Cold Pursuit - Carla Neggers [88]
“It’s enough for Charlie and my friend in Washington.”
“Is your friend a conspiracy nut?”
Elijah didn’t hesitate. “No.”
“Military?” Jo asked.
“SEAL.”
“One of the ones from April?”
He didn’t answer, but his expression—a mix of regret, resolve and pain—took the wind out of her. But it didn’t last. It was there, almost imperceptible, then gone again.
He opened the lid on the stove again, picked up the log from the hearth and dropped it on the fire.
“Elijah, if you ever want to talk about what happened—”
“I don’t.” He turned to her, his eyes the color of midnight now. “Marissa Neal.”
Jo didn’t react. “She’s in good hands. She’s fine.”
“You saved her life.”
“Whatever I did or didn’t do was my job. Charlie needs to stay out of this, Elijah. He’s smart, but he’s still a sixteen-year-old kid. The police won’t jump to conclusions about Ambassador Bruni’s death. They can’t. They’ll follow the evidence.”
“I’m not the police.”
The log caught fire, the flames hissing. Jo got to her feet. “You and Charlie and your SEAL friend in D.C. need to back off.”
“And you, Jo? What do you need to do?”
She didn’t respond, just started for the sliders.
Not that Elijah had given up. He tossed her a flashlight. “Don’t forget your toothbrush.”
She didn’t mention there was only one bed in the place. Obviously he already knew. She just switched on the flashlight, went out onto the deck and shivered in the sudden cold.
But it wasn’t just the cold.
The brisk wind helped clear Jo’s head while she walked back to her cabin. She was listening to an owl out across the lake when she saw car headlights down the road, and in another minute, a sedan stopped in front of her cabin.
The headlights went off, and Thomas Asher got out on the driver’s side. “Jo,” he said, his voice croaking with emotion as she lowered her flashlight. “It’s good to see you. I’m sorry it’s not under better circumstances.”
Before Jo had a chance to answer, a pretty, black-haired woman climbed out on the passenger side, walked around the hood of the car and stood next to Thomas. “I’m Melanie,” she said, shivering even as she smiled pleasantly. “I’ve heard so much about you, Special Agent Harper. It’s a pleasure to meet you, finally.”
“Same here,” Jo said automatically. “Thomas, good to see you, although I’m sorry about the circumstances. We can go inside, if you’d like.”
Thomas shook his head. He was wearing just a sweater and looked cold, and clearly distraught. “We can’t stay. Lowell and Vivian have dinner waiting. We’re staying with them. I just wanted to stop by and thank you for your help. But Nora? There’s nothing new?”
“She’s apparently spending another night on the mountain.” Jo decided to let Kyle Rigby provide a more detailed update. “We’re expecting snow tomorrow.”
“I heard.”
Melanie rubbed her arms. “Gosh, I forgot how dark it is up here without the city lights. Nora’s got more guts than I ever did at her age. Even now. I have no desire to camp in this cold. If not for poor Alex’s death, we’d probably have never known Nora had decided to do this trip. She might have told us after she got back, but she’s such a good kid. She wouldn’t want us to worry.”
“I’m reluctant to notify local authorities at this point,” Thomas said. “They have enough to do without launching a search when Nora’s technically not really unaccounted for. If we go ahead with a search prematurely—” He broke off, looking pained at the thought. “Nora has her entire future ahead of her. Dropping out of Dartmouth for a year is enough of a hurdle to overcome without causing a scene here.”
“That’s why we brought in Kyle,” Melanie said.
Jo kept her expression neutral. “Nora’s safety is all anyone cares about.”
Thomas stepped back toward his car. “I’m sure she’s fine and won’t appreciate all our fretting. She’ll think we don’t respect her abilities.” He looked out at the dark lake. “Alex’s death has us all on edge. It’s an awful thing. I just hope…well, I hate to think of her up there alone, grieving.”
Jo could see he was grieving himself.
“Jo—you don’t mind if I call you Jo, do you?