Killer Colton Christmas

by Regan Black

  Checking his backup .22 in his ankle holster, he drew his service pistol before he left the truck. He paused near the front of the house, listening for any sound. Staying low, he crept closer and peered into the front windows, unable to see much around the Christmas tree.

  The silence prodded him forward, and he tested the front door. Unlocked. Of course she would’ve let Finn in, not knowing the danger. The alarm sounded and he disarmed the system, hurrying through a search of the house. Acutely aware that every second’s delay could be one second more than Marie had left, he forced himself to be thorough. It wasn’t much relief to find the house empty and no signs of a struggle.

  If Finn had convinced Marie to leave the house, Scrabble had gone along. The two had been nearly inseparable from the moment he’d introduced them. Outside the kitchen door, he found scuff marks in the grass and the shrubs that edged his mother’s herb garden trampled. Not much of a trail. Where were they?

  The ranch he’d considered secure, but he now saw as a minefield of potential tragedies. There was the back road out, several vehicles Finn could steal, not counting the horses he might have saddled to carry off Marie to a Cohort rendezvous point. Think!

  He wanted to shout for Scrabble and couldn’t risk giving away his position if Finn was within earshot. He whistled, the quick high-low call he used to bring Scrabble to heel when they were out with cattle or on a trail ride. No response.

  Fury blazed through him. When he found Finn—and he would find him—the man would pay dearly for putting this desperate fear for Marie in his head. He cleared the barn near the house and moved on to the next building, giving another whistle. Maybe Scrabble had trailed Finn as he’d kidnapped Marie.

  This time he heard Scrabble’s answering bark, high and urgent, and her sturdy red-and-white body streaked toward him. She circled his feet and dashed several paces ahead, back the way she’d come. She barked again, then bolted toward the veterinary offices.

  He cautiously jogged after his dog. Hearing the crack of a gunshot and a scream, they both broke into a run toward the recovery barn, a small space where his mother often kept her seriously ill equine patients.

  He paused just outside the door to get his bearings. He could hear Finn, on a tirade about the abuse of corporations against citizen privacy. Emiliano glanced to Scrabble, signaled her to stay.

  “Marie?”

  “Emiliano!” she cried out.

  “You okay?”

  “Get the hell out of here, Ortega,” Finn interrupted. “I just want the CDO.”

  Scrabble woofed and Emiliano stepped inside, gun raised. “Not gonna happen.”

  Finn leveled his gun at Marie. “The Cohort tasked me to bring her in.” He sneered at Emiliano. “Dead or alive—they don’t care.”

  “I care.” At his side, Scrabble growled low in her throat. It seemed they both cared. Alive, he could find her. Dead, he’d be lost without her.

  “Drop your weapon or I shoot.”

  Emiliano complied immediately. “What turned you?”

  “Sulla understands the changing landscape and how to illuminate others’ minds to the cause. We have to take a stand. Don’t you get tired of being used? Making an example of Marie will force companies to think twice before employing data-mining strategies that violate personal privacy for the sake of corporate profit. We deserve to choose who knows what details.” He waved the gun at Marie. “Can’t you see she is a walking security breach waiting to happen? What she does turns our data and preferences against us.”

  Finn shifted, glaring at Emiliano. “I can’t believe you still blindly follow Dashwood and the government. You’re smarter than that.”

  Emiliano would’ve said the same about Finn once. “We took an oath to protect this country from threats like Sulla and the Cohort.”

  Finn stepped toward Emiliano. “The Cohort has a solution for greed, perpetrated by corporate puppets like Marie.”

  “Why steal the xylazine?” The timing had bothered him from the beginning of this case. “What does the Cohort want with horse tranquilizers?”

  “There was a blanket request. It’s a useful tool.” He shrugged. “Thanks to you, I knew where to find some.”

  “You drugged a man.” Emiliano inched forward. “Could’ve killed him.”

  “He lived.” Finn’s harsh laughter bounced through the empty barn. “Getting here before you and breaking into the office was almost too easy.”

