Colton 911--Suspect Under Siege

by Jane Godman

Need surged through her, wild and wanton. She had never felt like this before, and she welcomed it, her need for him escalating, spiraling out of control until she was shaking with the intensity of it.

  Griffin jerked his head back and stared at her, his eyes gleaming with a hunger that scared and delighted her.

  “I want you more than I have ever wanted anything in my life.” His voice was hoarse with need.

  She drew his head back down to hers, brushing her lips against his, triggering a series of hungry kisses. She couldn’t get enough of him. Couldn’t get close enough to him. She needed his tongue in her mouth, the hard muscles of his chest against the softness of her too-sensitive breasts, his hands exploring her body. She needed everything he could give her. Measured and gentle wouldn’t do. Self-control wasn’t good enough. What Abigail wanted there and then was raw and out of control.

  Griffin eased her down so that they were lying side by side and she pressed her hips tight to his until the heavy ridge of his erection pressed firmly against the intimate mound between her thighs. Her hands slid to his chest, her fingers trembling as they slid through the crisp hair. Hunger raged out of control throughout her body. She was intoxicated by the sensual storm gripping her.

  Griffin tugged her T-shirt up, and she raised her arms so he could pull it over her head and cast it aside. Her bra followed and his lips were an impatient heat against her nipples as he drew first one delicate tip, then the other, into his mouth. Abigail arched her back and cried out, as a whole new spectrum of sensation swept over her. She was spinning out of control, giving herself up to rapture.

  She ran her hand down the front of his body, smoothing over the hard muscles of his chest and down over the ridges of his abdomen. Griffin sucked in a breath as her fingertips lightly brushed his straining erection.

  Giving a shaky laugh, he took hold of her hand and guided it so she could wrap her fingers around his shaft. He was raw, pulsing heat beneath her touch. “That feels like heaven but it may test my self-control to the limit.”

  As she caressed his warm flesh, Griffin’s hand moved inside the elastic of her sweat pants, one finger parting her swollen folds. Abigail gave a gasp and he paused. “Is that okay?”

  She nodded vigorously. “It’s wonderful.”

  “Then let’s get rid of these.” She raised her hips so that he could pull her sweatpants and underwear down over her hips and legs.

  She let her eyes wander down his body. He was so big and hard, his erection heavy and straining toward her. His silken flesh looked like it was made to be stroked. She knelt on the bed, moving toward him on her knees.

  “Let me taste you.”

  She wrapped her fingers around the base of his shaft and lowered her head, swiping her tongue over the engorged tip. Griffin’s whole body jerked, and he hissed in a breath. Abigail gave a little hum of pleasure.

  “You like that?”

  His groan told her that he did. Repeating the action, she flicked her tongue back and forth over the throbbing crest. His flesh tasted clean and salty, yet darkly erotic. As she became more adventurous and closed her mouth over his head, Griffin moaned, thrusting in small movements against her lips. It seemed natural to suck, and he fisted a hand in her hair in response. Abigail looked up at his face, enjoying his response. His eyes were half-closed, the cords of muscle in his neck standing out.

  Gently he eased away from her. “I don’t want this to be over before we’ve even started.”

  Placing his knee on the bed, he tipped her onto her back. Pressing her onto the bed, he lowered his head between her thighs, and her senses went wild. His tongue rasped over her most tender flesh with the lightest, softest strokes, licking at her, and she writhed in ecstasy, burning to lift herself closer.

  “Please...” She needed more but her voice didn’t seem to be working.

  Luckily, Griffin seemed to know what her wail of need meant. His tongue found the tiny bundle of sensitized nerve endings and flickered over it, sending fire pulsing through her. She dug her hands into his hair in an attempt to draw him even closer. His hands hooked under her knees, pushing them back and wider apart as his tongue stroked her entrance. She felt a pressure, then he was probing just inside her. Color flamed in her cheeks. It was so sweetly, deliciously exciting.

  An aching need was building inside her, hunger driving her toward a longed-for release. His lips covered her, his tongue returning to torment that tiny nub, and Abigail’s whole body exploded. It propelled her into a cataclysmic ecstasy, tightening her muscles and sending shooting stars of rapture through to every cell in her body. Griffin held her down as she writhed and convulsed, calling out his name deliriously.

  She became vaguely aware of him tearing open a condom wrapper before moving in place between her thighs. His lips were gentle on hers as she felt the heavy pressure of him pushing against her still-throbbing entrance.

  “Don’t go slow.” She lifted her hips to accommodate him, gasping as her muscles began to stretch, easing the way for his steel-hard erection. “I want you...all of you.”

  A powerful thrust of his hips pushed him deeper into her, the tight friction causing her to arch up to him. She twisted mindlessly beneath him, demanding more, and Griffin pulled back before driving into her again, seating himself fully inside her this time. She was as full as she could be. Full of him. It was glorious. Now she needed him to move. To pound in and out of her. Until she screamed.

  She wrapped her legs around his hips, urging him on, and heard his groan of surrender. He drew back, then filled her again, impaling her on his thick length. Mindless pleasure washed over her. She gave herself up to sensation. Reality was lost as Griffin drove into her hard and fast, exactly as she had begged.

