A Baby For Agent Colton. Jennifer Morey
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу A Baby For Agent Colton - Jennifer Morey страница 11
“Except now you can’t kill anymore,” Trevor said. He would not allow this monster to enjoy his crimes. “You can’t kill Big J. In fact, Big J is doing just fine in Oklahoma. Richer than ever. Successful rancher. Happy as can be. Nothing you’ve done has changed that.”
Matthew started to stand. “You son of a—” The security guard took a step forward, his hand on his gun. Matthew saw this and sat back down, glaring across the table at Trevor.
“You asked me to profile you,” Trevor said, checking his phone for the time. “I’ve got to go. You’ve wasted yet another of my visits.”
“Wait.” Matthew’s temper cooled. He didn’t want this visit to end, this escape from everyday prison routine. “You convince that daughter of mine, Josie, to come and see me?”
“She already came to see you.” It had been a brief visit. Josie had given up and left.
“If you want another clue, bring Josie to see me.”
Trevor wasn’t sure he could convince her. “She thinks you’re bluffing. You don’t give out information easily.” He’d refused to give Trevor any clues. Maybe because Trevor came to see him the most. He knew Trevor would come to see him. Josie was more of a challenge. But Josie had been through a lot. A person could only take so many doses of evil at a time.
“You can give me her clue,” Trevor said. He’d tried every time to get information.
Matthew scoffed. “What fun would that be?”
Matthew didn’t consider Trevor a challenge. He also despised him for what he represented. Law enforcement. FBI profiler. And though Matthew would never admit it or say it to Trevor’s face, he knew he was good at what he did.
“Give me Josie’s clue. You’ll find peace knowing your wife will have a respectable burial.”
“Peace,” Matthew sneered. “You left that part out of your profile. I am at peace.”
He would not bend. He would not hand out any more clues until Josie came to see him again. Killing all those people, Saralee included, didn’t bother him.
“You want to know where your mother is buried, you’ll do as I say. No more clues until I see Josie.”
That put him in a bind. Josie didn’t believe Matthew would give a clue. She also struggled with the drama. Going to see Matthew would be painful for her, bring up old memories she didn’t welcome. None of them did. He couldn’t blame her, but he wished she’d at least try to get the clue, go see Matthew more than once if that was what it took, even if he never divulged what he owed them all.
* * *
When Trevor arrived back at his office, the visit at the prison had left him emotionally drained. He sighed and tipped his head back, shutting his eyes and trying to block the image of Matthew Colton from his mind. His grayish pale skin. Empty eyes that only livened up when he felt in control. His frail body. On the drive back here, Trevor had actually felt a tinge of sympathy for the man. He’d die in prison. Cancer would be the weapon to do the job. Justice.
Why or how he could feel any sympathy for his murderous father confounded Trevor and upset him. As he examined his feelings, he supposed the sympathy came from the basic fact that Matthew was his father. A biological fact. He mourned the loss of a real father, one who didn’t kill and hold a psychotic grudge against his brother.
The justice, however. Ah, the justice. Trevor smiled a little at that. Matthew was where he belonged. Cancer would take him from this world, and Trevor and his brothers and sisters would never have to see him again.
A knock preceded Chris Colton saying, “Must be good. Did you catch the Alphabet Killer?”
Trevor lowered his head and sat forward. His younger brother’s sharp blue eyes crinkled in a half smile. Tall and muscular with dark blond hair, he made an imposing presence. He’d gone into private investigation, something Trevor had always been proud of, especially the similarity to his job. Except he’d seemed reserved around him since they’d reunited, more collateral damage that cancer would hopefully remove from their lives.
“Chris.” Trevor got up. “I’m surprised to see you.” Chris didn’t come to his office much, if ever.
“Yeah.” He moved into the office and closed the door.
Trevor stopped. A closed-door meeting? What was this all about? Chris didn’t talk much about his feelings, but Trevor sensed that was what had brought him here.
“There’s something I need to ask you.”
“Sure. Fire away.” He walked closer to his brother.
“It’s okay, however you answer. I just need to know the truth.”
This sounded serious. Since Chris had the most easygoing personality out of all the Colton kids, Trevor went on alert.
“I’ll tell you the truth. What is it?”
Chris hesitated, as though not sure he should hear the truth.
Trevor put his hand on his little brother’s shoulder. “Hey. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, okay?”
Chris relaxed in his easy way, a genuine smile lighting his face. “I’ll hold you to that.” After the brief levity faded, he said, “I need to know why you tried to adopt Josie and not me. Not the rest of us.”
That took Trevor aback. “I tried to get custody of her and the rest of you.” Trevor lowered his hand. Why did Chris think he wouldn’t?
“You tried?”
Trevor grunted in disbelief. “Of course I tried.”
“How much? Once? Twice?”
“Chris.” He couldn’t believe his brother doubted him. “How long have you thought I wouldn’t try to get us all together?”
“It couldn’t have been that hard to get custody of us. You could have. Why Josie?” As he spoke, his voice rose and his hands went to his hips.
Wow. He was really upset over this. And he’d never talked to him about it before now. Why had he kept it all bottled up? Trevor took his arm and guided him toward the two chairs before his desk. “Sit down, why don’t you. We have a lot to talk about, it would appear.”
Chris shrugged out of his touch and sat down, looking like his younger brother again, during one of their fights. Trevor’s heart wrenched. Damn Matthew. Damn him to hell.
“We were fostered out through different private agencies, Chris.”
“I know that.”
“Social workers prefer other relatives above siblings adopt or take custody. They look at lifestyle and economic standing. Where I lived, whether I was married or had a girlfriend. I had neither. And I moved a lot.”
As Chris’s