  As Emiliano’s friend and coworker, Finn had known when the ranch and vet office were practically unattended. The entire attack on Colton, Incorporated, on Marie specifically, had been orchestrated from inside the FBI. Emiliano was furious.

  Scrabble growled again, her ruff high and ears back. He agreed with her.

  “Call off your dog,” Finn said, lowering his gun to take aim at her.

  Emiliano shifted his weight to block the angle and protect his dog. “She never liked you. I should’ve trusted her judgment.”

  “It was mutual. She’s a pest.”

  With a hand signal, he ordered Scrabble to go home. Her movement drew Finn’s attention. “Marie, run!” Emiliano shouted as Finn fired at the dog.

  Scrabble darted out of harm’s way and Finn twisted back to shoot Marie. She hadn’t fled. To his dismay, she charged Finn.

  No! They hadn’t covered this in her self-defense lessons. Emiliano surged forward as Finn fired. The bullet went over her head, plowing into a beam above. She tried to knock the gun away. Finn anticipated the move, striking her across the cheek with the weapon.

  She crumpled to the barn floor and Emiliano tackled Finn from behind. But Finn’s longer reach was no match for Emiliano’s wrath. He knocked the gun aside and landed an elbow strike that left Finn gasping for air.

  They rolled and Finn pinned Emiliano, one hand crushing his windpipe while he sought the gun with the other. Emiliano couldn’t quite reach his .22.

  Black dots danced in front of his eyes and he brought his fists down on Finn’s arm, breaking the hold and dragging air deep into his lungs. Finn screamed in pain, skittering like a spider across the floor. His hand found the gun just as Emiliano caught his ankle. Finn twisted, kicking against the hold, and pulled the trigger.

  The next gunshot was a lightning bolt through his shoulder. Emiliano’s left arm went numb instantly. Finn scrambled out of his reach. Marie shouted and Emiliano struggled to his feet, only to crash down into her arms.

  Light poured in from both ends of the barn as the team from Austin finally arrived, blocking Finn’s escape. He heard Scrabble barking, felt Marie’s silky hair on his cheek. Ace bellowed and Gordo’s deep howl joined a chorus of sirens approaching. Blackness pressed at the edges of his vision and Emiliano refused to give in to it. Within minutes Finn was shoved against the sheriff’s car, hands cuffed behind his back, listening to another FBI agent read him his rights. With Finn in custody, they could contain the threat against Marie and drive the Cohort back into the shadows.

  Ace and Marie helped him out of the barn. “I’m sorry,” Ace said. “I was out—”

  “Doing your job.” Emiliano fought for control of his queasy stomach. “This was my mistake.”

  He looked to Marie, longing to kiss away the pain that surely throbbed in her cheek. “Forgive me?” If he’d figured it out sooner and listened to his instincts, they would have caught Finn before he’d ever had a chance to strike her.

  Her lips curled up in a smile, though not enough to put that dimple in her cheek. At her feet, Scrabble whined, and she crouched down to pick up his dog. Scrabble licked her reddened cheek first, then wriggled toward Emiliano, but he couldn’t hold her. He stroked her ears with his good hand, and they both lavished her with praise and the promise of cookies.

  He gave a statement to the team from Austin while the paramedics dragged him onto a stretcher.
They started an IV and pushed a painkiller through the line before they moved him to the waiting ambulance.

  “Ride with me?” he asked Marie, his gaze locked on her face. Her shirt was stained with his blood and she was pale. She hadn’t yet said she’d forgiven him, hadn’t said much of anything to anyone besides Scrabble.

  “They need my statement,” she said.

  “They can get it at the hospital.” He couldn’t let her out of his sight.

  “I’ll bring her over,” Ace promised. “Once we settle the dogs.”

  “No.” Every breath was another lance of pain through his shoulder. He shoved himself upright. “Please, Marie.” Maybe it was the pain or the drugs, but he was afraid once he let her go he’d never see her again.

  “I’m here.” Her long ponytail swayed as the paramedic helped her into the back of the ambulance.

