LITMIR.BIZ

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into all the lurid hype surrounding her cousin Demi.

      Here, tucked away in her private wing of her parents’ vast, prosperous Double C Ranch, the story of Bo Gage’s murder and how Demi C was found written in Gage’s own blood beside his body sounded like the fanciful imaginings of a second-rate scriptwriter. Except that Bo Gage was found murdered and Demi’s name did appear to be written next to his body.

      “I don’t believe it,” Serena said to her three-month-old daughter, who was dozing in her arms. “There’s got to be another explanation for this, Lora. Sure, Demi has her shortcomings,” she readily admitted, “but she’s not a murderer.”

      Serena sighed, gently rocking her daughter as she restlessly paced around the very large bedroom. “You take all the time in the world growing up, Lora, you hear me? Stay little for as long as you can. And I’ll do my part. I won’t let anything like this ever touch you,” she whispered to the sleeping child. “I’ll keep you safe, little one. I promise.”

      As if to challenge the promise she had just made to her daughter, the sound of approaching sirens pierced the night air.

      The sirens grew progressively louder, coming closer.

      Worried, Serena moved to the window facing the front of the house and looked out. She was just in time to see the headlights from two police vehicles approaching the house—mansion, really—where she lived with her parents and younger sister, Valeria.

      “What could the police possibly want here, and at this hour?” Serena murmured under her breath. Her brother Finn was the police chief and he wouldn’t be coming here like this unless there was something very, very wrong—would he? She couldn’t help wondering.

      As if in response, Lora stirred in her arms. But mercifully, the baby went on sleeping. Although how she didn’t wake up with all this noise was a complete mystery to Serena. The sirens had gone silent, but in their wake came the loud, urgent pounding of a fist against the front door.

      Her heart was instantly in her throat. The next second, she heard her parents and Valeria all rushing down the stairs to answer the door.

      Still holding her daughter in her arms, Serena left her room and went to the landing, hoping to find what was going on from the shelter of the second floor.

      She was just in time to see her father throw open the front door. Not surprisingly, Judson Colton looked furious. The tall, strapping ranch owner wasn’t accustomed to being treated in this sort of manner.

      “Just what is the meaning of all this noise?” Judson Colton demanded even before he had the door opened all the way. When he saw that his own son was responsible for all this uproar, he only became angrier. “Finn! How dare you come pounding on our door in the middle of the night and wake us up like this?” he shouted. “You’re not only disturbing me, you’re disturbing your stepmother and your sisters as well, not to mention that you’re doing the unforgivable and spooking the horses!”

      Lightning all but flashed from the man’s eyes as he glared at his son and the three men Finn had brought with him. Especially since one of them was holding on to a large German shepherd.

      Judson eyed the dog warily. “We raised you better than this, boy,” he snapped at Finn indignantly.

      “I’m sorry if you’re offended,” Finn told his father formally. “But this is police business. Murder isn’t polite,” he added grimly. He and his men had been at this all day. It was nighttime now and he was too tired to treat his father and stepmother with kid gloves.

      “Murder?” Joanelle Colton cried, pressing her well-manicured hand against her chest as if trying to hold a heart attack at bay. “This isn’t about that man who was found dead outside of that horrid bar, is it?” Finn’s stepmother looked from him to Carson. “What does any of that awful business have to do with us, Finn?”

      “That’s what we’re here to find out,” Finn answered patiently.

      Serena had a feeling she knew exactly why they were here.

      * * *

      Carson glanced at the chief. Because this was Finn’s family, he needed to absent himself from the immediate search of the house. If there was anything—or anyone—to be found, the chief wouldn’t want that to be compromised in a court of law.

      “Dan, Jack and I’ll search the property,” Finn told his father and stepmother. “Detective Gage is going to search the house.” He nodded at Carson.

      “Search the house?” Joanelle echoed in stunned disbelief. “Search the house for what?” she added indignantly.

      But Finn and the two officers he had brought with him had already left the house to start their search.

      Taking his cue, Carson, warrant in hand, quickly hurried up the stairs with Justice leading the way.

      “Search the house for what?” Judson repeated more forcefully as he followed Carson and his K-9.

      “Demi Colton or any sign of her, sir,” Carson answered just as he and Justice came to the landing.

      He stopped dead when he saw Serena standing there, holding her baby in her arms. At that moment, totally against his will, he was transported to another time and place in his life. He was back in the hospital hallway where a solemn-faced doctor was telling him that he had done everything he could to save her, but Lisa, his girlfriend, had just died giving birth to their daughter. A daughter who wound up dying the following day.

      Carson felt an ache form in the pit of his stomach, threatening to consume him even as it undid him.

      He struggled to bury the memory again and regain control over himself, just as he had done when his loss had occurred. He’d learned that 99 percent of surviving was just remembering to breathe and put one foot in front of the other.

      His voice was gruff and cold as he told the woman standing there, “If you’re hiding Demi Colton, now is the time for you to speak up.”

      On the stairs behind him, Judson cried, “Demi Colton?” He almost laughed out loud at the detective who worked for his son. “You’re looking for Demi here? Hell, you look all you want, but I can tell you that you’re wasting your time. You won’t find that woman here.”

      “If you don’t mind, sir,” Carson answered stiffly, “I’d like to check for myself.”

      “Then go ahead and do it, but do it quickly,” Finn’s father warned. “And see that you don’t disturb my daughters any more than you already have. Do I make myself clear, boy?”

      “I’d prefer ‘Detective,’” Carson replied. Judson Colton merely glared, then turned and went back downstairs.

      Finn’s stepmother had another sort of complaint to register with him. “Must you bring that mangy creature into my house?” She looked disdainfully at Justice. The canine was straining at his leash.

      “Justice is part of the police department, ma’am, same as the rest of us,” Carson informed the woman without missing a step.

      Rather than cringing or stepping aside, he saw a slight smile grace Serena Colton’s lips as she looked down at Justice.

      “My father’s right, you know. You’re wasting your time,” Serena told him. “I haven’t seen her since yesterday. Demi’s not here.”

      “I need to verify that for myself,” Carson told her shortly. “Why don’t you go downstairs and wait with the rest of your family?” he suggested.

      Carson could feel Judson Colton watching his every move.

      “I’d rather stay up here, thank you,” Serena answered. “She didn’t do it, you know,” she told Carson. “Demi’s not capable of killing anyone.”

      Serena was entitled to her opinion, he thought, even though it was naive. “You’d be surprised what people are capable of if they’re pushed hard enough,” Carson told her.

      “There

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