Jane Godman - Colton 911 - Family Under Fire

“Coffee would be good.” He tried out a reassuring smile. From the way the receptionist scooted back in her wheeled chair, he wasn’t sure it worked. If she had a panic button under that desk, he was about thirty seconds away from explaining to his bosses at the FBI field office in Phoenix why this woman had every reason to believe one of their best agents was acting weird.

“I’ll bring it through.” She gestured toward a half-open office door.

Everett remembered Ray Torrington from his teenage years. Anxious, pale and lanky, the other guy had always been out to impress the wrong crowd. Even though they’d been six years younger, Everett and his twin brother, Casey, had known to steer clear of the company Ray kept. Only a serious intervention on the part of Ray’s dad had gotten him back on track and into law school. Which made the invitation— summons —currently residing in Everett’s back pocket all the more irksome.

He pushed open the door with the heel of his hand, his brain simultaneously registering two things—that subtle scent of violets was stronger here…and it was not his imagination.

The first Christmas he and Alyssa had been together, he’d scoured the department stores in Phoenix, only to come away empty-handed. How could he have known it was a rare Italian brand? On Christmas morning, when he’d given Alyssa the enamel violet on a silver chain, with an apology, she’d laughed and explained that Acqua Viola had been her grandmother’s favorite perfume. Alyssa laughed a lot.

A woman was seated with her back to the door, her head bent over her cell phone, and the other thing he took in was the long blond hair, confined loosely at the nape of her neck. Tendrils were escaping the restraint and she pushed impatiently at them, the gesture achingly familiar to him. She didn’t look around as he paused just inside the room.

How many times had he pictured seeing her again? Somehow, he’d always thought it would be in a bar, the scene an echo of their first meeting. Pizza and beer. That was more their style than this impersonal setting. The thought brought him back to reality with an uncomfortable bump. It was her.

“What are you doing here, Alyssa?”

She turned her head slowly, her dark blue eyes widening as she gazed at him.

“I don’t know.” Her hand reached up to clutch the enamel violet at her throat. “But maybe I should ask you the same question.”

Her voice was calm as she spoke, but the cell phone slid from her fingers and clattered onto the floor.

Alyssa’s mind was spinning. Maybe she should have seen this coming? Cactus Creek was Everett Colton’s hometown, after all.

But he had left this place as soon as he graduated from Cactus Creek High, enrolled at the University of Arizona and eventually settled in Phoenix. He’d told her he never missed the stifling, overfamiliar community atmosphere. She knew he rarely returned, only keeping in touch with his family and a few friends.

Of course, she’d thought of him when the invitation had arrived.

You are invited to attend a private reading of the last will and testament of Sean Dodd and Delilah Kennedy Dodd , she mused, recounting the words in her mind.

She’d only known the Dodds through their friendship with Everett, which had gone sour years before. She certainly hadn’t enjoyed their company, finding Sean arrogant and Delilah demanding and superior. Now the couple had died in tragic circumstances, and Alyssa had no idea what, if anything, their will could mean to her.

Private. That had been the key word in that letter. I thought it meant just me.

All thoughts of Sean and Delilah were driven out of her head as Everett took the seat next to her. Breaking up with him had almost destroyed her, and she knew it had been equally hard on him. Under the pretense of checking her cell for damage, she risked a few sidelong glances in his direction. He was still the hottest man she’d ever seen.

With his crystal-blue eyes, tousled sandy hair and square chin, he gave off an air of brooding intensity. That was until he smiled—then he could light up a room. One of Alyssa’s favorite hobbies during their time together had been making him smile.

Because his looks are the most important thing about this whole situation, right? But her reaction to him wasn’t trivial. It summed up the power he still had over her. And the danger of being near him.

Although seeing him again had thrown her completely off balance, she experienced a moment of relief. After everything that had happened between them, she had never imagined Everett would speak to her again. Okay, so a curt demand to know what she was doing there was hardly friendly conversation, but at least he hadn’t ignored her and walked out.

“So…” he began. Her phone was in danger of flying out of her grasp again as he turned her way, his light blue eyes catching hers. “How’s the pool playing going? Did you turn professional yet?”

Alyssa made a sound midway between a gasp and a laugh. It was so like him to take her by surprise with humor when she was expecting anger, and he’d done it with a reference to their first meeting.

Her heart was in turmoil, but she figured if he could keep it light, she could, too. “No, but the Pocket Rockets have my number anytime they need a substitute.”

He nodded. “I can see why Phoenix’s premier women’s pool team would have a recruitment drive among elementary-school teachers.”

“If I remember rightly, this third-grade teacher has whipped your ass on more than one occasion—”

He checked his watch. “Less than two minutes.”

The way they had slipped so easily back into a familiar, teasing rhythm was almost scary. She should stop it now. Distant and aloof, that would be the best approach… “Okay, Colton. I’ll take this bait. What are you talking about?”

“Four years apart, and two minutes is all it took for your obsession with my ass to resurface.” He grinned at her. It wasn’t just any grin. It was the grin. The one that weakened her knees a little.

And that was it. All those times she’d told herself he couldn’t flip her heart over with a look? Lies. Every last one.

“Sorry about the delay. That coffee machine is so slow,” the receptionist said as she scooted quickly past Everett and placed a tray on the desk.

“My visitors don’t need that sort of information, Brenda.” The man who entered the room dabbed at his brow with a large handkerchief.

“I don’t know. Sometimes it’s good to know why you’ve been kept waiting.” Alyssa regarded Everett in surprise. He was no diplomat, but he usually managed a basic level of politeness.

The other man’s face reddened. “I apologize for my lateness. I was unavoidably delayed.” He took a seat on the other side of the desk and gave Alyssa a tight-lipped smile. “I’m Raymond Torrington. Thank you for coming, Miss Bartholomew.” The smile disappeared as he nodded in Everett’s direction. “We’ve met before, Agent Colton.

“I’ll get straight to the point.” He opened a drawer in his desk, withdrew a folder and placed it in front of him. “Since their marriage, I’ve been Sean Dodd and Delilah Kennedy Dodd’s lawyer. I am also executor of their will. Following their tragic deaths, it now falls to me to ensure that their estate is disposed of according to their wishes.” He withdrew a single sheet of paper from the folder. “The will is very straightforward. There is one beneficiary who will inherit all property and investments.”

“If that’s the case, why are the two of us here?” Even if she hadn’t known him as well as she knew herself, Everett’s body language would have been easy to interpret—arms folded across his muscular chest, jaw clenched, one foot tapping out a restless beat.