Her Colton P.i.. Amelia Autin

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      “So it only makes sense she didn’t want to have anything to do with her brothers and sisters—we’re not her family anymore. Then six years ago...” Chris began, but when he stopped, Holly raised her eyebrows in a question, so he continued. “Josie ran away six years ago. At least that’s the best we can figure. I’ve been searching for her off and on ever since.”

      Now Holly thought she understood what Peg had meant when she said Chris needed to do this, needed to shelter Holly and her boys from the McCays. Chris carried a load of guilt over his missing sister. Probably some guilt over his mother, too.

      “You said there were seven of you, and that Trevor’s the oldest. What does he do?”

      “FBI profiler.”

      “Wow. Impressive.”

      Chris nodded, but Holly got the impression there were some unresolved issues between Chris and his older brother. I wonder what that’s about. She wasn’t going to ask, of course. But maybe he would volunteer something later on. “After Trevor it’s you and Annabel, right? And Josie’s the baby. Who else?”

      “Ridge. He’s two years younger than me.”

      “Unusual name.”

      Chris laughed. “It suits him. He’s in search and rescue. He’s big and bad and nobody messes with Ridge.”

      Kind of like you, Holly thought, but she kept it to herself. “And after Ridge?”

      “Ethan. He’s twenty-seven, and he is intense. He kind of keeps himself to himself, if you know what I mean.” Holly nodded. “He’s a rancher. His ranch is...oh, about ten miles from here. The isolation suits him, but he’s going to have to get accustomed to having more people around—his wife, Lizzie, is expecting a baby any day now.”

      “Oh, that’s nice. You’ll be an uncle again.” She counted up in her mind, then said, “One more. Another brother, right?”

      “Yeah. Sam. He’s a police detective, right here on the Granite Gulch police force, just like Annabel. He’s twenty-five, and he just got engaged in January to the sweetest woman, Zoe. You’d like her.”

      “Wait. Zoe Robison? The librarian?”

      Ian piped up, “Zo-ee, Zo-ee!” and Jamie copied him. Holly quickly looked over at her boys and realized they were pretty much done. They’d left a disaster that would need hosing down to clean up, but at least they’d managed to eat most of what was on their plates. What hadn’t been eaten was now adorning them. She shuddered at the mashed potatoes Ian had massaged into his eyebrows.

      “You know Zoe?” Chris asked.

      Holly jumped up and grabbed the washcloth from the sink. “She runs the Mommy and Me reading program at the library,” she explained as she wiped Jamie’s hands and face, then did the same for Ian. “Ian and Jamie adore her, and yes, she’s really sweet.”

      Chris waited until Jamie was clean, then he unstrapped the boy and lifted him out of the high chair, setting him on his feet. When Ian was ready, he got the same treatment.

      “Leave this,” Chris told Holly. “I’ll clean up and put the dishes in the dishwasher.”

      “I should do it,” she protested. “Ian and Jamie are the ones who made such a mess.” She grimaced as she took in the condition of the floor, which had a few peas scattered beneath the high chairs—the ones Wally hadn’t gobbled up—not to mention a couple of gooey globs that looked like mashed potatoes.

      “You probably want to give the boys a bath before too long.”

      “You mean before they track the mess into the rest of the house?”

      Chris grinned. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.”

      “You really don’t mind cleaning up in here? I feel awful leaving this for you.”

      “Don’t sweat it.” He was already swiping a damp paper towel over the mashed potatoes and picking the remaining peas up off the floor as she spoke. Chris’s cell phone rang at that moment, and he threw the peas into the garbage disposal before he checked the caller ID. “Annabel,” he told Holly. “I should take this. Excuse me.” He pressed a button. “Hey, Bella, what’s up?”

      He stiffened almost immediately, and Holly watched his lighthearted expression fade away as he listened to his sister on the other end. Two minutes passed, then three, before Chris said, “I’m sorry to hear it. What does Trevor say?” He made a sound of impatience, then nodded as if Annabel could see him. “Okay. I understand. Besides Trevor and Sam, who else knows?” He listened for a minute, then said, “Nothing I can do, but thanks for letting me know. Watch yourself, okay?”

      He disconnected but didn’t put the phone away. He hit speed dial, waited a few seconds, then said, “Peg? It’s Chris. Have you been watching the local news?” Apparently the answer was no, because he added, “Turn it on. Now. Annabel just called me. They found another body with the bull’s-eye marking. Yeah, number eight—Helena Tucker.”

       Chapter 5

      Chris hung up with Peg, then glanced at Holly. She was kneeling on the floor, an arm around each twin, clutching them tightly. “Sorry,” Chris said, thinking she was trying to keep the boys from hearing his side of the conversation. “I forgot there were little ears around.” The face Holly raised to his was ashen, and guilty. “What?” he asked.

      “It’s terrible,” she whispered. “I should be praying for that poor woman. But all I could think about when I heard her name was that I could stop worrying.”

      Chris shook his head. “You didn’t really think you were in danger, did you? Yeah, your name begins with H, but hell—” He caught himself up short, remembering too late his vow to watch his language. “Heck,” he amended, “you don’t have long dark hair. Your hair isn’t even really dark—I have the pictures to prove it.”

      “I know. I wasn’t really worried, but...fear isn’t always logical. It was just there in the back of my mind, you know? And the newspaper reported that the woman who’s suspected of being the Alphabet Killer—I forget her name—”

      “Regina Willard.”

      “Right. She once stayed at the Rosewood Rooming House, same as me.”

      “I know.” Chris suddenly thought of something. “Before I forget, I wanted to tell you there’s no internet service here at the house yet. And no cable. Water, gas, electricity and phone—yeah. I couldn’t turn the water off—unless I wanted to let the landscaping shrivel up and die. Not to mention Peg needs water when she comes out here to take care of the place. And electricity and phone service are necessary for the alarm system. But no cable or internet landline. I called to get them turned on when we were at Peg’s, but it’ll be a few days.”

      “That’s okay,” Holly informed him. “I haven’t watched TV since I left Clear Lake City. And I only browse the internet at the library anyway, so it’s not a hardship to do without. But what about you?”

      “I can survive without cable for a СКАЧАТЬ