Exposing Colton Secrets

By Marie Ferrarella

USA TODAY bestselling author Marie Ferrarella brings you a thrilling romance from The Coltons of Kansas series — stories of truth, justice and secrets exposed.

A P.I. on the hunt… with enemies too close to home!

After Brooks Colton refuses a disturbing assignment, he feels compelled to warn a teacher that she may have a stalker. Gwen Harrison charms him, as does her purpose in moving to Braxville—to find her missing mother. Given his skills, Brooks joins her search and finds relief in protecting her from a growing threat. But some dangers seep through even hardened defenses…and show what is worth fighting for.

From Harlequin Romantic Suspense: Danger. Passion. Drama.

The Coltons of Kansas:
Book 1: Exposing Colton Secrets by Marie Ferrarella
Book 2: Colton’s Amnesia Target by Kimberly Van Meter
Book 3: Colton’s Secret History by Jennifer D. Bokal
Book 4: Colton Storm Warning by Justine Davis
Book 5: Colton Christmas Conspiracy by Lisa Childs
Book 6: Colton in the Line of Fire by Cindy Dees

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harlequin Romantic Suspense
• Release date: Jul 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781488064128

Marie Ferrarella

This USA TODAY bestselling and RITA ® Award-winning author has written more than two hundred books for Harlequin Books and Silhouette Books, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website at www.marieferrarella.com.

Book preview

Prologue

All in all, Brooks Colton felt that he was doing rather well for himself. Oh, nowhere near as well as he might have done had he gone into the family business the way his father had wanted and expected him to, but he definitely wasn’t falling on his face the way his father had predicted he would.

As a matter of fact, he was rather successful in his chosen field and building up a solid reputation.

Still, Brooks sensed that his father, Fitz Colton, the head of Colton Construction, which was currently doing extremely well in its third generation of existence, was waiting for him to stop playing PI and get serious about his life. Colton Construction was a large and generous employer, having built many of the offices and factories in Wichita as well as in Braxville, which was where the Colton family resided.

His father, a solid workaholic, couldn’t accept that he was very serious about being a private investigator, just like he couldn’t understand why all of his six children had gone into vocations that had to do with some form of public service rather than become part of the family business.

As far as Brooks could tell, all five of his siblings seemed rather suited to their career choices and were quite happy with their lives. And as for him, well in true detective form, he was blessed with that little voice in his head, the one that would occasionally raise points that seemed to defy logic, but nonetheless existed, nudging at his conscience and telling him that something just didn’t seem right.

Sometimes it was just a small thing. Other times it seemed to involve his whole case.

That was what he was feeling at the moment.

Something was off.

For the most part, his cases fell under three categories. He worked missing persons cases. Those, on occasion, required working with the Braxville Police Department as a consultant. Brooks also worked cases of identity theft. And, once in a while, he took on cases that involved cheating spouses.

Truth be told, Brooks didn’t like working those, but they did help to pay the bills on the few occasions when he found himself short on funds and needed to fill in the gaps.

But right now, he was hearing something from his prospective client that wasn’t sitting right with him.

Let me get this straight, Brooks said, interrupting the man on the other end of his phone who seemed enamored with the sound of his own voice. You’re not currently married to this Gwen Harrison?

No, I never was, Daniel Shelton snapped, obviously irritated that he was being interrupted by the help.

But—

And you’re not even engaged to this woman? Brooks asked, wanting to make sure he hadn’t accidentally missed something.

No, I am not engaged to Gwen, Daniel retorted, his irritation growing by leaps and bounds. He was unaccustomed to being interrupted and having to explain himself. Now, one more time. Gwen moved to Braxville after I expressly told her that I didn’t want her to leave.

The man’s high-handed tone was really beginning to irritate Brooks, but more than that, he didn’t care for his character. He was not about to help Shelton track down his former girlfriend or whatever the woman was to him.

And she didn’t live with you or have you paying the rent for her apartment? At this point, Brooks was certain he was just going over what he felt was established fact.

What the hell difference can that possibly make to you doing your job? Shelton demanded angrily.

It was obvious to Brooks that the man expected to be obeyed, not get into a debate over this with someone Shelton obviously considered beneath him.

The difference is that if you didn’t enter into any sort of an arrangement with this woman, then you have no expectations of her obediently coming when you call, Brooks informed the man, biting back a few choicer remarks. Most likely they would have been lost on someone like Shelton.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? the angry voice on the other end demanded.

"It means, Mr. Shelton, that I’m not taking the case, which in turn means I won’t track down this woman for you. A woman who is within her rights to go off and live her life as she sees fit, not as you see fit," Brooks concluded.

