Mission--Colton Justice
Page 24
“Spoiling him a little?” she asked Jeremy.
“I’m so glad to have him back.” He smiled with his confession.
“I can relate to that.”
Jeremy went to Jamie. “This is from Adeline.”
His mouth gaped open and he took the bear, burying his head in the soft fur and then tossing it aside to continue playing with the train.
Adeline smiled. “I didn’t buy it for play as much as I did for his room.”
“He’ll love it eventually. He’s been asking for a train every day since I got him back.”
“Jamie, why don’t you open your other presents now?” They had decided to have this private celebration and scheduled a bigger one, involving all of Jamie’s friends and Adeline’s mother, later.
“Okay!” He jumped up and went to the two presents on the coffee table. Jeremy put Adeline’s there, too.
Jeremy had a smartphone and started recording as Jamie tore open the first present. He examined the box with pictures of a campsite.
“It’s a camp set. Maybe one of your train townspeople wants to go camping,” Jeremy said.
“Cool!” Jamie put that aside, not very interested. Nothing compared to the train. He tore open the other present, a fishing set.
That Jamie liked. He tried to pry open the box. Jeremy handed her the camera and she took over filming.
Jeremy opened the box and Jamie began taking items out.
“Wow!” he exclaimed, holding up a fishing pole. “We can go fishing!”
He took out a magnetic hook, net, tackle box and, at last, a fishing vest. He put it on and began tossing the pole back and forth.
“Hey, kiddo. You mother has a present for you, too.”
Jamie put down the pole and ripped open the last present. He held the box up and studied the picture as he had with the fishing set.
“It’s a tablet,” Adeline said. “A learning tablet,” she said to Jeremy. “I figured he’ll probably take after you in business.”
Jeremy grinned, so sexy her heart melted with adoration.
Then she moved to Jamie and pointed at the picture on the box. “It has letter buttons and the mode selector is a bear. It has a piano keyboard for music, and the arrow buttons are for game-play controls. These are the activities.” She pointed to the eight buttons. “Those will help you learn letters and numbers, and lots of other things like puzzles and words.” She opened the box and took out the tablet. “The bear will help you interact, play music, a camera, calendar and some games. You can even chat with the computer program.”
“What’s ‘chat’?” Jamie asked.
“It’s something people do when they want to let their friends know when they’re doing something silly.”
Jeremy chuckled. “Or something like that.”
She smiled at him and fell into a warm moment. All they had to do was look at each other and the fire roared to life.
When Jamie took his new fishing set out into a wider space, Jeremy held out his hand to her.
She looked from his outstretched palm to his face.
“I have something for you, too.”
“For me?” she put her hand in his and he led her out of the family room. “It’s not my birthday.”
“No, but you missed his first three. I’m going to make it up to you.”
How? By giving her a present? She felt awkward about that. It was Jamie’s day. She glanced back and saw her son engrossed with his new toy, oblivious to them. He wouldn’t even notice their absence, and Jeremy had thought ahead to take her to another room.
He led her to the formal living room off the main entrance.
Jeremy went to the seating area. An off-white couch with yellow and beige pillows faced a big square stone coffee table and two matching chairs.
He extended his hand, indicating she should sit on the sofa.
She did, growing nervous over why he’d taken her in here. She didn’t see any presents.
When he slid his hand into his front pocket, she felt a singe of alarm and excitement.
With a jewelry box the size of a ring, he knelt on one knee before her.
“Jeremy...?”
“Adeline, forgive me for saying such stupid things, and believe me when I tell you I didn’t mean them. Even if I thought them, I didn’t truly believe you capable of any of them. That scared me, and not holding someone accountable for Tess’s death scared me more. My mistake wasn’t only saying the things I said to you. Please forgive me and say you’ll marry me.”
She felt his sincerity all the way to her core. She fought embracing his apology. “Marry you... Isn’t this sudden?”
He shook his head. “It’s you I should have married in the first place. These past several weeks have shown me what I needed to learn about myself. I love you. I think I’ve loved you ever since you were pregnant with Jamie. I just couldn’t admit it until now.”
Adeline watched him open the box and stared at the huge center stone sparkling with purity.
“Will you marry me? Will you be Jamie’s mother for real?”
She slowly looked from the beautiful, stunning ring, to Jeremy. His dark eyes were bright with determination and passion.
“Be my wife, Adeline,” he said.
When she continued to meet his eyes and not say anything—her mind was a jumble of questions and burgeoning love—he removed the ring and lifted her hand.
“I know this might come as a shock to you.” He slid the ring onto her finger. “But somewhere inside, you must feel it’s meant to be. I do.”
