by LENA DIAZ,
The ceilings soared up two stories high with skylights that allowed a breathtaking view of the stars. During the day, it would be awash with sunlight. Just like they’d imagined when they’d talked about their future together and the house where they one day hoped to live.
He opened a door and flipped on the light switch. “I wanted to show you the pantry since you were worried about baking supplies. My mom insists on keeping it stocked for when she comes over for family gatherings. She enjoys baking too, like you and your mom. I imagine most of what you need is in here.”
She ducked inside the enormous walk-in that was larger than her bedroom back home. Flour, sugar, spices of every kind lined one side, a much better variety than she had in her own pantry. It was a baker’s dream. Even if her business started booming, she could never afford something like this. She stepped back, feeling like the poor relation. Which was odd, considering that the McKenzie wealth had never bothered her in the past. Now it seemed like a looming barrier between them.
“Nice. Really nice. I’ll be sure to reimburse you for any ingredients I use.”
“That’s not necessa—”
“I’ll pay you back or I can’t do my baking here. And I really need to have product ready Sunday morning.”
His jaw tightened but he didn’t argue. “Are you hungry? And don’t tell me you won’t eat my groceries. You’re my guest. I insist.”
Guest. What a sad, lonely word. At eighteen, she and Colin had been ready to take on the world together. She’d expected that by twenty-eight she’d be working alongside him, fighting for justice. Coming home every night to a couple of kids, preferably boys with their father’s deep blue eyes and blue-black hair. Every night, she’d fall into his arms in the king-size bed and make love until dawn.
“Thanks.” Her voice came out barely a whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I couldn’t eat anything right now. Actually, I’m kind of exhausted. It’s been a rough day all around.”
He studied her a moment, as if he wanted to say something. But then he turned and led her back into the family room. He didn’t stop until they reached the stairs on the far right side. “The guest bedrooms are upstairs. Pick whichever one you like.”
She admired the industrial black metal handrail, smoothed her fingers over the iron cables. Modern farmhouse. A little more masculine and contemporary than she’d have wanted. But gorgeous, just the same. Seeing their dream brought to life—without her—somehow hurt worse than if their dream had never been realized.
“It’s beautiful, Colin. Your home is...perfect.” She smiled wistfully. “I don’t suppose you have a horse barn out back with a palomino mare?”
He shook his head, a faraway look in his eyes. Was he remembering all the times they’d ridden trail ponies through the foothills? Or taken turns on the palomino her father got her for her sixteenth birthday? The same horse she’d had to sell when Brian was arrested and they scraped for every penny to pay for his defense.
“I’ve got a workshop out back, that’s it. You were the one crazy about horses when we were young. Not me.”
Her hand tightened on the railing. “I see.” She took a deep breath, then another, struggling against the urge to cry. She’d rather die than let loose with another onslaught of tears in front of him when he was being so cold.
“Make yourself at home.” His voice sounded strained. “I’m going to bed.” He opened a door to the right of the stairs, a few feet from the main entrance to the house.
He needn’t have bothered shutting the door behind him. He’d already shut her out just fine without one.
Chapter Six
Colin slowly lowered himself to his bed and dropped his head into his hands. Bringing Peyton here had seemed like a good idea when he’d originally thought of it. He’d been intent on getting the truth out of her, figuring if they were holed up together he’d wear her down, get her to tell him where her brother was hiding.
At the same time, he had a security system, something he’d noticed she didn’t have at her house. She was safer here, especially if her brother had rejoined the other escaped convicts. But until he’d seen the truth dawn in her eyes when she realized he’d built their dream house—without her—he hadn’t recognized the real reason that he’d brought her here.
Revenge.
The truth sickened him. He’d hurt her today, over and over. And all it had done was make him disgusted with himself. Not that he’d originally set out to build this house hoping to rub her face in it. His motivations had been even more pathetic. He’d loved her so much that he’d convinced himself that if he built their dream house, he’d be able to bridge the gap between them. He would talk her into coming back to Gatlinburg to recapture what they’d once had. But, of course, that hadn’t happened.
He’d gone to Memphis, the day after the house was finished, and knocked on her father’s door asking to see her. Mr. Sterling had shaken his head and told him he was too late, that Peyton had gotten married. Colin had gone to a hotel and dived into a case of whiskey. He’d probably still be there if his brothers hadn’t tracked him down and forced him to go home and sober up.
A few months later, he’d gone back, determined to man up, congratulate her on her marriage and wish her a happy life. But he hadn’t even known her new last name. And when he’d turned onto the street where her father lived, he couldn’t work up the nerve to get out of his truck and ask about Peyton.
Once again, he’d hit the whiskey. Once again, his interfering brothers wouldn’t let him wallow in self-pity. Slowly, painstakingly, he’d pulled himself out of the gutter and figured out how to build a reasonably contented life without her. And he had, eventually. Or so he’d thought. Until he’d stepped into her kitchen today and she’d chosen her brother over him. Again.
