Jennifer Morey - Colton's Fugitive Family

Anger flared. Innocent of the alleged murder of her ex-fiancé, framed unjustly, she had no way of finding evidence to clear her name. That infuriated her. It would infuriate anyone in this situation, but her temper demanded some extra control. She screamed into pillows on occasion, banged on the mattress. Sometimes she just did a few laps around the cabin to vent steam. The real killer better not get too close. The least she’d like to do was give him a bloody nose.

“We aren’t succumbing to anger anymore,” she said aloud. She didn’t feel like going to bed yet, too restless and in one of those moods where, bored and caged, she didn’t know what to do with herself.

She tried to take in her home, to let it soothe her nerves as it often did. The living room took up the front, with the kitchen to the rear left and the smaller dining room to the right, the hallway between. She’d found a used furniture store in town and used the cash she’d taken from her account to survive on the run. That had been another sore point. She should not have had to tap into her savings, most of which had come from an inheritance from her mother, who had ended up marrying someone with money after she divorced Demi’s father. She had died in a car accident a few years ago.

A tall dark-wood bistro table with white trim and very few scratches stood in the dining room. She hadn’t hung anything on the log walls. The blue patterned sofa was against the wall near the entry, and two high-backed chairs flanked a wood-burning fireplace near the dining room. A cream and tan area rug warmed the room.

The kitchen had come with stainless steel appliances and beautiful gray granite countertops with white cabinets and pendant lighting above the snack bar. She sat at one of the two blue-cushioned stools each night for dinner, after she fed her adorable baby.

If she had to spend a lot of time isolated and on the run, she needed a calming environment, and this cabin had provided that, thanks to a good friend. Being alone had its challenges, however.

“I just need to be around people more.” Maybe she’d started to go a little crazy being cooped up in this place for so many months.

If she could socialize again, then she could stop talking to herself. She had Wolf, but a five-month-old couldn’t talk back yet.

Thankfully, her inventive disguise allowed her to go to the nearby small town for supplies and visits to the library where she kept tabs on the Groom Killer investigation. She’d used the computer there to read news reports and dig into the background of the bogus witness who claimed to have seen her fleeing the scene of her ex-fiancé’s murder back in January. She’d believed he would lead her to whoever framed her. And why. And she’d been right.

Hearing that sound again—a sort of thump—Demi returned to the window, but when she pushed back the drape a bit, the Christmas lights were reflected on the glass. She saw nothing, but heard a muffled scraping on the other window.

Heart leaping into faster beats, she hurried to the fireplace mantel where she kept a wooden box containing a pistol. She had mounted a rifle on the wall in the hallway and kept another pistol in her bedroom, on the top shelf of her closet.

When she heard a piece of glass part from the window and the sound of a gathering winter storm grew louder, she realized that whoever had carved a hole in the glass, A, had specialized equipment, and B, was a professional. Although she didn’t see him, she listened as he unlocked the window and slid it open.

Flipping off the safety, she racked the slide and moved out from behind the Christmas tree.

“Come one more inch into this cabin, I’ll shoot and keep shooting,” she said.

The man had already climbed inside and when he heard her, he rolled or fell onto his behind, brushing the branches of the tree and jingling ornaments. The drapes slid off him to reveal a familiar face.

Lucas Gage looked up at her with his sexy dark eyes. His chestnut hair was mostly hidden by a black beanie, but the scars on his left cheek and above his right eye were a clear identifier. A bounty hunter, like her, he’d been her nemesis for years. He must be feeling mighty triumphant right now. He’d found her.

Instead of gloating, however, he let out a long breath and said, “You’re okay.”

He hadn’t expected her to be? And was that relief she saw and heard? Surely he hadn’t worried about her.

“Get your hands where I can see them,” she ordered.

He held up his hands, amusement spreading over his face. That always annoyed her. He was always so cocksure of himself and seemed to enjoy riling her. It didn’t help that he was a good bounty hunter—a legitimate Red Ridge Police Department bounty hunter with a K-9. Whenever she felt spurts of envy or insecurity, she reminded herself that she didn’t have to play by any PD rules.

“Thanks to you, I’m going to have to find another place to stay,” she said a bit harshly.

“You don’t have to run anymore.”

What was he saying? Was that some kind of ploy to get her to trust him? If so, it was weak. How would she get away? How would she snatch up Wolf and get out of here?

She gestured toward the window. “You have a backpack or something out there? Handcuffs?” She’d tie him up and leave. By the time he got free, she’d be long gone.

“I didn’t come here to take you in, Demi. You don’t have to tie me up and run.”

As if she’d believe him. A man like him would say anything with a gun pointed at his head.

“I came here to tell you the Red Ridge PD is almost a hundred percent sure you’re innocent.”

“Almost?” That was rich. Did he really expect her to melt in relief and blithely go with him?

He let out a long exhale, no longer so amused. “It’s Devlin Harrington who’s been killing all the grooms. Police just need the missing gun and hopefully prints or other evidence that will link him.”

The police had no evidence against Devlin and he still thought she’d be safe returning to Red Ridge? “I know it’s Devlin.” She’d known for quite some time.

Devlin had behaved strangely toward her after she rejected his invitation to dinner one night. A few months later, she found herself accused of murder. While that hadn’t made the connection for her, recalling that Hayley Patton had rejected him as well made her begin to wonder if that meant something. Sure enough, it did.

“I also know he’s obsessed with Hayley Patton and a witness claimed to see me kill the last groom victim,” she continued. “A low-level drug dealer with a rap sheet said he saw me fleeing Bo’s murder scene. Really? That’s a credible witness? Another witness was killed. Can no one see a pattern here?”

“The police do.” Lucas moved slowly and began to rise, keeping his hands up and looking at her warily, testing her.

“Stay on the floor.” She took a step back. She’d never get away from him if he got the upper hand.

Lucas stood all the way up, his hands shoulder height. “I’m not going to take you in, Demi.”

“How can you expect me to trust you?”

“You don’t have to. Just believe me when I say you’ll be safe in Red Ridge.”

She wavered a few seconds before she skittered back to caution. She could not trust him.

“How did you know Devlin was obsessed with Hayley?” he asked. “One of the witnesses confessed to being paid, and that story was in the news, but what about Hayley?”

“I remembered how he used to watch Hayley. His girlfriend, Gemma Colton, brought him to a rare family gathering that her branch of the family deigned to attend. It was as though he forgot all about her when Hayley showed up. He had a creepy way of just staring at her. Then he’d make derogatory comments about Hayley, strange comments, like her dress was too short or she had on too much makeup. It was as though he thought she should be more modest. One or two comments like that and I wouldn’t have noticed, but he always criticized the way she looked and he did in a weird way, as though he was offended. I also found a social media webpage of his. He assumed a different name but I recognized him in a couple of photos he had posted. He posted a lot about his girlfriend and never mentioned her name, but he had many, many photos of Hayley and made up stories about things they did together that clearly never happened.”