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“She followed Colton Oil emergency protocols and the Department of Homeland Security bomb threat procedures checklist,” Marlowe continued. “She didn’t hang up the phone and called from a different one. She copied down the number from the phone’s display and even wrote down the caller’s exact words.”
“Who’d want to blow up Colton Oil?”
Asher’s gaze met his sister’s, her frown mirroring his. They both had a good idea, even if they didn’t know the specific who. It had to be connected to the anonymous email that opened the can of worms about Ace not being a real Colton. It could even have been the same person who’d shot their father.
What about the tip regarding his and Willow’s switched-at-birth situation? He blinked as his mind added that last matter to the list. Whether the switch could be connected in any way, nothing was his and Willow’s. Only Harper’s and his.
“Have you called Mom yet?”
Marlowe shook her head, her frown deepening. “Wish we could keep this from her altogether, but someone at her Garden Society meeting has probably already told her. She’ll be calling anytime now.”
“She actually went?”
“I talked her into it. She needed a break from sitting beside Dad’s bed at the hospital.”
“You think we had any chance of keeping a secret about a bomb threat in Mustang Valley, especially when Garden Society runs like an intercom system?”
At least his sister laughed at his joke instead of calling him out on his failure to take his share of turns at his father’s bedside. It wasn’t just because he was too busy at the ranch, either. He hated seeing his powerful father lying there, fragile and helpless.
“What about Callum? Did you tell him?”
“Not yet, but he’s probably already aware. Twin telepathy, you know.”
He grinned. Marlowe was trying to joke, too, but the bomb threat had clearly shaken her. Like him, she had a child to protect. Automatically, his arms tightened around Harper.
Rafe strode their way then. Sporting dress slacks, a modern untucked dress shirt and a short blazer, he wouldn’t have appeared different from any other day on his job as the Colton Oil chief financial officer if his dirty blond hair didn’t look as if he’d combed it with a rake.
When Rafe stepped closer them, Asher stood, but their brother reached for Marlowe.
“You doing okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said as she stood. “I’m thinking about making a sign that says that.”
Rafe’s lips lifted. “You do that. I’ll even loan you my markers once we get back to the office.”
As he glanced at Asher, Ainsley rushed over from the parking lot, Jace keeping pace next to her.
“Oh, good,” Ainsley said. “You’re out here.”
Asher looked back and forth between her and Jace. He was still amazed by how much the two of them resembled each other, even if Ainsley didn’t look like the composed Colton Oil corporate attorney she usually was at work. Her eyes were wide, she sounded winded and some of her chestnut-colored hair had fallen loose from the clip at the nape of her neck.
Ainsley hugged her sister and brothers, something she rarely did with any of her siblings. Then she patted Harper’s head.
“Wait.” She stepped back and pointed from Asher to his daughter. “What are you two doing here?”
“He was in town,” Marlowe answered for him.
Asher exchanged a look with Jace, but the other man didn’t mention the suspicious call that had caused Asher to rush from the ranch earlier. Another reason to like him.
“Glad you’re okay.” Jace stepped forward, as if he intended to hug Marlowe, too, but stopped and shook her hand instead.
Asher scuffed his boot on the ground. Well, no one was perfect, and their relationship was still tentative.
“I was just taking Jace back to the ranch after the DNA test when Selina called,” Ainsley said. “She’s furious.”
Marlowe rubbed her hand over a spot on her abdomen. “Not too happy about it myself. I had an important meeting with a potential account today. Now I’ll probably lose the deal when they seek out options at Robertson Renewable Energy instead. It’s getting too risky to deal with Colton Oil.”
Or to be a Colton. No one spoke Asher’s thought aloud, but they all had to be thinking it.
