Colton 911: Deadly Texas Reunion

“You’re moving?” he asked. “Where?”

Twelve-year-old Summer frowned, shrugged. “Wherever the Army sends us.”

He licked his lips and blinked hard, his eyes sad. “Will I ever see you again?”

No. As it turned out, she hadn’t seen her best childhood friend since that goodbye seventeen years ago. They’d written to each other for a while, but—

A loud thumping drew her out of her musing. She gave her head a small shake and turned to find Ian Eccleston slapping his hand on her desktop. “Hell-oooo? Ms. Davies, are you listening?”

Atticus tipped his head. “My dear, are you all right? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

I may have. Summer raked her hair back from her face. Gathering her thoughts after what—or rather whom—she’d just seen was a bit like chasing down a spilled bag of marbles as they rolled in every direction.

“I’m sorry. I thought I saw…someone from my past. Someone important…”

But he hadn’t been back to Whisperwood in years, to her knowledge. Why would he be here now?

“Can you help us with this case or not, Ms. Davies?” Ian asked. “I have to say, based on what I’ve seen so far of your operation…” He cast a disdainful look around her Spartan accommodations, allowing his disapproving glare to stop on Yossi, who crouched on the windowsill. “I’m not feeling especially confident in your ability to handle a matter as important as my sister’s murder.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. I promise you, if I take your case, I will leave no stone unturned in searching for the truth. I provide the highest quality service to every client.”

“If you take the case?” Atticus frowned and cast a side glance to his son before pinning her with his rheumy eyes. “You’re not sure?”

“I want to take your case. I want to help you. But considering the circumstances, I think it would be wise for me to do a little preliminary groundwork before I make any promises.”

Ian rolled his eyes and grumbled to his father, “See, Dad. What did I tell you?”

“Hush, Ian. It may be a long shot, but Ms. Davies is our last best hope.”

Last best hope? She wasn’t sure if she should feel honored or insulted by the characterization. But being the grieving father’s last hope for peace and justice was the red flag waved in front of her. A challenge. A mission. More than anything, she wanted to prove to these men, prove to the town, prove to herself that she hadn’t made a mistake moving to Whisperwood three months ago. She was a good investigator—no, a great investigator—and she was determined to do what the naysayers and skeptics around her said she couldn’t. She’d prove them wrong.

She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders. “Here’s what I can do,” Summer said, pulling out a blank notepad and clicking open her favorite pen. “I can take down your information, have you give me some background and insights into Patrice’s life, and then I’ll do a preliminary evaluation. If it looks like I can contribute something to the case that the police haven’t covered, and that my efforts won’t hinder or interfere with Chief Thompson’s investigation, then we’ll proceed. Deal?”

“What do you want to know?”

“What I like to call the big Hs—her hobbies, hangouts, habits and homies.”

Atticus raised an eyebrow and sent her a puzzled look. “Homies?”

“Uh, you know, her friends. But homies starts with H, so…” She cleared her throat. “So what do you think?”

“I think I’ll do whatever it takes to put my daughter’s murderer behind bars.”

Nolan studied the storefronts along Main Street and reminisced about the summers he’d spent here in Whisperwood when he was younger. His cousins’ ranch, a thousand-acre spread near Austin, had been the perfect place for a restless boy to spend his summers learning to rope calves, find the best fishing holes and ride his assigned horse, Joker, alongside his cowboy cousins. Sometime between first grade and graduating from high school, he’d fallen in love with the small-town charm of Whisperwood, as well. In the years since his last summer at the Colton Ranch, he’d missed the hot days wrangling cattle, the sticky nights chasing lightning bugs—and a special girl who’d made his early years at the ranch especially memorable. Summer.

With hair the color of beach sand, a laugh as bubbly as the sodas they’d sip under the cottonwoods and a smile as bright as the sun, Summer had been every bit as warm and wonderful as the season she was named for. As unlikely as the match had seemed, his cousins’ neighbor had quickly become his best friend at the ranch. But then, she was no girly-girl like his sister, Emma, who preferred American Girl dolls and air-conditioning over the boys’ rough-and-tumble antics in the great outdoors. Tomboy Summer had easily kept up with him and his cousins as they climbed, raced, dug, swam, wrestled, fished, mucked and sweated away the hottest days in the Texas Hill Country.

