by Lisa Childs
Her face flushed as she realized how well she’d kept apprised of him in the past. She told herself that it was just because he was Pandora’s father. But Juliette had been keeping track of him even before that night they’d conceived their child.
She’d had a crush on Blake Colton for a long time.
But a crush was all it was. Nothing could ever come of it. They were too different. Her life was in Red Ridge as a K9 cop. His was in international cities with his business and his models and actresses.
She doubted he was going to give any of that up—even for his daughter. But she was worried that Pandora, after just that one meeting, had already gotten attached to her daddy. And Juliette was worried that after watching him during that meeting—watching him play and speak so sweetly with their little girl—that Juliette was getting too attached, as well.
“Walsh!” the chief shouted her name.
And she realized she’d missed whatever he’d been saying—to her. Her face flushed even hotter with embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “What were you saying?”
“That you are not going to use yourself as bait to flush out this lunatic,” the chief said. “That’s too damn dangerous.”
If he wasn’t the boss, Juliette might have dared to call him a hypocrite. Not too long ago he’d used himself as bait to flush out the Groom Killer. He’d drawn out an obsessed stalker instead.
“I don’t have to,” she said. “I just need to do my job. He must be involved with the drug problem in Red Ridge since he killed that woman in the park to take that briefcase of drugs from her. My partner is the drug sniffing expert. I need to keep going to the train terminal and the airport and the bus terminal...”
The more people she caught smuggling drugs in and out of Red Ridge, the better the chance that she would get a lead on the killer during one of those arrests.
“You’re going to have another patrol car on you at all times,” the chief said.
She shook her head. “That’s not necessary. We’re already spread thin—with the Groom Killer on the loose.”
“The killer hasn’t acted in a while,” the chief reminded them.
“About the same amount of time since anyone’s heard from Demi...” Carson muttered. But his comment was loud enough for Brayden to overhear and tense with anger.
So much for the détente...
Then Carson shook his head and murmured an apology before adding more loudly, “Probably because everybody’s scared to even think about getting married...”
But Juliette knew many of her coworkers were already thinking about it. Even the chief had recently fallen in love and moved in with the first murder victim’s ex-wife, Darby Gage. And Juliette knew her best friend Elle Gage had fallen in love, as well—with a Colton, no less. Juliette suspected there were probably quite a few secret engagements in Red Ridge. She figured that was one secret that she and Blake would never have between them.
Unless he was already engaged to someone else—to one of those models or actresses he dated. But then, she would have already read about that in the tabloids.
No. He probably meant what he’d told her nearly five years ago about never wanting to get married. And she knew that she would not be the one to change his mind.
Blake had been quiet when they’d left the safe house with just enough time to spare so Juliette wouldn’t miss the morning meeting. Maybe he’d just been tired since they had not slept at all the night before. She was tired. But she didn’t think that was why he hadn’t talked to her. It probably hadn’t been because he had been worried that the bodyguards might have overheard their discussion, either.
She suspected he’d been angry. After meeting their amazing little girl and realizing what he’d missed, he was probably so furious with Juliette that he wouldn’t care anymore if the killer got to her.
Because when she stepped out of the meeting, she didn’t find him waiting in the hall for her. The only person in the reception area was Lorelei Wong. She glanced up from her desk and smiled at Juliette. Her silver-framed glasses had slipped down her nose. She pushed them up and blew a breath through her black bangs as she spoke on the phone.
She was too busy again to talk—probably fielding calls about the Groom Killer.
Juliette just waved at her as she and Sasha headed out to their patrol car. As she put the beagle in her harness in the back of the vehicle, she glanced around and still caught no sight of Blake. Of course, she hadn’t noticed him the day before, either—until after work. So he might have been out there—with the bodyguards whose presence she didn’t notice.
Despite the heat of the July day, she shivered. The killer could be out there and undetected, too. If he was smart, though, he’d be lying low—because he’d made a serious mistake when he’d shot a Red Ridge police officer. Now the entire department was even more determined to find him.
* * *
“Dad wants to see you,” Patience told Blake.
“He knows where to find me,” Blake reminded her. Even if he didn’t own the hotel anymore—with all the financial difficulties he was currently having—he would know it was where Blake would stay.
“And I already told you that I can’t help him,” Blake reminded her. Withdrawing the amount of cash from his corporation that his father needed could cripple his business and cost too many of his loyal employees their jobs. He couldn’t do it—not even to save Layla from marrying some old wealthy guy who’d struck a deal with Fenwick Colton. What he’d rather see was Layla standing up for herself, choosing her life and her heart over business. For once.
Patience’s sigh rattled the cell phone Blake held. The rental car didn’t have Bluetooth. After he’d brought back the damaged one, the company had been willing to loan him only one of their older models. He hoped it was reliable enough to follow Juliette’s patrol car. Maybe he just needed to buy a vehicle—something like the SUVs the bodyguards he’d hired drove. Not that he could see them...
