Protecting Peggy by Maggie Price Page B

wives—my mother, and the other two left him because of his drinking. I’ve got three stepsisters I barely know because we all got shuffled from household to household while we were growing up.”
    Blake paused, as if collecting his thoughts. Rory waited in silence.
    â€œI don’t know if I ever told you any of this, but my dad served in the army with Joe Colton. After their discharge, they went to Wyoming where Joe started Colton Mining. A couple of years after that, Joe branched into oil. Later on, shipping. Dad always considered himself Joe’s equal partner, but that’s not theway things were. Joe’s brother, Graham, was his legal partner in Colton Enterprises.”
    â€œI take it your dad resented that?”
    â€œYes. Even when I was little, he felt that Joe and Graham had cheated him out of what was rightfully his. That made him drink more. When my parents’ marriage started falling apart, they fought and screamed at each other constantly. Home became a war zone.”
    â€œWith you in the middle,” Rory added.
    â€œRight. I still don’t know how, but Joe and Meredith Colton figured out what was going on. They insisted I move in with them at Hacienda de Alegria, their ranch in Prosperino. If they hadn’t done that, I would have eventually run off and never come back.” Blake shrugged. “Joe took me under his wing, gave me a foundation. He became more of a father to me than Emmett Fallon ever was.”
    â€œIn college, whenever you mentioned Joe Colton, I got the impression you thought he walked on water.”
    â€œI did. Do. Unfortunately, you’re not the only one who formed that conclusion. My dad did, too. My going around singing Joe’s praises only fed his anger. Last year his drinking got so bad that Joe forced him into retirement. That pushed Dad over the edge. On two separate occasions, he took a shot at Joe. Nearly killed him both times.”
    â€œJesus,” Rory said softly. “What happened to Emmett?”
    â€œAfter evidence against him surfaced, he confessed. Waived a trial and pled guilty. He’s at the prison in San Quentin.”
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    â€œSo am I.” Blake shook his head. “To the people in this town, Joe Colton is a saint. My dad’s in prison where no one can get to him. The water on Hopechest is contaminated—so far, it’s the only water around with a problem. What if this is all about my dad trying to kill Joe? What if someone contaminated the water here solely to get back at me?”
    â€œThe sins of the father visited on the son?”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œUntil we know what got into the water and how it got there, we can’t discount anything.” Rory furrowed his brow. “Have you received any threatening letters about what your dad did? Any phone calls?”
    â€œA couple of calls.”
    â€œDid you report them to the police?”
    â€œNo. They came in at night on my private line when I was upstairs in bed. The caller didn’t actually threaten me, just railed against Dad and called him names. I figured a few people needed to blow off steam.”
    â€œThere’s always a chance one of those people decided you need to suffer, too.” Rory tilted his chin. “What about a family member of Joe’s?”
    â€œNo. The Coltons bent over backward to help Dad after his arrest. Joe even persuaded the judge to give him a light sentence.”
    â€œColton does sound a little saintlike.”
    â€œTrust me, he is. He and his wife are paying the cost of all medical expenses for anyone who drank contaminated water.”
    Rory expelled a soft whistle. “That’s a lot of money.”
    â€œRight. So, I doubt Joe would have contaminated the water, then turned around and offered to pay everyone’s medical expenses. You can cross off everyone close to him, too.”
    â€œYour dad was close to him,” Rory said