  His erection was a hot length of iron powering into her, rubbing over tender tissue, building the friction, stoking the pleasure, until Abigail thought she might go wild. Her breath was suspended, meaning she couldn’t even scream as he increased the tempo, his rapid-fire thrusts driving her ever closer to the edge.

  This time, when her release slammed into her, her muscles gripped him, heightening the intensity of each spasm. It felt like liquid velvet had been poured into her veins. Her body was languid, yet every sense was heightened as she pulsed and contracted, each perfect wave ebbing and flowing rapturously over and around her.

  She felt his hard flesh stiffen further, his body jerking to a standstill as the white-hot force of his own release claimed him. Abigail wrapped her arms around him, wanting to hold him to her, to capture the moment for all eternity.

  Eventually she collapsed beneath him, shuddering in the aftershocks of unimaginable pleasure.

  “That was...” When her breath returned, she floundered, searching for the right words.

  “Perfect.” He sighed the word against her ear as he drew her into his arms.

  “It was.”

  “I meant you. You are perfect.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Griffin woke early. His arms were full of Abigail’s warm curves and, for a few minutes, he just enjoyed how that felt. Waking up with her was too new, too perfect, to rush. Then he remembered what he’d been thinking about the previous night and he eased carefully away from her.

  Going into the kitchen, he made himself a cup of coffee before heading for his study. Once he was logged in to his laptop, he accessed the Danvers University website. He figured he could have asked Abigail for the information he was looking for but for some reason he wanted to do the research himself.

  The lab’s staff members were all listed under their individual faculties. Although Dr. Hardin’s profile remained in place, there was a banner above the research department with an obituary honoring him and the work he had done at the university. Griffin scrolled down, studying the photographs and biographies. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for. There was just something at the back of his mind that told him th
at they were overcomplicating things. The reason for Evan Hardin’s death would turn out to be much simpler than they realized.

  He skimmed past Abigail’s biography, moving on to the junior staff in the department. One of the names caught his eye. Dr. Jenna Avery. What was her role in this? Why had Evan Hardin, or someone acting on his behalf, tried to use this woman to get at Abigail? Her profile was respectable, and he glanced at her photograph. Then he looked again. She was early thirties, pretty, with her dark hair cut in a short bob. And she looked familiar. But surely it couldn’t be...

  Quickly, he opened another tab and scrolled through his emails, finding the one that he’d sent to Liam Desmond about the online adoption scam. There it was. The old profile picture that Griffin had taken from Dr. Anne Jay’s old social media account. The head of MorningStar Families was half-turned away from the camera, and the angle wasn’t good, but Griffin was almost certain that Anne Jay and Jenna Avery were the same person.

  “Damn it.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Even the name is a clue.”

  Yet... Surely no one would be that arrogant? If Jenna Avery was the person behind this scam, would she really use an alias whose initials were the reverse of her own first name? It seemed too obvious, yet his job and his involvement in CI had taught him that there were no surprises when it came to criminal behavior. People who thought they were above the law often believed they were so clever that they could afford to make jokes at the expense of their victims and the law enforcement agencies who pursued them.

  Even so, he was having trouble picturing anyone leading such a bizarre double life. Respectable research scientist and online fraudster? The two didn’t fit well together. It was like picturing a librarian who was also a bank robber, or an accountant who mugged old ladies. Stranger things might happen, but it was hard to imagine what they might be.

  An internet search didn’t give him much more information about Jenna Avery than her Danvers University profile. He glanced at the time on his laptop screen. It was still early. He could wake Abigail, but did he really want to take these suspicions to her and alarm her before he’d even fully thought them through? There was one person who could always be counted on to listen without judging.

  “Riley? I need to run the wildest idea by you.” It was only when he heard the murmur of voices that Griffin remembered that his brother now lived with Charlize. “Sorry. Did I wake you?”

  “Yeah. But it’s okay.” Riley yawned. “Tell me what this is about.”

  Quickly, Griffin outlined his thinking about Jenna Avery. “I’m being overimaginative, right? It couldn’t possibly be the same woman.”

  “Send me the picture and the link to the university website. I’ll take a look and call you back.”

  While he waited for his brother to check out the information he’d sent, Griffin reread the email he’d sent to Liam Desmond. As part of his investigation, Griffin had researched MorningStar Families. Despite glowing references on social media, he had been unable to find evidence that the company actually existed, or that it had helped any families to adopt. He had concluded that it existed only as a means of conning people like Liam and Shelby, who were desperate to have a child of their own.

  Riley called back five minutes later. “I agree that both pictures could be the same woman, but it’s not conclusive. The best thing to do is hand them over to Detective Iglesias. The police have specialist imaging equipment with which they can make a comparison.”

  Griffin rubbed a hand over his face. “It feels like this whole case is based on hunches and suppositions. Whenever I talk to the police, I sense them rolling their eyes.”

  “If you’re right about this, they’ll be glad you persisted,” Riley said. “In the meantime, maybe you and I should have a chat with Dr. Jenna Avery.”

