Christmas Crime in Colorado. Cassie Miles

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СКАЧАТЬ was a leader,” Michael said proudly. “We served together in the Marines.”

      “He told me he lost his leg in the service,” she said.

      “And saved my life.” His jaw tensed. “Grant was a true hero. And I want justice for his murder.”

      She shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to continue the discussion but intrigued by Michael’s story. “Surely there was an investigation.”

      “The Atlanta PD did a decent job. They were the ones who made the link to the jury that convicted Robby Lee Warren. When he got killed in prison, there were plenty of people screaming for revenge. Robby Lee’s three brothers. His father. And the thugs he ran with.”

      “But nobody was arrested for Grant’s murder?”

      “Not enough evidence. Too many alibis.” He took the turn that lead toward Aspen. “The case went cold, but I couldn’t put the murder behind me. I kept seeing Grant, lying in his coffin with his Purple Heart ribbon pinned to his lapel. So I took a six-month leave of absence from my job to focus all my efforts on finding his killer.”

      Michael’s loyalty was fierce—she understood his need to solve this crime. “You said there were other deaths.”

      “Juror number two died in what looked like a car accident. I tried to make the case that Grant’s murderer had set up the accident, but the two murders were so different that they didn’t fit FBI profiles.”

      “And the third juror?”

      “Disappeared. The body hasn’t been found.” He gave her a long look. “That’s why I’m here with you. I owe it to Grant to keep you safe.”

      Her typical I-can-take-care-of-myself response stuck in her craw. She couldn’t easily dismiss his story, turn her back and walk away. His logic made sense. And his emotional response to his friend’s death rang true.

      She believed him.

      Accepting Michael’s story affected her in ways that couldn’t be ignored. Ever since she moved to Aspen, she’d been recuperating from her horror-story divorce. The mountains had healed her. She thought she was recovered, but his words awakened her fears. It felt like she’d gone to the doctor with a headache and found out that she had a fatal illness. Michael had pronounced her death sentence.

      She had a terrible thought that she didn’t want to put into words. But she had to. “Did he kill my roommate thinking that she was me?”

      “I don’t know your roommate, but it sounds like she had other people who might want her dead. And I suppose we should still consider the possibility that she committed suicide.”

      “Give me an answer, Michael.”

      “I can’t say for sure.”

      “I need to know if she died in my place.” How could Brooke ever forgive herself? Her eyes burned, and she squeezed them shut, fighting the tears.

      “I’m sorry,” he said.

      “Me, too.”

      MICHAEL HADN’T wanted to make her feel guilty for her roommate’s death. If anyone was to blame, it was him. He’d known about the threat and hadn’t moved quickly enough. That wasn’t a mistake he’d make a second time. “Where were you headed tonight?”

      “Glenwood Springs.”

      “Why so far away?”

      “My budget. Glenwood is less expensive. And I wanted to get away from all this. From Sally’s death.” Her voice began to quaver. “But I can’t get away. Not when I could be responsible for her death. I can’t run fast enough or far enough to hide from the guilt.”

      Covering her face with her hands, she leaned forward. Her long hair tumbled around her face. Her shoulders shook convulsively as she wept.

      He pulled into a parking lot outside a convenience store on the outskirts of town. Slipping the car into Park, he kept the engine running and the heater cranked on High. Though it wasn’t snowing, these mountains were freezing cold.

      Tentatively, he reached toward her. After all these years as a cop, he still didn’t know how to handle a woman who was crying. He liked it better when Brooke was snarling at him, brandishing a butcher knife. At least he knew how to handle that. Her tears made him feel helpless.

      When he touched her shoulder, she pulled away—a standard reaction from a woman who had been abused. From Brooke’s records, he knew that she was divorced and had taken out a restraining order against her ex-husband. He suspected there was a lot more to that story.

      She turned her tear-stained face toward him. “I’m okay. We can go.”

      “If you’d like,” he said, “I could go get you some water. Or coffee.”

      “I’m all right.”

      She swiped the back of her hand across her cheek, leaving smudges of mascara under her bright blue eyes. Her nose was red, and her full lips pinched together to hold back more sobs. Bedraggled and exhausted, she was a mess. His mama would have said that Brooke looked like something the cat dragged in. And yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off this beautiful, vulnerable woman. Her pain and sorrow were raw, honest.

      “You’re staying with me tonight,” he said. “In my hotel room. I’ll sleep on the sofa, and you can take the bed.”

      “I don’t think so.” She tossed her head, sending ripples through her auburn hair. “I lost control for a moment, but I haven’t lost my mind.”

      “This topic isn’t up for discussion. The only way I’ll know you’re safe is if I can keep an eye on you.”

      “What about my car?”

      “I’ll take care of it. The only thing you need to worry about is getting some sleep.”

      As he drove into Aspen, he listened with half an ear while she told him she was capable of taking care of herself and certainly didn’t need him hanging around like some kind of cut-rate bodyguard. She wanted to be alone, needing solitude to regroup.

      But finally she admitted her exhaustion. “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to stay with you for one night. It’s not like this is a date or anything.”

      “Far from it.”

      The fact that she is a beautiful and desirable woman doesn’t matter a whit. My mission is to keep her alive. No one else would die at the hand of Robby Lee Warren’s avenger. In that way, Michael would honor the vow he’d made to the memory of Grant Rawlins.

      At the hotel, he turned his car keys over to the valet while Brooke looked at him with a curious expression.

      “Nice hotel,” she said.

      “I thought so.”

      “At the boutique this afternoon, you didn’t wince when I told you how much those gorgeous leather gloves cost.”

      He nodded.

      “There СКАЧАТЬ