Chapter 31

CHAPTER

THIRTY-ONE

Colton couldn't remember the last time he felt this good. He was on his way to Fancy Pants. Ella had offered her office so he could talk to Tony about his retirement idea and they could formulate a plan.

Retirement . He'd been thinking about that even before the accident. He wouldn't get totally out of the game—he loved the action too much. But there definitely needed to be a shift.

No more pandering to the public. No more continuous pressure of what would get the most likes or views or potentially go viral. No more planning stunts shot by shot until it was nothing more than a rote exercise.

And maybe not so many stunts by Colton at all. If the last couple of weeks with the campers had taught him anything, it was that he enjoyed teaching and training along with the action. Maybe he could open his own camp and gym for kids here in Oak Creek.

He stopped walking at the thought, struck by how right that felt. A chance for kids like Marshall—or any kids who had a desire for adventure—to come train with him for a little while?

Hell yeah. That felt more right than anything had for the past couple years .

He started walking again, considering what all this meant. He took the jobs of his team seriously. He didn't want to put anyone on the unemployment line. But if he did something like this camp, or a mobile version where Colton traveled around, there could still be jobs for them. Not all of them would want to make the transition to this new vision, but if they did, there would be a place for them.

His phone buzzing in his pocket interrupted his thoughts. It was Callum.

"Hi, Sheriff. What's going on?"

"I wanted to give you an update on Jeremy Ritter. I brought him back in today to re-question him. See if all his facts stayed the same."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not for the most part. No real inconsistencies on anything major."

Colton was waiting for the rest. The older man wasn't calling him to tell him there was no new information. That would be a waste of both their time, and Callum Webb had never been one to waste time.

"However, Jeremy wasn't too trusting that he would actually get paid, so he spied on his mysterious benefactor when the bag was dropped off. He didn't discover anything concrete—Jeremy didn't want to get caught snooping, but there was one interesting detail."

"What's that?"

"The person Jeremy saw was a man."

"He's sure?"

"Yep."

Colton stepped out of the way of a young family. "What does that mean? I was sure the stalker was a woman."

"I agree. The phrasing of the letters—especially before she got aggressive—suggests a female author. So, I don't know. Maybe it's a couple working together? Maybe the stalker is a woman, and she hired a man to deal with Jeremy?"

"Seems complicated. "

"Yeah, and generally, the more complicated the theory, the less correct it is. Occam's razor and all that."

The simplest answer tended to be the correct one.

"Agreed. What does this mean for us?" Colton stopped outside of Fancy Pants. He didn't want to continue this conversation in Ella's bakery.

"Gives us more to look into. We need to go back through the notes and our sting attempts within the framework of it being more than one person involved. Maybe have Lincoln look through everyone again—especially the men."

"Okay, I'll tell my team. I'm on my way to a meeting right now."

"Good," Callum said. "We'll want to coordinate efforts even after you leave town."

"I'm not leaving town. At least not permanently. Maybe to catch this stalker, but then I'll be coming right back."

"Found something to stick around for, did you?"

Colton didn't even try to stop the grin that spread over his face. "More like found someone stick around for."

Callum chuckled. "It didn't take much detective work to see that one coming. Congratulations."

"Believe me, the thrill is all mine. I'll be in touch. If anything else comes up, let me know."

"Roger that."

He hadn't talked to Ella about his plans to stay in town, but that didn't matter. He would take care of this stalker then do whatever was necessary to woo her. Even after last night, he wasn't going to assume she was a sure thing.

They could take it fast, they could take it slow…he didn't care. All he cared about was him and Ella being together when everything was said and done.

And honestly, he was a little pissed at himself that he hadn't realized what an amazing gem he had in his life earlier. How had he managed to live without her all these years? He'd known she was a great friend but had somehow missed that she was so much more. He could only be thankful that no one else had come along and scooped her up.

Colton ended the call and walked into Fancy Pants, moving straight back to the office Ella had left open for him. Tony was already there, and Colton grimaced when he saw Rick sitting over by Ella's desk.

