Cold Pursuit - Carla Neggers [72]
“It’s beautiful country up here,” Rigby said as he approached the map. “I’ll say that. I’m guessing, based on this morning’s festivities, that Nora is sticking close by. Hannah Shay have any idea where her brother took off to?”
Jo shook her head. “There’s no reason to think he’s a danger to Nora.”
“Maybe not, but if anything happens to her, he’ll be the first one police will want to talk to.” He squinted out toward the mountain. “It could be a tad warmer for my tastes. I’ll grab my pack out of my car and get moving. From what I’ve been able to learn about her, Nora’s emotional, but if she set up camp and got through the night, she’s got her act together. That’s a good sign.”
“If you need assistance, or if you feel she’s in trouble—”
“I know what to do. Keep me posted, Agent Harper.”
She let him go and returned to the lodge, scooping herself a bowl of piping-hot chili bubbling in an iron pot in the dining room. A month ago, at the height of foliage season, the lodge would have been bustling with guests. Now the place was almost empty, just a handful of diners enjoying a late lunch and the views.
She took her chili out to the fireplace in the lobby, where Elijah and A.J. were on their feet and still looking aggravated. She gave an exaggerated shiver. “Brr. I forget how cold it is here in November.”
“You should come back to Black Falls more often,” A.J. said.
“I should. Your wife and I could become best friends and give you Cameron boys a hard time.”
“What is it you want, Jo?”
A barrel of laughs A.J. was. But Jo didn’t blame him for his mood. “Answers,” she said. “The three of us need to work together. We’re on the same side.”
A.J.’s eyes narrowed, reminding her of his father. “Are we?”
She debated a moment, then relayed what Hannah had told her about Drew’s enlisting Devin’s help with some project on the north side of Cameron Mountain. Elijah and A.J. listened without interruption. When she finished, she added, “I’ll bet your father finally found that old cellar hole he’d been looking for all these years. Or some old cellar hole.”
“Devin should have given that information to the police,” A.J. said.
Or at least to Drew’s children, Jo thought. But she said diplomatically, “I imagine it’s been hard for him to have this on his mind. Provided he didn’t actually lie, he’s in the clear as far as the police are concerned. Hannah says he told the truth.”
“He just left out what in hell Pop was doing up there. Do you know how many times I’ve asked myself—” A.J. broke off. “Never mind. He had his chance to tell us, too, and he didn’t.”
“Hannah says he wanted whatever he was doing to be a surprise.”
Elijah’s eyes darkened and he looked at his brother. “I’m leaving. A.J.?”
“I’ll let you know if Devin or Nora show up.”
Short of finding a pair of handcuffs or shooting him, there wasn’t much Jo could do to stop Elijah. So she plopped down on a warm, comfortable chair in front of the fire and dipped a spoon into her chili. “You’re thinking I should go back to the lake and clean the cobwebs out of my cabins, aren’t you, A.J.?”
“I imagine your boss back in Washington would approve.”
He had a point there. But A.J. abandoned her, too, with a curt goodbye.
Jo set her chili onto a rustic oak table arranged with brochures, guidebooks and a cheerful autumnal display of pumpkins, mums and little figurines of wild turkeys. Lauren’s doing, again. A.J. would have left a stack of kindling there.
With her feet as close to the flames as she could get them without sliding out of her chair or setting herself on fire, Jo called Thomas Asher’s cell number. “Why’d you hire Kyle Rigby?” she asked when Thomas picked up. “And who is he?”
“He’s an objective professional—”
“A licensed investigator?”
“He’s acting as a friend.”
“Is he a friend? You’re paying him, aren’t you?”
“Jo, why are you so defensive? I thought you’d appreciate not having to take on Nora as