides behind the lights of cameras and cell phones. Both Melissa and Troy repeated the no-comment line while Antonio just followed, fuming in silence. For now.

  In the car, Troy slid his phone toward Melissa. “Worse is waiting,” he said.

  From the back seat, Antonio had a clear view of the short video clip of local and regional media blocking the front doors of the police station.

  “Guess it’s a good night to use the back door,” he said.

  “On the contrary,” Melissa replied. “I’ll take that mob head-on and make sure they understand the three of us rescued Danny.”

  “And when they ask if you’ll take another look at the Emerson case?” It seemed he’d lost all his normal tact and diplomacy.

  “The whole mess is a police matter and will take some time to sort out,” she replied. “But, yes, we’re already taking steps to verify Hannah’s claims. Contrary to your opinion, I do care about the people in this city. It disturbs me more than I can say that she resorted to kidnapping because she felt it was the only way to get our attention.”

  No one spoke the rest of the way to the police station. Troy parked in the space reserved for the chief and cut the engine. The only visible indication of Melissa’s state of mind was the quick swipe of her palms across her slacks before she stepped out of the car.

  The media were kind enough to give them a path as they climbed the steps to the front door of the station. Antonio didn’t know there were so many reporters and cameramen in Grave Gulch. In front of the doors, Melissa paused to give her planned statement about the cooperative effort to rescue Danny.

  “Does this mean Everleigh Emerson is innocent?” someone shouted.

  “Is it true an elderly grandmother took the toddler?” asked another unseen reporter.

  Variations on those two questions rippled through the air as several reporters simultaneously vied for attention and answers.

  Troy kept his mouth shut, while Melissa paused at the top of the steps. “At this time, I can only reassure you that the toddler taken from a family event earlier this evening has been reunited with his mother. No injuries were immediately apparent and we expect his pediatrician will give him a clean bill of health.”

  “Chief! According to the ransom note this kidnapping occurred because the police made some sort of error. Will tonight’s events affect the trial of Everleigh Emerson?”

  Antonio was close enough to see Melissa’s breath catch. Who could’ve fed the media the details of the ransom note? As far as Antonio knew, not even Desiree had seen it.

  “Please...” Melissa held up a hand. “This an active investigation. We will be handling every detail thoroughly and with the utmost care. That’s all I have at this time.”

  * * *

  “Mr. Ruiz, do you blame yourself for tonight’s kidnapping?”

  He was so shocked, he replied to the media question without thinking. “No. The hotel is not at fault in this matter.”

  “What measures will the hotel take to prevent such a tragedy in the future?” another reporter called out, heedless of his first answer.

  “The hotel systems and security protocols in place were instrumental in recovering the boy swiftly,” Melissa interjected. “If you’ll excuse us.”

  Her praise caught him off guard, but he acknowledged it with a nod. “I was glad to be of help tonight,” he said simply. But he had to wonder if he’d helped find a little boy only to wreck a grandmother’s life. No, he couldn’t take that on. Hannah McPherson had made her own choices. “Please excuse me.”

  He turned to follow Melissa and Troy into the station. Not his favorite place, but it would be an instant improvement over the media crush. Raised voices chased the trio.

  “Do you still believe your partner, Drew Orr, murdered his girlfriend?”

  To name Orr and not the victim annoyed him immensely. “Her name was Wendy Paxton,” he snapped. “Orr and I were never partners. And yes, I believed he killed her.”

  “Chief, will you reopen the Paxton case, as well?” The follow-up question was no surprise to any of them.

  “You can be sure we’ll do everything necessary to see justice served in Grave Gulch.”

  A chorus of questions about “Granny” McPherson’s fate chased them into the station.

  Rather than make a beeline for the back door, Antonio followed Melissa straight to her office, pausing in the doorway. After closing the blinds at the window, she tugged the pins from her hair. One by one, they plinked to her desktop, then she finger-combed the deep red mass into loose waves. His fingers tingled with an urge to take over that task, to learn the weight and texture of that fiery hair. He dragged his thoughts to more appropriate territory.

  Her eyes rounded when she realized he was still there. “You don’t need to stay,” she said.

  “You defended me out there,” he said, and entered her office.

  “Of
course I did. The hotel didn’t make any mistakes and you were instrumental in finding Danny quickly.”

