She shrugged. “I’m fine with it. But it doesn’t matter because I’m going with you.”
“Jillian, that’s a really bad idea. I won’t be gone long.”
She bit her lip. “I want him to look me in the eye and deny it.”
“Not yet. I need to do this alone.”
She opened her mouth to protest and Colton braced himself for an argument. Then she pressed her lips together and nodded. “Fine.”
“Really?”
“Go. Before I change my mind.”
“I need to tell Blake—”
“I’ll take care of Blake.”
Colton gave a short nod and left without another word.
24
Jillian locked the suite’s door behind Colton, giving an absent twist to the dead bolt.
“Everything all right?”
She turned to see Blake standing in the doorway of the second bedroom. She’d convinced Colton to let the man stay, that he’d be a help in the investigation and not a hindrance. Colton hadn’t like it, she could tell, but he’d given in when she hadn’t budged on her stance. She gave Blake the once-over, studying him, staring at him. He shifted and frowned. “What is it?”
“Colton’s jealous of you.” She said it with wonder.
“Oh. That. Yeah, I noticed.” He smirked.
Jillian shot him a reproving glance. “Stop it.”
“Can’t help it.”
“You’re the brother I never had, Blake. There’s never been any romantic feelings between us. Why can’t Colton see that?”
Blake sighed and turned serious. “Because he’s a man in love and you’ve been out of his life for the last ten years. I’ve been in your life and it’s got to make him nervous.”
Rattled, she jerked her head up and the towel wobbled, almost falling off. “He can’t still love me. I’m not the same person I was when I left here ten years ago.”
“Maybe not in some ways, but in all the ways that matter to him, you are.”
“He’s going to hate me when I tell him about Meg,” she whispered.
“Yeah, he’s going to be mad about that.”
Jillian grimaced, but Blake was honest to a fault.
“But,” Blake continued, “he’ll get over it. He’s seen the danger you’re in firsthand. He’ll understand why you did what you did.”
“He’s going to confront his uncle about everything.”
Blake frowned. “What? Now?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip. “Blake, Frank Hoffman is bad news. He’s evil wrapped up in a pretty package. He’s killed one man that I know of. Probably had a hand in killing a couple more.” She paced to the window, then back. “What if Colton confronts his uncle and Frank has him killed?”
“Hoffman’s politicking. I doubt he’ll do anything right there at the hotel.”
“But what if he does? Frank’s never seemed like a very stable man. What if Colton confronting him sends him over the edge?”
“I think you’re grasping at straws.”
“Maybe. But what if I’m not?”
His phone buzzed. Blake looked at the text and paled.
“What?” she asked. “Is it your mother? . . . Meg?”
Blake cleared his throat and shook his head. “No.” He turned the phone around so she could read the message. WE HAVE LITTLE MEG AND HER FATHER’S NEXT. TO SHOW YOU WE’RE SERIOUS, HE DIES TONIGHT.
Her knees gave out and she sank to the floor.
She felt Blake’s hands on her forearms. “How do they know? Where did they get your number?” she cried when she finally found her breath.
She looked at her friend and saw agony written on his now-ashen features. “Me,” he whispered. “Just like you feared, they traced her through me.”
“Then they have your address. That’s how they knew where Meg was,” she whispered.
He swallowed hard and picked up his phone. One button speed-dialed his mother. Jillian waited, so tense she thought she might simply snap in two. Finally he spoke. “Mom, pick up if you’re there. Meg’s in danger. You know where to go. Go now.”
He hung up and dialed her cell phone and left the same message.
“But how do they know Meg’s mine?” she cried.
Blake held her shoulders. “Be strong. It could be a trap. They might not know—they might be guessing.”
“Might be,” Jillian whispered.
“Because of me.” He ran a hand over his face. “They’ve got serious connections to trace me.”
“Oh Blake . . .”
“I didn’t know I needed to come under cover, Jillian. I’m sorry. If I’d known more—” He broke off and paced. “You didn’t tell me . . .”
“I know. I know I didn’t tell you. You’re right. It’s not all your fault. I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have trusted you with the whole truth. After everything you did for me and Meg, I—”
He stopped his agitated pacing and placed a finger over her lips. “It’s okay. Or at least it will be.”
“But how?” she cried.
“I’ve got contacts. Let me call them. Try to keep it together until we find out something for sure.”
She shuddered and gave a short nod. “Yes. Of course. You’re right again.” She swiped a hand down her face and ordered herself to calm down. To think. “I’ve got to warn Colton,” Jillian murmured. “He’s in danger and he doesn’t even know about Meg.” She looked at Blake. “Call him, please. Then try your mother again.”
“What are you going to say? You haven’t told him about Meg yet. How will you explain the letter?”
“I don’t know, but that doesn’t matter right now if he’s in danger. Call him.”
Blake dialed the number. After a minute, he shook his head. “No answer.”
“If he’s talking to his uncle, he won’t.” She bit her lip. “Can you send him a text?”
“Sure.” Blake typed, then tapped the screen and began scrolling. “I’ll call Hunter and Katie and tell them I have reason to believe Colton’s in danger.”