She lifted her hand and admired the ring. “Jeremy, it’s...beautiful.” She breathed deeper to catch her breath and met his eyes again.
“Will you marry me?” he asked again. “Will you be Jamie’s mother and my wife every day for the rest of your life?”
She would have her very own family. Her mother could come over for holidays. Jamie would grow up and bring his family here. She’d have a husband who loved her. Did she love him?
The burgeoning emotion expanded in her chest and she felt every cell of her body answer affirmatively.
“Do you mean everything you said this time?” she asked, already knowing he did.
“Yes. Every word. Forgive me, Adeline. I promise you will never regret trusting me.”
She believed him...and trusted him. She did. The feeling felt wonderful. Heavenly.
Sliding off the couch, she drew her arms around Jeremy.
“Then, yes, Jeremy.” She kissed him. “I’ll be Jamie’s mother and your wife for the rest of my life.”
* * * * *
If you loved this suspenseful story,
don’t miss these previous books in the
COLTONS OF SHADOW CREEK miniseries:
CAPTURING A COLTON by C.J. Miller
THE COLTON MARINE by Lisa Childs
COLD CASE COLTON by Addison Fox
PREGNANT BY THE COLTON COWBOY by Lara Lacombe
COLTON UNDERCOVER by Marie Ferrarella
COLTON’S SECRET SON by Carla Cassidy
All available now from
Harlequin Romantic Suspense.
And be sure to check out these thrilling reads from Jennifer Morey’s COLD CASE DETECTIVE series:
RUNAWAY HEIRESS
TAMING DEPUTY HARLOW
COLD CASE RECRUIT
JUSTICE HUNTER
A WANTED MAN
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The Agent’s Covert Affair
by Karen Anders
Chapter 1
Navy Housing Complex
La Mesa, California
The baby-faced teen who walked across the lawn, his sights set on Lily St. John’s door, didn’t look like an assassin.
Until someone looked into his eyes.
He bypassed the front and stole around to the back. A dog barked and he hesitated, then realized it was coming from next door. Not that he couldn’t handle a dog.
His orders were clear and concise.
The dark green landscaper’s shirt was a tad too small. The material stretched taut across his back, roping his biceps just above the distinctive tattoo, the blood staining the back collar barely noticeable. That old man had put up quite a fight, but in the end, the teen knew how to kill too fast and efficiently. He needed the uniform so these suburban housewives wouldn’t get too nervous.
He popped the door with ease, pulling the knife at his waist free of the sheath and removing his shoes. The blade glinted in the light from the window behind him as he crept to the bottom of the stairs. A muffled female voice crooned softly as he started up, his steps light.
If she was unlucky, like the old landscaper dude, and saw him coming, that would be too bad for her.
He’d be the last thing she ever saw.
NCIS Headquarters
Camp Pendleton, California
Special Agent Derrick Gunn shut down his computer, the workday at NCIS coming to a close.
“Personally, I think it’s the Lakers. They had Kobe,” Special Agent Amber Michaels said, her honey-blond hair in a ponytail as she walked into the office with Special Agent Austin Beck.
He shook his head. “You’re crazy, girl,” he said, looking over at Derrick. “Tell her, Derrick.” Today Austin’s shaggy, two-toned brown and blond hair was tamed, almost.
“The Bulls,” Derrick said, shrugging into his suit coat. Even after three years at NCIS, it was still jarring to Derrick that he was part of a team. His time as a CIA operative in a war zone was one of secrecy, lying to just about everyone he knew and screwing over people. That was what Derrick did for a living. Coming from no one with no family, he’d found it easy to hide what he did. Keeping things casual with women was a fact of life. Even now he found it difficult not to keep to himself. Even with the cases he’d worked on with both Austin and Amber, covering their backs and working together, Derrick still felt detached. It was his mind-set. It was what he had used to survive in a hostile environment for most of his life.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Austin said, reaching his desk and shutting down his computer. He grabbed his hoodie.
Stopping in front of Austin, Derrick fist-bumped him, and both of them turned to find...empty space. Amber was gone and their boss, Supervisory Agent Kai Talbot, a dark-haired woman in her midthirties, with a quick stride and a tough-as-nails disposition, was fast approaching with the look on her face that spelled...overtime.
“We’ve got an injured petty officer in La Mesa Park. At a glance, it looks like she fell down the stairs, but take a closer look and make sure that’s all that happened. She’s at the base hospital. Check it out. Here’s her address.”
Derrick took the slip of paper Kai offered and turned to look at Austin. “Oh, Amber’s good.”
Austin sighed. “She’s smarter than the two of us put together.”
