Colton's Fugitive Family Read online

  Will the deadly Groom Killer finally be caught?

  The final chapter of The Coltons of Red Ridge

  On the run since her ex-fiancé’s murder, Demi Colton risks everything to protect herself—and her newborn son. But now Demi’s heart comes under fire when Lucas Gage, a fellow bounty hunter, steps in to prove her innocence. Can they snare the real culprit while outmaneuvering death at every turn?

  Lucas Gage had a confident personality. Until now, she hadn’t realized he also possessed a lot of charm. She almost told him this tactic would not make her angry. Quite the opposite.

  “Be careful. You might fall for me more than you want to,” Demi said.

  “We were talking about making you mad.”

  “Yes, and you have way too much fun doing that.” She would not enlighten him that his flirty tactic would—and did—have the opposite effect.

  He chuckled, that deep raspy sound she loved but had never admitted to loving.

  “My secret is out.” His voice caressed her just as his hand did.

  She could think of nothing clever to say. She couldn’t think. Not with him wooing her this way. He had to be aware that was what he was doing.

  What if he wasn’t? Or what if he was but couldn’t or wouldn’t stop himself?

  His head lowered.

  He was going to kiss her and she’d let him.

  * * *

  The Coltons of Red Ridge: A killer’s on the loose and love is on the line

  * * *

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  Dear Reader,

  I love writing the Coltons series. I love the action and adventure and, most of all, the intriguing characters. These Coltons sure do live exciting lives! They face seemingly insurmountable danger and always find their way to true love.

  In Colton’s Fugitive Family, the action and adventure wrap up the Coltons of Red Ridge series as Demi fights to prove her innocence. In the midst of the action, she is reluctant to trust again and win the love of her man. Sit back or curl up on a couch and enjoy the final book. Join me on a journey toward happy endings for all.

  Jennifer Morey

  COLTON’S FUGITIVE FAMILY

  Jennifer Morey

  Two-time RITA® Award nominee and Golden Quill award winner Jennifer Morey writes single-title contemporary romance and page-turning romantic suspense. She has a geology degree and has managed export programs in compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the aerospace industry. She lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, Colorado, and loves to hear from readers through her website, jennifermorey.com, or Facebook.

  Books by Jennifer Morey

  Harlequin Romantic Suspense

  The Coltons of Red Ridge

  Colton’s Fugitive Family

  Cold Case Detectives

  A Wanted Man

  Justice Hunter

  Cold Case Recruit

  Taming Deputy Harlow

  Runaway Heiress

  Hometown Detective

  The Coltons of Shadow Creek

  Mission: Colton Justice

  The Coltons of Texas

  A Baby for Agent Colton

  Ivy Avengers

  Front Page Affair

  Armed and Famous

  One Secret Night

  The Eligible Suspect

  Visit Jennifer’s Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or jennifermorey.com, for more titles.

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  To Harley. May his fight for life prevail.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Excerpt from Fatal Invasion by Marie Force

  Excerpt from Rancher’s Covert Christmas by Beth Cornelison

  Chapter 1

  White Christmas lights twinkled in the otherwise dimly lit log cabin; a fire crackled; It’s a Wonderful Life played on a DVD. Demetria “Demi” Colton hung the last ornament she’d picked up in town. Stepping back, she admired the end result. She folded her arms and smiled, feeling a welcome upturn of the corners of her lips.

  Perfect.

  Teal, magenta, blue and lime-green round ornaments mixed with other fun, animated character ornaments and sparkly sprigs of blue-colored berries. She’d wondered if the end result would be too gaudy but the tree looked beautiful. She’d put it in the corner of the living room, flanked by windows. Only she and Wolf would enjoy viewing the lights from outside—hopefully. She didn’t want company.

  She had worried she wouldn’t be able to have a tree this year, but she’d come up with a disguise so she could go into the little town not far from here. She’d changed the color of her hair from red to black and cut it into a pixie almost a year ago, when she’d first gone on the run. A brown wig, black-rimmed glasses and hippie-themed clothes were diametrically different from how she had dressed before. Working as an independent bounty hunter she had worn practical clothes—clean, neat and tidy—but she also liked to dress up and go out. She did not turn away from a Little Black Dress when the occasion fit.

  Thinking she heard something outside, Demi moved to the front window and parted the heavy drapes that reached the floor. She saw nothing other than darkness beyond the porch lights. On one side of the cabin the front entry jutted out farther than the living area inside, one thing she really liked about the place. There was room to remove winter clothes, put shoes under the white bench and hang jackets on hooks above. She’d bought a no-slip multicolored rug to put over the wood floor.

  The weather forecast had called for snow tonight and tomorrow. She loved snowstorms, one positive about being forced into hiding with a five-month-old baby, and this storm had prompted her to stock up on essentials since it was predicted that over a foot would fall. The single-lane driveway that wound its way a quarter of a mile from the highway would be impassable for days, shaded by a dense, dark forest.

  Snowflakes drifted down right now, nothing too ominous, but a light layer of white already covered the ground. She’d be safe tonight, a rarity.

  Letting the drape fall back into place, she turned toward the living room of the small cabin and shut off the lamp beside the sofa. She left the light on over the stove all night. With the Christmas lights, it was just bright enough to see. The cabin wasn’t big, with a kitchen, dining area and living room, and two bedrooms down a short hallway. One bathroom.

  She had constructed a secret room where Wolf slept, and a baby monitor on the kitchen counter kept her apprised of his well-being. She’d created a hidden entrance in her bedroom closet. She’d divided the second bedroom into two. Call her paranoid, but given her fugitive situation, her first priority was Wolf’s safety. And she had an escape plan if anything went wrong. She slept easier at night knowing her son was locked in a secure place. She shouldn’t have to do any of that. She shouldn’t even be in this preposter
ous situation.

  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.”

  “You need to give me the link. That’s more evidence against him.”

  He was just trying to get her to lower her guard. He’d do anything to have another successful bounty to add to his rock-solid reputation.

  They proceeded to have a stare down. Demi wasn’t one to be uncomfortable, but Lucas’s handsome face always threw her off. Not to mention his tall, muscular and fit body. She looked away first.

  “The police won’t arrest you, Demi. You can go home,” Lucas said. Smooth talker.

  Demi spotted the baby monitor on the kitchen counter and experienced a flash of panic. What if Wolf made a sound? Lucas might redouble his effort to haul her in if he found out she had his nephew in a hidden room.

  “You say the police don’t have the evidence they need to arrest Devlin. Well, they have evidence against me.”

  “They know the necklace was planted and the killer wrote your name in Bo’s blood, making it look as though Bo wrote it as he was dying. They know the witness who claimed to see you running from the crime scene lied.”

  “How do they know that?”

  “Everything came out because of a sexual harassment case last month. No one even realized it was connected until the pieces starting fitting together. Hunter Black—he’s a cop with the PD—found out that an employee of Colton Energy lied about bigwig Layla Colton sexually harassing him. Her phone and email were hacked. Only one person would have a motive to ruin her and that’s Devlin Harrington. He didn’t want his father marrying her. Hunter found proof of the hacking and, in turn, other evidence was dug up—evidence that connected him to being the Groom Killer. Devlin is now on the run, like you.”

  Demi lowered her gun, stunned by this revelation. “What evidence?”