Colton's Texas Stakeout. C.J. Miller

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СКАЧАТЬ been combing the letters, and he might give something away during our conversation. Hopefully, I can make a connection to what Regina wrote in her letters,” Annabel said. “I’d like to spare Chris and Trevor the punishment of seeing him.”

      Chris patted her hand encouragingly, and Lizzie and Zoe smiled sympathetically. Sam just stared at her.

      “Do you want one of us to go with you? I could wait in the car,” Sam said.

      He was being supportive, but she couldn’t help feel he was questioning her strength. “I can do it.”

      “Alone?”

      “I don’t know if he’d be willing to speak to me if I brought someone else,” Annabel said. “The arrangement you made with him was pretty specific, and I’m sure he’d love for one of us to make a mistake so he can renege on the deal partway through.”

      As they discussed techniques of dragging more information from their father, Annabel’s thoughts switched to Regina Willard and then to Jesse Willard.

      Jesse had to have some connection to his sister, Matthew Colton’s most loyal fan. Having read the letters Regina had sent Matthew, Annabel had no doubt Regina was unhinged. But Jesse had seemed normal. Could Annabel have been wrong about that? Was Jesse just better at hiding his crazy? Annabel’s police instincts were usually reliable. She had dealt with enough nutcases and criminals to intuit when someone was off their rocker.

      “Earth to Annabel,” Zoe said softly.

      “What?” Annabel asked, straightening. “Sorry, I was thinking about the case.”

      “I asked if you’ve been seeing anyone,” Sam said.

      Annabel hated that question, because the answer everyone wanted was she was in a stable relationship. She dated, but it never turned into anything serious. “I’ve been busy with work and the letters from Matthew,” Annabel said. Sam, Ethan and Ridge had found love, and she hoped Chris was next, but a great romance wasn’t in the cards for her. She didn’t have time. Past relationships ended because she couldn’t make a connection with someone. Boyfriends were wary of her, suspecting something dark and twisted slept inside her, because she was the daughter of Granite Gulch’s most infamous serial killer.

      Chris had found love once, but it had ended tragically. He had lost his wife, and he hadn’t been able to move on yet. The house he had built for Laura remained empty. He couldn’t move into it and, instead, lived in an apartment over Double G Cakes and Pies. They made the best desserts in town, and Chris was lucky he wasn’t a hundred pounds overweight. His PI job kept him hopping. Every time Annabel visited her brother, she couldn’t resist stopping into the Double G for a dessert and to visit with her good friend Mia.

      Even so, thinking about the woman Chris had lost made Annabel sad. Chris could have been happy with a family of his own, but instead he worked too much and kept any prospects at bay.

      “You need some balance in your life,” Sam said.

      Annabel felt her defensiveness rise. No one criticized Chris or Trevor about their lack of love lives. “Just because you fell in love doesn’t mean everyone else will.”

      Sam smiled at Zoe, and if Annabel didn’t love them both so much, she would have gagged at the sugary sweetness in that shared look.

      “We just want you to be happy,” Lizzie said. “And lately, it seems like you go to work and then go home and read those letters.” She shuddered. “You deserve more. You deserve happiness.”

      She was happy. She was finally a police officer, a dream she had chased without her family’s approval. Achieving that goal meant a lot to her. Proving herself meant she could ask for better assignments. “Until we get this resolved with Matthew, I’m satisfied with my life and plenty busy.”

      The conversation moved on, and Annabel was glad the focus had shifted away from her.

      After dinner, Annabel joined Chris on the back porch. She sat next to him on the patio sofa, and they propped their feet on the wooden coffee table.

      “You know he goes after you because he worries,” Chris said. “We all do.”

      He was referring to Sam. Annabel understood. Her younger brother might be one of Granite Gulch’s best detectives, but he had a lot to learn about his place in the family. He didn’t get to call the shots in her life. “I worry about you all, too. Your PI work puts you in tough spots. Ridge is running around in dangerous terrain, and Sam is working the streets, searching for criminals, and Trevor...well, who knows what he’s up to, but I guarantee it involves dangerous people.”

      “I know. I worry about everyone, too. With you, it’s different. We lost Josie,” Chris said.

      His words hit her in the gut. Annabel wanted more than anything to find her sister, work out whatever problems were keeping them apart and for Josie to be part of their lives. “I know.” It was painful for them to have Josie far out of reach.

      “And Mom,” Chris said. “And Laura. It’s the Colton curse. Bad things happen to Colton women.”

      Annabel had thought about that before. “I think about Mom and Josie, too.”

      “I know you do,” Chris said. “I want you all to find the happiness I had with Laura, even though I feel cheated out of time with her. When I see Sam, Ethan and Ridge, I envy their happiness, and I worry about Zoe, Lizzie and Darcy.”

      Annabel squeezed her twin’s hand. “Nothing bad will happen. Matthew is behind bars, and he can’t hurt us anymore. We’re staying close and watching out for each other.” Though Sam, Ethan and Ridge had been through difficult struggles in recent months, they had been strong and had protected the women they loved.

      Chris shrugged. “Except Matthew found a groupie who seems to believe he is brilliant and worth following in his footsteps.”

      It was disturbing to Annabel, as well. “I wish the media would stop dragging out Matthew Colton stories and parading them around with parallels to Regina. That only encourages her, and whoever else may have the unbalanced idea to commit crimes to become famous.”

      “Matthew seems amused by Regina’s antics.”

      “Matthew having any source of happiness burns me,” Annabel said. “That’s part of the reason I don’t want to visit him. He loves jerking us around. He couldn’t get us to visit any other way, so he dangles the one thing that compels us.”

      “You still think it’s a game with no ending?” Chris asked.

      “Why not ask us to visit and tell us where Mom is buried without clues and cryptic messages spread across many months?” Annabel asked. “He’s dying. It has to have dawned on him that he could die before we receive our clues. Then, where are we? He can enjoy watching us twist and squirm and beg him for information. In any case, who knows if these clues even mean anything? One word is hardly enough. If it were that easy to find Mom, we would have found her. Or the authorities would have found her twenty years ago.”

      “No way to know unless we follow through on our visits,” Chris said.

      “After I go, it’s your turn.”

      Chris sighed. “Don’t remind me. I’m not looking forward to СКАЧАТЬ