his company was like his child. If he withdrew the kind of money required to save Colton Energy, he could cripple his own business and put thousands out of work.
He couldn’t do that—not for his father and not even for Layla. There had to be another way. Finn probably wouldn’t have any answers to that, but he would know all there was to know about this crazy “Groom Killer” targeting men about to be married. At least the threat of dying had caused Layla’s fiancé to end their engagement. But according to Patience, that threat was hurting her sister Beatrix’s bridal shop business. It was also affecting their youngest sister Gemma’s personal life because her boyfriend would not get as serious with her as she would have liked.
With a rumble of thunder sounding ominously in the distance, Blake hurried toward the doors of the police department. He didn’t want to get caught in a deluge. A woman rushed toward the building, as well. She had one arm wrapped around a child on her hip and the other hand holding the leash of the beagle running ahead of her. He stepped forward and reached around her to open the door, and as he did, he caught a familiar scent.
He hadn’t smelled it in years. Nearly five years...
But he’d never forgotten the sweet fragrance and the woman who’d worn it. It hadn’t been perfume, though. She’d said it had been her shampoo, so it had been light, smelling like rain and honeysuckle.
The scent wafted from the woman, whose pale shade of long hair was the same as the woman who’d haunted him the past five years. But it couldn’t be her...
He’d looked for her—after that night—and hadn’t been able to find her anywhere. She must have checked out of the hotel and left town.
She certainly hadn’t been a Red Ridge police officer like this woman. She wore the distinctive uniform of a K9 cop and held the leash of her partner. But when she turned back toward him, her gaze caught his and held. And he recognized those beautiful blue eyes...
Remembered her staring up at him as he’d lowered his head to kiss her...
But no, it could not be her. Being back in Red Ridge, staying at the Colton Plaza Hotel, had brought up so many memories of her, of that night, that he was starting to imagine her everywhere.
* * *
He’d found her easily enough. But he couldn’t take out her or her daughter here—outside the damn Red Ridge Police Department. Hell, after that bitch had shot him, he could barely raise his arm.
Blood trickled yet from the wound, soaking into his already saturated sleeve. He needed medical attention. But he’d have to find it somewhere other than a hospital or doctor’s office. RRPD would have someone watching those places, waiting for him.
Damn the timing...
The park had looked deserted. He hadn’t noticed anyone else around—until he’d heard the dog bark. Then he’d seen the little girl—but not before she had watched him fire those shots into that thieving dealer’s chest. Did she understand what she’d witnessed?
She was old enough that she probably did. And because he hadn’t known anyone else was around, he hadn’t had his hood up or glasses on then. So she would be able to identify and testify against him. And so would her damn cop mama.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
She and her mother were not going to live long enough to bring him down.
Noooo...
Not now. Not ever...
Juliette had determined long ago that she would never see Blake Colton again. Even though she had heard that he’d recently returned to Red Ridge, she hadn’t thought that she would actually run into him. It wasn’t as if she worked at the Colton Plaza Hotel anymore.
And she hadn’t expected him to show up at the Red Ridge Police Department.
What was he doing here—now?
She froze as their gazes locked. She should have been running instead—running away from him with Pandora. But she hesitated too long before stepping through that door. And his gaze went from her face to her daughter’s.
While there was no mistaking that Pandora was her biological child, the little girl’s blond hair was darker than Juliette’s—more a dark gold like Blake’s. Pandora’s eyes were green instead of blue. Green like her father’s eyes that stared at her now, widening with shock. She also had the same dimple in her left cheek that he had, but since neither was smiling now, it was just a small dimple and not the deep dent it became when they grinned.
Pandora wasn’t grinning, though. She was sobbing; she hadn’t stopped since the man had come after them despite Juliette’s assurances that they were safe now. Juliette didn’t feel safe, though.
Pandora must not have, either, because she buried her face in Juliette’s neck, hiding from the handsome stranger who held the door for them. But she’d done that too late. He’d already seen the little girl just like he’d seen Juliette.
And from the expression crossing his handsome face, Juliette could tell that he’d recognized her despite the nearly five years that had passed. From the way he was staring at Pandora, with his brow furrowed as if he was doing math in his head, he might have also realized that the child in her arms could be his.
No. They were not safe.
He turned back to Juliette, and the look in his green eyes chilled her nearly as much as the look in the killer’s dark eyes had. She shivered.
“It’s you—” he murmured “—isn’t it?”
She shook her head in denial. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about...”
His eyes narrowed with skepticism and suspicion. “It is you. And she...” He raised his hand as if to reach for Pandora.
But Juliette spun around, keeping her child away from him. “She’s just witnessed a crime,” she said, her voice cracking with regret and fear that her poor little girl had had to see what she had. A murder...
“I can’t do this now,” she told him. But before she could rush through those doors and get away from him, someone rushed out.
Like Juliette, the woman was clad in a RRPD uniform, her brown eyes dark with concern.
“Oh, my God,” Elle Gage exclaimed. “I just heard what happened. Are you all right?” She focused on the little girl. “Is Pandora?”
“Pandora...” Blake murmured the name, drawing Elle’s attention to him.
She gasped. “You—you’re Blake Colton,” she said. Then she glanced at Juliette. She was the only one who knew—the only one Juliette had trusted with the truth. “Were you at the park, too?” she asked him.
Blake’s brow furrowed. “Park?” He turned toward Juliette. “Is that where the crime happened?”
She nodded. “I need to complete the report.” But that wasn’t all she wanted
