Colton's Covert Witness Read online

  “I feel like I’ve been watched. I can’t prove it.”

  “Watched? Where?”

  “Everywhere. It’s been going on for a few weeks now. I felt it a few times before I went on leave from my job, and now that I’ve been home, it’s happened more frequently. Even when I’m in the house.”

  “When was the last time it happened?”

  “Earlier. Tonight.” The same fury she’d sensed in him before was back, darkening his hazel eyes to a fiery amber. “When I was walking around downtown.”

  “And you didn’t think to mention it?”

  “I forgot. And when I thought about it again, it didn’t seem relevant to what I saw in the alley.”

  “It’s all relevant, Evangeline. And when you add on that we’ve got a serial killer on the loose, ignoring your instincts is the worst thing you can do.”

  “Troy, you don’t need to make this your problem. The GGPD is dealing with a whole lot worse right now.”

  “You are my problem. The moment I took the call to come help you tonight, you became my problem.”

  She wanted to be his partner, not his problem.

  * * *

  The Coltons of Grave Gulch: Falling in love is the most dangerous thing of all...

  * * *

  If you’re on Twitter, tell us what you think of Harlequin Romantic Suspense! #harlequinromsuspense

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome back to Grave Gulch, Michigan. A lot has happened in the past five months to our intrepid Colton clan, from kidnappings to secret babies to the realization that a serial killer is on the loose in Grave Gulch.

  Detective Troy Colton has been managing it all. His nephew was returned home unharmed, and so far, the Grave Gulch PD has managed to keep all of his cousins and their new loves safe. No small testament to Troy’s hard work and dedication.

  Evangeline Whittaker has always been a well-respected member of the district attorney’s office. She’s an ADA with an impeccable record—one that has been tarnished since she defended the case that put a killer back on the streets.

  Now someone wants revenge. Only they’ve gone about it in the most diabolical way, ensuring Evangeline will experience maximum pain as a killer stalks her from a distance.

  Troy’s always had an attraction to the ADA but has kept those feelings at bay. But now, Evangeline needs him. Needs him to get to the bottom of what’s happening to her. And, maybe, just needs him.

  As a killer gets ever closer, Troy and Evangeline will be tested. Can he keep her safe? Can she trust herself to know where danger is truly lurking? And can they find their way through it all to love?

  I hope you’re enjoying the Coltons of Grave Gulch. As always, I’ve had such fun being a part of this series and coming back to the world of the wonderful and dynamic Colton family.

  Best,

  Addison Fox

  COLTON’S COVERT WITNESS

  Addison Fox

  Addison Fox is a lifelong romance reader, addicted to happy-ever-afters. After discovering she found as much joy writing about romance as she did reading it, she’s never looked back. Addison lives in New York with an apartment full of books, a laptop that’s rarely out of sight and a wily beagle who keeps her running. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com or on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/addisonfoxauthor) and Twitter (@addisonfox).

  Books by Addison Fox

  Harlequin Romantic Suspense

  The Coltons of Grave Gulch

  Colton’s Covert Witness

  The Coltons of Mustang Valley

  Deadly Colton Search

  The Coltons of Roaring Springs

  The Colton Sheriff

  Midnight Pass, Texas

  The Cowboy’s Deadly Mission

  Special Ops Cowboy

  The Coltons of Red Ridge

  Colton’s Deadly Engagement

  The Coltons of Shadow Creek

  Cold Case Colton

  The Coltons of Texas

  Colton’s Surprise Heir

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

  For Olivia, Izzy and Callin.

  With love.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Close Quarters with the Bodyguard by Lisa Childs

  Chapter 1

  Evangeline Whittaker stared down the main street of Grave Gulch, Michigan, and wondered when the whole world had gone sideways. Although her eyes were protected from the early-evening sun by oversize sunglasses and a floppy hat, no amount of shielding her gaze could stop what she saw through the lenses.

  The citizens of Grave Gulch, now protesting outside the city’s police department—a common sight over the past few months, due to an increase in local crime—with signs and heavy shouting, eerily audible even though she was several blocks away.

  Protesting...and the subtle yet unrelenting pressure from the knowledge that a killer was in their midst.

  Although the GGPD was doing its job, people were fed up and anxious by the latest details pouring out of the news cycle. Only, instead of the news showing a random family dealing with a bad situation in a faraway place, this time, it was local. As local as you could get, Evangeline admitted to herself as she stepped aside to allow a couple to walk past her on the sidewalk.

  There had been three dead bodies discovered in Grave Gulch in a matter of six months. All found with a gunshot to the chest and all seemingly random until you searched beneath the surface.

  But once you looked below, it was easy to see the similarities, Evangeline thought on a hard shudder.

  All male. All shot while alone walking their dogs. All in their fifties.