  Was she trying to flatter him so he’d forget the department’s previous errors? A few hours ago that would’ve been his assumption. Now, after seeing her in action, he wasn’t so sure he understood her as well as he’d first thought.

  The potential error bothered him. He took great pride in assessing people accurately. If he was wrong about her, that would bring his current tally to two big mistakes in the past year. His skill at reading people should be improving, not faltering.

  “Are you okay?” She tilted her head. “You seemed a little...”

  “What?” he prompted when she didn’t finish.

  Her auburn eyebrows flexed. “I don’t know. Be careful with the reporters. You know how little it takes to breathe life into an old story.”

  “But you may not have the right killer on trial for Fritz Emerson. No one was ever even arrested for the Paxton murder, either.”

  She shook her head, her hair rippling across her shoulders. “You want me to reopen the Paxton case? All because a heartbroken grandmother did something drastic?”

  “I saw you out there.”

  She stared at him, her gaze cold and hard. Here was the unyielding law-enforcement officer he was used to seeing. Although he appreciated confidence, a person had to be open to changing course when necessary. Melissa didn’t seem at all that way and it lit his temper.

  “You have doubts.” He drummed his fingertips against her desk. “If something went wrong in the Emerson case, is it such a stretch to think something was off with the Paxton one? So, yes. I do want you to look at Orr again for that murder.”

  “Antonio—”

  “There was blood on his hand,” Antonio said. “The man was frantic, chattering like a loon about what he’d done and what he should do next. And somehow your department can’t find any evidence tying him to Wendy? How is that possible? They were in an intimate relationship.” He was pressing hard and he didn’t care. “That woman’s family deserves real justice. Closure.” If Melissa couldn’t handle the criticism, she shouldn’t be the top cop in town.

  “I couldn’t agree more,” she said at last. “Why do you think I got into police work?” She pressed her fingers to her temples for a moment before meeting his gaze again. “I promise you I’ll closely review both cases, but Emerson’s, being an active trial, takes precedence.”

  “All right.” She’d surprised him again. “I thought I’d have to push harder.”

  “Harder?” One eyebrow arched and he would’ve sworn her lips twitched with amusement. “You’ve made it clear time and again how little you think of me and my department,” she said.

  “It isn’t personal,” he said. “I told you seeing you in action changed my perspective on the quality of your work. But I still think something’s off, in both cases.”

  “And you won’t stop pressing until you see me personally take some definitive action?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest.

  “Something like that.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. It rattled him how much he wanted to touch her, to take some of the burden he could practically see piled high on her shoulders. “I’ll give you some space.”

  “And time,” she said as he started for the door. “This kind of thing isn’t managed instantly, no matter what you see on television.”

  He smiled. How was that even possible when facing off with her? “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  After walking out of the office, he studied his surroundings with fresh eyes. The classic stone exterior of police headquarters fit in with the age and architecture of the city center. Inside, it was clean and modern. Brighter than he remembered from the days he’d been in here dealing with Orr’s mess. From the front desk to the back doors, the desks seemed to be laid out for efficiency, with her office and a few conference rooms in view on the perimeter. He saw the sign for holding cells and wondered if Hannah had been tucked away already.

  He would see if there was anything he could do for her before he left. It wouldn’t earn him any points with Melissa, though. And why did that matter? He was headed down the hallway to the holding cells when someone called out Melissa’s name.

  Turning back, he saw Clarke jogging toward her office. “Mel! You need to see this.”

  “You found something?” she asked, stepping into view.

  “Yes.” He paused to catch his breath. “Look at these lab reports. I think Everleigh’s grandma might be on to something.”

  Chapter 4

  “Show me,” Melissa said. She couldn’t decide if it was good news or bad that Clarke had found something so quickly. She had to remind herself to breathe. As a private investigator he rarely helped directly with active GGPD cases, but she’d officially authorized his assistance in this instance and was grateful for her brother’s skills tonight.

  Clarke flipped a couple pages in his notebook. “First off, the CSI report from the scene and the forensic scientist’s report are in conflict. Originally no hair and fibers matching Everleigh Emerson, GGPD’s prime suspect, were found at the scene. None were processed at the lab. But in a report that was filed the next day, signed by our forensic scientist, Randall Bowe, he states that two hairs and three fibers previously overlooked were a DNA match for Everleigh.”