Just like that day at the barn, when the police had Brian in their squad car and Colin was in the back of an ambulance. She could either have gone with Brian to the station or with Colin to the hospital. She’d chosen Brian. And other than at the trial, surrounded by a room full of other people, Colin had never seen her again until today. She’d opened all the old wounds by choosing an arsonist, a cop killer, over the man she’d once planned to spend the rest of her life with.
All the old resentments and memories had bubbled to the surface, leaving him stewing in frustration and anger and pain. He’d selfishly wanted her to feel the same pain. So he’d made that stupid deal with her to get her out here.
After seeing her eyes widen when his house appeared over the hill, hearing the joy in her voice when she’d mentioned the porch swing that Colin knew she’d always wanted, he’d realized what a horrible jerk he was being. He never should have built the house. And he certainly never should have brought Peyton here.
That wasn’t all he’d realized tonight.
He’d realized something far worse—that she still had the power to set his blood on fire. In spite of all the years, all the progress he’d thought he’d made, he still cared about her. And he wanted her, oh how he wanted her. He wanted her naked skin heating his, her silky hair fanned across his pillow. He wanted his name on her lips when she climaxed beneath him. He shuddered and squeezed his hands into fists, drawing deep breaths.
Not that it helped.
Thunder rumbled overhead. He stood, crossed to the front bedroom window and looked down the road, at the line of trees at the end of the driveway. Lightning flashed. Wind and rain whipped the trees as if they were no more substantial than blades of grass. But the storm outside was nothing compared to the storm raging inside him.
He was a coward. Running in here had been a spineless act of desperation. He’d wanted to escape, put some distance between himself and Peyton before he did something even more foolish than he’d already done.
Like kiss her.
If Peyton was still downstairs, if she hadn’t gone up to bed yet, he should go back ou
t there and beg her forgiveness. He should take her somewhere else. She shouldn’t have to stay in this house with him, where everywhere she looked was a reminder of the plans they’d once made together.
He cursed and stalked to the door. But when he put his hand on the doorknob, he couldn’t bring himself to turn it. He needed one more minute, maybe ten, to stop the flood of images that seeing her again had unleashed.
What he really needed was a bottle of whiskey.
He squeezed his eyes shut and rested his forehead against the door. But closing his eyes did nothing to block out the memories.
Peyton’s sixteenth birthday, her silver-gray eyes alight with excitement as she sat atop the palomino mare that she’d been begging her parents to buy for months.
Peyton smiling at Colin while wearing a figure-hugging black sequined dress that had him choking on his own tongue.
Peyton, a few weeks before graduation, lying on a blanket covered in nothing but her strawberry blond hair—and Colin—letting him warm her after they’d skinny-dipped beneath a waterfall.
Peyton, Peyton, Peyton. Nearly every treasured memory from his past began and ended with her.
Until one horrible night had ripped them apart.
The barn had burned long ago. But the scars on his arms, and in his heart, throbbed anew as if it had happened yesterday. He curled his fingers against the door and wondered what in the world he was going to do.
Chapter Seven
Thunder boomed outside, storm clouds darkening the sky as if it was still the middle of the night instead of morning. Colin had taken a shower, in spite of all the times his mother had warned him that it was too dangerous during a thunderstorm. But if he followed her advice, it would be the middle of next week before he got clean again. This storm showed no signs of letting up.
As he buttoned his shirt, it dawned on him that the low rumble he was hearing now wasn’t thunder. He moved to his front bedroom window and saw a white Jeep barreling up the road, windshield wipers making little progress against the sheets of rain whipping against the glass.
Green stripes and a National Park Service emblem on the door told him it was probably one of his brothers. He groaned in frustration as more lightning cracked overhead. Hopefully Peyton was still asleep. He didn’t want his family to know she was here. That would open up a whole new round of intrusion into his life that he didn’t want to deal with right now. They’d probably start an intervention and take all the whiskey again.
A knock sounded on the bedroom door. “Colin?”
So much for Peyton being asleep.
The knock sounded again. “Someone’s coming up the—”
He opened the door. “Morning, Peyton.” She was sexy as hell in a white tank top and matching capris that bared too much smooth, golden skin for his comfort. His mouth went dry as he tried not to let his traitorous gaze dip to that tempting valley between her breasts.
She backed up a step, smoothing her hands on her pants in the nervous gesture he remembered so well. “Good morning. Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to make sure you know that you’re about to have company. It looks like some kind of official vehicle from the Park Service. Do you think...” She cleared her throat. “Do you think someone found Brian already?”
Thunder rumbled overhead.
“Not likely. The search in this area was halted last night because of the storm. They won’t be able to risk going out again until the lightning stops. Which probably won’t be any time soon.”
A horn honked out front.
He motioned toward the back hallway. “Do you mind? I need to open the garage—”
“Oh, sorry.” She moved out of his way.