He could see the other patrol car, though, the one the chief had following Juliette. She must have been headed toward the bus terminal. That was better than the places she’d gone the day before.
“Dad wants to see you because he’s worried about you,” Patience said.
And Blake snorted in derision. “Yeah, right...”
Even if his father had, by some odd chance, heard that Blake was present at the shooting the night before, Blake doubted he would have been all that concerned about his safety. They’d barely spoken the past five years.
“I told you about this Groom Killer,” Patience said.
“Yeah, that’s why Dad can’t marry off Layla to some old guy and save his company,” Blake said.
Patience expelled another sigh that was clearly of exasperation. Blake wasn’t certain if she was exasperated with him or with their father, though.
He tried to focus on their conversation. But it was hard when he was watching Juliette at the same time. She was so damn beautiful—even in the drab Red Ridge Police Department uniform. She and the beagle moved with confidence through the crowd of people in the bus terminal.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Why would Dad be worried about me?” Had he heard about him and Juliette? About his grandchild? Maybe Blake did need to speak with his father. But he hesitated even to tell his sister.
“I don’t know,” Patience said. “I assured him that you were in no danger.”
He flinched as he remembered the night before—the bullets hitting the rental car so close to where he’d been standing. If Juliette hadn’t knocked him down, if she hadn’t saved his life...
Had he even thanked her?
Everything had happened so quickly at the plant nursery that he didn’t think he had. And then after...
The hospital and the safe house and meeting Pandora...
His heart contracted, affection for the little girl squeez
ing it. He’d been so overwhelmed after meeting her that he hadn’t been able to think, much less talk to Juliette. He should have thanked her for how well she’d raised their daughter. But he hadn’t been entirely able to let go of his anger with her, of his resentment over her keeping him from being part of his child’s life.
“It’s not like you’re about to get married or anything,” Patience continued.
Blake opened his mouth to laugh, but the chuckle stuck in his throat as he wondered, should he be? Then he wouldn’t have to worry about Juliette keeping him away from Pandora anymore. But that was crazy. He didn’t have to marry Juliette to make sure any of that happened. He could legally claim his child without legally tying himself to her mother—to her lying, secret-keeping mother.
“No,” he said. “I’m not about to get married...” Especially not to a woman he couldn’t trust. And no matter how well she’d raised their daughter, Blake could not trust Juliette. Five years ago she’d led him to believe she was someone she wasn’t and then she’d kept a secret from him.
Kept Pandora from him...
“That’s good,” Patience said. “I don’t want to have to worry about you, too.” Like she worried about Layla marrying a man she didn’t love and about their father losing what mattered most to him—his company. She was worried about Bea, too. Their sister loved the bridal shop she’d inherited from her grandmother.
Blake understood his sister’s concerns. And he didn’t want to add to them. He knew he needed to tell her that she was an aunt. But then he would also have to tell her that the little girl had witnessed a murder and was in danger.
“Nope, you don’t have to worry about me,” he said. And he clicked off the call to quickly make another.
The bodyguard picked up on the first ring. “Yes?”
“Any sign of him?” Blake asked.
“We didn’t get a look at him last night,” the bodyguard reminded him. “But there’s no one suspicious-looking hanging around...”
Just as the man made the claim, Juliette’s canine partner reacted to someone boarding a bus.
It would make sense that the killer would be trying to leave town right now.
Was it him?
* * *
He had been told to leave town—actually, to get the hell out of it. His head still rang with the way his current employer had shouted the order at him. “What the hell were you thinking—shooting a cop?”
Juliette Walsh was a cop. If he hadn’t missed and struck the male officer instead, he would have killed a cop. But he hadn’t bothered pointing that out.
“You’ve brought the heat of the entire department now,” he’d been warned. “So you need to get the hell out of here!”
It was probably good advice. But he had unfinished business in Red Ridge. He had never left a witness alive before and he didn’t intend to do that now. He had to find that little girl. He already knew where her mama was.
He also knew he wasn’t the only killer in Red Ridge right now. “The police are all preoccupied with that Groom Killer,” he reminded his boss. “I’m not their only focus.”
“You are now,” he’d been told. “No grooms have died lately. They probably think that killer’s moved on. You need to do the same. Get the hell out of Red Ridge.”
He’d reached for the back door to the realty company office. But a shout had stopped him. “And for God’s sake, make sure nobody sees you leaving here!”
Anger twisted his guts. They’d begged him to come work for them. Luring him with the promise of big money for carrying out their dirty work. But now that his hands were dirty, they wanted nothing to do with him.
He was tempted to end not just his association with them but them, as well. He’d forced a smile instead.
“Nobody sees me come and go,” he’d promised.
And the boss had snorted. “Except a little girl...”
He’d held on to his smile because he’d known that little girl would never be getting any bigger or any older than she currently was. Because she would soon be dead—right along with her cop mama...