And then Summer and her family had moved.

Nolan sighed, remembering the June day when he was thirteen, and he’d learned his best friend was leaving town. He’d arrived at the Colton Ranch, raring to saddle up and go get Summer for a long horseback ride in his cousins’ pastures.

“Dude, she’s moving to North Carolina this weekend,” his cousin Forrest had said. “Didn’t she write you?”

Now Nolan rubbed his chest, feeling a hollowness behind his breastbone that paled compared to the sucker punch his younger self had experienced learning of his loss. He’d still had fun with his cousins in subsequent years, but the days lacked the nebulous goldenness and luster he’d known when he’d had Summer at his side.

Bending his neck to glance at the storefront signs out the passenger side of his car, he spotted a couple more new businesses mixed with the old familiar ones. He spotted the Whisperwood General Store, where he, Donovan and Forrest had filched a box of condoms—and felt so guilty about it they’d returned the same day to put them back. Down the block was the Bluebell Diner, where the chocolate chip pancakes were better than anything his mother or Aunt Josephine could make. His stomach rumbled appreciatively, even though he’d enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the ranch two hours ago. At the corner was a new business, Kain’s Auto Shop, where the bay doors were open and someone in gray coveralls bent over the engine of a dusty pickup truck.

At one of the few traffic lights in the sleepy town, he sipped his coffee and decided the addition of JoJo’s Java to the downtown storefronts was a definite boon. He didn’t consider himself a coffee snob, but the rich house brew was excellent and hit the spot on this cool autumn morning. At his hip, his cell phone buzzed an incoming call.

“Special Agent Colton,” he said out of habit, then frowned, wondering if he would still be a special agent when the trumped-up investigation was completed.

“How very official of you, Nolan,” said a female voice at the other end of the line. “I wish I had a fancier title to throw back besides your cousin-in-law Bellamy.”

He smiled, picturing his cousin Donovan’s beautiful wife. “No fancier title needed. The fact that you put up with Donovan is credential enough in my book. What can I do for you?”

“If you have a little time today, could you come by my office and help me with something?” Bellamy, an accountant for Lone Star Pharma, asked.

“What kind of something?” Nolan switched to hands-free mode on his phone so he could drive.

“The ladies in the office organized a surprise baby shower for me this morning, and I have a lovely collection of gifts I need help getting home,” Bellamy, who was eight months pregnant, said then rushed to add, “I know you’re on vacation…”

He swallowed a scoff and a tinge of bitterness toward his employer when she referred to his unpaid leave as a vacation, but then, all he’d told his family was that he was taking some time off.

“…and I wouldn’t ask normally, except Donovan is tied up working a case and Dallas—”

“No problem.”

“—and Avery have their hands full with the twins, and Forrest—”

“Bellamy, stop. I’m happy to help,” he said, even as he turned on Alamo Street to head toward the sprawling complex of the town’s largest employer. He was, in fact, relieved to have something useful to do. He’d helped Hays muck stalls this morning and promised to drive Josephine to a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, but he was woefully short on things to fill his free time. He needed something to occupy his hands, his mind for the foreseeable future or he’d go nuts stewing over the false charges being investigated back in Chicago.

“Are you sure? I hate to impose, but I’m not supposed to carry anything heavy and—”

He chuckled hearing the apology in her voice. “No imposition. Really. I wasn’t doing anything except cruising around town, walking down memory lane. I’m on my way now.”

“Thank you, Nolan! You’re a lifesaver!”

“Helping you tote baby gifts hardly compares to saving a life, but you are most welcome.”

He arrived at the Lone Star Pharma offices within minutes and parked in the visitor’s spot closest to the door Bellamy specified. He climbed out of his car, coffee in hand, and scanned the complex, which was far larger than he’d remembered as a teenager. He’d heard the company was doing well and expanding, and the new buildings on the Lone Star campus testified to that fact.