  The fog of the morphine settled over him, and having her near soothed him as nothing else could. He reached over with his good hand, grateful for her gentle touch. Though her lips moved, he couldn’t make out the words as the ambulance sped toward the hospital.

  Chapter 11

  Marie sat in the surgical waiting room, caught between the will of her heart and the wisdom of her mind. Her heart wanted Emiliano; to hell with the facts that her place was in Dallas at a job where she thrived.

  Emiliano had friends and family, dogs and a life she could never compete with. Didn’t want to compete with it. She wanted to find her place within his world. Dangerous thoughts. This was his place. He was built for Shadow Creek and the rancher’s life; even his commitment and work with the FBI fit that solid framework.

  She didn’t have any experience with that kind of stability. Who would trust the girl without family or roots to stick? And what if someone else came after her? She couldn’t bear for her troubles to put him at risk again. No, the sooner she took the right actions, the sooner she would feel better about letting Emiliano go.

  Her heart beat a frantic protest against her ribs. Wanting a man was different from wanting what was best for him. Ace returned and handed her a cup of coffee from the vending machine. “Any word?”

  “No.” She glared at the phone on the volunteer’s desk, willing it to ring with news on Emiliano.

  “There was no exit wound.” He scratched at the stubble on his jaw. “Shoulders are tricky.”

  She’d learned as much from a Google search that had done nothing but crank up her worry. Emiliano could lose the use of his arm. Because of her. She blinked back another wave of tears.

  “What did Zane Colton have to say?” he asked after several endless minutes.

  Zane had flown in from Dallas to check on her and give her an update of the situation on their side of the investigation.

  “The FBI sent in a new team. They’re combing through everything Finn touched, making sure the system is safe. They told me Finn was training a new team of Principes in physical assaults. It should be safe for me to go back to work. Zane has a team ready to keep an eye on me for a few weeks. A precaution.”

  “You’re not staying in Shadow Creek?”

  She sipped the hot coffee, scalding her tongue. “My career is in Dallas,” she replied. She wouldn’t call it a life, not after this time with Emiliano.

  Ace fell silent. They both knew Emiliano belonged in Shadow Creek. He had been miserable trying to build a life with his ex-wife in another city. She wouldn’t ask him to risk that again. Loving him was her problem, not his. And loving him, she wanted Emiliano’s happiness more than her own.

  As she left the waiting area to stretch her legs, it seemed easier to leave with every step. She should go now. Never look back. Leaving would hurt, but staying left her open and vulnerable to the inevitability of him walking out of her life when the city smothered him.

  Stay in Shadow Creek, a voice in her head whispered. If only it was that easy. She wasn’t ready to give up on her career, the only stability she had known.

  Her mind drifted back over recent days, the feel of his body close as he taught her self-defense, his gaze on her as he taught her to ride and care for the horses. His smile for Scrabble, his focus on her case, and the way his trim beard felt against her skin. Running over and through all those sweet moments was the depth of his anxiety when she’d been late coming home. His words. She pressed the memory close. No one in her life had ever been so concerned about her. For her.

  Stay in Shadow Creek.

  Her heart clamored for her to find a solution that would allow her to stay for a while and give whatever was sprouting between them time to bloom. She had plenty of vacation time built up. Would they let her telecommute?

  Silly to assume he even wanted her to stay. She’d brought dreadful trouble to his door and to his parents’ business. She was too green about everything to be an asset on the ranch.

  No, better to walk away and accept the only possible ending to this story would be the same as her previous relationships. In her mind, she started composing a note, and eventually, as the words flowed through her mind, she gave in. She couldn’t leave him without any explanation, not after what they’d been through. Leaning against a wall, she drafted a farewell email to Emiliano on her phone.

  Satisfied, she was ready to leave the hospital, the town. Ace would be here for him when he came out of surgery. His parents would be home soon, as well. Yet she couldn’t make herself go without hearing his prognosis. Of course, Emiliano was fit and healthy and she didn’t expect any life-threatening complications from the surgery, only threats to his lifestyle, should the doctors have trouble removing the bullet.