  Enough similarities that the GGPD had been forced to admit the one thing that was guaranteed to send people into a panic: Grave Gulch had a serial killer on its hands.

  Add on the trauma of discovering a well-loved grandmother, Hannah McPherson, was a toddler kidnapper, the GGPD’s lead forensic scientist, Randall Bowe was assisting criminals he deemed “worthy,” and the discovery and subsequent takedown of a drug kingpin running his business in town, and all of Grave Gulch’s residents were scared. The fear either they or a loved one would be next on a killer’s list swirling deeply beneath it all.

  Hadn’t she felt the same sense of concern? Sure, she might be eternally single, but she had a family. And while her mother was quick to lock up good and tight each night, her father often had a mind of his own when it came to how he wanted to live his life. Or worse, his unique brand of screaming obstinacy whenever he felt the world around him wasn’t bowing to his wishes.

  A persistent worry, the two of them, but one she couldn’t overly concern herself with now. She had enough to contend with on her own. Forced leave from her job. That doggedly odd sense that she was being watched—even in her own home—that hadn’t let up in weeks. When you added on the mess that was currently the Grave Gulch County DA’s office—one she’d managed to find herself smack in the middle of—life was on an out-of-control roller coaster at the moment.

  How had it happened so q
uickly?

  She’d spent well over a dozen years in the district attorney’s office, keeping her head down and doing her job. Doing it damn well, as a matter of fact. Yet somehow, she’d failed to see a problem right in front of her face.

  And now she had tangible responsibility for a serial killer out on the streets and preying on innocents.

  Evangeline had spent innumerable sessions with her therapist over the years, dealing with the ever-present twin feelings of despair and responsibility. She’d worked long and hard to ensure that those feelings, a leftover gift from her father’s parenting failures, didn’t veer into her professional life.

  But there was no help for it now.

  Three people were dead and a killer was on the loose because she’d not properly prosecuted him. Not on purpose—she let out a frustrated breath—but still on her watch.

  On her work.

  Damn Randall Bowe and his mishandled—and criminal—approach to evidence keeping. And damn her for not digging harder.

  Round and round she went, on the endless circle of arguments in her mind. Yes, the GGPD’s forensic scientist had often tampered with evidence or flat-out overlooked it, but as a prosecutor she shouldn’t have simply assumed a GGPD employee was acting in good faith.

  Yet she had.

  The blowback had been awful. The cases where she’d used Bowe’s evidence—or lack thereof—as part of her legal argument had put them all in this mess. Even worse, she’d failed her boss, Arielle Parks. Arielle was both mentor and friend and it was an endless source of embarrassment and pain to Evangeline that her mistakes reflected so poorly on the district attorney.

  And underneath the roiling thoughts in her mind was a bigger one. The lone thought she never seemed able to get past.

  How could the world be full of so many awful people?

  At this stage of her life, she should know the answer. She’d learned the lesson young, hadn’t she? So, in a lot of ways, it should have stuck by now. Yet it hadn’t. She lived a life steeped in reason and lawfulness and it still amazed her how many people saw the world as a place to get away with things.

  A place to take their anger out on others.

  Or selfishly reap whatever benefit they could derive for themselves, no matter the cost to others.

  On another hard sigh, Evangeline blew out a breath. Maudlin much?

  She’d come out because her condo had begun to feel stifling and, at those persistently odd moments, creepy. She couldn’t explain it, but even in the confines of her own home, she’d been aware of a relentless sense of being watched.

  She’d sensed it for about a month, the feeling growing stronger by the day. At first it was just a fleeting sense, that someone caught her eye too long on the street or a strange sense someone was lingering in the parking lot of her condo complex, even if she couldn’t define why she felt that way.

  But it had grown worse.

  A persistent scraping at the base of her neck, rippling the nerves to her scalp, had become a regular occurrence.

  She’d initially blamed it on the pressure at work, the mishandled evidence causing any number of errors in her caseload. Finally, though, Evangeline had had enough of sitting home feeling stuck and decided to head out for a bit of fresh air and some dinner. Yet as she walked, watching the people and trying to appreciate some of the early summer warmth, the fresh evening air wasn’t doing much for her mood. That strange sixth sense continued to crawl up and down her spine.

  A feeling that had done nothing for her already dour mood.

  It was early June, which meant the days were getting longer and longer. And here she was, the space between her morose thoughts getting smaller and smaller so all she focused on was her mistakes. She’d left her home because she needed dinner and a reprieve from the increasing claustrophobia induced by her own four walls, but she’d find no break if all she did was keep covering the same ground over and over in her mind.

  With a glance at one end of the street at the protesters, Evangeline turned and headed the opposite direction. She briefly toyed with the idea of going to sit down and have a bite at Mae’s Diner, but the last few times she’d gone out, someone had inevitably recognized her from the news. Something dark and uncomfortably swirly had settled in her thoughts today and she didn’t want to risk adding to her bad mood. A slice at Paola’s Pizza would be the better bet. Hot, gooey dough and cheese was always a mood lifter, and the entire transaction at the counter would take no more than five minutes, ten tops.