At one end of the parking lot, he spotted an area marked off with yellow tape, and curiosity bit him. Crime scene tape or general cautionary tape? At dinner last night, his cousins had talked about all the damage done by Hurricane Brooke, the storm that had blown through the area a couple of months back. But hadn’t they also mentioned a woman’s body had recently been discovered buried under the parking lot? The back of his neck tingled, and he headed toward the yellow tape as if drawn there by some alien tractor beam.

His curiosity spiked all the more when he noticed a woman poking around the marked-off area. The woman, petite, with dark blond hair and curves, was crouched at the edge of the crime scene with a notepad, scribbling notes and taking pictures with her phone. A reporter maybe? But wasn’t the story a few weeks old? Kind of late for the newspaper to be writing up the gruesome discovery. Whoever she was, her blue jeans fit her shapely tush in a way that made Nolan look twice…before mentally castigating himself for even noticing. He’d been suspended from the Bureau because he’d let a beautiful woman convince him to follow his baser instincts instead of his professional ethics. But never again.

He crossed the parking lot without saying anything, his athletic shoes silent on the asphalt. The woman was so absorbed in her work that she didn’t seem to notice his approach. Not good, he thought to himself. What if his intent was to kidnap her or rob her? She really needed to be more aware of her surroundings.

He stopped a few feet behind her and observed for a few seconds before, without turning from her crouch, she said, “Just so you know, I’m packing a .38, and I’m trained to use it.”

Nolan grinned and muttered, “Welcome to Texas.”

“Is there something you want?” she said, still photographing the upturned earth and shallow trench where, presumably, the body had recently been found.

Nolan took a sip of his coffee, then said, “How about your name, and the reason you’re nosing around?”

The blonde angled her head toward him. Blinked. Gasped. And sprang from her crouch, leaping toward him in one fluid motion. Squealing, she jumped against him, crushing his coffee cup and wrapping herself around him in a bear hug. “Omigod! Omigod! Omigod! Nolan!”

He had no choice but to catch the woman, or they’d both have tumbled to the pavement. Her legs hooked around him, and he put his hands beneath the shapely bottom he’d been admiring earlier to support her as she squeezed him and giggled.

And his heart stilled. He knew that effervescent laugh. “Summer?”

Nolan leaned back, trying to catch a glimpse of the woman’s face. As she raised her head from his shoulder, she bumped his chin, making him bite his tongue. But, sure enough, the spitfire hugging him for all he was worth was Summer. His Summer.

“Yep!” she said, her full-wattage smile beaming at him. Her face had lost its baby fat, but not the elfin shape of her nose and full lips, her rounded cheekbones and wide almond-shaped eyes, the same color as the dark roast coffee now soaking his shirt.

He took a moment to catch his breath, then wheezed, “Holy cow! How the heck are you?”

When she finally put her feet on the ground and stepped back, she kept her grip on his arms, as if she were afraid he’d disappear if she let go. “I’m good. Excellent, in fact, now that you’re here! Oh my god, Nolan, I’m so happy to see you!”

He chuckled and nodded to his spilled coffee. “Clearly.”

She glanced down at the brown stain on his white T-shirt and cringed. “Oops. Sorry!”

“Forget it. The shirt will wash.” He nodded toward the police tape. “What were you up to over there?”

“Oh, that?” She bent to retrieve the notebook she’d dropped when she’d hugged him. “Gathering info for a new case.”

“A case? You’re a cop?”

She wrinkled her nose in the captivating way he remembered and shook her head. “Not a cop. A private investigator.”

Nolan raised his eyebrows and chuckled his surprise. “You’re a PI?”

Her smile dimmed, and she narrowed a glare on him. “Why is that funny to you?”

“It’s just—”

“A woman can be a PI same as any man!” She straightened her back, making the most of her five-foot-nothing stature as she squared off with him.

He raised both palms toward her. “Whoa! No offense intended. I just never would have pictured you becoming a PI is all.”

Her hackles eased, and she gave him a lopsided grin. “Oh, yeah? And what did you see me becoming?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe joining the Army like your dad? Or working on the Colton Ranch wrangling cows alongside Jonah and Dallas?”

She twisted her mouth as if thinking. “Not the Army. Too transient. I had my fill of moving all over the place with my dad.” Then focusing her attention on him again, she rushed forward for another hug. “I can’t believe it’s you! You’re really here! It’s been way too long.”