  A wound he’d sustained trying to protect her. Her stomach cramped again.

  Ace waved at her from across the waiting area and she noticed the surgical team heading his way. With Emiliano’s parents and brother out of town, Ace was his point of contact. She hurried over, her hands shaking as she listened to the report. The doctors were able to remove the bullet without any further injury to Emiliano’s shoulder structure and nerve damage was unlikely, though they had to wait for the swelling to subside and his initial recovery to know for sure.

  Marie and Ace thanked the doctors, and when the ranch manager sat down, she joined him again. “That’s such a relief,” she said.

  “I expect he’ll be ornery about the limitations.” He checked his watch. “I need to get back to the ranch and take care of things for the evening. Can you stick around while they get him settled into a room?”

  “Me? No. I’m not sure it’s appropriate.”

  “He shouldn’t wake up alone.” Ace pushed to his feet.

  “Can’t you call someone else?”

  Ace shook his head. “Everyone is stretched thin over the holidays. Marie, he asked you to ride in the ambulance with him,” he reminded her. “The animals can’t take care of themselves. I’ll be back in a jiffy. Want me to bring dinner?”

  “Sure,” she said, clearly outmaneuvered.

  * * *

  Emiliano had a hazy recollection of faces flitting in and out. Some asked him to talk or make a fist. Others chattered about heart rates and transfers. The reasons and information floated just out of reach, along with the dull sense that he’d been out a long time. He recalled Ace at the foot of his hospital bed. Dr. Ramirez had come by. And Marie.

  “Marie,” he rasped, blinking into the faint light. “Marie?” He reached for the side of the bed.

  “’Fraid you’re stuck with me” came the answer.

  “Ace?”

  “That’s right. Just rest, man. We’ll catch you up soon enough.”

  The next time he came awake it was easier. “Where’s Finn?”

  “In custody,” Ace replied. “You saved the girl and the investigation. You’re a hero.”

  Emiliano felt like he’d been flattened by an 18-wheeler. He r
olled to his left and swore.

  “Sounds like you’re coming along fine,” Ace said with a laugh. “Need a hand sitting up?”

  “No.” He fumbled with the controls for the bed, but managed it. “Where is Marie?”

  “She stepped out,” Ace replied. “You’re pale. Want me to call a nurse?”

  “No.” He took stock of the flowers and balloons crammed into the room. “How long have I been here?”

  “Overnight is all. I just got back from the morning rounds at the ranch. Doc says—”

  “Where’s Marie?”

  Ace’s gaze drifted to the ceiling. “She stepped out.”

  Emiliano had to wait while a nurse arrived to check his vitals and help him move around a bit. “Is she hurt?” he asked the moment they were alone again.

  “Not a bit. Cheek is puffy, that’s all. She said it hurts when she smiles.”

  He wanted to hear her say that for himself, wanted to see her. “When will she be back?” He was feeling steadier with every passing minute, though the ache in his shoulder was gaining steam.

  “Soon enough.” Ace wagged a finger at Emiliano’s shoulder. “They say you shouldn’t have any long-term trouble.”

  “Good.” Emiliano aimed his bad-cop interrogator gaze at Ace. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “I called your parents and Dario. Brought ’em up to speed.”

  “Great.” Had Ace told them about Marie? He’d wanted to be the one to share that with his mother, in particular. “Why not bring me up to speed?”

  “I, ah, don’t know any more particulars about the case.”

  “You know I’m talking about Marie.” He checked the wall clock. Forty-five minutes had passed since Ace said she’d stepped out. He had a bad feeling that had nothing to do with the miserable ache in his shoulder or the last of the anesthetic clouding his mind.

  Looking miserable, Ace handed Emiliano his cell phone. “She wanted me to give you this when you woke up.”

  Emiliano read the email, his heart sinking as he read that she’d returned to Dallas. As she wished him a happy holiday. What the hell? He deserved better than this sorry excuse for a breakup note.