Capturing a Colton

by C. J. Miller

  Epilogue

  La Bonne Vie had been torn to the ground, the tunnels leading to it blasted shut and the plans for Fabrizio’s barn being transported to Hill Country were in the works. Declan was pleased with the progress that had been made in a few short weeks. The Coltons and their closest friends were gathering for a potluck picnic to celebrate the good things in their lives. After spending time in county lockup, Livia was en route to prison, escorted by Special Agents Fielder and Monroe.

  Beatrice, her husband and Sarah had come to the picnic. Sarah seemed to look up to Declan and she was excited to talk to Jade about her horses.

  The next phase of their lives would be leaps and bounds better than their past. Now each would have marriages, babies and career success. Thorne and Mac were in the process of securing a loan to purchase the La Bonne Vie land from Declan and were expanding their ranch. Edith and Declan were relocating their company’s headquarters to Shadow Creek. Declan was selling his estate in Louisiana and Albert was handling prospective buyers. Business was booming for River and Joshua, and River was opening an office in Shadow Creek. Hawk and Leonor were talking about having a destination wedding in Venice. Evelyn and Mac were planning to marry the following spring at Mac’s ranch. Allison and Knox were talking about having another baby, to make Cody a big brother.

  Jade and Declan’s engagement had been wonderful news for the family.

  Jade couldn’t remember the last time she had been this happy.

  She had even noticed a gentleness and genuine warmth between River and Declan when River had offered his congratulations on their engagement. Jade hoped she and Edith could be good friends and help bring the brothers closer.

  Jade’s greatest strength was her family and that would continue with every new member, by birth or by marriage or by love.

  Declan’s phone buzzed and he stepped away to answer. Jade watched him, admiring how handsome he was, the seriousness of his face and his perfect mouth. He would be her husband. Unlike her mother, Jade would be a good wife, loyal and true and when they had a family, they would come first always, not just in pictures.

  Except now Declan was frowning. Putting the phone back in his pocket.

  “That was Agent Fielder. He and Monroe were in a car accident driving from county lockup to the prison. During a storm, their car went off the road and into Stony Bend River. They are okay, but they can’t find Livia or her body.”

  The area around Stony Bend wasn’t well populated and that made the terrain treacherous, with no available food or water.

  “If she wasn’t killed in the crash,” River said.

  “She’s still handcuffed and in leg irons,” Mac said.

  “That river is filled with gators,” Knox said.

  “And water moccasins, rattlesnakes and copperheads,” Leonor said.

  “Cougars,” Mac said.

  “Coyotes,” Edith said.

  “Wolves,” Evelyn said.

  “Scorpions,” Allison said.

  Declan put his arm around Jade. “Even if she did survive, she can’t hurt us. We’ll stay together like we’ve done, and Livia won’t stand a chance of hurting any of us again.”

  * * * * *

  We hope you enjoyed the final installment of the

  COLTONS OF SHADOW CREEK miniseries!

  Don’t miss the previous volumes in the series:

  THE COLTON MARINE

  COLD CASE COLTON

  PREGNANT BY THE COLTON COWBOY

  COLTON UNDERCOVER

  COLTON’S SECRET SON

  Available now from

  Harlequin Romantic Suspense!

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  FATAL THREAT

  The latest FATAL book from New York Times

  bestselling author Marie Force!

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  Fatal Threat

  by Marie Force

  A JOGGER SPOTTED the body floating in the Anacostia River just south of the John Philip Sousa Bridge.

  “I hate these kinds of calls,” Lieutenant Sam Holland said to her partner, Detective Freddie Cruz, as she battled District traffic on their way to the city’s southeastern quadrant. “No one knows if this is a homicide, but they call us in anyway. We get to stand around and sweat our balls off while the ME does her thing.”

  “I hesitate to point out, Lieutenant, that you don’t actually have balls to sweat off.”

  “You know what I mean!”

  “Yeah, I do,” he said with a sigh. “It’s going to be a long, hot, smelly Friday down at the river waiting to find out if we’re needed.”

  “I gotta have a talk with Dispatch about when we’re to be called and when we are not to be called.”

  “Let me know how that goes.”

  “To make this day even better, after work I have to go to a fitting for my freaking bridesmaid dress. I’m too damned old to be a damned bridesmaid.”

  His snort of laughter only served to further irritate her, which of course made him laugh harder.

  “It’s not funny!”

  “Yeah, it really is.” With dark brown hair, an always-tan complexion and the perfect amount of stubble on his jaw, he really was too cute for words, not that she’d ever tell him that. Everywhere they went together, women took notice of him. For all he cared. He was madly in love with Elin Svendsen and looking forward to their autumn wedding. Wiping laughter tears from his brown eyes, he said, “I won’t make you wear a dress when you’re my best-man woman.”