He hugged her back, more awkwardly aware of the feminine curves snuggled against him. It’s Summer, for God’s sake! You’re not allowed to notice her figure!

Leaning back to peer up at him, she asked, “What about you? What brings you here?”

He hitched a thumb toward the office buildings. “I’m meeting Bellamy. Donovan’s wife?”

She nodded. “I’ve met her. She’s great.”

“Apparently her coworkers threw a baby shower today, and she needs help lugging some big items out to her car.”

Her smile twitched playfully. “That’s very kind of you to help her out, but… I meant what are you doing in Whisperwood?” Her expression changed instantly to excited hopefulness. “Did you move back here? Oh, Nolan! Say you did!”

He scratched his chin as he flashed a moue of regret. “Afraid not, Tadpole.”

“Tadpole.” She sighed happily. “It’s been a while since anyone called me that.” She cocked her head to the side. “So what did bring you to town after all these years?”

Whether she intended the scolding tone or not, he heard a mild reprimand in her question that chewed guiltily at his gut—followed immediately by the acid bite of anger and apprehension left by his suspension. “I’m taking some time off to…rest. Get some perspective on some things.”

Rather than satisfy Summer, his vague answer seemed to intrigue her. Her gaze intensified, her mouth compressed and her brow wrinkled in consternation. “What the hell does that mean? Get some perspective?”

“It’s a job-related issue.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Were you fired?”

He rolled his shoulders, cleared his throat. “No.” Might as well have been.

Her gaze narrowed further, and he recognized a deep insight in her espresso-brown stare. Summer had always been able to read him well when they were kids.

He drew his shoulders back and glanced away from her knowing gaze. This suspension was a crock, a humiliation. How would he ever be taken seriously by his fellow agents again?

“Nolan?”

He aimed a thumb over his shoulder. “Look, um… Bellamy is waiting for me, so I need to run. But it was great to see you, Summer.” He smiled, meaning it. “I’d love to get together for coffee and a catch-up.” He motioned to the front of his shirt with his empty cup. “You do owe me a cup.”

Summer tucked her golden-blond hair behind her ear, nodding. “That I do, hoss.” She patted her pockets, then frowned. “Dang, I left my business cards at the office.” Flipping a page in her notepad, she scribbled a phone number and ripped the sheet out. “Call me. I want to hear what you’ve been up to, what sort of perspective you need in this mysterious career of yours.”

Folding the sheet, he tucked it in his back pocket. “Count on it.”

He leaned in to give her cheek a peck, catching the tantalizing floral scent of her shampoo as he did. At the last second, he thought better of the platonic show of affection. Once bitten, twice shy and all that crap. He angled his face away so that they merely brushed cheeks. He took a long step back and rubbed his free hand on the leg of his jeans. Damn it, was this what he’d come to? Second-guessing every friendly gesture around a woman, afraid of his actions being misconstrued?

He continued walking backward, somehow reluctant to let Summer out of his sight. For so many years, she’d been the yin to his yang. Her energy and sunny disposition able to lift him from even the darkest mood. In light of his current circumstances, he could use a strong dose of Summer’s friendship and positivity in his life. Running into her today felt like more than good luck. He didn’t believe in fate or karma, but seeing Summer gave him a familiar sense of well-being and comfort, like the innocence of their younger days.

He lifted a hand, waving as he reluctantly turned to walk away. If he had the chance to reconnect with Summer while he was on leave, maybe his suspension wouldn’t totally suck. He grinned to himself as he strode across the parking lot. See, Summer was already rubbing off on him. He’d found a silver lining in the disaster that was his life.

So she’d been right about seeing Nolan from her office window. A giddy revelry danced inside Summer, leaving her breathless and beaming. After several years of radio silence from her childhood friend, seeing him again was a bonus she hadn’t expected when she’d moved back to Whisperwood. She pressed a hand over her scampering heartbeat and prayed he’d use her phone number to set up a date. Well, not a date date. That wasn’t the kind of relationship they had. But she wanted a long sit-down, catch-up, revive-their-friendship meeting, coffee or not. Because, damn it, she’d missed Nolan.

