Page 38 of Colton Family Bodyguard (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

Nowhere she and Evie went would be safe. The shooter would find them. Hazel looked at her daughter, who had moved into the living room and was watching a cartoon. If anything happened to her...

Hazel recalled how devastated Callum had looked when he told her his baby girl had died with her mother. Hazel wouldn’t survive losing Evie.

He took out his phone. “Hello, Kerry. Someone sent Hazel a threatening letter.” When he disconnected he said to Hazel, “She’s on her way.”

Hazel looked at her daughter again, imagining the shooter hitting her over the head with a rock or shooting her little body. She dropped the letter and put her hand to her mouth.

Callum came to her and pulled her into his arms. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“We can’t stay in this inn forever.”

“You won’t have to. Kerry will find him.”

“In the meantime, what if he gets to us? He seemed certain.”

He rubbed her back. “I won’t let him hurt you. He’ll have to get past me to get to you and I won’t let that happen.”

She believed him, but even with his expertise, he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. She leaned back and met his eyes. Pressed this close to him, with his arms still around her, and especially with their deepened connection, her sexual reaction to him was stronger than ever before. His eyes grew darker with passion. He had to feel the same.

If Evie hadn’t been in the room, she would have kissed him. Last night and this morning, Hazel had been tempted to take a chance on him. She had never met a man since Ed who made her feel they could have something lasting.

Easing away, she took a seat at the kitchen island. Callum bent to pick up the letter and placed it on the counter. They waited a few minutes and Kerry called Callum to say she was on her way up. Moments later, he let her into the room.

“Hey, Evie. I’ve got something for you.” Evie turned from the television as Kerry went to her and handed her a MVPD baseball hat.

Evie inspected it and then put it on her head with a giant smile.

“What do you say, Evie?” Hazel said.

“Thank you!”

Kerry straightened and walked over to the island, where Callum handed her the letter.

She read it and frowned.

Callum gave her the envelope, handling it lightly to preserve fingerprints—if there were any.

“I’ll run some forensics on this but my guess is whoever typed this was careful not to leave any traces,” Kerry said. “I will check security and can track down where the envelope was mailed from and maybe find out something that way. It might take me some time, though.”

“Whatever you can do,” Callum said.

* * *

The next few days were anticlimactic in that no one sent any more threats and they saw no suspicious characters in the few people who v

isited their suite. Callum decided it was time for a surprise to break up the monotony—and provide some relief from the constant awareness of Hazel and how much he would like to stop fighting to keep things professional.

A sudden knock on the door signaled the arrival of the surprise.

Hazel looked up from her work in the kitchen, preparing another week’s worth of food deliveries while wearing a sexy blue flowing sundress and no shoes. He loved a barefoot chef. He held back a smile as he went to the door to let Patsy Cornwall inside. The assistant led a hotel bellboy into the suite. The bellboy pushed a cart that held a big box and some bags of other items.

“Something for a young girl,” he said.

As soon as Evie spotted the packages, she squealed and charged to the entry. The box contained a finished dollhouse mansion. The bags contained everything to furnish it.

He put the box in the living room and let Evie go through all the accessories.

“You didn’t.”

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