Tony caught it. "Don't worry, he's going to stay over there and keep his damn mouth shut."

Colton nodded, but honestly, he was in too good of a mood to worry much about the younger man.

"Guys, we need to talk." Colton wanted to handle this delicately. They were both professionals—even if Rick was sometimes an asshole—and Colton appreciated the support they'd always provided.

"Yeah, we do," Tony agreed. "We figured out what happened yesterday at the sporting goods store."

That wasn't a topic Colton was expecting. "What do you mean, what happened ? We had a crowd, but it ended up being fine."

"Not exactly," Tony explained. "Evidently, someone deliberately released on social media that you were at that store at that time."

He scrubbed a hand down his face. What the actual hell? "How the fuck did that happen when I didn't even know I would be in that store at that time?"

Tony shook his head. "I'm not sure. But here's the account that announced you were there." Tony flipped his electronic tablet around so Colton could see it.

He studied the account on one of the most popular social media sites. "It's called Colton Harrison Guaranteed Sightings ? Not a very original name. And doesn't even seem to have many followers."

Tony shook his head. "It's brand-new, opened yesterday. Individual accounts don't need many followers now if they know where to post and what hashtags to use—that gets them all the traffic they need. Whoever set up this account definitely knew exactly where to post to start yesterday's frenzy."

"When did they post? "

"Yesterday afternoon at 2:18 p.m."

Colton rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not sure exactly when we arrived at the store. Probably around then."

"I got the text from Ella on your phone at 2:42 p.m."

What the actual fuck? He worked out the timing in his head… "Then that would mean this got posted when we pulled into the goddamn parking lot. It's not like it was somebody inside the store who saw the crowd and then posted."

"Yeah, I know," Tony said.

"That means somebody was following us yesterday."

Tony shrugged, and Colton looked over at Rick, who was still standing in the corner by Ella's desk. The other man shrugged also but didn't say anything.

"None of us like the thought of that, but I'm afraid that may be the case," Tony said.

Colton walked over to the small couch along the south wall and sat down, trying to wrap his head around all of this. "Allow me to make this even more complicated… Sheriff Webb called me a few minutes ago and told me that Jeremy Ritter admitted to observing a man involved with paying him. Didn't get any sort of description, but Jeremy definitely knew the person was male."

"Wait, are we saying your stalker is a guy?" Rick asked, even though he wasn't supposed to be talking.

Colton nodded. "Callum thinks maybe it's a partner of some kind. Regardless, we have to widen the scope of who we're looking for."

Tony leaned up against the wall. "That puts us back at square one a little bit, but it's not like we had much to go on anyway."

It was time to get to the main point. "Stopping this stalker is my number one priority, but there's other stuff we need to talk about too. I'm going to leave Oak Creek."

"It's about time," Rick muttered.

"But only to catch the stalker, and then I'm coming back. Permanently."

Rick threw up his hands in exasperation but didn't say anything. Good, because nothing was going to change Colton's mind. Rick sat down in Ella's office chair, shaking his head. Colton ignored him.

"There're going to be some big changes for me. I recognize that means there're going to be big changes for you and the team also."

"If we're talking about moving our headquarters here from Denver, I think that's doable for the most part." Tony already had his electronic notebook in his hands and was typing away on it. "Not everyone will be able to relocate, but some of the team is really only utilized when we're traveling for stunts, so?—"

"I'm not sure how many stunts I'm going to be doing. I'm talking about a complete shift. I want?—"

"Hey, what was the name of that social media site that leaked Colton's whereabouts yesterday?" Rick interrupted.

Colton had had just about enough of this bullshit. The younger man was totally ignoring what he was saying. "Damn it, Rick?—"

"It was Colton Harrison Guaranteed Sightings , right?" Rick continued.

"Jesus, Rick. Read the room," Tony replied. "But yes, that was the site. Why?"

Rick held up a sticky note. "This says CH guaranteed sightings. Post at 2:15 ."

