Regan Black - Killer Colton Christmas

“Don’t be shy,” Ace said to Marie. “And don’t be pushy,” he told the horses. “There’s enough for everyone.”

The old ranch manager showed her how to touch the horses and she reveled in the textures between their soft noses, the sleek coats and the tickle of lips as they plucked chunks of carrot from her open palm. Eventually Rapunzel got jealous enough, or curious enough, to join them. “I haven’t been this close to a horse since a field trip to the zoo as a kid. They’re wonderful,” she said. “Thanks, Ace.”

“Guess that means you don’t ride.”

“Never had the chance to learn,” she replied. She didn’t want to offend him with the truth that she’d never been interested. Her limited knowledge of ranches and rural environments came from entertainment venues like books or movies. Being out here in it gave her a new appreciation for why those characters loved it so much.

“You should ask Emiliano to teach you,” Ace said as they started back to the house.

“Oh, I doubt I’ll be here that long.” Though she couldn’t deny that she found the peaceful area almost as enticing as the man who’d brought her here.

“Time will tell.” Ace gave her a wry smile, as if indulging a child’s idealism while knowing the real world would clear things up soon enough.

There was something she wanted Emiliano to teach her. She needed to learn how to defend herself. In light of the attack on Ace, she decided to approach her FBI protector at the first opportunity.

* * *

Emiliano returned from his circuit of the ranch and caught sight of Ace and Marie with the horses out front. If by chance he’d missed them, Scrabble’s alert would have corrected the lapse. His faithful companion had fallen in love with Marie, effectively the newest rescue on the ranch. The dog often showed more caution around new rescues and the attitude shift baffled him.

More unexpected was the undeniable attraction and connection drawing him toward Marie. Her delighted expression when he’d flipped that pancake had made him feel like a hero. And she’d immediately understood why he wanted Ace to show her around.

He’d had a busy morning, taking and sending clear pictures of the tire tracks near the vet offices to both his boss and Shadow Creek’s new sheriff, Knox Colton. He’d ridden out to check the property lines and the herd for any signs of trouble or weakness. Scrabble was thrilled to be out and about, and she’d alternated between bounding alongside and riding up in the saddle with him.

Through it all, he mulled over Marie, the Cohort threats against her and the threat she might pose to the investigation. It was hard to look at her and think enemy when those dimples creased her cheeks and a smile lit up her big brown eyes.

He checked his watch, knowing he was cutting it close before the scheduled update conference call. Guiding his black-and-white gelding, Domino, into the corral behind the barn, he’d just removed the saddle and propped it on a rail when Ace walked up.

“Let me take care of this,” Ace said.

Emiliano shook his head, removing the rest of the tack. Ace should be resting. “I’ve got it. Where’s Marie?”

“Out front with another cup of coffee, I think.”

“You think?”

Ace hooked his thumbs in his belt, rocked back on his heels. “I thought you had her babysitting me, not the other way around.”

“Either way, you should both be here,” he pointed out, inexplicably annoyed. “Scrabble, find Marie.”

Ace snorted and reached for the saddle as the dog raced off.

“Ace,” Emiliano warned.

“I’ve had as much rest as I can stand.” He yanked the saddle off the rail and stalked off toward the tack room.

It wasn’t until he was well away from the house that Emiliano had realized his mistake in leaving her with Ace, who, despite the declarations to the contrary, wasn’t at the top of his game today. She might have done anything while he was gone, tampered with his computer, contacted the Cohort, tried to walk into town. Or found a ride back to Dallas.

And as she followed Scrabble to join him at the corral, a cup of coffee in hand, winter sunlight on her hair and that wide smile flanked by dimples, he knew all those possibilities were baseless. Mentally, he removed her name from the list of possible Cohort accomplices.

He’d done more background research last night after Marie had gone to bed and Ace had fallen asleep. He supposed being a foster kid explained her lack of ties to anything other than Colton, Incorporated, but it still bothered him. Who lived that way, without support or backup? No pets, as she’d said, a minimal social life and completely career-oriented.

When Scrabble sat, gazing up at him expectantly, he praised her and bent to give her a good ear massage. It gave him a moment to pull himself together. “How was your morning?”

“Great. Ace gave me the full tour. He showed me how to give the horses out front some treats.”

“Good.” Emiliano shuffled his feet and stared out over the acreage. She was almost too fresh and pretty to look at with her hair pulled up into a ponytail, her snug jeans too dark to have seen much use, and the half-zip sweatshirt with the faded football team logo over a long-sleeved shirt. She was in tennis shoes instead of high heels, so he had a better sense of how petite she really was, with those feminine curves balanced perfectly on her small frame.

At one time, she might have been exactly his type of woman. Thank goodness his work kept him traveling from one cyberattack to the next, effectively killing his chances to repeat the relationship mistakes of his past.

“I’m headed inside for the conference call,” he said.

“Could I please join you?”

No. “Sure.”

In the study that overlooked his mother’s vegetable garden, he pulled another chair around to the working side of the desk so they could be seen on the call together. It wasn’t exactly protocol, but it wasn’t a breach, either. Scrabble stretched out on her belly between the chairs, her feet sprawled out like a furry compass star.

When Dashwood, Townsend and Staller were all online with Emiliano and Marie, Dashwood gave the preliminary general update that they didn’t have a definite lead yet. Staller filled in the blanks on the malware that kept the firewalls vulnerable, adding his expectation of fixing the issue by the end of the day.

Beside him, Marie nodded thoughtfully. The others couldn’t see the way her hands relaxed at the news that Colton, Incorporated, would soon be secure again.

Finn Townsend appeared as frustrated today as he had when Emiliano had left Dallas. “This code is definitely Cohort. I’ve found the standard references to their so-called leader, Sulla. Nothing so far that points us to a local Princeps.”

One more deviation from standard Cohort behavior. The workhorses of the Cohort, the Principes often clustered near a cyberattack site to launch red herrings and other distracting challenges at investigators.

“There are typical tools and procedures within the signature, but the technique isn’t on par,” Finn added.

“Meaning what?” Emiliano wanted to hear something more substantial, something that would give them a hard target.

“Someone new.” Finn scowled at his notes. “I’ll keep digging.”

“And you?” Dashwood asked Emiliano.

He reported about the attack on Ace and the xylazine theft. “Whoever it was killed the camera on approach, so no identifications. I’m still working out how they managed that. It’s probably a local crime of opportunity,” he finished. Pulling the bagged syringe from the desk drawer, he held it up for his team to see. “The sheriff will send this to the lab in Austin. Hopefully we’ll get prints and a lead.”