Page 32 of Twin Jeopardy

It was their turn to order. When they had collected their food, they carried it to a picnic table in the shade of a towering blue spruce. Elisabeth and Mitch settled across from Tammy, sitting so close their shoulders touched.

“Elisabeth, where are you from?” Tammy asked.

“Nebraska.”

“Oh, do you have family there?”

Elisabeth’s expression saddened. Something about her was familiar to Tammy, but she couldn’t place her. “Not anymore. My father passed away recently, and I’m all alone.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You don’t have other family?”

“No one close, no.” She glanced at Mitch. “Not everyone is lucky enough to have a close sibling.”

“Are you in Eagle Mountain for long?” Tammy asked.

“I hope so.” She beamed at Mitch, and he beamed back. Why did this set Tammy’s teeth on edge? Was she jealous that Mitch was happy and she wasn’t? No. She wasn’t like that. And Elisabeth seemed perfectly nice.

“Mitch tells me you’re a reporter,” Elisabeth said, her attention on Tammy once more. “That must be such interesting work.”

“It is.”

“What are some of the stories you’ve covered?” She propped her chin on her hand, eyes laser-focused on Tammy.

Tammy shifted, uncomfortable under that intense gaze. “Last night I covered an accident. A truck went off the road and plunged over a cliff, but it was caught halfway down on a boulder. Search and rescue had to make a dangerous climb down to stabilize the truck and retrieve the accident victims.”

“That certainly sounds dramatic,” Elisabeth said.

“It was.” She studied the other woman more closely. “You weren’t up there near the accident scene last night, were you?”

“Who, me?” Elisabeth looked amused. “Why would you think that?”

“I thought I saw you up there.” Tammy couldn’t be sure, but Elisabeth might have been the figure who ran by her.

Elisabeth chuckled. “It wasn’t me.” She leaned into Mitch. “I was otherwise occupied.”

“Elisabeth was with me last night,” Mitch said. He put his arm around her shoulders.

“It must have been someone else, then.” Tammy focused on her lunch, though she scarcely tasted the spicy barbecue.

“You wrote that article about the little girl who disappeared, didn’t you?” Elisabeth said.

“Yes.”

Elisabeth glanced at Mitch. “I read it when I first got to town. It’s hard to believe anyone could just vanish that way.”

“It happens more often than you would think,” Mitch said. “There’s a lot of hazardous country. It’s easy to get lost or have an accident.”

“I would think parents of a child would keep a closer eye on them.” Elisabeth popped a french fry into her mouth.

“Apparently, Valerie slipped out of the tent early in the morning, before the rest of the family was awake,” Tammy said.

“Well, the parents would say that if they wanted to cover up their own guilt, wouldn’t they?”

Before Tammy could question this odd assertion, another local real estate agent stopped by their table to say hello. Mitch introduced Elisabeth, who smiled warmly and leaned closer to Mitch.

When the other man left, Tammy gathered up the remains of her lunch. “I’d better get back to work,” she said. “It was nice meeting you, Elisabeth.”

“You too.” Elisabeth linked her arm with Mitch’s. “I’m sure we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other.”

---