What the hell? "Where did you get that?"

"It was right here, stuck on the edge of the computer monitor."

"On Ella's computer?" Colton shook his head. That didn't make any sense.

Rick shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, this is her computer, right?"

"Why would Ella have a note about that site?" Tony looked as confused as Colton felt.

"I have no idea?—"

He was interrupted by the door bursting open and Caroline, one of Ella's young shop workers, rushing in. She stopped short when she saw them.

"Shoot! Ella told me you guys would be in here, but I forgot. I'm so sorry. I just need the checkbook for…" She shuffled to a halt. "Oh my gosh, you're Colton Harrison. "

Colton forced a smile on his face, even though right now, all he could think about was that sticky note. "Guilty as charged."

"Oh my gosh, does Ella know you're using her office? I'm so stupid, of course she does. She's the one who told me you guys would be in here. Oh my gosh. Ella is your biggest fan."

"She and I have known each other for a long time."

"I mean, I'm a fan too but not nearly as big as she is," Caroline continued without even really listening to what Colton had said. "Really, I guess I became more of a fan after her showing me that digital scrapbook. But, oh my gosh, I can't believe you are here in her office."

"A digital scrapbook?"

If possible, Caroline's eyes got even wider. "Oh yeah. That thing is amazing. Hang on, let me show you."

She rushed over to the computer, shooing Rick out of the way. He moved, just as overwhelmed by the little whirlwind as Tony and Colton were.

Caroline plopped down in the chair that Rick had just vacated. "Password…Colton." She grinned at him over her shoulder, while the unease in Colton's belly grew stronger.

Caroline's fingers flew along the keyboard, and a few moments later, Colton's dread was even worse.

"See! She's basically been collecting every electronic clipping about you she could find for years. Pretty amazing, hmm?" She flipped through page after digital page of articles and clippings about Colton's stunts and his life. Hundreds of images… Maybe thousands. All sorts of articles.

"Holy shit," Tony whispered.

Caroline, very belatedly, became aware of the emotional temperature of the room. "Oh my gosh, should I not have shown you that?"

Colton mustered a smile. "No, it's fine. It's…flattering."

The relief on the girl's face would've been comical if Colton hadn't been about to freak out.

"Okay. Good. I better get back to work. I just wanted you to know how much Ella loves your career." She grabbed the checkbook and breezed out the door as quickly as she had breezed in.

The room sat silent for a long moment.

"Your girlfriend leaked your outing yesterday," Rick whispered. "I mean, between that sticky note and that creepy-as-fuck scrapbook? Hell, are we sure she's not the stalker?"

"She's not the stalker. And we don't know it was her who leaked the outing." Colton rubbed the back of his neck.

Rick shook his head. "Fine, she's probably not the stalker, I'll give you that. But damn, Colton, things definitely point to her having leaked your whereabouts yesterday."

Colton had to agree. "I'm not believing anything until I talk to Ella. And even if it was her, I'm not going to blow it out of proportion."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Whatever. This fucking town has you blind to everything."

Without another word, the younger man walked out the door. Colton watched him go then collapsed back down on the couch, shaking his head. He looked over at Tony, who seemed to be taking this much better than either he or Rick.

"I agree that you need to talk to Ella before we jump to any conclusions. Although it would be understandable if she didn't want to admit to what she's done."

"I don't know why she would do this at all." Colton couldn't even begin to wrap his head around it.

"People do stupid shit all the time for misguided reasons, you know that."

Colton did know that, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what would make Ella want to leak that info.

"I was going to bring this up later, but you should probably know that there were a lot of posts about you at that store," Tony said. "And a lot of posts concerning Ella."

Colton scrubbed a hand down his face, all of today's earlier energy completely gone. "Stuff you think she may have posted?"

"No. Normal stuff, but?— "

"Then I'm not interested. Regular social media will have to wait."

Because comments didn't matter right now. The only thing that mattered was why Ella would've done something like this and how he'd allowed himself to be so blind to it.