You’re turning me down? Shelton asked, his voice rising and growing shrill. Listen, you sanctimonious, two-bit jerk—

"Goodbye, Mr. Shelton. Very nice not doing business with you," Brooks said just before he disconnected the call.

Brooks took a deep breath as he put his phone back down on his desk. He wasn’t so well-off that he could afford to just turn down jobs at will, but he had his principles. Besides, there was just something about this particular one that told him it was all wrong.

So much so that he did feel he needed to track down this Ms. Gwen Harrison, not for Daniel Shelton but to warn her that the man was looking for her. Brooks was certain that Shelton could very well go on to hire someone else to find her. And then, who knows? He didn’t want that on his conscience.

From the information he had gotten from the overbearing man, Brooks was confident that he could find this woman with a minimum of effort. After all, he knew Braxville like the back of his hand. Ordinarily, since he had turned down this job, he would have walked away. But that same little voice that told him something was off about Shelton’s scenario also made him realize that if anything did happen to this Gwen Harrison, a newly transplanted elementary schoolteacher, he would wind up feeling guilty as hell because he hadn’t warned the woman.

And considering the impatient urgency he’d heard in Daniel Shelton’s voice, Brooks figured he didn’t have that much time to lose. Daniel Shelton had struck him as an angry man who didn’t just let matters drop if they didn’t go his way. Instead, Shelton gave every indication that he focused on getting revenge.

This Gwen Harrison needed to be warned.

Chapter 1

Gwen Harrison had forgotten how totally draining keeping up with a classroom full of third graders could actually be. In the last elementary school where she taught, she had only temporarily taught a class until their regular teacher returned from maternity leave. Ordinarily, she taught fifth graders who seemed, on reflection, calmer to her. But when she decided to move to Braxville, this was the only position open to her.

Today had just been an introduction to what was ahead in the coming school year. Teachers and students had briefly mingled, getting to know one another.

The thinking behind that was forewarned meant forearmed. Oh well, it would get better—she hoped.

What she wanted more than anything right now was to catch a quick nap, but she needed to run a couple of errands first and after that, she needed to prepare for a teachers’ orientation session the next day.

Not only that, but she also needed to update her grandmother, Rita. She wasn’t all that eager to do that because, although she dearly loved the woman who had raised her, she didn’t have anything to report so far and she knew that although she wouldn’t say anything, her grandmother would be very disappointed.

That makes two of us, Grandma, she thought.

The search she was conducting—when she had time to conduct it—was turning up nothing.

That was nothing new, except that she’d really hoped being in the town where her mother had disappeared all those years ago might lead her to eventually pick up her mother’s trail. Gwen was fairly certain that something had to have happened to her mother. Something fatal, because otherwise Olivia Harrison would not have completely abandoned her only daughter and her mother for more than two whole decades.

Her grandmother was certain of that, as well. That was the main reason Gwen had picked up and moved to Braxville after living her entire life in Kansas City.

When Gwen had packed up her life and moved here, she was so sure she had done the right thing. Now she wasn’t all that sure about it.

She knew what she was doing, Gwen thought. She was stalling.

Might as well get this over with, she murmured, planting herself on her sofa and taking her cell phone out of her pocket.

She just hated hearing the disappointment in her grandmother’s voice. Rita Harrison had raised her from the time she had been an infant, taking care of her while her mother was at work. The woman had taken over completely when Olivia had decided to come to Braxville on some secret mission, although Rita confided that she believed Olivia had gone to talk to the man who was her father to find out why he’d stopped sending her child support payments.

At least, she thought that was why her mother had gone to Braxville, but she wasn’t sure. Her grandmother hadn’t been very clear about that. The only thing that Rita Harrison was sure of was that her daughter wouldn’t have just up and left both her daughter and her without a single word of explanation.

Olivia wasn’t the type.

Gwen had just turned on her phone and tapped in two of the numeric keys that would eventually connect her to her grandmother when she heard the front doorbell ring. She stared at the door for a second, at a loss as to who it could be. She hardly knew anyone in town yet, certainly not anyone who would take it upon themselves to just come over at this time of day.

Only one way to find out, the redhead murmured as she slipped her cell phone back into her pocket and rose to her feet.

Walking up to the front door, Gwen looked through the peephole.

She was no more enlightened now than she had been a minute ago.

Standing on the other side of her door was a tall, ruggedly built man who had to be at least six feet tall, possibly even a little taller. He had close-cropped, dark brown hair and had what appeared to be only a very casual relationship with his razor. He had a five-o’clock shadow that appeared to be quickly approaching its sixth hour. He was also well-dressed.

