by Debra Webb
Though he’d had dozens of aliases, Slade couldn’t forget who he was—the son of a merciless assassin named the Dragon. He’d kept out of his mother’s reach for years till a Colby Agency investigator put him—and Maggie—on her radar. Now could Slade become the very thing he hated in order to save the woman and child he loved?
After years on the run and in hiding, Slade Keaton (birth name: Tripp Marek) can be free to live a normal life and no longer have to look over his shoulder. Thirty years ago Lucas Camp and the Dragon had a relationship, and Slade is the result of that affair! He is offered a position at the Colby Agency. He accepts and closes the Equalizers. Any and all of his employees are welcome to join the Colby Agency. Victoria and Lucas announce their retirement and the opening of a new Colby branch in Texas. Keaton buys a house in Chicago and proposes to Maggie…she says yes!
Colby Law—#48
Harlequin Intrigue
Lyle McCaleb was eager to begin work for the Colby Agency when their Houston office opened. His first case involved a twenty-two-year-old murder case the world had presumed closed until Rafe Barker, the Princess Killer, currently in his last thirty days of death row, revealed that his three daughters (assumed to be his and his wife’s final victims) were alive and well and in need of protection. His wife, Clare, the other half of the Princess Killer team, had recently been released and Rafe swore she wanted to find their daughters and do what was supposed to have been done all those years ago.
The case took Lyle to the last place he expected to go—
Copperas Cove, Texas, and his first love, Sadie Gilmore. Sadie was a stubborn young woman who had a deeply tender spot for animals. She owned and operated Second Chance Ranch outside Copperas Cove, where she rescued rodeo horses. She had no idea that she was really Sarah Barker, the youngest of the Barker children. Could Lyle convince her to allow him to protect her before it was too late?
High Noon—#49
Harlequin Intrigue
The hunt for Clare Barker and the truth continued. This time it was the middle daughter, Laney Seagers (formerly Lisa Barker), and her son in need of protection. As a single mother Laney had her hands full running the High Noon saloon and raising Buddy, her precocious son. It wasn’t bad enough that the bank was nipping at her heels and her son’s father had decided to cause her trouble, but then a stranger showed up with an unbelievable story. Laney wasn’t who she thought she was—and her biological mother might be trying to kill her.
Joel Hayden didn’t want to tell Laney about her disturbing family secret until absolutely necessary, but that moment came all too soon. The danger closed in way too fast and little Buddy went missing. Lucas Camp arrived as backup and was caught in the cross fire. Rafe Barker continued taunting Victoria with clues that made no sense.
The Colby Agency was the best…but could they find the truth before someone else died?
Colby Roundup—#50
Harlequin Intrigue
Olivia Westfield (aka Elizabeth Barker) was the oldest and the only one of the three Barker girls who knew she was adopted. She was dead set on finding the truth about Rafe and Clare Barker. Could the man who was her biological father and who had been labeled pure evil actually be innocent? Or was Clare, her mother, the real victim here?
Russell “Russ” St. James had been assigned to watch after Olivia without interfering in her life. But how long would it be before the risk was too great to her for him not to intercede? And when he did step in, would it be too late? Olivia took that choice out of his hands by confronting him. The two dived into an Olympic-size pool of deadly deceptions that threatened to drown all involved in the investigation.
The Barker girls are safe and Rafe’s sentence will be carried out for his heinous deeds. Clare’s name has been cleared. She will require years of counseling, but she wants a relationship with her daughters and they are agreeable to taking things one step at a time. Victoria and Lucas have decided to take retirement a little more seriously.
Sadie and Lyle are the first to marry, with her adopted father escorting her down the aisle. Joel and Laney are making plans for wedding number two. Buddy adores Joel! Olivia has returned to law school. She and Russ will be exchanging vows as soon as she graduates. The sisters are enjoying getting to know each other.
* * * * *
Look for more Colby Agency books
coming from Harlequin Intrigue!
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Intrigue story.
You crave excitement! Harlequin Intrigue stories deal in serious suspense, keeping you on the edge of your seat as resourceful, true-to-life women and strong, fearless men fight for survival.
Visit Harlequin.com to find your next great read.
We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
Read our blog for all the latest news on our authors and books: HarlequinBlog.com
Subscribe to our newsletter for special offers, new releases, and more!
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Chapter One
The knock at the door surprised Zane Chisholm. He’d just spent the warm summer day in the saddle rounding up cattle. All he wanted to do was kick off his boots and hit the hay early. The last thing he wanted was company.
But whoever was knocking didn’t sound as if they were planning to go away anytime soon. Living at the end of a dirt road, he didn’t get uninvited company—other than one of his five brothers. So that narrows it down, he thought as he went to the window and peered out through the curtains.
The car parked outside was a compact, lime-green with Montana State University plates. Definitely not one of his brothers, he thought with a grin. Chisholm men wouldn’t be caught dead driving such a “girlie” car. Especially a lime-green one.
Even more odd was the young, willowy blonde pounding on his door. She must be lost and needing directions. Or she was selling something.
His curiosity piqued, he went to answer her persistent knock. As the door swung open, he saw that her eyes were blue and set wide in a classically gorgeous face. She wore a slinky red dress that fell over her body like water. The woman was a stunner.
She smiled warmly. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He waited, wondering what she wanted, and enjoying the view in the meantime.
Her smile slipped a little as she took in his worn jeans, his even more worn cowboy boots and the dirty Western shirt with a torn sleeve and a missing button.
“I wasn’t expecting company,” he said when he saw her apparent disappointment in his attire.
“Oh?” She looked confused now. “Did I get the night wrong? You’re Zane Chisholm and this is Friday, right?”
“Right.” He frowned. “Did we have a date or something?” He knew he’d never seen this woman before. No red-blooded American male would forget a woman like this.
She reached into her sparkly shoulder bag and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “Your last email,” she said, handing it to him.
He took the paper, unfolded it and saw his email address. It appeared he had been corresponding with this woman for the past two days.
“If you forgot—”
“No,” he said quickly. “Please, come in and let’s see if we can sort this out.”
She stepped in but looked tentative, as if not so sure about him.
“Why don’t you start with how we met,” he said as he offered her a seat.
She sat on the edge of the couch. “The Evans rural internet dating service.”
“Arlene’s matchmaking business?” he asked in surprise. Arlene Evans, who was now Arlene Monroe, had started the business a few years ago to bring rural couples together.
“We’ve been visiting by email until you…”
“Asked you out,” he finished for her.
“Are you saying someone else has been using your email?”
“It sure looks that way, since I never signed up with Arlene’s matchmaking service. B
ut,” he added quickly when he saw how upset she was, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Arlene is behind this. It wouldn’t be the first time she took it upon herself to play matchmaker.” Either that or his brothers were behind it as a joke, though that seemed unlikely. This beautiful woman was no joke.
She looked down at her hands in her lap. “I’m so embarrassed.” She quickly rose to her feet. “I should go.”
“No, wait,” he said, unable to shake the feeling that maybe this had been fate and that he would be making the biggest mistake of his life if he let this woman walk out now.
“You know, it wouldn’t take me long to jump in the shower and change if you’re still up for a date,” he said with a grin.
She hesitated. “Really? I mean, you don’t have to—”
“I want to. But you have the advantage over me. I don’t know your name.”
She smiled shyly. “Courtney Baxter.” She held out her hand. As he shook it, Zane thought, This night could change my life.
He had no idea how true that was going to be.
ISBN: 9781459233775
Copyright © 2012 by Debra Webb
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com