Page 70 of Final Escape
Janie’s death still felt like a cold, empty place in his heart. He’d mourned her for years, and then he’d finally healed. But the vestige of that loss had been an ongoing hesitance over commitment compounded by some failed relationships later on.
Coupled with this second round of false accusations, rising public sentiment against him, and the very real possibility that Sheriff Tyler might manage to make charges stick this time, he was the last person she’d want to—or ought to—connect with at any rate.
“Wow. You sure have giventhatidea a lot of thought. Was my idea that bad?” She slipped her arm into the crook of his elbow for a friendly squeeze. “Forget I said anything, honest. I was just joking.”
“Sorry, I was just thinking about other things. Dinner would be great.” He grinned down at her, thankful for her company and these moments of setting aside the more troubling issues that were looming. “How about pizza?”
“Hmm...just you and me, maybe?” She was still teasing, but there was something else in her expression now. A flicker of hope, of vulnerability.
Just you and mewere his thoughts exactly, even though he knew it would be a mistake. “You don’t really want to pursue that thought, Carrie. There’d be no future in it. You deserve a lot better.”
She faltered just a beat, and then she readjusted her smile. “Message accepted. So let’s give Penny a call and ask her to meet us, okay?”
* * *
WHAThad she been thinking, practically asking Logan for a date? He’d been kind, with his gentle, tactful deflection. But even now he probably thought she was a little pathetic.
She hadn’t meant it that way. She’d simply enjoyed Logan’s company and had wanted to extend the day with a quiet supper to discuss what had been happening lately. That was all. Nothing more than that. Really.
Now, across a table from Logan and Penny, with an old Dixie Chicks song blaring from an old-fashioned jukebox in the corner and the hubbub of a big crowd at the front tables wearing Granite Falls Baseball on their jerseys, she still wanted to slither under the table and die.
“So you found Dante,” Penny was saying. “Was he any help?”
“He was his usual, nervous self.” Logan took a long swallow of his Coke. “He didn’t like being found and he didn’t have a lot to say—and even that didn’t make a lot of sense. He said someone saw too much but it wasn’t him. He wouldn’t say he was threatened, but then he said he ‘had to go,’ and ‘it wasn’t safe.’”
“And then he said the oddest thing,” Carrie chimed in. “Something like ‘Don’t trust. Not even the ones you know.’ So what does that mean?”
Penny shook her head. “It sounds like his usual paranoia to me. You two probably took that trip for nothing.”
But it hadn’t been, Carrie mused as she finished her slice of pepperoni with extra cheese.
She’d finally had an afternoon with Logan, after all this time trying to avoid him. And she’d found him funny and warm, able to give and receive the little barbs of humor that had made the trip pass more quickly. She’d enjoyed every minute and wished for more...
And then he’d made it clear that he felt no similar interest.Ouch.
“So what’s the next step?” Penny asked.
Logan angled a quick look at the other patrons sitting nearby, and he lowered his voice. “We have people to talk to...a few leads to follow. Carrie and I are going to talk to that student and his parents, too. If we don’t work fast and find the evidence we need, we could find ourselves being charged and thrown in the county jail.”
“I agree. I haven’t heard another word about the investigation, and Tyler didn’t come back again to talk to you and Carrie, like he said he would. It makes me think that he isn’t looking beyond you two, and now he’s working on building a solid case.”
* * *
PENNY’S WORDS REPLAYEDthrough Carrie’s thoughts long after the evening was over and she was back at her apartment with Murphy, who had now decided that the center of her bed was his alone at night.
For the third time since midnight, she gently shoved his limp, uncooperative form down to the foot of her bed, where he served as a cozy foot warmer, and then she flopped back to stare at the ceiling some more.
Without her school salary or many hours available at the rafting company, she wouldn’t be able to stay here or anywhere else in Granite Falls for more than another month or two. By summer’s end, she had to find another place to live, another job.
But even now it was almost too late to apply for other teaching positions for the coming school year, though perhaps that would be a fruitless exercise anyway, with the murder case still up in the air, and with the kind of reference Grover would likely write for her.
Which left the offer Trace had repeatedly made to her—the little cabin on his ranch.
Lord, help me figure out what to do here, because I’m at a loss and could sure use some help. And if You wouldn’t mind, please give Logan a hand, too.
* * *
CARRIE AWOKE WITH Asense of new resolve. Shecoulddo something. Logan was right.