When she’d asked her best girlfriend, Avery Logan—who was now engaged to Nolan’s cousin Dallas—what the Coltons had heard from Nolan, she’d been told he hadn’t been in touch with his cousins, either. His life for the past several years had been a mystery to her and his cousins. Why? What had led him to lose touch with the family and friends he’d once been so close to?

Summer watched Nolan walk away and couldn’t help admiring his broad shoulders and lean hips, the confident swagger in his stride, and the shimmer of golden autumn sun on his light brown hair. She raised a hand to her face, still feeling the light scrape of his five o’clock scruff on her cheek. In that moment, she’d been sure he was going to kiss her, and when he hadn’t, disappointment plucked at her. Not because she expected a kiss—they were just friends, after all—but because she’d detected a reticence on his part. He’d held back. Withdrawn.

As kids they’d had such an easy rapport. Even the last time she’d Skyped with him as a teenager, before her family had moved to Colorado and she’d lost touch with him, the comfortable camaraderie had been second nature. So what had changed?

Well, other than the fact that Nolan was no longer a rangy teenager with acne, but a tall, good-looking man with a sexy amount of beard stubble.

“Whew,” she whispered on an exhale, mentally amending, a very good-looking man. Who’d developed muscles to match his height. Muscles she’d itched to run her hands over and explore after their hug.

Good grief! She gave her head a firm shake. Was she seriously ogling Nolan Colton?

Get that out of your system now, Davies. You want to make things awkward with your old friend? Just let him catch you eyeing him like he’s the last slice of Aunt Mimi’s chocolate cake.

Great. Now she wanted Nolan and cake. Huffing her pique with herself, she tracked Nolan’s progress until he disappeared inside the Lone Star Pharma building. Nolan Colton. Here in Whisperwood. Wonders never ceased.

As she turned back to the taped-off area where Patrice Eccleston’s body had been discovered, she sobered. She couldn’t let Nolan’s return distract her from the job at hand. She’d been charged with learning all she could about the monster who’d killed Patrice and why the attractive twenty-year-old had been targeted. If she’d been targeted. Had Patrice’s death been planned, or was it a random act of violence?

As picturesque and homey as it appeared, Whisperwood was no stranger to murder and violent crime. In recent months, the man whom authorities had dubbed the Mummy Killer had been found. The murderer, Horace Corgan, had been on his deathbed and confessed to the crimes when presented with evidence of his guilt. Police had assumed Patrice was another of Corgan’s victims, but the dying man, who had nothing to lose for speaking the truth, had vehemently denied killing Patrice.

In fact, the circumstances and evidence surrounding her murder and burial made her case an outlier. Unsolved. A raw wound for her family…which was what had brought Atticus and Ian to her office in search of answers, justice and peace of mind. Summer stared at the upturned dirt in the narrow ditch at the edge of the sprawling parking lot, and her heart ached. Poor Patrice. If construction workers hadn’t been repairing the buckled pavement left by recent storms, the slain woman might never have been found. Obviously what her killer had hoped for when he—or she—had chosen the location of Patrice’s shallow grave.

“Patrice,” Summer whispered to the wind, “I promise to do everything in my power to find out who did this to you. If there is justice in this world, I will bring your killer in.”

With her vow carrying to the heavens on the autumn breeze, Summer packed up her notes and headed back to town to begin fulfilling her promise.

Chapter 2

Summer’s mind whirled as she planned her next step in her investigation. Who should she talk to first? How should she proceed so that she didn’t burn bridges with the police department? What need for perspective had brought Nolan back to Whisperwood after all these years?

She shook her head. Letting Nolan distract her was no way to keep her word to Patrice or solve her first real case. She tucked her notepad under her arm as she fished the keys to her Volkswagen Beetle out of her purse and unlocked her car.

The clank of a metal door opening and the sound of voices drew her attention to the front entrance of Lone Star Pharma. Bellamy Colton, her belly swollen with eight months of pregnancy, held the door as Nolan struggled out the door with a pile of large boxes, stacked so high Summer wasn’t sure how he could see where he was walking. Bellamy led him to a car parked in the employee lot and popped the trunk.