I need to go

The only things keeping Melissa upright and on her feet were sheer determination and will power. The second she'd heard the news about Colin's parents she'd almost buckled. Had her worst fear been realized? Had Richard gotten to them because of some sick need to punish her? So many other questions swirled. If Mr. O'Brien was having an affair,could that be connected to the muders? Melissa quieted her internal thoughts. It was dangerous to give away her reaction to the news. She couldn't risk Colin having any suspicion about Richard.

The news would spread soon enough that he was a criminal on the run ,and Melissa would be long gone. Her handler , Marshal Davis,had been keeping the situation out of the news until Melissa could disappear. Speaking of which,it was almost time to meet him. If she didn't show at their rendezvous point,he'd start looking for her and she didn't need him asking around or giving more cause for concern. There was enough red flags in the air and she'd done enough damage on her own coming to Bluff.

An immediate problem of six feet two inches of raw masculinity stood in front of her. Melissa needed to think of a way to get him out of there so she could grab her sleeping infant and run. A wave of guilt assaulted her at thinking how much Colin had missed_how much he would miss_of his daughter's life. But with Richard on the loose,it was even more important to keep Colin and the baby separate for both of their protection.

If Colin knew about his daughter,it would be impossible to keep him away or stop him from fighting for custody. Once things settled down,the ranch would be an obvious place for Richard to look. As long as he was on the loose, Angelina was in danger.

But it was Colin's parents. She had to know if there was even a slight possibility that Richard could've been involved. "Like I said,I'm truly sorry to hear about your parents,Colin. When did it happened?"

"They were killed September of last year". His words were a sober reminder of how dangerous Richard could be. A thought struck. Could she leave Angelina with Colin? The ranch was probably safer than the US Treasury.

No.it wouldn't work. Richard believed Angelina was his daughter. If he heard or saw her with Colin it would be too easy to put the pieces together. Until Richard was safely locked away or dead,she couldn't risk it. She mumbled an apology under her breath and a prayer for forgiveness.

"What happened to them?" She asked

  "At first,we believed Dad had a heart attack while driving and wrecked with both him and Mom in the car. Something felt off to Tommy so he ran labs. Toxicology report came back with poison in their system", he said.

"That's awful. How on Earth could they be poisoned?" Melissa's heart broke at hearing the details.

"Tommy doesn't know. It would have to be someone who had access to both of them. Mom had hosted their annual party for local artists earlier that night,so few people had admission to the ranch", he said.

"I'm guessing Tommy checked everyone out at the party, including staff", she said,till trying to absorb the news. It was selfish to think about the fact that Angelina would never know her grandparents. There was always some small part of Melissa wishing things would magically work out and she and Colin would end up together. It was a crazy notion that had given her the tiniest silver of hope in what had been the worst year of her life save for the birth of her child.

"He did. All he has so far is the poison. He doesn't know how it got in their systems or what the motive for murder could be", Colin Said. "There's a slight chance that they ingested the poison accidentally".

"Except what are the chances they both ingested the same thing at the same time?" She said out loud,not meaning to. She shouldn't add fuel to fire. Colin might find out the truth about his father and that would crush him. She still could scarcely believe that the man would have an affair. She'd argued with Richard, putting up more of a fight than she knew better to,refusing to accept his accusation at first. And that had led to an even bigger fight between them when he's accused her of defending the O'Briens because she still loved Colin.

In order to survive,she'd had to swallow her emotions and convince Richard that she loved him. Only him. If someone had told her that she'd be able to sell that lie a year ago she would've laughed. Finding out she was pregnant had changed her priorities. Nothing mattered more to her than keeping Colin's baby safe.

   As a mother,she'd found a new well of strength to draw from than she had ever known existed inside her. Angelina's safety took procedence over everyone and everything.

"It's late, Colin. I need to go", she said,using all the courage she could muster to speak those words. Being with Colin again was taking a toll on her,body,soul and mind. She was grateful that Angelina was a sound sleeper. Melissa had a prayer of getting out of this situation without doing any more damage.