Colton's Lethal Reunion

by Tara Taylor Quinn

  Richie Rich. Did whoever had thrown that brick in Kerry’s window that morning have something to do with shooting Payne?

  The thought sickened him. As did the idea of having to sit through a Selina presentation that would be passing out edicts to them all regarding the presentation of Payne’s shooting to whoever asked, in whatever manner she’d deemed best for the company. She was decent at her job. She just took far too much delight in ordering Payne’s kids around.

  He wasn’t in the mood to take orders from anyone. Except Kerry Wilder.

  All he really wanted to do was lie in the hammock he’d strung by the house, right in the place where he’d kissed Kerry the one and only time before last night, and relive the night he’d just spent in her bed. Going over and over every movement of her body, and his, every sensation. Cataloging them so he wouldn’t ever lose one single second of those memories.

  “Hey, Rafe.” Marlowe, in all her petite, whitish-blond-haired beauty had arrived. The consummate professional. And one of his favorite siblings. He’d had a rough time the month before, when her life had been threatened. There’d been nothing he could do but watch out for her and trust that the guy would be caught. He’d always felt closer to Marlowe. As a kid, she’d been the one to seek his opinion at the dinner table. Offer him more potatoes. She’d not only supported him when he’d gone to Payne with his request to build his own place on RRR property, but she’d helped with some of the interior design choices, and getting things set up, too.

  She’d visited his place the most over the years. He couldn’t be happier for her now that she was engaged to be married to a man she loved, and expecting her first child.

  “Hey,” he said, wanting to tell her that his entire world had changed. And at the same time not wanting anyone else to know.

  She’d barely poured herself a cup of coffee before the others came in, each one bursting into the space with their own brand of arrival, and all with an eye to getting down to business.

  It was Marlowe’s first board meeting as CEO, but she handled the call to order as though she’d done it a million times before—nothing about her demeanor that morning would clue anyone in to the fact she was newly pregnant and newly engaged. She was all Colton.

  The first order of business had been one they’d all been waiting for—a report from Colton Oil’s IT specialist and department director, Daniel Okowski—about the mysterious email that had outed Ace to the board.

  Rafe knew it wasn’t going to be good when the man stood up and said, “I need to give you all a brief dark web rundown.”

  His fellow board members clearly shared his dread when they all looked at each other and then back at the tall, thin, black-spectacled man, who at thirty-eight was older than both Rafe and Marlowe.

  “The dark web runs similar to the web with which you’re all familiar, but using a specially encrypted software. One example is called Tor—which stands for The Onion Router—and is aptly named because what this software does is route everything that comes through it through different layers all over the world, making things virtually impossible to trace.”

  Rafe knew the news wasn’t going to be good. Daniel went on to tell them that the email that had come into all of the board member’s inboxes, telling them that Ace was not a biological Colton, had been sent through the dark web and had therefore been untraceable.

  “Damn.” He wasn’t sure who, of the four seated board members, had whispered the word. Maybe Ainsley, second-oldest heir and Colton Oil’s lead legal counsel. Could have been Marlowe or Selina, for all Rafe could tell. He just knew he seconded the sentiment.

  And wished Ace was in the room. The man had his moments, but he was honest in his business dealings. And always knew how to keep things on an even keel. No matter what—at least in Rafe’s opinion.

  Based on Ace’s outburst to his father after Payne had removed him from the board, Kerry and some of the others might not agree with his assessment.

  “I move that this board track down the real Ace Colton.” Selina didn’t miss a beat.

  Ainsley frowned, tapping a pen against the empty legal pad in front of her. Marlowe, after a brief, but clearly irritated, look at her ex-stepmother, looked to Rafe and Ainsley, “Do I have a second?”

  They were two people short—Ace and Payne. Rafe felt the weight of their absence as he thought over Selina’s declaration. Genevieve had Payne’s proxy and they could get it if they needed it.

  Looking for the real Colton heir opened a Pandora’s box that none of them, other than Selina, apparently, wanted unlocked. Not only was it disloyal to Ace, but according to Colton Oil bylaws, the CEO of the company had to be a biological heir. The real Ace could have legal grounds to come in and take over. Possibly try to change the company’s direction. Take the money and run.

  “I need a second for the motion before we can open the floor for discussion,” Marlowe said.

  “I second, but let the record show that it’s only so that we can discuss,” Ainsley said.

  Fifteen minutes of Marlowe, Ainsley and Rafe trying to find a logical reason not to vote to hire someone to find the man who’d been switched as a baby with Ace, ended up with Marlowe calling for a vote and having it be unanimous. In favor of starting the search.

  Ace was their brother. Their leader.

  But someone else knew he wasn’t a Colton. Someone knew more about them than they did. And it appeared that that someone had been willing to see Payne dead over the news.

  They all knew Ace didn’t shoot their father—even if they had no evidence.

  And the fact that Payne was shot right on the heels of that email and the DNA test that had proven Ace not to be a biological Colton was too much of a coincidence for any of them to think that the two weren’t related.

