But, wait, she hadn’t heard the news? Sheriff Tommy Johnson had done a great job of keeping the murder investigation out of the papers, but Colin assumed that everyone knew his parents had died. He glanced down and back before shaking his head. He still had a hard time finding the right words to talk about it.
“What?” She searched his gaze as if what he was about to say would be stamped there.
“They’re gone,” he managed to say.
“Oh, no,” she said with a little more alarm than seemed appropriate under the circumstances. She shouldn’t care about him or his family anymore. “What happened?”
“Tommy’s investigating their deaths,” he said, and a curious look overtook her features. Sheriff Johnson was a close friend and grew up with all six of the O’Brien boys. He was more like family and was taking the murder investigation even more personally as a result of how much he cared for the O’Brien family. Colin couldn’t pinpoint what was pinging through her thoughts but he could almost see the wheels churning. What was that all about?
“I’m so sorry,” she said, and she looked stunned. Maybe a little guilty, too.
Colin had every intention of figuring out why.
“Are you telling me that you didn’t know?” he asked, surprised, his curiosity getting the best of him.
“No.” She shook her head as though for emphasis. Did she really hate him so much that she’d completely cut herself off from any news about Bluff? About his folks? She’d cared about them once. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long. This is just a quick stop on my way to—” she paused and he figured she was about to make something up. “Galveston.” She raked her teeth across her bottom lip. “I’m so sorry about your parents.”
She’d been especially close to his mother. His mom had made sure that Melissa was included in all their family celebrations, saying over and over that it was about time there was a little more estrogen at the table. Mom had said that after being surrounded by six boys—boys that she adored—for most of her life that she couldn’t wait to have a girl in the family.
For a minute, she looked shocked and a little frail, which was unlike Melissa. She must’ve figured out what he was thinking because her defenses flared. “I always cared about your parents, you know that. Especially your mother. I would’ve sent something if I’d realized.”
Her voice broke and a look passed behind her eyes that he couldn’t quite pinpoint when she said that last word.
Did she know something about the murders?
No. No way. She didn’t even know his parents were gone before he told her.
The only things keeping Melissa upright and on her feet were sheer determination and willpower. The second she’d heard the news about Colin’s parents she’d almost buckled. Had her worst fears been realized? Had Richard gotten to them because of some sick need to punish her? So many other questions swirled. If Mr. O’Brien was having an affair, could that be connected to the murders? Melissa quieted her internal thoughts. It was dangerous to give away her reaction to the news. She couldn’t risk Colin having any suspicion about Richard.
The news would spread soon enough that he was a criminal on the run, and Melissa would be long gone. Her handler, Marshal Davis, had been keeping the situation out of the news until Melissa could disappear. Speaking of which, it was almost time to meet him. If she didn’t show at their rendezvous point, he’d start looking for her and she didn’t need him asking around or giving more cause for concern. There were enough red flags in the air and she’d done enough damage on her own coming to Bluff.
An immediate problem of six feet two inches of raw masculinity stood in front of her. Melissa needed to think of a way to get him out of there so she could grab her sleeping infant and run. A wave of guilt assaulted her at thinking how much Colin had missed—how much he would miss—of his daughter’s life. But with Richard on the loose, it was even more important to keep Colin and the baby separate for both of their protection.
If Colin knew about his daughter, it would be impossible to keep him away or stop him from fighting for custody. Once things settled down, the ranch would be an obvious place for Richard to look. As long as he was on the loose, Angelina was in danger.
But it was Colin’s parents. She had to know if there was even a slight possibility that Richard could’ve been involved. “Like I said, I’m truly sorry to hear about your parents, Colin. When did it happen?”
“They were killed September of last year.” His words were a sober reminder of how dangerous Richard could be. A thought struck. Could she leave Angelina with Colin? The ranch was probably safer than the US Treasury.
No. It wouldn’t work. Richard believed Angelina was his daughter. If he heard or saw her with Colin it would be too easy to put the pieces together. Until Richard was safely locked away or dead, she couldn’t risk it. She mumbled an apology under her breath and a prayer for forgiveness.
“What happened to them?” she asked.
“At first, we believed Dad had a heart attack while driving and wrecked with both him and Mom in the car. Something felt off to Tommy so he ran labs. Toxicology report came back with poison in their systems,” he said.
“That’s awful. How on earth could they be poisoned?” Melissa’s heart broke at hearing the details.
“Tommy doesn’t know. It would have to be someone who had access to both of them. Mom had hosted their annual party for local artists earlier that night, so a few people had admission to the ranch,” he said.
“I’m guessing Tommy already checked everyone out at the party, including staff,” she said, still trying to absorb the news. It was selfish to think about the fact that Angelina would never know her grandparents. There was always some small part of Melissa wishing things would magically work out and she and Colin would end up together. It was a crazy notion that had given her the tiniest sliver of hope in what had been the worst year of her life save for the birth of her child.
“He did. All he has so far is the poison. He doesn’t know how it got in their systems or what the motive for murder could be,” Colin said. “There’s a slight chance that they ingested the poison accidentally.”
“Except what are the chances they both ingested the same thing at the same time?” she said out loud, not meaning to. She shouldn’t add fuel to the fire. Colin might find out the truth about his father and that would crush him. She still could scarcely believe that the man would have an affair. She’d argued with Richard, putting up more of a fight than she knew better to, refusing to accept his accusation at first. And that had led to an even bigger fight between them when he’d accused her of defending the O’Briens because she still loved Colin.
In order to survive, she’d had to swallow her emotions and convince Richard that she loved him. Only him. If someone had told her that she’d be able to sell that lie a year ago she would’ve laughed. Finding out she was pregnant had changed her priorities. Nothing mattered more to her than keeping Colin’s baby safe.
As a mother, she’d found a new well of strength to draw from than she had ever known existed inside her. Angelina’s safety took precedence over everyone and everything.
“It’s late, Colin. I need to go,” she said, using all the courage she could muster to speak those words. Being with Colin again was taking a toll on her, body, soul and mind. She was grateful that Angelina was a sound sleeper. Melissa had a prayer of getting out of this situation without doing any more damage.
Coming back to Bluff had been a mistake. Seeing the pain in Colin’s eyes was heartbreaking. And that would