Cold Pursuit - Carla Neggers [79]
He left the cell phone by the toaster. Whatever Nora’s reasoning, if she did get in trouble in the mountains, she’d have to find other ways to save herself. He thought back to what he’d told the class.
Not enough.
He took a key off a hook next to the refrigerator, walked back out to the entry and tried the door to the second apartment, where Rigby was staying. Sure enough, Nora’s key worked on that door, too. Elijah went into the combined living room and kitchen done in a style similar to Nora’s apartment.
Before he could get started, he heard a car outside and checked a side window. Rigby had pulled into the turnaround. Elijah watched him get out of his car and start up the stone path. Big guy. But Elijah wasn’t worried. He continued his check of the small apartment, but he found nothing of interest—no weapons, no notebook filled with detailed plans, not even a laptop.
He found a change of clothes, shaving gear, a pair of new wool socks.
In other words, zip.
He finished up and walked back outside, by which point Rigby was on the stone walk. “I locked the door on my way out,” Elijah said, trotting down the porch steps. “Locked Nora’s door, too. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you borrowed her copy of Pride and Prejudice.”
“You’re a piece of work, aren’t you? I’ve heard a lot about you Camerons.”
“All good, I trust. What are you doing back here?”
“I’m running out of daylight. I could search in the dark if I had a credible lead or if I believed Nora was in serious trouble. I went back up the falls trail after I saw you at the lodge. I located Nora’s probable campsite—Devin Shay’s, too, just down the hill from hers.”
“Did you get lost?” Elijah asked with only a trace of sarcasm.
“No. I don’t get lost.” He nodded to the guesthouse, less combative. “I appreciate your caution. In your place, I’d do the same.”
Elijah brushed past him and started back for the duck pond, but not soon enough. Jo pulled into the turnaround and got out of her car, looking like the Secret Service agent she was. She eased over to the stone walk. “What’re you boys up to?” she asked coolly.
Rigby shrugged. “Cameron here was just leaving. I gave him my update on Nora Asher. Apparently she’s spending another night in the woods.” He paused, then said, “Devin Shay, too.”
Jo slanted a look at him. “Thomas and his fiancée are on their way. He said Melanie recommended you. I got the impression you don’t know each other that well. Is that accurate?”
“We ended up on the same ski trail in Colorado. I told her to give me a call if she ever needed a hand.”
“No contact with her since then?”
“None,” Rigby said. “I’m in close touch with Mr. Asher. He and Ms. Kendall are arriving soon. I offered to pick them up, but he’s renting a car. It’s a long drive from the airport. I guess it’d be hard to put an airport in around here, since there’s not much flat land.”
“A storm’s on the way,” Jo said. “Higher elevations could get a good dump of snow. It’s not supposed to start until later in the day, but there’s a chance it could start earlier.”
“I’ve seen the forecast. Snow should get Nora’s attention.”
He headed inside, and as soon as the door shut, Jo swooped around at Elijah, her turquoise eyes hot and suspicious. “You just broke into the guesthouse, didn’t you?”
“Who says I wasn’t invited or didn’t hear someone in imminent danger?”
“I do. I know what you’ve been up to.”
“You can be sanctimonious, you know that?”
He tried to make it a joke—a tease—but it must not have worked, because she grabbed his arm. “Did you search my cabin last night, too? Was that you—”
“I expect it was Rigby. You might want to drop the third degree, Jo, and unless you want some real trouble, you’ll let go of my arm. That’s twice in two days. Yesterday I kissed you. Not without your cooperation, I might add. Today—”
She dropped his arm as if it’d caught fire, and he figured she’d seen something in his eyes that reminded her that not all that much, really, had changed in fifteen years. The pure sexual energy that had always been