  “Thank God for that. I need to stop making friends. That was my first mistake.”

  “Poor Jeannie,” he said of their colleague, Detective Jeannie McBride, who was getting married next weekend. “Does she have any idea that she has a hostile bridesmaid in her wedding party?”

  “Of course she does. Her sisters left me completely out of the planning of the shower, no doubt at her request. I’ll be forever grateful for that small favor.” Sam shuddered recalling an afternoon of horrifyingly stupid “shower games,” paper plates full of ribbons and bows, and dirty jokes about the wedding night for two people who’d been living together for more than a year. The whole thing had given her hives.

  But Jeannie... She’d loved every second of it, and seeing her face lit up with joy had gone a long way toward alleviating Sam’s h
ives. After everything Jeannie had been through to get to her big day, no one was happier for her—or happier to stand up for her—than Sam. Not that she’d ever tell anyone that, either. She had a reputation to maintain, after all.

  She’d been in an unusually cranky mood since her husband, Nick, left for Iran two weeks ago for what should’ve been a five-day trip but had twice been extended. If he didn’t get home soon, she wouldn’t be responsible for her actions. In addition to worrying about his safety in a country known for being less than friendly toward Americans, she’d also discovered how entirely reliant upon him she’d become over the last year and a half. It was ridiculous, really. She was a strong, independent woman who’d taken care of herself for years before he’d come back into her life. So how had he turned her into a simpering, whimpering, cranky mess simply by leaving her for two damned weeks?

  Naturally, the people around her had noticed that she was out of sorts. Their adopted thirteen-year-old son, Scotty, asked every morning before he left for baseball camp when Dad would be home, probably because he was tired of dealing with her by himself. Freddie and the others at work had been giving her a wide berth, and even the reporters who hounded her mercilessly had backed off after she’d bitten their heads off a few too many times.

  During infrequent calls from Nick, he’d been rushed and annoyed and equally out of sorts, which didn’t do much to help her bad mood. Two more days. Two more long, boring, joyless days and then he’d be home and things could get back to normal.

  What did it say about her that she was actually glad to have a floater to deal with to keep her brain occupied during the last two days of Nick’s trip? It means you have it bad for your husband, and you’ve become far too dependent on him if two weeks without him turns you into a cranky cow. Sam despised her voice of reason almost as much as she despised Nick being so far away from her for so long.

  Twenty minutes after receiving the call from Dispatch, Sam and Freddie made it to M Street Southeast, which was lined with emergency vehicles of all sorts—police, fire, EMS, medical examiner.

  “Major overkill for a floater,” Sam said as they got out of the car she’d parked illegally to join the party on the riverbank. “What the hell is EMS doing here?”

  “Probably for the guy who found the body. Word is he was shook up.”

  Dense humidity hit her at the same time as the funk of the rank-smelling river. “God, it’s hotter than the devil’s dick today.”

  “Honestly, Sam. That’s disgusting.”

  “Well, you gotta figure the devil’s dick is pretty hot due to the neighborhood he hangs in, right?”

  He rolled his eyes and held up the yellow crime-scene tape for her. Patrol had taped off the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail to keep the gawkers away.

  The closer they got to the river’s edge, the more Sam began to regret the open-toe sandals she’d worn in deference to the oppressive July heat. The squish of Anacostia River mud between her toes was almost as gross as the smell of the river itself. She had her shoulder-length hair up in a clip that left her neck exposed to the merciless sun.

  Tactical Response teams had boats on the scene, and from her vantage point on the riverbank, Sam could see the red ponytail belonging to the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Lindsey McNamara. She was too far out for Sam to yell to her for an update.

  “Let’s talk to the guy who called it in,” she said to Freddie.

  They traipsed back the way they’d come, with Sam trying to ignore the disgusting mud between her toes. Officer Beckett worked the tapeline at the northern end of the area they’d cordoned off. He nodded at them. “Afternoon, Lieutenant. Lovely day to spend by the river.”

  “Indeed. I would’ve packed a picnic had I known we were coming. Where’s the guy who called it in?”

  “Over there with EMS.” Beckett pointed to a cluster of people taking advantage of the shade under a huge oak tree. “He was hysterical when he realized the blob was a body.”

  “Did you get a name?”

  Beckett consulted his notebook. “Mike Lonergan. He works at the Navy Yard and runs out here every day at noon.” He tore out the page that had Lonergan’s full name, address and cell phone number written on it and gave it to Sam.

  “Good work, Beckett. Thanks. Keep everyone out of here until we know whether or not this is a crime scene.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Will do.”