He strode past the stairs and called over his shoulder. “Whoever it is, I’ll try to get rid of them. It’s ridiculously early for a visit.”
“It’s nine o’clock. How late do you normally sleep?”
He checked his watch. She was right. It was so dark outside that he hadn’t awakened with the sun coming through the windows like he usually did. “Back in a few.” He turned down the hall.
The horn honked again. He jogged the rest of the way to the garage. After disabling the alarm, he pressed the button on the wall and waited to see which brother he was about to battle.
When the door cleared the windshield, he groaned. Duncan. His second-oldest brother was even more stubborn than Colin. If he even suspected that Peyton might be here, Duncan wouldn’t leave short of a physical threat. Maybe he should go back inside and grab his Glock.
As soon as the Jeep pulled into the middle spot between Colin’s truck and car, his brother cut the engine and hopped out, a look of concern on his face.
“I heard our resident arsonist graduated to cop-killer and is back in town. You need my help catching the bastard?”
“Good morning to you too. And, no. Thanks, but half the state is looking for him already. There’s no need for you to take off work to help. Speaking of work...” He glanced at his watch and winced. “I’m running really late today. You should probably head back out. I need to get out of here.”
Duncan narrowed his eyes. “It’s Saturday.”
“I work Saturdays. Sometimes.”
“Since when?”
“Since whenever I need to.” He motioned toward Duncan’s Jeep. “Do you mind? Your little Special Agent car is dripping all over my garage.”
Duncan rolled his eyes and stopped in front of Colin. He looked him up and down, skepticism heavy in his expression. “You Deputy US Marshal guys are getting sloppy these days. You normally wear jeans to work?”
“On Saturdays.”
“Right. Where’s your vest? And gun?”
Colin made a show of surprise, patting his shirt and then looking down at his hip. “Son of a...well, I’ll have to grab those. Too much going on these days. I’m not thinking clearly.”
“Like what? What exactly is going on?”
“Felons on the loose, like you said. Kind of my specialty so I need to get on it.” He motioned toward the Jeep. “If you don’t mind backing out—”
“Because you’re on your way to work.”
“Yep.”
“On a Saturday.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“At nine in the morning, in jeans, without your Kevlar or sidearm. Yeah, I’m not buying that. Try for something more believable.”
Colin crossed his arms. “Do you always have to be so difficult?”
“Remi says I’m charming.”
“Remi’s blinded by love. She’ll find out the truth after you get married. Poor girl.”
“Speaking of the truth—”
Colin lifted his hands in exasperation. “Okay, fine. I overslept and didn’t want you ribbing me about it. I’m on my way to the office to look over some notes in my files so I can make a game plan. I figured I could dress down since not many people will be there.”
“Whatever you say. What about the other guys who escaped? Have any of them been caught?”
Colin settled back against the wall, crossing his arms again. “Not so far. Have you been getting alerts?”
“Nothing useful. We were told the day of the escape that all four were seen a few hours west of here. Since then we heard someone had sighted Brian close by, but no details. We’ve got extra patrols out, when we can with this storm. The park’s closed, of course. Adam’s been running the evacuation. He got the last of the campers out a few hours before the storm hit. Have you heard anything specific about Brian?”
“Not since I saw him yesterday morning.” Colin winced.
Duncan pounced on his mistake. “I knew it. I figured that little twerp would come after you. Where’d you see him? What happened?”
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
“My boss is flexible. I’ve got nothing but time. Tell me what happened.”
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Colin shook his head. “Nothing much to tell. After I heard about the escape, I figured I’d check the old Sterling homestead, just in case Brian headed back somewhere familiar. I didn’t really expect him to be there. We both pretty much surprised each other and he ended up giving me the slip.”
“That sucks. So, you’re working the case?”
“Officially, the conflict of interest because Brian set the fire that injured me makes me ineligible.”
“So, you’re working the case.”
“Of course. I took some vacation time. It’s not exactly a secret as to why. Chief Landry and the marshal in charge of finding the escapees are both being accommodating. They’re willing to share information with me about the status of the search as long as I answer their questions about Brian’s personality and history.”
“If he’s still in the area, there’s nowhere he can go. Every main road I’ve been on this morning has a road block set up, even with the storm. No one’s taking any chances. His only choice will be to head into the mountains, hunker down and hope he can outwait law enforcement. From what I remember, he was never the outdoorsy type. I can’t imagine him lasting long without breaking into someone’s cabin for supplies. That’ll make it easy to track him down.” He arched a brow. “Unless the guys he’s with are better at living off the land and were smart enough to take supplies with them.”
“Doubtful, according to the files I read. They’re all city slickers.”
“I wonder why they came this way.”
Colin shrugged as if he had no clue. But he was pretty sure that he knew why. Peyton. In spite of being a year older than his sister, Brian had always relied on her to protect him. Either he’d intended to ask her for help, or she’d known he was coming and was waiting for him already when Colin interfered with their plans.