  Chapter 12

  It was lunchtime and the Danvers University campus was busy as Griffin drove around the parking lot a few times before he finally found a space.

  “There are no guarantees that Jenna Avery will see us,” he said, as he and Riley exited the car.

  “No, but Jenna said that the RevitaYou vitamins she bought made her sick,” Riley reminded him. “We’ll tell her that we are interviewing all victims of the con, whether they are investors, or those who have been unwell as a result of taking the pills. She felt strongly enough about it to confront Abigail publicly, so hopefully she will be willing to talk to us about her experience.”

  Once inside the building, they approached the desk and asked for Dr. Avery. The receptionist took their names and Riley’s business card, then spoke on the telephone.

  “Dr. Avery is on her way,” she told them, when she ended her call.

  Even without her name badge, the woman who stepped out of the elevator a few minutes later was instantly recognizable from her profile on the university website. Jenna Avery was petite and attractive, but Griffin sensed she had a watchful air about her. The receptionist handed her Riley’s business card and pointed to where the Colton brothers were standing.

  Jenna dug her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat as she approached. “I can only spare a few minutes, so it would be helpful if you could tell me straight away what this is about.”

  “My brother and I are working with the police and the FBI to bring those behind the RevitaYou con to justice,” Riley said.

  Her expression was hard to read but Griffin saw something shift in the dark depths of her eyes, as though she was weighing up how she could make the most of this situation.

  “I can take my lunch early, if you don’t mind joining me while I grab a coffee and a sandwich.”

  There were a few places to eat around the campus and Jenna led them to a small coffee shop. Although the place was busy, they got a table in a quiet corner. Once they’d placed their order, Jenna gave the two men a thoughtful look. “Why have you come to me to talk about RevitaYou?”

  “We are talking to everyone who has had a bad experience with the vitamins,” Griffin said.

  “But how did you know I’d had a problem with the product? I haven’t been to the police. I haven’t even tried to make a complaint to the manufacturers.” There it was again. That manner of hers was more than watchful. It was suspicious.

  Griffin thought for a moment about the best way to answer her question. They already knew she was antagonistic toward Abigail. If he introduced her into the conversation too early, he risked driving Jenna away. “We spoke to someone else at the university who’d had a bad experience with RevitaYou. They mentioned that you’d spoken publicly about your own issues.”

  “Issues.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Is that what they called it? Yes, I had issues with RevitaYou.”

  “Could you tell us what happened?” Riley asked.

  “I bought some of the pills, took them and got sick.” She shrugged. “Isn’t that what happens to most people?”

  “Actually, no,” Griffin said. “Many RevitaYou users report no side effects.”

  Their server arrived with Jenna’s lunch and their drinks and they waited until he had left before resuming the conversation.

  “How soon after you started taking the pills did your symptoms start?” Griffin asked.

  “Look.” Jenna sat up straighter. “The only reason I agreed to talk to you is because I want that con man, Wes Matthews, and his high-and-mighty daughter to get what’s coming to them.”

  To get what’s coming to them. Was it a coincidence that they were the words that Ryan Thorne had used when he threatened Abigail? There was something about Jenna that felt off to Griffin. It was as if everything about her was fake.

  “The police have no reason to believe that Abigail Matthews is involved in the RevitaYou fraud.” Griffin kept his voice deliberately calm. “Do you have any evidence to suggest otherwise?”

  Color flared in her cheeks. “Only what I know of her. That she pretends to be b
etter than the rest of us, yet she wouldn’t miss an opportunity to betray a friend—” she broke off. “I think this conversation is over.”

  Griffin got to his feet. An idea had occurred to him and he just hoped Riley would see what he was doing and go along with it. “Just one more thing.”

  Jenna gave him a resentful glance. “What is it?”

  “What did you do with your unused RevitaYou pills?”

  “I threw them in the trash. Why?”

  “Oh, no reason. I just hoped we could take them from you for analysis.” He half turned away and then looked back. “I suppose the pretty RevitaYou bottles were just too attractive to resist.”

  Jenna paused in the act of taking a sip of coffee. “What do you mean?”

  “I was simply surprised that a scientist would purchase an unlicensed product like RevitaYou. But then the packaging and marketing were very appealing.” He smiled. “Especially the pink bottles.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Riley frown. His brother knew, of course, that the RevitaYou bottles were green, not pink. He gave Riley a pleading look. Stick with me on this.

  Jenna shrugged. “We’ve all fallen for a product that looks good now and then.”

  “I guess we have. Thank you for your time, Dr. Avery.”

  They left the building and made their way outside. It was only when they reached the parking lot that Riley placed a hand on Griffin’s shoulder.

  “Nice work. She has never seen a RevitaYou pill bottle, has she?”

  “No.” Griffin’s lips hardened into a line. “So why does she have a grudge against Abigail?”

  * * *

  Abigail listened in silence as Griffin recounted the details of his and Riley’s meeting with Jenna Avery. As he was speaking, tiny darts of panic prickled her skin. How had her life gone so wildly off course in such a short space of time? Luckily, Maya was napping, and they had a half hour or more of quiet in which they could talk without interruption.