Carla Neggers - Cold Pursuit

She bit off a sigh. “All right. You’re the expert. Tell me what you need me to do.”

“Stand there and look pretty.”

She glared at him.

He grinned, then turned back to Devin, who wasn’t so far gone he was going to say anything provocative in front of a Secret Service agent. He didn’t even let out a curse.

Jo got behind Devin and tucked her hands under his arms.

“Devin,” Elijah said, “I need to make sure your leg isn’t broken.”

“It’s fine-just some scrapes. I can wiggle my toes and everything. I could get out of here on my own.”

“How?” Jo asked. “By carving off your leg with a jackknife?”

“If I had to. I’ve got one in my back pocket.”

“I could throw you both off the mountain,” Elijah said. “Devin, when I pick up this rock, Jo’s going to pull you up. Go with the momentum. Don’t fight her. But don’t do more than you can manage.”

He nodded. “Okay. Come on. Let’s just hurry.”

Elijah ignored him and positioned his arms under the boulder. As he lifted, Jo moved fast, helping Devin get his lower leg free. He yelled and swore, pounding the muck with his fists, which Elijah interpreted as his way of getting over a rush of pain.

“Does he need an ambulance?” Jo asked.

“Nah. He’s fine.” Elijah bent over him. “You going to be okay, Dev?”

He grabbed a fistful of muck and hurled it into the water.

Elijah shrugged at Jo. “I’m taking that as a yes.”

Devin rolled onto his back and hissed through clenched teeth. “Damn, that hurt. Jo, what kind of fingernails do you have? They’re like finishing nails or something. I think you took a chunk out of my underarms.”

She showed him her hands. “No fingernails to speak of.”

“Well, it was your fingertips digging into me, then.” He sat up, breathing hard, sweat creating streaks on his dirty face. “I can get myself back to the lodge.”

“I’m taking you back,” Elijah said.

Devin looked at Jo, then nodded, obviously concluding that Elijah was a better bet than a no-nonsense Secret Service agent.

Elijah turned to Jo. “You can go on and finish your hike.”

“I’m not hiking.” She settled her federal-agent gaze on Devin. “Did you spend the night up here? With Nora?”

He wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist, smearing dirt and sweat. “Why? She hasn’t done anything to upset the Secret Service, has she?”

“Have you seen her?”

“No.”

“Yes, you have.”

“Technically, no, I haven’t. And it doesn’t matter. She wants to be alone.” Devin got unsteadily to his feet, groaning in pain, but shaking off any help from Elijah. “She didn’t tell me that. As I said, I never saw her. But she’s okay. She’s just getting away from everyone. Me, included.”

“How do you know if you didn’t speak to her?” Jo asked sharply.

“I just do.” Devin stared at the water and shivered once. “I followed her last night and camped nearby. I’m not sure she even knew I was there. She was gone when I woke up.”

“Then you weren’t invited-”

“I’m getting out of here. I don’t have to answer any more of your questions.”

He took a couple of steps up the hillside, limping. Elijah hoisted his backpack on his shoulder. “Let’s get your pack,” he said, falling in behind Devin.

“I’ll get it later.” He stumbled and yelled, swearing, then continued up the hill.

“He’s hurt,” Jo said tightly behind Elijah. “And he’s got attitude.”

Elijah glanced down at her, noted her mix of concern and irritation. “Pain will do that,” he said. “I’ll find out what I can. Meantime, you should come with me back to the lodge. You don’t need to be out here alone and run the risk of having to be rescued yourself.”

If she wanted to argue with him, she didn’t. “I’ll check the campsite and see if I can pick up Nora’s trail.” She scrutinized him a moment. “I’m not missing anything, am I? You didn’t come up here last night, did you?”

“Nope.” He adjusted his pack. “I stayed in my toasty-warm bed thinking about you a couple hundred yards away in your toasty-warm bed.”

“My bed wasn’t warm.” But she obviously regretted her words as soon as they were out of her mouth. “Never mind. Can you get Devin back to the lodge by yourself?”

“Yes, but I’d rather you came with us.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“What about Rigby? Any idea what he’s up to?”

“None. He could be on a different mountain altogether, or sitting in town drinking coffee. I’ll have a look around and meet you back at the lodge. I have my cell phone, Elijah. It should work out here. I’m wasting time.”

He didn’t know why he felt such a protective impulse toward her. It’d happened that morning, too, when he’d spotted Rigby at her place.

It wasn’t as if Jo Harper couldn’t take care of herself.

“Suit yourself,” he said, and fell in beside Devin.

When they reached his truck, Elijah yanked open the passenger door, grabbed Devin around the waist and heaved him up onto the seat. Not that he appreciated the help. “I could have done it,” he said, sullen now.

Elijah ignored him and went around to the driver’s side. Devin had managed the few easier stretches of the trail down to the lane with little difficulty. On the steeper sections, he moaned, swore, complained-as if that gave him energy-and yet refused any assistance. When he stumbled, Elijah steadied him as best he could and let go.

“I can drive my own truck.”

“You’re not driving your truck,” Elijah said.

Five minutes later, he pulled into the lodge and parked as close to the shop as he could. Devin was out of the truck, stumbling for the walk, before Elijah had a chance to get the key out of the ignition.

The kid was getting on his nerves.

“If A.J. sees you,” he said, catching up with him, “he might just call the police. You know that, right?”

“Yeah. Let him. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Devin limped to the front door of the shop, dug a key out of his jeans pocket and, his hands shaking now, fumbled around with it before managing to get it in the lock.

“You’re a mess, Devin,” Elijah said.

“I guess you should have left well enough alone and worked on your house today, then, huh?”

Devin pushed open the door and went inside, heading straight for the stairs. He hung on to the railing all the way up. Elijah spotted him, but he managed to get into his room and collapse on his unmade bed, his legs hanging off the end.

Elijah glanced around the messy room but saw nothing to indicate Devin had lied about spending the night as Nora Asher’s personal Musketeer. A large multi-day pack was leaned up against the side of his dresser.

He turned back to Devin. “You should elevate your leg.”

“It’s fine.”

“Devin…”

“All right. I’ll elevate my damn leg.” He scooted backward, pulling his legs up onto the bed, and tucked a pillow under his injured leg. “There. Happy?”

“Do you hurt anywhere else?”

He rolled his eyes. “No. You saw what happened. I just slipped.”

“On purpose?”

“Why would I bust myself up on purpose?”

“A diversion. So I’d find you and be forced to help you, and Nora would have a chance to get a head start.”

“Why would she want a head start, especially if she knew it was you? You’re her idol. She has a big crush on you.”

“She took off by herself yesterday. You’d think if she had a crush on me, she’d have come to me after she got the bad news about her stepfather.” Then again, Elijah figured he wasn’t one to be trying to make sense of how Nora Asher thought. “Sure you’re not helping her avoid people?”