Jillian made a decision. Before Blake had a chance to look up from the number he was dialing, she spun on her heel and headed into the bedroom to get her shoes and phone.
And lose the towel around her head.
It was time to shed what was left of Julie Carson and find Jillian Carter once again. The new Jillian Carter. The one who’d learned to stand up for herself and dig in for the long fight to get at the truth of whatever she’d been investigating.
They’d threatened her daughter. “We need to find out if Meg is really in danger or if they’re just trying to scare us. Try your mom again.”
“I got Hunter. He’s on his way over to the hotel. Katie didn’t answer, but Hunter’s about twenty minutes away.”
Jillian shivered. “Colton may not have twenty minutes.” She grabbed her tennis shoes and walked out to the living area.
“Wait a minute,” Blake said. “I’m guessing Colton probably told you to stay here.”
“He did,” she said as she brushed past him to sit on the couch and slip her shoes on her feet. “But if he’s heading into trouble, I owe it to him to go there with him. I’ve wasted ten years hiding. This is why I came back. I can’t just sit here and wait for things to happen. I need to make them happen.” She lasered him with a look. “I need to know if Meg’s in danger.” Her inability to see that Meg was safe ripped her insides to shreds. “I also need to make sure Colton is safe.” She stood and combed her fingers through her hair, shaking it, hoping it fell like it was supposed to. “And in order to do that, maybe it’s time to face the man that started all of this.”
Blake’s brows rose as he reached out to snag a lock of her hair. Hair she hadn’t bothered to straighten, but allowed to curl naturally. He held it so she could see it. “Where did you get the stuff to change your hair back to your natural color?”
“Alexia sent it with the clothes.” She motioned to his phone. “Your mother, Blake, please!” She had to really stuff the
terror down in order to function. Doing something proactive helped.
Blake tried his mother’s number again while Jillian paced. “Still no answer.” He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and leaned back on his heels. His ferocious frown simply made her straighten her shoulders and lock her eyes on his. Letting out a low growl, Blake snapped, “You do remember that this is the man who wants you dead.”
“I know. I think that letter was a pretty good confirmation of that. I came back to find the truth. Frank Hoffman knows it.” She narrowed her eyes. “And if Meg’s in danger, he’ll know it.”
“We don’t know someone has her.” Blake ran a hand over his close-cropped head.
“We don’t know someone doesn’t!” Her throat clogged with tears at the thought of her baby in someone else’s hands. Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to harm her in order to get at her mother.
“We could arrange a meeting, you know. A safe, secure meeting.”
Jillian swallowed her tears and hardened her resolve as she looked into her friend’s eyes. “There’s no such thing. I’m not going to be safe until the truth is exposed. And neither is Meg. I want to catch Hoffman by surprise. If we give him advance notice, he’ll bring his hired guns and have time to practice his lies. Or he’ll simply refuse, since agreeing to meet would practically be an admission of guilt.” She held her ground. “No one knows where I am so they won’t be watching for me to leave. No one knows where I’m going, so no one will be waiting for me to get there. I think this is way more safe than setting something up that could be sabotaged or booby-trapped. Don’t you see?”
“I don’t like it. But you do make a pretty good point. Maybe.” Blake shook his head and rubbed his square chin. Then he dialed his mother’s number again. “Fine. If you’re determined to go, I’m going with you.”
9:20 PM
Colton stood outside the hotel, leaning against one of the majestic columns as he watched people come and go. Twenty minutes passed, but it didn’t faze him. He flashed his badge at two officers assigned to security. They nodded and focused their attention back on the surrounding area.
Everywhere he turned, a new scent greeted him. He loved this city even when it was hot and humid and threatened to suck the last breath from his lungs. Smells from the nearby interstate mingled with ones that drifted out of the hotel with each swoosh of the electric door.
Right now, though, he really wanted to see his uncle’s face when he told him Jillian’s story. From his vantage point, he could see inside the hotel. People in glittering evening dress swarmed in front of the doors, causing them to open and close in a rhythmic motion. Thankfully, Colton was close enough to get a blast of refreshing cool air every once in a while.
Finally, the man he wanted to see appeared in the entrance followed by two black-suited males Colton took to be his security for the evening’s event. As his uncle stepped through the doors, well-wishers slapped him on the back and shook his hand.
Colton simply waited, placing himself where Frank couldn’t miss him.
His uncle finally looked up and their eyes connected as Colton’s phone vibrated. Frank’s eyes flared with surprise, then narrowed as his face tightened with displeasure a fraction of a second before it smoothed into his politician friendliness.
Colton’s stomach dropped. His uncle had never reacted that way to seeing him. Colton offered a small smile and waited for the man to approach him. Frank’s expression morphed into the usual hearty grin that Colton associated with him. “Colton, good to see you, son. What are you doing here?”
If Colton hadn’t been watching for any sign that his uncle was hiding something, he never would have seen the uneasiness, the microtightening around the corners of his mouth. The frown behind the smile.
Colton reached out and gave the man their typical greeting, a slight man hug with one firm slap on the back. He said, “You’re a hard man to track down these days.”
