Karen Whiddon - Colton's Christmas Cop

Stepping into the lobby at Colton Energy brought back conflicting emotions. Hunter remembered entering this very building the first day of his new job, how excited he’d been, how he’d felt positive that he’d take the world by storm. How he’d make a difference. He’d believed wholeheartedly in the work Colton Energy did. Sustainable, alternative energy. The first step in saving the earth.

It hadn’t taken long before he’d learned that his job had nothing to do with that. Lofty ideals and hopeful dreams had zero to do with corporate machinations and greed. Fenwick Colton was all about the profit, and he spent it as fast as it came in. Layla’s comment about the company being in trouble didn’t surprise Hunter. If anything, he wondered why it hadn’t happened sooner.

The receptionist greeted him with a sweet smile. She hadn’t been there during his employment, so she had no idea who he was other than a uniformed police officer with a cute, goofy dog. Very few people outside the K9 unit knew what Goose could do, and Hunter preferred it stay that way.

“I’d like to see Mark Hatton,” he said, keeping his tone pleasant.

Instantly, her smile vanished. “One moment, sir. Let me call and tell him you’re here.”

Since he knew how fast gossip raced through this place, he thought it safe to guess the receptionist was not on Hatton’s side. He wondered if anyone actually believed the junior salesman’s story. While he understood that sexual harassment could go both ways, in this case he doubted any of it had ever happened.

A moment later, the young woman hung up the phone and told him he could go right up. “Second floor. He’ll send someone to greet you.”

Thanking her, Hunter headed toward the elevator, Goose close on his heels. When they exited on the second floor, Mark Hatton himself waited.

“What can I help you with, Officer?” he asked, after shaking Hunter’s hand. “I hate to say, it’s strange seeing you in uniform rather than a suit and tie.”

“Do you mind if we go to your office?” Hunter asked, resisting the urge to wipe his hand on his pants. The other man’s grip, while firm, had been damp.

“Of course not.” He eyed Goose. “Cute dog,” he said, though the tight set of his mouth indicated otherwise.

The office was small, only slightly larger than Hunter’s cubicle. With a pristine, uncluttered desk, a computer monitor on top and a printer/scanner/fax, nothing about the space gave a clue as to the occupant’s personality. Turning slowly, Hunter eyed the modern artwork on the walls. “Did you choose those?” he asked, even though he figured he already knew the answer.

“Nope.” Mark’s voice sounded completely uninterested. “They were left over from the guy who was here before me.”

The fact that there were no framed photos of family or friends, no knickknacks or mementos, not even a plant told Hunter that Mark spent as little time as possible in this space. The room completely lacked personality.

“Did you just move in here?” Hunter asked, genuinely curious. Maybe Hatton simply hadn’t had time to spruce the place up.

Mark eyed him over the rims of his oversize glasses. “No. I mean, I moved here after my last promotion, which would be after you quit. But it’s been a few months.”

“Okay.” Deciding he’d wasted enough time dwelling on Mark’s lack of office decorating skills, Hunter eyed the chair across from the desk. “Mind if I sit?”

“Is this going to take long?”

“Depends. I’ve been brought in on your case and the chief asked me to bring myself up to snuff. I’ve read the file, of course, but I wanted to come talk to you and get it straight from the horse’s mouth.”

Just like that, Mark’s uptight posture relaxed. “Oh. You should have said so. Go ahead and take a seat.”

Amused, Hunter did. He watched as Mark made a show of settling himself into the oversize leather executive chair behind his desk. No doubt if there’d been papers on the desk, he would have squared them up, too.

Mark then launched into a story about how Layla had started flirting with him long before he’d moved into this office. “When I turned her down the first time, she gave me a bad review,” he said. “She knew not only would that mess up me getting promoted but would affect my holiday bonus. I’m the top salesperson in the company,” he boasted. “Fenwick recognized me in front of the entire sales department. He gave me a cash bonus and took me to dinner personally.”

Hunter nodded, listening carefully.

“Layla seemed to find my success intoxicating,” Mark continued. “She’s four years older than me, but that didn’t seem to bother her. I think she liked the idea of me having a young guy’s stamina.”

It took every ounce of willpower for Hunter to keep from laughing. Instead, he nodded.

“She didn’t like the fact that her father gave me this promotion and she tried to stop it. When he overrode her, she made her first threat.” Mark pulled out his cell phone, scrolled to something and then handed it across the desk. “Take a look for yourself. Those texts came from her.”

Accepting the phone, Hunter scrolled through the entire conversation. The earlier texts were flirty and light, complimenting Mark on his looks, his education—hell, virtually everything about him. She’d invited him to her town house twice and he’d declined. Then the threats had started. If you don’t make love with me tonight, I’ll make sure you not only lose your bonus, but your office and your job, the last one said. In fact, if you don’t take care of my needs, you might even lose your life.

Chapter 3

Once upon a time, Layla Colton had believed in fairy tales. She’d thought if she worked hard enough she could make her father notice her, something he never seemed to do. Though it felt disloyal, she’d long suspected he was skimming money off the top of the company’s profits, but until Hunter Black had mentioned the accounting department, it hadn’t occurred to her to take a look at the books.

Now she had. In her office since the crack of dawn, she’d taken a good, hard look at the bookkeeping files. Saving the file to her Dropbox, she clicked out of it, feeling queasy. And disappointed. No wonder Colton Energy was in trouble. As she’d thought, the sales department was rocking and rolling, getting lots of new contracts and extending old ones. With numbers like the ones she’d seen, they should have been expanding. But instead, Fenwick Colton dipped into and spent the profits like there was no tomorrow.

Of course, this wasn’t illegal. He owned the company and could do whatever he wished with the profits, as long as he met all his corporate obligations. The vendors were still being paid, payroll still met and all the taxes were handled on time, so technically he was meeting them. But the advertising budget had been sliced in half, and lately whenever an employee quit, they were not replaced. Other employees were asked to tighten their belts and double down to help the company get through this crisis.

Crisis. The word sent a knife edge of worry through those who depended on their jobs to provide for their family. After all, Red Ridge wasn’t exactly a mecca of jobs. So, of course, everyone pitched in, worked longer hours and did what they had to do in order to help Colton Energy survive. She’d done the same thing herself, determined to do her part to keep the company afloat.

Except after reading these reports, she could clearly see there would be no problem if her father weren’t running through money like crazy. He’d always liked five-star restaurants, expensive cars and high-maintenance women. She’d assumed his salary was adequate to cover that lifestyle, since he made almost twice as much as she did, but apparently it wasn’t. Not by a long shot.