Colton Under Fire

Sloane stepped forward on impulse and gave her mother a hug. Mara stiffened in surprise for a moment, then returned the hug briefly before backing away and straightening her suit.

“I never knew being a mother was so scary. How did you survive raising five of your own kids plus Fox and me?”

“I raised seven of my own kids. You and Fox are as much mine as any of the others. And it was a trial at times.”

“Weren’t you scared that something awful would happen to one of us?”

Mara smiled gently, real warmth and understanding glimmering in her blue eyes. “Always. Terror is the constant state of being a mother.”

“I’m so afraid I’ll mess it up and that Chloe will pay the price.”

“Oh, darling. No parent is perfect. You’ll do your best, and you’ll make mistakes. But at the end of the day, Chloe will know how very much you love her, and she’ll forgive you.” She sighed. “God knows, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes.”

“Really?” Slone would’ve loved to hear more about what mistakes Mara thought she’d made, but Chloe let out a wail just then, and Sloane whirled and raced back to her daughter’s side.

“Mommy’s right here, sweetie. I would never leave you. I love you, Little Bug...”

* * *

Liam strode into the Roaring Springs Police Department first thing in the morning. The institutional metal cubicle dividers and plastic chairs were disguised with wood paneling and dark green trim paint. The place tried to be, but didn’t quite achieve, a national park office. At the end of the day, it was a cold, hard police department at its core.

When he’d first gotten his badge, he’d reveled in the small town feel of this place. But recently, he’d hankered for something a little...more interesting...in his career.

He might as well do some digging into the mystery of those cameras in Sloane’s house. It wasn’t as if he’d gotten a wink of sleep last night, what with worrying about Sloane and her daughter, anyway.

He started by calling every security company in Roaring Springs and the surrounding towns. Not one of them had installed a security system at the address in question. He did luck out, though, when he discovered that one of the places had installed window locks at that address a few months back as part of a renovation. That company had the name of the contractor who’d remodeled the house. A quick phone call to that gentleman confirmed that no security system had been in place at Sloane’s house at the time she purchased it and moved in.

Interesting.

Liam picked up his phone and placed one more call, this time to the FBI field office in Denver.

“This is Special Agent Roberts. How can I help you?”

“Detective Liam Kastor, here. Roaring Springs PD. I need some advice.”

“Does this have to do with that murder at the Colton ranch? I wasn’t the agent consulted on that case, but I can pass you to—”

“That’s not what I’m calling about. I have a local citizen, a single mother, who appears to have someone doing high-tech surveillance in her house.”

“Any idea why?”

“None. She used to be a defense attorney in Denver, but she’s been down here for a little while doing the stay-at-home mom thing with her toddler. There’s an ex-husband, but the divorce and settlement are finalized.”

“Have you examined the cameras?” Roberts asked quickly.

“No. I haven’t acknowledged that I spotted them, and the homeowner didn’t stay in her house last night. Her child is sick, and they stayed at the hospital.”

“Sorry to hear that, sir. Well, we’ve got a tech specialist I can hook you up with. He could take a look at what’s installed. But you’ll need a warrant to get into the house to look at the surveillance equipment.”

“I have permission to enter the premises.”

“That’s handy. Let me give you our tech guy’s number...”

In short order, Liam spoke with a man named Rahm Zogby, who agreed to drive down to Roaring Springs and take a look at what was going on in Sloane’s house. But he wouldn’t arrive until after lunch, so Liam had some time to kill.

An internet search of Ivan Durant proved educational. The guy was the only son of a wealthy couple and had grown up with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. Fancy private schools, fancier private university and law school, hired by a top law firm, fast-tracked to partner. No doubt, daddy bringing his considerable legal business to the firm hadn’t hurt Ivan’s career.

The guy was handsome in a squared-jawed, Nordic way. But Liam found his eyes a little too cold, the set of his shoulders a little too arrogant, the pout of his mouth a little too spoiled.

Durant had better not cause Sloane any more pain, or ol’ Ivan and he were going to have a problem.

Liam used police sources to dig into Ivan’s financials and discovered the guy was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. The gambling Sloane had mentioned must be a serious problem. That, or the dude’s lavish lifestyle was draining his finances. Or maybe both.

Liam did stumble across a magazine interview where Ivan railed against prenups. Durant hinted that paying his off had wiped him out financially.

Good for Sloane. At least she’d walked away from the jerk with financial security. However, it also made for a pretty decent revenge motive.

Still. She was the mother of the man’s child. Surely Ivan wouldn’t mess with Sloane if it meant hurting his own daughter. Or was the guy that big an ass?

“Hey, Liam!”

He glanced up at his boss, Police Chief Tegan Howard. “Yes, ma’am?” She hated being ma’amed by anyone other than very contrite teenagers, who’d better ma’am her or get a lecture on manners.

She rolled her eyes. “You busy?”

“Not especially.”

“Any chance you could pick up that prisoner you dropped off at the hospital last night and bring him back here? He’s got an arraignment this afternoon, assuming he can stand and speak coherently.”

“I’m on it.” Perfect. He could stop by and check in on Sloane and Chloe while he was there. Liam grabbed his coat and headed for the hospital.

The elevator door opened to the third floor of the hospital, and Liam stared at a block party in progress. Or at least, that was what it looked like. The hallway was crowded with people talking and milling around. He recognized Russ Colton with a start, then Wyatt and his fiancée, and then he spied Fox.

Aww, hell. The Colton clan had found out Chloe was here and had converged on Sloane. He waded through the crowd to his best friend. “Hey, Fox. How’s Chloe doing?”

“No idea. Can’t get a straight answer out of anyone around this place. What are you doing here?”

“I came to pick up a prisoner. Is Sloane around? I’d like to say hi. Give her my best.”

“Yeah. She’s in with Chloe. Chased everyone out of her daughter’s room a few minutes ago so the kid can rest.”

“With this mob out here? A dead man couldn’t rest.”

Fox grimaced at his family. “Yeah, you’re right. Help me get rid of them?”

“Sure.”

Liam strolled over to Mara Colton, whom he’d long ago identified as the real power in the family, while Fox headed for their father, Russ. “Howdy, Mrs. C. I’m sorry to hear your granddaughter is sick.”