Cold Pursuit - Carla Neggers [68]
It wasn’t as if Jo Harper couldn’t take care of herself.
“Suit yourself,” he said, and fell in beside Devin.
When they reached his truck, Elijah yanked open the passenger door, grabbed Devin around the waist and heaved him up onto the seat. Not that he appreciated the help. “I could have done it,” he said, sullen now.
Elijah ignored him and went around to the driver’s side. Devin had managed the few easier stretches of the trail down to the lane with little difficulty. On the steeper sections, he moaned, swore, complained—as if that gave him energy—and yet refused any assistance. When he stumbled, Elijah steadied him as best he could and let go.
“I can drive my own truck.”
“You’re not driving your truck,” Elijah said.
Five minutes later, he pulled into the lodge and parked as close to the shop as he could. Devin was out of the truck, stumbling for the walk, before Elijah had a chance to get the key out of the ignition.
The kid was getting on his nerves.
“If A.J. sees you,” he said, catching up with him, “he might just call the police. You know that, right?”
“Yeah. Let him. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Devin limped to the front door of the shop, dug a key out of his jeans pocket and, his hands shaking now, fumbled around with it before managing to get it in the lock.
“You’re a mess, Devin,” Elijah said.
“I guess you should have left well enough alone and worked on your house today, then, huh?”
Devin pushed open the door and went inside, heading straight for the stairs. He hung on to the railing all the way up. Elijah spotted him, but he managed to get into his room and collapse on his unmade bed, his legs hanging off the end.
Elijah glanced around the messy room but saw nothing to indicate Devin had lied about spending the night as Nora Asher’s personal Musketeer. A large multi-day pack was leaned up against the side of his dresser.
He turned back to Devin. “You should elevate your leg.”
“It’s fine.”
“Devin…”
“All right. I’ll elevate my damn leg.” He scooted backward, pulling his legs up onto the bed, and tucked a pillow under his injured leg. “There. Happy?”
“Do you hurt anywhere else?”
He rolled his eyes. “No. You saw what happened. I just slipped.”
“On purpose?”
“Why would I bust myself up on purpose?”
“A diversion. So I’d find you and be forced to help you, and Nora would have a chance to get a head start.”
“Why would she want a head start, especially if she knew it was you? You’re her idol. She has a big crush on you.”
“She took off by herself yesterday. You’d think if she had a crush on me, she’d have come to me after she got the bad news about her stepfather.” Then again, Elijah figured he wasn’t one to be trying to make sense of how Nora Asher thought. “Sure you’re not helping her avoid people?”
Devin’s expression gave Elijah his answer. The kid was tortured by whatever was going on with Nora, and he was completely at a loss as to what to do. He hadn’t given her a head start.
“You don’t trust anyone, do you? Here’s the thing.” Elijah went very still and gave Devin a moment to absorb his tone, his body language, and understand how serious he was. “I know you haven’t told us everything about April. I also know you don’t steal.” He paused, but Devin didn’t speak or meet his eye. “And I know you’re worried about Nora.”
Devin just took in a breath and stared out the window.
“You were worried before her stepfather was killed. What’s going on, Devin?”
“Nothing.”
“You want to help her, don’t you? Then talk to me. I’m not the law. I’m not family.”
“Okay, yeah, I’m worried about her. A lot’s going on. Nora doesn’t like her father’s fiancée. Her stepfather just got run over like a bug. I’m being framed for stealing money.”
“Are you suggesting they’re all connected?”
“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just saying.”
“Does Nora have a specific reason for not liking Melanie?”
“Instincts. I don’t know. For one thing, she’s a lot younger than Nora’s father.”
“Gold digger?”
“I don’t think that’s it. She has her own business. Nora’s father comes from an