Page 72 of Cold Light of Day

The sins of the father? Or the mother?

He headed for the waiting area, feeling the officer’s eyes on his back. Anchorage—the Alaska mainland—was a long way from his hiding place in the Alaska Panhandle, and the skin on his back and neck prickled. He glanced at the time on his cell and took a seat.

While drinking the too-hot coffee, he thought about all the possible scenarios—good and bad—that could happen over the next hours and days. Working out all the possibilities would help him be prepared. And then when it was all over, would he still be alive? Would the chief be back in Shadow Gap safe and sound? Her father too?

Shoes squeaked up and down the hallway—nurses, doctors,and medical staff coming and going. Monitors beeped and voices spoke in low tones.

“What areyoudoing here?” The familiar voice held accusation.

Grier tried not to bristle as he glanced up to face Nolan. Like sister, like brother. Where did he even start in answering that question? Grier stood and thrust his free hand out to shake Nolan’s, surprised that his grip was met. “The chief asked me to come.”

Nolan narrowed his gaze as he released Grier’s hand. He hadn’t realized the scope of Nolan’s dislike of him, but maybe it was because the guy had the wrong idea about the two of them. Clearly, if something were going on between them—at least that they admitted to each other and the world—Grier wouldn’t have Nolan’s blessing when it came to his sister.

“Your father told the chief his story.” Grier lifted his coffee cup. “You might have missed the best part, unless you already know, that is.”

“Don’t go anywhere.” Nolan turned and headed to his father’s room.

I wouldn’t dream of it.

Nolan disappeared down the hall, and against his better judgment, Grier decided to follow—from a distance. He needed another cup of coffee. Yeah. That was it. He stood in front of the vending machine and heard voices.

Nolan and his sister had moved down the hall from her father’s room and now stood against the wall behind him. He could see their reflections in the vending machine glass. They spoke in hushed tones, then she looked up and caught Grier watching in the reflection. Her ridiculously stunning eyes grew big as she stared unblinking at him. Those eyes, this woman, had captivated him from the first moment he’d seen her months ago when he’d entered the salmon fishing contest—Krueger’s idea for situating him in the Shadow Gap community.

Nolan suddenly stared at him too. Grier focused on getting coffee and ignoring the siblings.

They obviously had issues to work through, and this wasn’t his business. At least he now understood the kind of criminal that had set his sights on Chief Autumn Long.

But how did Grier keep her safe?

Was he arrogant to think she needed anyone’s help or that he needed to be the one to do it? If she needed that from anyone, her brother was capable and had the connections. Another cup of coffee in his hands, Grier finally turned and stepped across the hall and into the middle of Nolan and the chief’s heated discussion. He couldn’t miss the stiff set of Nolan’s jaw. The furrow in the chief’s brow. The two stared as if waiting for him to inject his thoughts into their discussion.

He should keep his mouth shut. Wait and listen. He took a sip of the coffee that burned his tongue, but he downed it without complaint.

The chief huffed and gestured for him to follow her.

The three of them ended up sitting in Nolan’s Chevy pickup. Like her father had been uncomfortable with Grier in his hospital room, Nolan appeared uncomfortable with Grier in his truck.

“Look, Nolan,” the chief said. “Grier has proved himself to be invaluable, and I need him in this with me.”

“Is he working with you in an official capacity? If he’s not, that could be a problem when it comes to gathering evidence.”

“Grier is working with me.”

She hadn’t added the “unofficially” part. But her words seemed to satisfy Nolan.

“Okay. Good enough. Now that that’s settled, here’s your gun.” Nolan handed over her Staccato P that she’d given up after shooting the man who shot their father. “You’re all cleared.”

“And that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Thanks. So what have you got?”

“The man who we believe abducted you is Mateo Santos. He works for his brother, Rafael, who runs a criminal organization out of Costa del Sol, a region in southern Spain practically overtaken by criminal organizations from across the world. They work together, specializing in different trafficking rings. Rafael remains in prison, and Mateo was recently released.”

“I got some of the story from Dad, but I don’t understand how our mother, a defense attorney in Kansas, could get mixed up with someone like this. It makes no sense.”

“I’ve been digging, and I think she met him when her firm was representing one of Rafael’s minions—someone starting a new distribution point in Kansas.”

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