Cold Pursuit - Carla Neggers [66]
“Not smart,” Elijah said. “Running from me. Slipping like that. You’re used to being up here.”
“Go to hell.”
“I can get you out of here.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“It’ll be faster, easier with my help. Where’s Nora?”
“Who the hell cares?”
So that was it. Elijah shrugged off his pack and set it on dry leaves. He had a first-aid kit, but Devin didn’t appear to be more than scraped, bruised and distressed about his predicament. “I found your truck. You spent the night up here?”
He didn’t answer, but his breathing was calmer. And he’d stopped swearing.
“There’s a spot up above the falls where we all used to camp as kids,” Elijah said. “Did A.J. tell you about it?”
“He didn’t have to. I already know.” Devin gritted his teeth and groaned as he grasped his right knee with both hands. “Just get me out.”
“Did you tell Nora about it?”
“Beth Harper did.” He hissed through his teeth. “Elijah, hurry up, will you?”
“I don’t want to make a wrong move and end up crushing your leg.”
“That’d be bad.” He sniffed and looked up at the sky, streaked now with high clouds. “I wanted to make sure Nora was okay. I didn’t bug her. I just—I keep a daypack with a bivy sac in my truck. I slept under the stars a little ways down some from where she camped.”
“Did she know?” Elijah asked as he inspected every inch he could get to of the boulder that had Devin pinned.
“Probably. I think so. I tried not to scare her. She left at first light, while I was still asleep.” He blinked back tears, embarrassed, angry. “I would never hurt her, Elijah, and I’m not a thief.”
“Are you dehydrated? Cold?”
“No. I’m fine. Just get me out.”
Elijah paused and looked at Devin. “You’ll talk to me?”
“Yeah. Whatever.”
“Where’s your pack?”
“It’s up in the trees. My walking stick, too. I set them down when I heard something. I thought it might be Nora.”
“You got me instead. No wonder you went ass over teakettle.”
Devin attempted a smile, but he made a face and groaned. “Crap. Not her.”
Jo. Elijah followed Devin’s gaze and, sure enough, there she was under the oak tree he had just vacated on the other side of the falls. She gave them a critical look, then disappeared back through the trees. Elijah stood up and eyed Devin, who probably would have shrunk himself to slug size and slithered under the boulder if he could have. Elijah couldn’t blame him. “Two minutes until the law arrives,” he said. “Anything you want to tell me in the meantime?”
“I’m sorry I ran.”
“Yeah.” Elijah saw Jo already charging down toward them and thought of her smile at eighteen—the hope, love and promises it held—then shifted back to Devin. “Sometimes it’s just easier to run.”
“I bet you never run.”
“We all run, Devin. At some point in our lives,” he said, squatting back down, “we all run. Let’s get you out of here.”
Jo arrived and immediately assessed the situation with an air of authority and competence that didn’t surprise Elijah. “What happened?” she asked.
“I slipped,” Devin said. “It was an accident. Elijah startled me.”
“Let’s get him unstuck,” Elijah said. “Then we can sort out the rest.”
Jo got down into the muck to help but kept up with the questions. “Did you see any other hikers?”
Devin winced. “I’m in pain, Jo.”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “You don’t want to lie to me, Devin.”
“Jo.” Elijah kept his voice even, but he decided he’d been indulging in too many fantasies and regrets. She wasn’t eighteen anymore. She wasn’t in love with him anymore. She was a federal agent who could hold her own when it came to shooting and fighting. “You want to help, or you want to interrogate him?”
She bit off a sigh. “All right. You’re the expert. Tell me what you need me to do.”
“Stand there and look pretty.”
She glared at him.
He grinned, then turned back to Devin, who wasn’t so far gone he was going to say anything provocative in front of a Secret Service agent. He didn’t even let out a curse.
Jo got behind Devin and tucked her hands under his arms.
“Devin,” Elijah said, “I need