  Melissa swore. “Her attorney didn’t catch the discrepancy?”

  Clarke shook his head. “A poor excuse for a public defender. They had a stack of cases, one of which is also being tried right now. According to the court transcript, didn’t even address it on the cross-examination.”

  “Conflicting evidence? That sounds a lot like what happened in Orr’s case.”

  Melissa followed that unmistakable voice to find Antonio leaning on a nearby desk, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. Her pulse hummed in a purely feminine reaction that was the epitome of bad timing. She jerked herself back to her senses.

  “What are you doing here?” she demanded. This was her station and he should’ve been on his way back to his hotel.

  “This is a public building, right?”

  “Yes,” she said, curbing the urge to snarl at him. She had no real expectation of privacy out here, but even the media respected her boundary within the building.

  When would she escape this nasty spiral of a bad day? This was supposed to be a night off, a time to relax and celebrate with friends and family at Mary’s wedding. And yet, here she was, back in the station, butting heads again with the one man who simultaneously stirred her senses and infuriated her. “This doesn’t concern you,” she responded.

  “But it does.” He advanced, as if daring her to throw him out. An action she might’ve considered if the media wasn’t still flocking outside.

  “The witness—me—saw one thing and your lab couldn’t manage to corroborate it.”

  She supposed she should be grateful he didn’t mention how they’d interviewed him as a suspect based on Orr’s statement. “As I said earlier, I will look into both cases.” He didn’t seem inclined to leave. “Surely you’re needed at your hotel.”

  “I doubt it.” He sent her a slow smile. A hot energy simmered through her system. “My staff is remarkably dependable.”

  Aggravated by the heat in her cheeks and unwilling to give him any more of her attention tonight, she asked Clarke to step into her office. She turned to Antonio, keeping her voice low. “You said you would give me time and space.”

  “I’ve changed my mind,” he stated. Another smile.

  She barely contained her sigh of exasperation. “About what?”

  “Time. I want to speak with you about the Orr case tonight.”

  No. No, no, no. This unending day was exactly why Martin had given up on their relationship. He hadn’t been the only one... “No,” she said. “You are keeping me from handling my top prio
rity.”

  “Threatening to charge me with obstruction?”

  She didn’t like the way he seemed to see right through her. “If that’s what it takes to make it clear.” She took a half step closer, regretting it immediately. His masculine scent, a clean, woodsy spice, zipped along her senses. “You are not qualified to interject yourself here. I will be in contact when I’ve reviewed the Orr case. It will not be tonight.”

  “I’ll wait.” He dropped into the nearest chair.

  He wasn’t the first man, officer or civilian, to believe merely being present or persistent would change her course.

  She was a woman in a typically male-dominated field. While it wasn’t quite as much of a boys’ club as it had been for her sixteen years ago at the Michigan Police Academy, female officers in general consistently faced uphill battles with sexism, or worse. Antonio couldn’t know how the general ribbing between officers, outright sexist jokes and sheer tenacity had focused her on her path to become the chief of police. From her first day on the job, she’d met and overcome every single obstacle with patience, humor and tenacity.

  His stubbornness wasn’t the same thing, but she was up to the challenge. Doing her best to forget him, she returned to Clarke, closing her office door. She would deal with any complaints from Antonio later. “Continue, please.”

  “Is he a problem?” her brother asked under his breath.

  Yes. To more than just her work... On levels she wasn’t about to explain to her older brother tonight. “He believes we mishandled a case he brought to us last summer. I’ll address his concerns after we sort this out.”

  “Mel, if you need something—”

  She cut him off with a smile. “We both know I can fight my own battles.”

  “True. But I’m your big brother. The offer never expires.”

  “One more reason you’re my favorite brother,” she joked. This wasn’t the time or place to get mushy on him. Her emotions were too close to the surface, had been nearly out of control since Danny had disappeared from the wedding reception. And though mother and son had been reunited, she felt edgier than ever about the role her department might have played in this. Mistakes happened, but they were not the norm here. She’d been part of this department from her first day as a rookie cop and working her way up; she had a unique perspective on the strengths of her people. An error like this was unthinkable and she was determined to root out the truth.