“I’ve got an election coming up.” He clapped Colton on the shoulder. “But I’ve always got time for my favorite nephew.”
“Hey, Frank, you got a minute before you leave?”
Colton and his uncle turned as one to see a well-dressed man in his late forties accompanied by a tall slender man, who looked like he might have been a basketball player at some point in his youth. Colton recognized the shorter man who’d spoken as Elliott Darwin, his uncle’s campaign manager and best friend for the past thirty years. They’d met in college and had been tight ever since. Elliott was like another uncle to Colton. When Elliott spied him, a big grin crossed his face. “Colton! Hey, man, good to see you.”
Colton accepted the firm handshake with a smile of his own. Even though he had a bone to pick with his uncle, he was truly glad to see Elliott.
“You too, El. I just stopped by to talk to Uncle Frank a few minutes.”
Elliott lowered his voice and bent his graying head. “Hey, you mind if I make an introduction first?”
“No, go ahead.”
His uncle shot him an apologetic look behind Elliott’s back.
“Thanks.” Elliott gave him another smile and turned back to the man who’d walked out of the hotel with him. As Elliott made the introductions, frustration bit at Colton although he did his best to hide it. This may have been a really bad idea. He’d not taken into consideration all of the people who’d want to linger and talk with Senator Frank Hoffman.
Colton listened in as the three men chatted. Elliott said, “This is Dennis Bray, an attorney here in town and very interested in supporting your campaign.”
Colton shifted in the heat and felt a trickle of sweat run down the middle of his back. People moved around him, talking and laughing as they left the hotel. A few called out their goodbyes to the senator, who waved a friendly hand of acknowledgment even as he continued his conversation with Elliott and his new supporter.
Colton glanced down the sidewalk, then across the street. His eyes slammed into the pair heading his way. He blinked. And blinked again. She wouldn’t have, would she?
All the air squeezed from his lungs and for a moment he felt light-headed. She did.
Jillian had dyed her hair back to its natural color. She’d skipped the straightener and her blond curls bounced around her shoulders with each step she took.
What did she think she was doing? She looked exactly as Colton remembered from high school. Her blue eyes caught his. Blue. Not brown. Jillian’s eyes.
“Sir, are you all right?”
At first, Colton wondered why Elliott was calling him sir. He was speaking to Colton’s uncle. While best friends, in public Elliott gave Frank every form of respect he could. Said it showed people that Frank was a man to respect, a man to follow, a man to trust.
A man who now looked like he was ready to faint dead away as he stared at the approaching duo.
Jillian’s face had bleached to a pale white color as she honed in on his uncle. “How dare you!”
Uncle Frank stumbled back and Colton reached to catch him.
“Sir? Are you all right?” Elliott turned to a hotel employee who’d followed the group outside. “Can we get him a glass of water?”
An interesting—and condemning—reaction to Jillian’s appearance. Colton felt dread gnaw on his insides.
Jillian stopped midstep and stared back. Her mouth opened. Her eyes snapped to his and her mouth slammed shut.
Those around Frank murmured. No doubt he realized the curious attention he was garnering. Colton watched his uncle take a deep breath and turn back to the tall man Elliott had introduced as though he hadn’t been shaken by the woman who now stood in front of Colton.
Blake’s gaze darted left, then right. Colton felt the muscles at the back of his neck go all twitchy. His jawline burned and he realized he had it clenched tight against the anger churning through him.
Anger at the certainty Jillian had told him the truth.
Anger at the fact she’d dared to show up like this.
Anger mixe
d with the fear that she’d just exposed herself.
Colton snagged her arm while Blake hovered in a protective stance. “You have absolutely lost your mind.”
“That’s along the lines of what Blake said.” She jerked her arm and turned to face his uncle. “What did he say?”
“Nothing yet,” Colton hissed as he edged her toward an area that looked like it might offer some cover from prying eyes and listening ears. Was she followed? He looked at Blake, who stood with his back to them, his muscles bunched as though ready to spring into action. Colton could also see the man’s weapon in his shoulder holders barely hidden by the long-sleeved button-down shirt he’d thrown over the white T-shirt. With his jeans and army boots, he looked decidedly out of place. And didn’t care a bit.
Colton almost liked the guy at the moment.
He let his gaze swing back to his uncle, who had his back to him and Jillian. But the lines of tension in the man’s neck spoke volumes.
Jillian squirmed. “I need to talk to him. In private. And I need for you to arrange that.”
“There are better ways to go about getting what you want in this case.”
She stared at him. Reached a hand up to touch his face. “You’re okay.”
“What?”
“I had to make sure you were okay.”
He took Jillian’s hand and pulled her around close against him, her back to his chest, and maneuvered her so that she was within his uncle’s line of sight, yet protected by the large column he lined up with his spine. She glanced up at him, but didn’t comment. His uncle looked up and did something Colton had never seen him do before. He stumbled over his words.
Colton was convinced.
And terribly afraid for the woman in front of him.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
She licked her lips. “Just call it a gut feeling.”
“It’s not me we need to be worried about.”
Crack.
Jillian cried out and spun away from him. Her bright red blood splattered against his cheek.
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