Carla Neggers - Cold Pursuit

“I do.” He gave an audible sigh. There was no humor in his voice now. “Washington PD got an anonymous tip about a possible eyewitness yesterday. A bicycle messenger. Woman.”

“That’s a solid lead, then. Mark…” Jo hesitated, then plunged in. “Is it possible that an assassination team targeted Ambassador Bruni?”

A half beat’s pause. “Who’ve you been talking to?”

“Just overheard idle talk at the watercooler.”

“I’ve heard about your place in Vermont, Harper.” The Francona wit had returned. “You’re lucky to have flush toilets, let alone watercoolers.”

“Does that mean there are no assassins on the loose?”

“There are always assassins on the loose,” he said and hung up.

Jo dialed him again and got his voice mail. She didn’t leave a message. She could call Charlie out of class at his private school in northern Virginia and ask him to clarify what he’d said to Elijah, but Charlie would have covered his tracks and would deny the conversation-he was resourceful, intelligent, bored and under the close watch of her colleagues in the Secret Service.

So it was drama, and Charlie manipulating her, and she shouldn’t bite and end up the victim of another of his pranks.

She continued up the three-quarter-mile trail to Black Falls Lodge, but there was no marker-no fence, no mean dogs-that indicated when she’d crossed onto Cameron land. The trail ended at the far corner of the meadow below the lodge. Out in the open, the air was even colder. She slipped as she crossed the frost-dampened grass to the walk, following it up to the stone terrace.

She found A.J. taking down umbrellas at the tables, hatless, working without gloves. He acknowledged her presence with a curt nod. “Cold morning for a hike,” he said.

Jo couldn’t argue. “I thought I might find Nora and Devin sitting by the fire. I was hoping they’d come down off the mountain looking for pancakes and hot maple syrup.”

“No such luck.”

She looked out at the wide sloping meadow from which she’d just come, the mountains blue and gray out across from the ridge. “It’s a beautiful spot. Easy to forget when you’re not here.”

“It’s easy for some people never to notice even when they are here.”

Jo thought he might be making a gibe at her youthful self but let it pass. “A.J., did your father have much to do with Ambassador Bruni when he was up here?”

“It’s possible. Pop did his own thing.” A.J. laid a tall, rust-colored umbrella against a table with three others. He stood up straight, the wind catching the ends of his hair as he studied her. “Where are you going with this, Jo?”

“Nowhere. I’m just spitting in the ocean. It’s not the best way to do things, I know, but-”

“You’re at a loose end right now. Don’t go looking for things that aren’t there just because you’re bored or need a distraction.” He turned abruptly and tackled another umbrella. “Elijah’s had a rough year. You might keep that in mind.”

Her breath caught at his words, but she tried to smile. “Since when have you started looking after your baby brother? You used to have apple fights-didn’t one of you end up with stitches?”

“Sean did. Third man in.” A.J. abandoned his umbrella and gave her a faint smile, his blue eyes unreadable in the bright morning light. “You were one of us growing up, Jo, whether you want to admit it or not.”

“Just don’t say that where my father can hear you. What did you plan to do with the lakefront property?”

“Doesn’t matter now.”

“It belonged to a Harper for most of the past century-”

“Lauren says maybe that land wasn’t meant for us. People don’t really come here for the lake. They can rent a kayak, but they want the mountains. Hiking, biking, skiing, the views, the quiet, the waterfall. We’re doing fine.”

“I’m glad, A.J.”

But he looked troubled as he squinted out toward the mountains. “People get lost out here from time to time, but it’s rare for someone to actually die. Pop…” He trailed off, then seemed to make an effort to be conversational. “How’s the cabin?”

“It has bats. Don’t tell Elijah. I think he’s afraid of bats.”

A.J. gave her one of his glimmers of a smile. “Stay here and look at the view to your heart’s content.”

“You wouldn’t be trying to stall me again, would you, A.J.?”

“I’d never stall the law two days in a row.”

Wishing she had Kyle Rigby’s parka, Jo left A.J. to his work and walked out to the topographical-map sign on the edge of the parking lot, which, she hoped, would help jog her memory. She was rusty. She’d repressed a lot of memories of hiking in the area, since most of them involved Elijah. With the impressive network of recreational trails, Nora could go for miles-days-if she had the supplies, the energy, the will. Assuming she had, in fact, started up the east trail at midday yesterday, she could be almost anywhere by now.

Jo was joined by Lauren Cameron, no toddlers at her side now. She had an athletic build and a striking beauty that, according to town gossip, A.J. had barely noticed at first, so preoccupied had he been with work six years ago. She’d come to Black Falls Lodge to escape an abusive relationship and ended up staying.

“If you’re wondering where Devin found Drew,” she said, “I can point out the exact spot to you.”

“It’s okay. I know,” Jo said quietly, sensing Lauren’s pain. “Drew was so proud of little Baylee and Jim. He showed me pictures of them when I saw him last.”

Lauren studied her a moment, then said, “I had a feeling he saw you on that trip of his in April. A.J. always envisioned our kids growing up with cousins close by, but I guess that’s one of the prices he pays as the eldest. Elijah, Sean and Rose haven’t met their soul mates yet, or if they have, they haven’t figured it out.”

“Their time will come.”

“They might need someone to hit them over the head with a two-by-four to figure things out.” Lauren gave a quick laugh that lit up her hazel eyes. “The Camerons can be thick.”

“What a shock,” Jo said with a smile.

Lauren nodded to the map. “We looked everywhere for Drew once we realized he was missing. It was awful, Jo. Then finding out about Elijah.” She shook her head. “Rose in particular had a hard time. She’s been pushing herself nonstop since then. Now Elijah’s back…”

Jo frowned at her. “Lauren?”

She sighed. “He’s looking for answers that he just might never get.”

“About Drew, you mean.”

She didn’t respond, just inclined her head toward the mountain. “Elijah’s up there. He found Devin’s truck near the falls trail.” She hesitated, then said, “Jo, maybe you should be up there, too.”

“A.J. did stall me.”

Lauren managed a quick smile. “He’ll consider that a small victory.”

Elijah noted three chickadees darting among the spruce trees just below the falls but didn’t pause to enjoy them. He’d done the hike up from where he’d just located Devin’s beat-up truck in forty minutes. Normally it took an hour. The trail was steep, rough and rocky. He hadn’t taken the time to enjoy the view. He figured Jo was down there, though, and decided he should have just wrestled her gun off her and thrown her in his truck with him.

She was a capable, experienced federal agent. He liked the idea of knowing where she was.

Devin had pulled onto an old lane and left his truck hidden among pine trees. Elijah had found it because he was looking for it, and because he’d been trying to think like an eighteen-year-old kid butting heads with his family and friends over a girl he couldn’t have.