  Since they couldn’t find who sent the email, they were going to have to find who was behind the baby switching. Marlowe and Callum had already met with a hospital administrator, but the nursery and birth records from the day of the kidnapping had all been burned in the fire that broke out that long ago morning. So who knew that Ace wasn’t the somewhat sickly child that Tessa Colton had given birth to that night in the wee hours before Christmas morning? And how did that information lead them to who wanted the Colton board to know that Ace wasn’t really one of them?

  Who wanted both Ace and Payne out of the way?

  And why?

  Rafe had no answers.

  But he fully believed they had to do whatever it took to find that person.

  Just as he knew that he was going to give everything he had to helping Kerry find out who’d killed her brother.

  After walking out on their love as he had, it was just something he had to do.

  Chapter 9

  After her meeting with Odin Rogers, Kerry spent some time digging into Marlowe Colton’s life a bit more deeply, while she figured out her next move with Odin. Marlowe was known to be a workaholic. Was it possible she’d wanted to be CEO of Colton Oil so badly that she’d sent the email regarding Ace’s parentage? But that didn’t really make sense. If she’d known her brother wasn’t a biological Colton, she could simply have told her father discreetly and asked for a DNA test. Or given him what proof she had.

  So she hadn’t known about Ace, but when they’d found out, she’d assumed she’d be named CEO. Perhaps she had been pissed that Payne had temporarily appointed himself to take Ace’s place before naming her to the position. So she’d shot her father?

  But she had an alibi—her brand-new fiancé, Bowie Robertson. They’d been at his place. Making love, in case anyone wanted to run forensics. Or so she’d been told. She didn’t figure she’d get a warrant for those bodily fluids. Or get any proof even if she did, considering the time that had passed.

  Nothing in any of the records she could search showed Marlowe to be anything but what she appeared, and from what Kerry had witnesse
d the night she’d barged into their family grieving session to bring in Ace for questioning, Marlowe had been hit hard by the shooting. Nothing, past or present, showed someone who’d resort to violence. She’d never even had a speeding ticket.

  So she was on the bottom of the suspect list. Still there, but at the tail end.

  Kerry’s list of leads was dismal. There were some forensics that she was still waiting on. She’d received a report on the bullet that had hit Payne. It was a common bullet from a common gun that was sold regularly—meaning any of a thousand people could have purchased it legally just in their part of the state and just in the past year.

  And her shooter could have come by it illegally. She spent time looking at reports of guns stolen, cross-referenced them to anyone who seemed to have any link with the Coltons but so far had come up empty. And she looked for recent sales of ammunition, came up with several just in their area south of Tucson, but, again, nothing hit with any cross-reference searches.

  Still, she’d spend the hours it took to follow up on all of the names, just in case.

  And she kept thinking about Odin Rogers. Had to know what the man was up to. He sure as hell wouldn’t just be sitting around watching TV all day or spending his days investing money. Who did he see? Where did he hang out? What was he up to, right then, while she sat at her desk at the police station, looking for one particular gun in a sea of thousands?

  There’d been known associates over the years, but Odin didn’t seem to keep many people around long. The MVPD had talked to many of them, had been able to arrest a few on small charges, but nothing that led them anywhere.

  So she thought about what she did know. From her wall. From Tyler. Thinking about the mountain.

  What she didn’t do was allow herself to drift off to thoughts of Rafe. Or the night she’d spent with him. That little treasure was hers to cherish. But only when she was alone. And off work.

  For the moment, she was able to push it away every time it zoomed forward, which was way too often. Somewhat because her body was feeling the aftermath of so much lovemaking. It had been a while for her. Physical moment brought instant reminder.

  As soon as Dane, who was officially looking into the ranger’s death, had left for the day, Kerry did, too. In her own Jeep, and without telling anyone what she was doing, she headed back toward Rogers’s neighborhood. Just to see.

  If she knew where he went, who he saw, she’d be better able to find a clue that would piece everything together. Something that officially linked Tyler and Rogers. Or Rogers and the ranger, at least.

  She didn’t even make it to his place. Half a mile away, she saw his truck pull around a corner and head away from town. She wouldn’t be able to follow him if he continued on, not directly. On a road where there was nothing to look at except for whatever vehicles might be in front of or behind you, he’d be sure to see her. But she could stick with him just long enough to see if he was headed toward the mountain. And then call Dane.

  She almost missed Rogers’s turn off the main drive out of town, just a few blocks before leaving the town behind. Taking one street sooner, she made a quick second turn and ended up facing the road he was on just after he drove past her intersection. Good. He wouldn’t have seen her.

  She let another car pass, and then pulled out behind it, keeping her distance, hoping the old gray truck stayed on the road as far as Odin did, giving her some cover. She could see Odin’s truck through the windshield of the truck between them, but didn’t figure he’d be able to make her out. He’d know her vehicle—not from their visit that morning, but from the mountain the night before.