“Get us talking about basketball, then she hightails it out of here.” Derrick couldn’t help a small smile. Amber was motivated after her marriage to Tristan Michaels; she wanted to be with him as much as possible. Derrick swallowed, suddenly thinking about his past with the opposite sex. Most of the beautiful faces were a blur, except for Afsana, and everything about his love for her had been a disaster. She was an asset and she should have remained that way, but the intensity of the situation, the danger and the work he did, changed their dynamic. For the first time in his life, he’d connected with someone, and he knew it was a doomed relationship from the get-go. The only redeeming quality was that he didn’t have to lie about who he was.
They headed for the elevator. “Well, to be fair, neither of us has someone waiting for us at home. She has good motivation.” Austin pushed the button and the door slid open.
Too true. Derrick had no one waiting for him, but he’d been on his own for so long, first as a kid; then living with the man who had adopted him had been almost like living alone. Jerome Thornton III had groomed Derrick to take over his vast fortune. But with no loyalty to the cruel, heartless and exacting miser, the minute the old bastard kicked the bucket, Derrick liquidated everything, giving half to charity and depositing the rest into a bank account. The only thing he’d kept was an island, which suited him fine. It was as isolated as he was. Then he’d joined the CIA. There was something compelling about becoming a spook, a shadow, moving around the globe incognito, that completely appealed to him. He had the skill set from fending for himself in that money-grubber’s house. Hiding from him had become a sick cat-and-mouse game.
Arriving at the hospital, they went up to the ICU floor and stopped at the desk. Flashing his badge, Derrick said, “We’re here about a petty officer—” he looked down at his phone “—St. John.”
The nurse at the desk said, “Yes, she was admitted about thirty minutes ago.”
“What can you tell us about her condition?” Austin said.
“She’s in a coma. She’s critical—cuts, bruises, broken ribs, broken arm and leg.”
“If her condition changes, could you let us know? We’d like to ask her some questions,” Derrick said. Both Derrick and Austin handed her their cards.
They backed away from the desk and Austin asked, “Think she fell or was she pushed?”
“It’s possible, but I’m not taking anything at face value until we thoroughly investigate.”
“Agreed.” They turned toward the elevator. “How about I drop you at her town house, and I’ll go and talk to the military police who found her?”
“That’s a plan,” Derrick said. Fifteen minutes later, Austin drove away and Derrick walked the perimeter of the town house, but found nothing suspicious. Lily St. John had the end unit of a row of Spanish-inspired homes, pink stucco, painted tile, curves and arches with black ornamental ironwork and terra-cotta roofs. He knocked on the neighbor’s door adjacent to hers, but no one answered. A woman in a white top and jeans came out of the house a door over. “Oh, she’s not home. She’s one of them military lawyers—JAG. Works late.”
Derrick walked off the porch of the neighbor
’s town house and approached the woman. He flashed his badge. “Her name?”
She studied the badge and said absently, “Lieutenant Gail Baker.” Then she looked at him. “NCIS?”
“Naval Criminal Investigative Service, ma’am. We’re federal agents,” he said, jotting down the neighbor’s name.
“Criminal? Oh, I saw the ambulance a bit ago. Is Lily all right?” Her face was pinched in the fading light from the setting sun.
“You know her?”
“Just to say hi. She is so sweet and her little boy, Matthew, is a doll.”
Derrick stiffened. “Her little boy?”
“Yes, he’s just a baby—um, nine months, I think. Is he all right, too?”
“What is your name?”
“Samantha Robbins.”
“Did you see anything suspicious this morning?”
“Oh, heavens no. I sleep in, as I have a late shift at my bartending job. But my husband, Sergeant Rod Robbins, is up at the crack of dawn and so is Gail.”
He handed her a card. “Have him call me when he gets home. Thank you for your time.” Derrick reached for his phone and dialed Austin’s number as he headed for Lily St. John’s town house. Once inside, he climbed the stairs two at a time and stopped dead when he hit the first room on the left.
A nursery.
He took in the crib, the changing table, the baby blue walls and the whimsical animals painted on them. Pain sliced at him but he dismissed it. This wasn’t about him and the child he’d lost. This was about Lily’s little boy. He called Austin.
“She has a baby,” Derrick said, his gut in knots. “Nine months old.”
“Where the hell is the kid?”
“That’s a damn good question. I’m searching for her phone. Check to see if it was with her personal effects. We need to find out if she’s got relatives, a babysitter or day care.” He headed for the door. Going to the master bedroom, he noted how the house was very neat and tidy, the bed made. He found the charger on her nightstand, but no phone.
Urgency burning in him, he rushed downstairs into the living room. A female voice ordered, “Hold it right there.”