Cold Pursuit - Carla Neggers [49]
She slid her hand over his and eased the mouse from his grip. “Enough,” she said, shutting down the computer altogether. “You need to turn everything off.”
“I don’t know if I can explain. Alex and I were friends even before I’d met Carolyn. That he’s gone now…” Thomas fought back tears as he stared at the blank monitor. “What’s done is done. There’s no going back.”
“Have you talked to Nora?”
“Not since I gave her the news this morning. I wish she’d stayed put after hearing about Alex instead of going on this camping trip. Lowell and Vivian say they’re not worried.”
“Easy for them. Still no word of what route she took?”
“I heard from Jo a little while ago. Nora’s car was located near one of the trails up Cameron Mountain. That’s some help, but it’s not the same as leaving her specific plans with someone. We don’t know she went up that trail—she could have met friends and taken their car to some other trail.”
“She’s eighteen, Thomas. It’s not that she’s trying to be irresponsible—she just doesn’t think things through.” Melanie sighed softly. “I can see you’re worried about her. You’re a good father. You’re not overreacting. Nora still needs you, even if she doesn’t think so.”
“Maybe I should go up there.”
Melanie squeezed his hand. “If you decide that’s what’s best, I’ll go with you. Listen, I know Jo Harper is a friend of yours, Thomas, but are you sure you should be talking to her? This thing with the vice president’s son…”
“That’ll blow over. It’s just a silly incident that will entertain people in this town for a few days and then be replaced by someone else’s misstep. Alex’s death has probably wiped it out of people’s minds already. I don’t want Jo to do anything that will further jeopardize her career, of course, but I don’t see how checking on Nora will.”
“Still, Jo’s got to be distracted, and she might need to be more cautious than is in your interest right now. There’s a guy I know—I met him skiing in Colorado last year, and we exchanged business cards. His name’s Kyle Rigby. He does private searches for people. He’s very experienced, and he’s discreet. I’ve already been in touch with him. He said he can get to Black Falls and figure out what’s going on with Nora, make sure she’s okay. He’ll keep a low profile. And if anything’s wrong, he’ll know what to do.”
“What is he, a private contractor?”
“Yes, exactly. Not everyone who goes missing or who has a family member who goes missing wants or needs to involve the authorities. Not that Nora’s missing. You know what I mean. But she has her whole life ahead of her and doesn’t need whatever she’s up to getting blown all out of proportion. With Alex’s death, you know the media would jump on this one.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
She patted his shoulder. “You’ve been thinking about your daughter and your friend.”
He could feel himself sinking emotionally, physically. “You’re so good to me, Melanie.”
“Let’s just find Nora and get her back to you and her mother.”
“That’s all I want,” Thomas whispered, latching on to Melanie’s idea. “If Alex hadn’t been killed this morning, I’d still be concerned about her going off winter camping with so little preparation, but not like this…” He trailed off, felt himself choke up with emotion. “She’s still so young. So very young.”
“Then let Kyle go up there. Jo has enough on her mind, but I’m sure she’ll help him if he needs it. He’ll be able to devote himself just to finding Nora. He just needs a green light to get moving. I know how upset you are, and I figured it would help if you had someone take action.”
“Thank you. Yes. Go ahead. Tell him to see what he can do.” Thomas blinked back tears. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “It’ll all be okay. We can go up there ourselves tomorrow. Maybe by the time we get there, Nora will be back. It’ll be awkward, I know, with Ambassador Bruni’s death, but we’re going to have to figure out how to move forward.”
Thomas nodded wearily. “Then we might as well get started.”
“Yes. We might as well. Kyle will help.” Melanie