  Unless he’d hired someone to watch the mountain, and the ranger. Which actually made more sense. He’d have henchmen. She was pretty sure she could name one or two of them, not that she’d been able to get enough intel to be sure. It wasn’t like she was officially investigating or had any right to go questioning people about the man.

  No, she was on the Colton case.

  The ranger’s death was Dane’s.

  When Odin turned again, she felt that tiny thrill of excitement that came when she was close to getting somewhere on a case. He’d turned right instead of left this time. Not going in a circle.

  Could be he’d spotted her, was giving her the runaround, but she didn’t think so. He wasn’t varying his speed.

  And the man was probably just cocky enough to figure he could get away with anything he chose to do so wouldn’t bother with worrying about surveillance.

  He’d been smart enough to get away with a life of slimeball crime for years, she reminded herself. Her mistake would be to underestimate him.

  As she approached the road where Odin had turned off—a gravelly lane that led through a run-down neighborhood filled with old cars, broken gates on scarred stucco walls, homes in disrepair and yards with no landscaping—she drove slowly past so she could get a look at what he was doing. He’d slowed outside a house and she made a quick U-turn, pulling off to the shoulder, just before the intersection. She could see Odin and not be seen.

  A minute or so later a beat-up black sedan with a dented front bumper and cardboard where the front passenger window should have been pulled out of a drive farther down the road and approached Rogers, slowing as the car came up alongside. She couldn’t tell what the vehicle’s occupants were doing, but the two vehicles sat there, side by side, for a good minute before the sedan started forward again, and Odin, turning in a driveway, followed behind it.

  Kerry turned quickly, making it to the next block before either of them made it to the end of their street, and was turned around and ready to pull out behind them as they left. Tapping her steering wheel as she waited impatiently for another vehicle to drive up behind them so she could turn out, she almost lost them, but caught up before they reached Mustang Boulevard. Odin turned back toward town, but the car he’d met—obviously with a particular mission, since he was now headed back the way he’d come—headed out of town.

  Straight toward the mountain.

  She had a choice to make. Call Dane, hoping that her fellow detective would see merit in Odin’s meeting and head out to actually find the car she had her eye on, or make certain that she found out what was going on by following the guy herself. No brainer there.

  But remembering the night before, the ranger’s death, the attempt on her life, the warning she’d received that morning, she knew she couldn’t head up the mountain without someone knowing where she was. If she called the station, she’d be told to stand down. The case wasn’t hers. And she’d already been targeted.

  And that was the only reason she texted Rafe. He was the only other person who knew what was going on. And she trusted him not to get in the way of her need to bring Tyler’s killer to justice.

  After that, she was all business, staying far enough behind the old car that she almost lost it a couple of times. Going slow to ensure that other cars pulled in between them on the long open road. And when they reached the mountain road, she pulled off anytime she thought she’d be visible, waiting at turns, taking it slowly. So much so that she almost missed that the car had stopped, pulling off into some brush on a flat piece of land that butted up to the cliff.

  Kerry continued on up the mountain until she could turn around, and then as quickly as she could, retraced the route, passing the parked car and heading down just until she found a place where she could somewhat hide the Jeep. Getting out she hiked the quarter mile back to where she’d seen the car. And then, picking each step carefully, tried to catch sight of the guy, to figure out where he’d gone, without alerting him that she was there. At least she didn’t have to worry about rattlesnakes. It would be another three months before they’d be out sunning themselves again.

  The phone in the holster attached to her hip vibrated. Once. Text message, not a call. Could be from anyone at the station. One of the friends she and Lizzie hung out with a
t the bar in town on occasion. Or Rafe.

  Any or all of them would have to wait. Still, it was...nice...to feel the presence of someone she knew as she ventured off into a potentially dangerous unknown.

  It didn’t take her long to find the guy. Probably because he didn’t know he was being followed and, unlike her, he wasn’t choosing his steps carefully. Dressed all in black, with dark hair and a beard, he was plodding in black work boots up what she could see now was a trail carved around the side of the mountain, leading gradually up to...something.

  A cave? The place where Rogers stashed his guns and drugs? Or both?

  Heart pounding, she held back a second, focused on the sounds he was making, keeping herself close enough to hear him without being seen. Stopping when she came to flat pieces of land with cliff overhang above her, little hiding places that allowed her to let him get far enough ahead of her that he wouldn’t discover that she was behind him.

  Adrenaline poured through her. Two years of yearning, of studying, investigating, knowing, and she was finally starting to get some answers. If it hadn’t been for the ranger’s rudeness the night before, and then the attempt made to run her off the road, alerting her to the fact that she wasn’t wanted up on the mountain, she’d never have known that she was onto something.

  The chief always said that everyone made mistakes and sometimes cracking a case meant waiting for the perp to make his.

  Standing at a jutted-out piece of the face of the mountain, half hiding behind it, Kerry listened. She couldn’t hear the thug—or a perfectly nice guy who just happened to know Odin Rogers and hang out at the site of a murder from the night before—and couldn’t move until sound alerted her to his whereabouts. He could, at any time, head back down the mountain and if he did, she had to make damned sure he didn’t find her.