Another teacher? she wondered.

The bottom line was that she had never seen him before in her life and that was definitely not a man who was easily forgotten, Gwen thought.

Yes? she asked, thinking that maybe the man, who looked as if he was about her age, might have rung the wrong doorbell.

Are you Miss Gwen Harrison? the man on the other side of her door asked.

The fact that he knew her name and seemed to be looking for her took Gwen by surprise. For now, until he gave her more to go on, Gwen left her door just where it was—locked.

Yes, I am, Gwen answered, then decided to take the lead and ask a couple of questions of her own. Who are you—and why are you looking for me?

Brooks cast about for a way to answer her questions without scaring her or putting her immediately on the defensive. The private investigator dug into his pocket for his wallet. After finding it, he took his ID out and held it up close to the peephole for the woman’s perusal before putting it away again.

I’m Brooks Colton and I’m a private investigator, he told her, reinforcing what he knew she had already determined from the license he had just shown her.

The moment she heard his last name, Gwen was instantly intrigued. Her grandmother had told her that her mother had been involved with a married man who worked for Colton Construction.

Could this good-looking man standing on the other side of her door somehow be related to that man who her mother had known?

Don’t get ahead of yourself, Gwen, she silently warned. Things didn’t just come together this easily or this quickly.

Maybe this was a risk, but then, so was moving to Braxville. Gwen decided to unlock her door. She swung it wide-open, a silent invitation to the man who had just rung her doorbell.

Come in, Gwen told him, stepping back.

He looked even taller without the door in the way, she couldn’t help thinking, looking up at the private investigator as he crossed her threshold. He had to be at least six foot one, maybe even six foot two, she decided.

The woman’s apartment had all the signs of someone who had just moved in within the last month, possibly even within the last couple of weeks, Brooks noted, doing a quick survey of the area.

There were unopened boxes scattered about and a pervading feeling that her possessions were still looking for their final resting place.

Accustomed to speaking her mind at all times, Gwen spoke up now. If you don’t mind my asking you, Mr. Colton, why are you looking for me?

Brooks decided that maybe now wasn’t the time to ease the young woman into this or try to sugarcoat the situation for her. He had come here thinking that time was of the essence. The woman needed to be warned.

Strictly speaking, I’m not the one who’s looking for you, he told the young schoolteacher. Believing that the man who had called to hire him could very well be a stalker, Brooks asked, Ms. Harrison, do you know a Daniel Shelton?

At the mention of the man’s name, the pretty woman before him turned slightly pale and her posture grew a little more rigid than it had been a moment ago.

Oh no, it couldn’t be, Gwen thought. She had assumed, gratefully so, that everything was over since she hadn’t acknowledged Shelton’s texts or answered any of the dozen or so messages he had left on her phone.

Obviously, the man did have trouble taking no for an answer.

"Yes, I know him. Knew him, Gwen deliberately corrected herself. Why did you just ask me that? Her eyes pinned the other man in place. If you don’t mind my asking, exactly what is this all about?"

Brooks had walked into her apartment at her invitation, but he was not about to take anything for granted, which was why he was still standing just a couple of feet into the apartment. He was prepared for her to tell him to get lost.

Still, in an effort to get her to relax a little, he asked, Would you mind if we sat down? This might take a minute or so to explain.

Braced, Gwen gestured into her living room, specifically toward the large sectional sofa that was in the middle of the room.

Indicating that Brooks should take a seat first before launching into his explanation, she waited for him to do so. All right, I’m listening, she said.

He sat down on the edge of the sofa rather than appearing to make himself comfortable. He didn’t want the woman getting the wrong impression about this. He was strictly here out of his concern for her safety, not to intimidate her.

Brooks watched as Gwen seated herself, as well. He noticed that she appeared to be somewhat more on edge now than she had been a moment ago. He was right to come warn her, he thought, silently grateful for that little voice in his head.

All right, I’m listening, Gwen repeated, waiting for the detective to start explaining.

Like I said, I’m a private investigator. My specialty is finding missing persons, but I also work on cases involving identity theft and occasionally, I take on cases involving gathering evidence against cheating spouses.

The last, he realized, tasted rather bitter in his mouth as he said the words. Maybe he needed to look into rewording his job description in the future. For now, he pushed that to the back of his mind.

Gwen shook her head, wisps of red hair moving almost seductively about her cheeks. I still don’t see what any of this has to do with me.

Daniel Shelton called me yesterday, looking to engage my services as a private investigator. He wanted me to covertly follow you around and take photographs. In general he wanted me to report back to him on whatever you were up to.