  She might have to head back to the glum quiet of her condo but at least she’d have pizza.

  As she headed in the direction of the restaurant, that strange sense skittered over her once more. It was subtle and if she weren’t so on edge she’d likely have ignored it, but was it possible she was being watched?

  The public had recently made no secret of its disdain for the DA’s office, and while she believed she’d acted in the best interests of the residents of Grave Gulch County, that didn’t mean everyone saw it that way. She and her colleagues received threats from time to time. It was unpleasant, but it was a part of the job.

  Evangeline crossed the last block for Paola’s, once again trying to shake off the miserable mood. Pizza. Pizza, she kept reminding herself as she put one foot in front of the other.

  It was only as she crossed the last alleyway before the row of storefronts that led to Paola’s that something caught Evangeline’s attention in the distance. Two people, struggling at the end of the alleyway. The fading summer sun backlit them both so that Evangeline couldn’t clearly make out their faces, just snatches of their features as they fought.

  Downturned, angry mouths as they shouted.

  Slashed eyebrows.

  Waving hands.

  What she could clearly see was the larger form of the man struggling to hold the arms of the smaller, slender figure—a woman, dressed in a white blouse and dark slacks.

  An urgent need to help rose up inside of her and she’d nearly started toward them when the distinct shape of a gun filled the man’s hand. Before Evangeline could utter a word or even gurgle the start of a scream, the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang out.

  From where she stood she could see the clear stain of red spread across the white blouse, just before the small woman fell to the ground in a heap.

  Rooted to the spot, Evangeline stared down the mouth of the alley in horror at what she’d just witnessed. An overwhelming urge to help warred with an innate sense of self-preservation.

  It was only when that large, still-faceless figure turned toward the woman on the ground and lifted her by her feet, dragging her through the alley, that Evangeline pushed herself into motion.

  Digging into her oversize bag, she fumbled through the endless depths until she finally got a grip on her cell phone. Hands shaking, she ran back in the direction of the protesters she’d seen earlier. What had felt menacing a little while ago now seemed like a haven of humanity. Scores of people who could help her and keep her safe from the dark, faceless threat at the end of that alleyway.

  She clumsily fingered the screen of her phone, whose face remained locked no matter how many times she tried to swipe and enter her password. It was only as the comforting sound of voices grew louder that she finally managed to get her phone open.

  With the desperate hope that she wasn’t too late, she jabbed 911 into the phone and tried to summon up a calm she didn’t feel.

  “Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”

  As the operator’s voice flowed through the line, Evangeline wondered if she would ever find that calm again.

  * * *

  Detective Troy Colton listened to the dispatch coming over the loudspeaker in the conference room where he and a fellow detective, Brett Shea, had holed up for a work session. As he comprehended the urgency of the summons, he tossed his pen onto the table. The move offered
no comfort, but the endless screaming outside the Grave Gulch Police Department had grown tedious in the extreme and his patience had increasingly waned as the afternoon wore into evening.

  And now they had a witness claiming someone was shot in an alley downtown?

  He stood and pulled on his sport coat over his weapon harness. Brett had already snapped to attention, along with his K-9, Ember. The black Lab was a tracking specialist. She’d come to full alert and moved to stand beside Brett in the span of a heartbeat, despite Troy’s previous assessment that she’d been fast asleep in the corner of the conference room.

  “Let’s swing by and ask Mary if she has any other details.” Brett was already nodding as he and Ember followed Troy to the door. “We’ll have her notify Melissa, as well.”

  The GGPD’s front desk clerk was young but her sweet face and endless excitement at being a newlywed didn’t diminish her ability to be both serious and on her game at every minute. “Detective Colton,” Mary Suzuki addressed Troy as he and Brett walked up. “Dispatch is still on the line. Should I patch them through?”

  “Sure.” Troy nodded. “And get Melissa on this, as well. I know it’s the chief’s day off and she’s earned every bit of it, but she’s going to want to know something’s going on. I’ll call her after Brett and I figure out what’s happened.”

  He loved his cousin Melissa and respected her implicitly as the head of the GGPD. He’d never keep her in the dark, but it killed him to think that all her years of hard work couldn’t even give her a reprieve on a night off with her fiancé, Antonio Ruiz.

  “It’s the job, Troy,” she’d say back to him. He could already hear her voice, threaded through with responsibility, thrumming in his head.

  But he still hated to ruin her evening.

  Wasn’t that why he and Brett had volunteered to take the late shift? The entire department had been working tirelessly to get serial killer Len Davison off the streets. He and Brett figured they’d tag-team it and see if they could spark any questions between them that might push them all in a new direction.