Carla Neggers - Cold Pursuit

“But it wasn’t,” Elijah said.

“No.” Hannah raised her head and stared him down with quiet self-control. “You can take that accusing look off your face, Elijah. Whatever Nora and Devin have been up to has nothing to do with you and your family.”

“Did you check Devin’s computer?” Jo asked.

“It’s a computer we all share-Devin, Toby and me,” she said without a hint of self-righteousness. “He reset the Internet browser. He’s done it every time he’s been on the computer since then.”

“Hannah,” Elijah said, “if you have any reason to believe Nora and Devin know anything about what happened in Washington today-”

“I have no reason to believe anything of the sort.” She didn’t raise her voice, but she’d lost some of her color. “Forget what I said. I should know better than to open up with a Cameron present. I appreciate A.J. offering Devin a job, but he earns his paycheck. And it was Lauren, not A.J.-” But Hannah, her cheeks ashen now, stopped herself. “I’m sorry. I had no right to speak to you that way. Please forgive me.”

He shrugged. “Forget it, Hannah. You didn’t even draw blood.”

She managed a small, embarrassed smile.

Jo ate more of her brownie. The two of them might be making nice, but she wasn’t finished yet. “Did you talk to Nora or Devin about what they were up to?”

“They said they weren’t up to anything and I shouldn’t worry.”

Jo wasn’t surprised. No one liked to see Hannah worry. But she said, “Nora was in Black Falls in April when Drew Cameron died.” Jo felt Elijah’s stillness next to her. “Did she and Devin meet then?”

Hannah didn’t hesitate. “No. They didn’t.”

“What about you, Hannah?” Jo asked. “Did you meet Nora?”

“I did, but I meet most people who come to town. Because of this place,” she said, indicating the café. “Nora stopped by with her father.”

“When? Was it before or after the search for Drew started?”

But it was Beth who answered. “After. They got here right after the storm. The search-and-rescue team was already mobilized. Jo…”

She kept her eyes on Hannah. “Were you aware Devin went up the north side of the mountain? That old logging road must have been barely passable. He was just a senior in high school. You’d think he’d have told someone what he was up to.”

Hannah’s impressive control didn’t falter. “You were eighteen once, Jo. You must remember what it was like to want to be on your own. To live your own life.”

Jo stayed cool. “Does this mean no, you didn’t know Devin had decided to hike up the back side of Cameron Mountain to look for Drew?”

She thought she heard her brother inhale behind her, but Elijah remained motionless, his eyes on Hannah Shay. Hannah tossed her head back, tears shining in her eyes now. “Correct,” she said stiffly. “I didn’t know. Happy now, Jo?”

“Nora was here with her father that day. Did they help in the search?”

“Ask them. Or ask your brother or your sister, or Scott. Don’t ask me. I didn’t do a damn thing to help find Drew except keep this place open for the search teams and reporters.” She took in a deep breath, tucking strands of hair behind her ears. “It was a difficult time. I’m glad you weren’t here.”

In her own quiet way, Hannah could slice someone to ribbons, Jo thought. The budding prosecutor. “If any of us could go back in time, Hannah, we’d put ourselves in Devin’s place that day, just so that he didn’t have to be the one to find Drew.”

Hannah’s tears spilled now. “I have to go,” she mumbled as she bolted for the side door. “I promised I’d help Toby with a history paper.”

“If you hear from Devin,” Jo said, “let us know.”

Hannah didn’t respond as she retreated upstairs to her apartment.

Zack carried the cleaning bucket over from the riverside tables. “You’re tough, Jo. Phew.” He set the bucket on the floor next to the table with the supplies. “Remind me not to cross you.”

“What? I just-”

“Hannah won’t admit it,” Beth said, wiping her hands on her apron, “but she really is worried about Devin. And about Nora, too.”

Jo nodded, aware of Elijah silently eyeing her. “Rough day.”

“Hey, Jo,” her brother called to her.

She turned just as he tossed a wet rag at her, grinning. She caught it and whipped it back at him, water dripping onto the floor between them. He dodged out of the way, and the rag bounced off a chair, making her laugh, which, she knew, had been his intention.

Beth just shook her head and grumbled about having to mop.

In the meantime, Elijah had left. “I have to go,” Jo said.

Zack scooped up the washrag, his blue-green eyes on the door as he addressed his older sister. “Jo-you know Elijah…”

“Special ops, shot, at a loose end.”

“Still in love with you,” Beth said half under her breath.

Jo pretended she didn’t hear her and said good-night, heading back out to the street.

Elijah was still there, standing by his truck in the harsh light from the café. He raked an unrelenting gaze over her. “You got pretty tough on Hannah.” He yanked open his truck door. “It would have been worse if it’d been coming from me.”

“She’s loyal to her brother. That’s not a bad thing.”

“She knows something. Just like he does. You, too.”

“Elijah, what are you doing? Why-”

“What are you having for dinner?”

“Don’t try to change the subject.”

“I’m not trying. I just did change it. So, dinner?”

“I just ate a brownie.”

“A scone for lunch and a brownie for dinner. What kind of buff Secret Service agent are you? You need nutrition. Getting shot in the line of duty takes something out of you.”

“I was the victim of a prank,” she said, then added quietly, seriously, “You were shot, Elijah.”

He shrugged but kept his eyes on her. “All’s well that ends well.” His tone was unreadable. “I have leftover grilled chicken if you can come up with something to go with it.”

“I can toss a salad together and bring it over to your place. I’ll follow you back to the lake.” She smiled at him. “Don’t speed.”

She decided she didn’t need to remind him that her father used to nail him all the time for speeding when they were teenagers-before the army, the Secret Service. Long before his father’s death on Cameron Mountain.

As she got in her car, Jo saw herself and Elijah as teenagers, walking hand in hand through the fallen leaves on the town green, and she felt a surge of tenderness for the crazy-in-love kids they’d been.

Not an image for a long, dark Vermont night.

Best just to go back to the lake and make salad.

“You’re still a little in love with her, aren’t you?”

Thomas Asher quickly clicked off his Internet connection at the desk in his first-floor study as if Melanie had just caught him watching porn videos instead of the two-minute clip of Jo Harper tackling the vice president’s teenage son. It was even more entertaining than he’d expected-and just the distraction he’d needed from Alex’s death and his own appalling behavior.

Jo had called and told him Nora had taken off into the mountains.

What the hell was his daughter thinking?

What had he been thinking that morning when he’d panicked and run from the hotel?

He swiveled in his leather desk chair. “Not even a little,” he said, smiling at the woman who would become his wife in less than two months. She stood in the doorway, looking more amused than annoyed.

“Uh-huh,” she said.

Thomas knew he couldn’t fool her. He didn’t want to. But Melanie believed he harbored feelings for Jo Harper, and he couldn’t convince her otherwise.