Melissa opened her eyes , slowly,and it was like the sun cresting in the horizon. Those violet streaks like rays,bathing darkness with light. His heart clenched and his muscles corded as her hands came up to his chest. He expected a jab or for her to push him away,but instead she double fisted his shirt and tugged him toward her.
All rationale flew out of the window as Colin's pulse kicked up a few notches. He shouldn't want to dip deep and claim her heart-shaped pink lips again. He shouldn't want to pull her body flush with his. He shouldn't want to get lost inside her.
And that's where he stopped.
Because he could never trust her enough to close his eyes again.
He pulled back,a little stunned at how easy it was to get trapped in old habits. How many times had they been in a similar position? Eager top rip off each other's clothes off and let the feelings they had for each other consume them in a splendid,heated flame until they lay gasping for air,their arms and legs tangled . How easy it had been to talk to her,to laugh with her.
And look where that had gotten him. Rejected. Hurt.
Anger flooded him because she was messing with his mind and the future they would never have__a future he shouldn't want.
All he needed was to regain his sanity because Melissa was bad for him,and he knew that even if his body said otherwise.
She seemed to quickly regain her composure,and then she ducked out of his grasp.
"How did you know where to find me?" She asked.
"You weren't hard to follow speeding through town" he said
"I have somewhere to be",she said. "You need to leave".
Colin glanced at his watch. "At eleven forty at night?"
"Yes", she said with too much conviction. She was either lying or hiding something.
"Seems late for an appointment",he said.
"I'm meeting with someone...with him". Her face morphed for a spilt second like it did when she felt guilty.
"Why did you come back?" He asked.
"Doesn't matter. I'm not staying", she responded.
"Carolina said you wanted to talk to me", he pressed.
"She's mistaken".
He shot her a look.
"I'm the one who made a mistake. I shouldn't have gone to the ranch. Richard will be livid if he finds you here,so you need to go."
"Fine." Was she lying to protect Colin because he could see that she wasn't being truthful? There was no way to shield him now. Not after what she'd done to him. No one could convince him that she cares for his feelings.
"I didn't see your parents earlier. Would you tell them happy anniversary for me?" She asked,and he'd almost forgotten about that. They would have been married forty_two years next week.
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 word 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 and though for emphasis. Did she really hate him so much that she'd completely cut herself off 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 pushed and he figured she was about to make something up. "Galveston". She takes her teeth across her bottom lips. "I'm 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 me estrogen at the table. Mom had said that after being surrounded by six boys__boys 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 before her defense 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 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 will power. The second she'd heard the news about Colin's parents she'd almost buckled. Had her worst fear 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 muders? 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 was enough red flags in the a
"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 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's 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 la
"You said Tommy was in the parking lot of Zahn Lawn Mower supply. Any idea what he was doing out there so late?" Dallas asked. Colin had only given his brother essential information. Tommy had been shot and he was at Bluff General. Richard Rancic was armed and dangerous. "Good question", There was another one that would follow. "What were you doing there?" Dallas didn't wait long to hit him with that one. That was an even better question. Colin was still trying to figure that out. Dallas didn't ask about Melissa,but the questions about her were written in his tense expression. "She ran away so fast at the Fling", he finally said. "I parked to the side,trying to decide if I was going to talk to her or not". It wasn't entirely untrue. "Then I saw her husband pull into the lot and she seem
The scuffle of boots sounded in the hallway and she didn't need to turn around to know that Colin had entered the room . She faced him. "Dallas",she said, startled. In an attempt to recover, she added, "It's good to see you again'. "You,too,Melissa", Dallas stood behind his brother. Melissa hoped he couldn't hear her heart thudding against her ribs at the thought of two O'Briens in the room. If either one of them got a look at her daughter it was over. It wasn't a selfish desire that had her wanting to keep Angelina a secret. Although she had that,too. It was survival. Either of them figured out paternity and Colin would follow her to the ends of the Earth to find her and his child. But then,she hadn't really thought this through because this whole room would be filled with O'Briens soon. &nbs
"He's not going to hurt us", she countered,but there was no life in those words. She might be feeling defeated at the moment,but her determination would kick in soon and she'd recover. She'd get her life back on track. Richard did not get to win."What if you take us to the meet-up point?" She asked.Before she could answer Dallas stepped into the room with a man in uniform behind him. She recognized Deputy Garcia.Angelina had settled on Melissa's shoulder again,and if Colin realized he had a daughter he didn't show it."Deputy Garcia had news that I think you need to hear", Dallas said. After perfunctory greetings,the deputy said, "A US Marshal was found shot on Highway 287. He was pronounced died at the scene".The air whooshed from Melissa's lungs and she was almost knocked back a step. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.
Being negative and fearing the worst wasn't the energy he wanted to put into the situation. Thoughts were powerful. Colin replaced the image with the two of them fishing together this summer , smiling , drinking a cold brew. Tommy would pull through ,had to pull through. "Make sure he has everything he needs when he wakes from surgery'. Colin nodded towards the hallway, thinking that he needed to stop off at a gas station so that he could pick up a prepaid phone _ one that couldn't be tracked back to him _ so that he could check on Tommy."Will do". Gracia tipped his hat before walking out of the room. "You ready?" He asked Melissa.She nodded. "Angelina's diaper bag is in my car. It has everything I need to get through a couple of days". "I'll put it in the truck if you tell me where you've parked and give me the keys", Dallas said.
All Colin would've needed was a couple hours of sleep and he'd be good to go. He got forty-five minutes before the little angel in the backseat stirred,waking him.He sat up and surveyed his surroundings. The wind was picking up. Other that slight movement in the trees,all seemed quiet. And that's when his brain decided to loop the notion that Angelina looked a lot like him from his own baby pictures.With effort, he pushed aside the image. Didn't need that distraction this morning. Besides, Richard had dark hair and Angelina was his daughter.Melissa was still asleep but Colin needed coffee. There was no way he could wake her even though he suspected the little one would be up soon enough for a feeding.Caffeine would go a long way toward clearing the cobwebs in his head.Colin shook his head to see if that would do any good. Maybe going
Colin walked away, climbed into the cab and started the truck . He didn't move far. He repositioned the truck at one side of the parking lot where he could watch all the vehicles exiting the highway.It made him visible ,too, so he slipped on his cowboy hat and shades even though the skies were starting to cloud up. He'd rather have Melissa and the baby as much out of sight as possible. As he walked toward the convenience Mart, Melissa met him halfway.''Can you sit in the backseat and find her?" He asked. "Yes",she said . Once the baby was settled In with the bottle , Melissa said "Colin".There was something in her voice he couldn't quite pinpoint , maybe a warning , that had him thinking her next words weren't going to be the ones that he wanted to hear. "Yeah", was all he said, resisting the urge to lo