Page 69 of Cold Light of Day

As for Dad? She saw now that he hadn’t prepared her for what she might face in the future. Come to think of it, neither had Grandpa Ike. He’d only shared the shocking truth when it became necessary, which to Autumn’s way of thinking was entirely too late. She hadn’t had enough time to process what he revealed, but the night he told her the news, she wasn’t able to sleep and that’s how she ended up spotting the man skulking around the Lively Moose—and Grier closing in on him.

Too much blood and death had rained down on Shadow Gap in the span of a few short days, and she wanted to know why now. Why ever? She had two investigations to solve before someone else was hurt or killed, and that was two too many.

But she refused to let self-doubt creep in and paralyze her or knock her off her game.

With God’s help, I can do this.

And admittedly, maybe she’d been a little impulsive when she told Grier she would help him. She had no idea what she was getting into.

Whatever was going on with Grier, she knew in her heart thathe was innocent, and apparently all alone. But not anymore. Autumn was with him in this. When he first showed up, she’d sensed that he was trouble—but that wasn’t quite true. Trouble simply followed him, and apparently she’d joined him in being a trouble magnet.

He needed her help.

And, he insisted, she needed his.

So be it.

Now, together, they had set out to protect each other and find answers. To get those answers, Autumn would question her father and one other person. Yesterday via the account that Martin Krueger had used to communicate with Grier, they discovered an email from Sarah with instructions for Grier to meet her alone in two days in Skagway. She hadn’t received Autumn’s or Grier’s texts. She’d gotten a burner phone because she thought she was being followed.

Sarah—if it was actually Sarah who emailed Grier—said she would find him in Skagway, after she confirmed that he hadn’t been followed. Autumn wasn’t in a position to argue the best place to meet, so they planned to head to Skagway after talking to her father. But they had time to figure out the details while they traveled to Anchorage to see Autumn’s father.

At least by following this lead, Autumn was working on an investigation tied to Shadow Gap instead of hiding in some off-grid safe house. Staying on the move and being unpredictable in her activities with Grier at her side was a win-win. She’d informed Tanya she was investigating, and Tanya would know how to hold the proverbial wolves at bay until she got back. Craig and Angie could handle Shadow Gap while she was gone. Everyone would keep their eyes open for her still unidentified abductor.

Or...would he follow her?

If so, all the better. She wanted another chance to take him down.

Four hours later, they finally entered the hospital in Anchorage. Autumn pulled her Shadow Gap police jacket tighter as they maneuvered the hallways.

They stepped into an elevator alone. “Nolan is supposed to meet us here.”

Jaw tight, Grier’s expression remained drawn.

She wouldn’t bother asking if he was okay. Neither of them would be okay until they untangled this mess.

“Maybe he’s learned who’s behind your abduction,” he said. “Who’s after you.”

The elevator doors dinged open, and she stepped out into the sterile hallway, followed by Grier. They passed a small chapel, and she had the sudden urge to run inside and fall to her knees and pray.

God, why is my quiet town suddenly filled with terror?

But one step at a time. She’d question Dad, and after she had those answers, she would focus on finding out what specific crime Grier hadn’t committed.

But first, Nolan had some explaining to do. After what Grandpa Ike told her, she could better understand Dad’s awful spiral into depression and alcoholism, at least to a point. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to tell Autumn the truth. But Nolan?

Why hadn’t he ever told her that their mother was still alive?

TWENTY-NINE

Autumn walked the hospital halls, heading to her father’s secured room with Grier at her side. She tried to ignore the tension spilling off him. He’d been forced from his self-imposed hiding place in Shadow Gap and probably felt exposed on all sides.

She certainly did. She would help him, but once the news got out, it would appear to others like she was working with awantedfugitive. She’d received the ballistics report and now knew that Monica and Kenny were shot with the same gun. Not unexpected. But Martin Krueger had been shot with a different gun. That didn’t negate the possibility they were all murdered by the same person. So in the meantime, she still didn’t know if Monica’s and Kenny’s deaths were related to Grier and his fugitive status. Although, clearly, this fugitive had already been found—but by the wrong sort of people.

And it made her wonder—what were they waiting for?

Why wasn’t someone pulling Grier out of a sunken boat with a bullet in his head? She shuddered at the thought. Maybe Grier held information they needed. Anxiety pressed in on her and she wanted to glance his way, but instead she concentratedon the Anchorage PD officer standing in the hallway focused on his task three doors down.

Together Grier and Autumn passed the nurses’ station and finally came to Dad’s door. Her palms grew moist.

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