He could see by the completely stunned expression on the teacher’s face that she hadn’t seen any of this coming.

What I was ‘up to’? she echoed, flabbergasted. What I’m ‘up to’ is relocating and teaching third grade. This wasn’t making any sense to her. Are you sure he said that?

Completely sure, yes, Brooks answered.

Gwen was having trouble trying to put all of this together.

If you’re working for Daniel, then what are you doing here, talking to me? Shouldn’t you be skulking in the shadows with a camera pointed at me? Gwen asked.

Her mind was scrambling as she searched for a way to get this man out of her apartment and on his way before this whole situation escalated into something really terrible with her ending up as the victim.

That’s just it, Brooks explained. I’m not working for Shelton. I turned him down because I found something rather odd about his request.

Odd? she repeated. She thought it was odd, but she wasn’t sure exactly what the detective meant by that.

Brooks nodded, then thought the best way to explain things to her was by asking further questions. How long were you two together?

She shrugged. To be honest, she hadn’t actually thought of them as being together. They dated and then, when he became more possessive, they didn’t.

Not long, she answered. Certainly not long enough for him to think we had some sort of a serious relationship going on. Looking back, she had seen warning signs and she should have taken note of them. But to be honest, she thought she was just imagining things. Obviously not.

When I told him that I was taking this job in Braxville, he actually forbade me from taking it—which was when I decided that it was time to end things between us, she told Brooks.

Was there anything else? the private investigator asked.

Gwen pressed her lips together and then nodded. He was getting too controlling, she admitted, shaking her head at the memory. Taking a deep breath, she continued. I thought that if I just ignored him once I was here, he would get over things and just move on. He did leave several messages and texts...well, several dozen messages and texts. But I never answered any of them and I thought he’d just take the hint that whatever we had—which wasn’t very much of anything, she qualified, was over. I certainly didn’t think that ignoring him told him to try harder.

Gwen ran her hands up and down her arms, as if to try to warm herself and ward off the eerie chill she felt.

Apparently, Daniel thought otherwise. Gwen raised her eyes to meet the detective’s. She found Brooks’s blue eyes to be kind, sympathetic and in a strange way, they made her feel almost protected. And then she thought of what Daniel had wanted to hire him to do. You know, what you just told me about Dan is positively creepy, she told him. For a moment, she was at a loss as to what to do.

No argument, Brooks agreed. You know, you could get a restraining order taken out against him.

Gwen blew out a breath, nodding her head in response. But it was that empty sort of reaction that put the person talking on hold and it wasn’t really meant to be an actual agreement to what was being suggested.

As if on cue, the redhead seemed to suddenly come around and she looked directly into his eyes again. Look, I have somewhere I’m supposed to be right now, but I’d like to continue talking to you when I’m done. Could you meet me at this little coffee shop on the next corner in about two hours from now? Gwen asked.

Her request, coming out of the blue the way it did, caught Brooks off guard, but only in that it reinforced what he was already experiencing. From the moment he had laid eyes on her, Brooks had felt this rather intense attraction to the lively-looking redhead.

The attraction went beyond his initial damsel-in-distress reaction. No, it was more than that. There was just something about the young teacher that seemed to all but reel him in.

Obviously it wasn’t one-sided, he thought, silently congratulating himself. Unless he hadn’t heard correctly, she had just subtly asked him to meet him for coffee, which could be construed as asking him out on a date.

Just to be certain that he’d meet her there, Gwen began to rattle off the coffee shop’s address. Brooks stopped her before she could finish. I’m familiar with the place, he assured her.

With a nod of her head, Gwen rose to her feet and crossed over toward the breakfront where she’d left her purse hanging when she’d walked in.

Fine. Then I’ll see you there in about two hours, Gwen confirmed.

Brooks nodded, then followed her out the front door. It’s a date, he told her, then immediately realized what he’d just said. I mean, it’s not a date, but I’ll see you there in two hours.

Feeling a blush working its way up the sides of her neck, then up to her cheeks, Gwen avoided his eyes and nodded.

Right, she agreed, thinking it best to leave it at that.

---

Brooks wasn’t the type to trip over his own tongue. Usually, he was right on top of things, able to think on his feet and say what was on his mind without stumbling. But he had to admit this woman had thrown him off his game.

He was intrigued by her, drawn to her the way he hadn’t been drawn to anyone in a long, long time.

Actually, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this way about a woman. He knew what that meant. That left him prone to making mistakes, Brooks silently upbraided himself. That meant he needed to be twice as careful.

He looked around the small coffee shop, which was apparently Braxville’s latest stab at being trendy.

Given the fact that it