Chapter 9
Zane Godfried studied his face in the reflection of the rearview mirror of the Corvette his fiancée had given him as an engagement present. With his black hair slicked back and his teeth whitened to a brighter shade than his tuxedo shirt, he looked damn good—so good that it was a shame they had to keep this wedding on the down low. But it was the only way he had been able to convince Marnie Halloway to marry him.
Not that she hadn’t wanted to. Since he’d connected online with the lonely, rich widow, she had been anxious to spend as much time as she could with him. First she’d sent him plane tickets to Red Ridge. Then she’d bought him his sweet ride. But when the whole Groom Killer crap had started, she’d been too worried about him to accept his proposal.
Fortunately for him, she was easily manipulated, and he’d been able to use those deaths as evidence that life was too short. More so for her than him. She was pushing seventy. He had to get her to do this now—before anyone figured out who Zane Godfried really was and where to find him.
He was in more danger from previous marks and loan sharks than he was from some serial killer. Of course, he didn’t think it was really a serial killer on the loose. Wasn’t it just some crazy broad who’d found out her baby daddy was going to marry someone else?
She’d killed him and then maybe a few more because she’d still been pissed. No more grooms had been killed lately, so she must have cooled off. Or left Red Ridge or the country.
Just like he’d told Marnie, nothing was going to happen to him. Though getting someone to perform their wedding ceremony hadn’t been easy. He’d had to go online again to find somebody willing to do it. Fortunately for him again, pretty much anyone could get a license to marry people now, so he’d been able to find someone.
He glanced at the motel where the person had said for them to meet him. It looked a little seedy. Marnie probably wouldn’t like this. Despite her age, she was acting like a blushing bride. The old chick probably had dementia, which was another reason Zane needed to push for this quickie wedding. He needed to clear out her bank accounts before someone figured out she’d lost her marbles.
And all her money...
He chuckled as he straightened his bow tie. Yeah, he looked good. Who gave a crap what the motel looked like? He pushed open the driver’s door and stepped into the parking lot.
It was early. So nobody was in the lot but him. Marnie was late. She was probably still trying to get beautiful. No matter how long she worked at that, it wasn’t going to happen, though. He grimaced as he thought of his elderly bride. Then he looked again at the sexy red Corvette and smiled. At least he would have enough money to buy himself beautiful things. Like cars. And women...
A shadow reflected back from the side of the ’Vette as someone walked up behind him. He turned around, but instead of focusing on the person, he saw only the gun barrel pointed at him.
A shot fired, striking his chest with such force it knocked him back against the car. His last thought, as he slid down the side of it, was that he hoped he hadn’t dented it. He didn’t even get the chance to think that Marnie had been right; he was dead before he fully hit the ground.
* * *
Juliette stared at the body propped against the side of the Corvette. The pleated shirt, which had probably once been white, was stained red—with a gaping hole through the heart. And a black cummerbund spilled out between his open lips. His eyes stared up at them, glazed in death.
She resisted the urge to shudder. She should have been used to the sight by now. The Groom Killer had struck again.
“Who is he?” the chief asked as he joined them at the scene.
Detective Carson Gage had the guy’s wallet, which he held out to his boss. “Your guess is as good as mine. He’s got a few IDs in here
.”
“She says—” Juliette pointed toward the woman sitting in the back of an ambulance “—that his name is Zane Godfried.” Juliette had been the first officer on the scene since the motel was near the train terminal where she and Sasha had been heading. She’d hoped to make more arrests like the one at the bus terminal.
She’d gotten that person only on a small amount of a controlled substance, though, which hadn’t given her enough leverage to get him to talk about the killer from the park.
If he’d even known who he was...
He hadn’t reacted when she’d described the killer to him.
“Marnie Halloway?” Finn asked as he peered into the ambulance.
Her makeup had run down and smeared her face. Some of it had even dripped onto the bodice of her white wedding gown.
“She met Godfried online a few months ago, and he convinced her to marry him,” Carson said.
The detective had arrived soon after Juliette had—so soon that he’d probably been in the patrol car following her. Brayden Colton had been out riding with Carson, probably to prove to the chief that they were unified now.
Maybe something good had actually come of her being in danger and Dean getting shot: the K9 unit had come back together as the family they’d always been before the Groom Killer had first struck Red Ridge.
She would have rather they’d put aside their differences and resentments without her daughter having to witness a murder and Dean having to take a bullet.
Carson and Brayden weren’t the only ones who’d been following her, though. Blake had, too. He stood on the other side of the crime scene tape she’d strung up, around lamp posts in the parking lot, to keep out the reporters and morbidly curious gawkers who crowded all around Blake. Despite the crowd, he easily stood out. He was so damn handsome with his dark blond hair and those piercing green eyes.
“They were going to get married here?” the chief asked with a glance at the seedy motel. His brow furrowed as if he was confused.