  “Why would anyone run out here during the hottest part of the day?” Sam asked Freddie as they made their way to where Lonergan was being seen to by the paramedics.

  “For something called exercise, I’d imagine.”

  “When did you become such a smart-ass? You used to be such a nice Christian boy.”

  “Things began to go south for me when I got assigned to a smart-ass lieutenant who’s been a terrible influence on my sweet, young mind.”

  “Right.” Amused by him as always, Sam drew out the single word for effect. “You were easily led.” She approached the paramedics who were hovering over Lonergan. “We’d like a word with Mr. Lonergan,” she said to the one who seemed to be in charge.

  He used a hand motion to tell his team to allow her and Freddie in. The witness wore a tank top, running shorts and high-tech running shoes. Sam put him at midthirties.

  “Mr. Lonergan, I’m Lieutenant Holland—”

  “I know who you are.” His shoulders were wrapped in one of those foil thingies that runners used to keep from dehydrating or overheating or something like that. What did she know about such things? She got most of her exercise having wild sex with her husband. Except for recently, thus her foul mood.

  Lonergan’s dark blond hair was wet with perspiration. His brown eyes were big and haunted as he looked up at them.

  “Can you tell us what you saw?” Ever since she’d taken down a killer at the inaugural parade, she was recognized everywhere she went. She hated that and yearned for the days when no one recognized her. But that ship had sailed the minute her sexy young husband became the nation’s vice president late last year. Her blown cover was entirely his fault, and she liked to remind him of that every chance she got.

  “I was running on the trail like I do every day, and when I came around that bend there, I saw something in the water.” He took a drink from a bottle of water, and Sam took note of the slight tremble in his hand. “At first I thought it was a garbage bag, but when I looked closer, I saw a hand.” He shuddered. “That’s when I called 911.”

  “How far out was it?” Sam asked.

  “About twenty feet from the bank of the river.”

  “Was there anything else you could tell us about the body?”

  “I think it’s a woman.”

  “Why do you say that?” Freddie asked.

  “There was hair.” Lonergan took another drink of water. “Once I realized what I was looking at, I could see long hair fanned out around the head.” He looked up at them. “Do you think it’s that student who went missing?”

  Sam made sure her expression gave nothing away. “We’d have no way to know that at this point.” The entire Metro PD had been searching for nineteen-year-old Ruby Denton for more than two weeks. She’d come to the District to take summer classes at Capitol University and hadn’t been seen since her first night on campus. The story had garnered national attention thanks in large part to the efforts of her family in Kentucky.

  “I bet it’s her,” Lonergan said.

  “Do me a favor and keep that thought to yourself for now. No sense upsetting the family before we know anything for certain.”

  “That’s true.”

  Sam handed him her card. “If you think of anything else, let me know.”

  “I will.” After a pause, he said, “I was out here yesterday, and she wasn’t there. I would’ve noticed if she’d been there.”

  “That’s goo
d to know. Thanks for your help.”

  “It’s sad, you know? For someone to end up like that.”

  “Yes, it is.” She stepped away from him to confer with the paramedic in charge. “Is he okay?”

  “Yeah, he’s in shock. He’ll be fine. You think it’s Ruby Denton?”

  “I’ll tell you the same thing I just told him—we have no way to know until Dr. McNamara gets the body back to the lab. Until then, we’d be speculating, and that sort of thing only makes a hellish situation worse for a family looking for their daughter. Ask your people to keep their mouths shut.”

  “Yes, ma’am. No one will hear anything from my team.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What’s going on over there?” Freddie asked, drawing Sam’s attention to the tapeline, where Beckett was arguing with a bunch of suits.

  “Let’s go find out.”

  They walked back the way they’d come, along the trail to where Beckett held his own against four men in suits with reflective glasses and attitudes that immediately identified them as federal agents.

  “What’s the problem, gentlemen?” Sam asked.

  “There she is,” one of them said in a low growl that immediately raised Sam’s hackles.

  “Let us in,” another one said. “Right now.”

  “I’m not letting you in until you tell me what you want,” Beckett said. “This is a potential crime scene—”

  “We need to speak to Mrs. Cappuano.” The one who seemed to be in charge of the Fed squad took another step forward. “It’s urgent.”

  Sam’s heart dropped to her belly and for a brief, horrifying second she feared her legs would give out under her. Nick... Why would federal agents have tracked her down at a crime scene in the middle of her workday unless something had happened to him?

  Please no.

  Sam immediately began bargaining with a higher power she didn’t believe in. She’d give up anything, anything in this world except Scotty, if it would keep the man in front of her from saying words that could never be unsaid or unheard.