“Where is he?”
“I’m sorry.” Hannah tucked the empty tray under one arm. “I don’t have time to talk. I have to study.”
She set the tray on the spotless counter, peeled off her apron and walked calmly out from behind the case. Whatever was going on between her and Elijah, Hannah, Jo thought, had herself under control. She always did. She was in her late twenties but seemed older, perhaps because of the hard life she’d led. She’d grown up in an isolated hollow just outside Black Falls, a different Vermont from the one Jo had known. After her mother died, Hannah took over as guardian to her two younger brothers, Devin and Toby, who were just ten and eleven at the time. Their father had abandoned the family over and over before finally running his car into a tree and killing himself not long after Toby was born. In addition to running the café with Beth and Dominique, Hannah was putting herself through law school. Most people in town had learned not to underestimate her.
“It’s good to see you, Jo,” Hannah said graciously. “Dominique makes amazing scones, doesn’t she?”
“She does. Nice to see you, too, Hannah.”
Hannah didn’t make a gibe about Charlie Neal and the video, but that wasn’t her style. Instead of going out the front entrance, she left through a side door that opened into the house’s center hall and headed up the curving stairs to the apartment she shared with her brothers.
Elijah made a move toward the door. He had on his canvas jacket, jeans and scarred hiking boots, and he looked as if he wanted to punch a fist through the nearest wall. Not that he was angry at Hannah. Something else, Jo thought.
She cupped her coffee mug in both hands. “Hannah doesn’t want to talk to you.”
He walked over to her table and helped himself to a chunk of her scone. The intensity of a moment ago seemed to have vanished. “I figured you for raw eggs and wheat germ in a blender.”
“Everything in moderation,” Jo said. “Beth and I ran this morning.”
“Did you? I just saw you stretching in your undies down by the lake.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. Those were my yoga clothes.”
He winked at her. “Looked like undies to me.”
The man was hunting trouble. “Don’t you have a job?”
“I stay busy. I saw you on your roof yesterday. Checking for bats?”
“Rot. I don’t want leaks.”
“If a bat gets in, you can scream. I’ll come rescue you.”
She bit off a sigh and set down her mug. “I can’t believe I almost eloped with you.”
“Sure you can.” The intensity was back, not quite contained behind his winks and teasing. “What’s the matter, Jo, don’t you have a sexy bad boy waiting for you back in Washington?”
“A straitlaced FBI agent. He follows the rules. We just started seeing each other.”
“Bet he loves your video.”
She didn’t respond and wished she hadn’t let Elijah goad her down this road. He’d always known what buttons to push with her-physically, emotionally.
There was a straitlaced FBI agent. But they weren’t going anywhere together, and they both knew it.
Elijah narrowed his deep blue eyes on her. “Ah.” He looked amused now. “You don’t know what he thinks of your video. He doesn’t return your calls, does he?”
“I haven’t called him.”
“Want me to-”
“Do nothing, Elijah. I want you to do nothing.”
“If I were in your shoes,” he said, “I’d make up a straitlaced FBI agent just in case having an old flame next door became a distraction. Isn’t that the big thing with the Secret Service-prevention?”
“We do pretty well with snipers, too.”
It wasn’t something she should have said, but it had no effect whatsoever on Elijah. He grinned at her; it wasn’t a pleasant grin. “See you, Agent Harper. Do more yoga. Go back up on the roof. I like watching the wild turkeys, but you’re prettier, even armed.”
She resisted shooting him as he headed out. Once the door shut behind him, she counted to three, breathed, then set her mug and plate in the dishpan. She didn’t know whether to blame her run, boredom or what for letting herself get into a sexually charged verbal sparring match with an out-of-work ex-soldier or whatever Elijah was these days.
Ex-lover. He would always be that to her.
She pushed a flood of memories aside and quickly ducked into the center hall. She didn’t hear anything from upstairs and resisted going up and knocking on Hannah’s door. Only pure nosiness made her want to find out what was going on between Hannah and Elijah.
Instead, she zipped up her fleece jacket and stepped outside. The village of Black Falls was located in a narrow river valley in the heart of the Green Mountains that ran up the middle of Vermont. Its attractive main street was lined with renovated old houses-clapboard, brick, stone-that were often the subject of Vermont postcards. Most had been converted into shops and businesses.
Across the street, the midday sun peeked through the naked trees on the sliver of a town green and sparkled on brightly colored fallen leaves. Not a bad place to be, Jo thought, even with Elijah in town. She felt some of the tension of being around him ease. She enjoyed the chance to spend time with her family. They’d all had spaghetti up at her parents’ place last night.
But she still had an afternoon to kill and wasn’t used to being at a loose end.
As she reached her car, her cell phone rang. Service was spotty in the nooks and crannies of south-central Vermont, but she had a decent signal.
“Jo…thank God.”
She recognized Thomas Asher’s strangled voice. “Thomas? What’s-”
“There’s been an accident.” He gulped in a breath and rushed forward, his words coming fast. “I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t an accident. The police…I can’t think…I…”
“Whoa, Thomas, slow down. Start from the beginning. Who’s hurt?”
“Alex. Alex Bruni. Jo-he’s dead. I can’t believe it. He was hit by a car outside a hotel across from his office. He…The police say he was killed instantly. It was a hit-and-run. The driver took off.”
“Does Nora know?”
“Yes. I called and told her.” He sounded slightly calmer now that he had delivered the news. “I don’t know how much she heard or didn’t hear-we didn’t have a good connection. Jo, could I ask you to check on her? Would you mind? Nora doesn’t know many people up there. I’d feel better if you could-” His voice cracked. “I’m in shock. Alex and I have been…we were friends for more than twenty years.”
“Thomas, do you have any reason to suspect Nora is in any danger?”
“No! No, no, she’s not in danger. I’m just worried about her emotional state. She and Alex didn’t get along that well, but she’s close to her mother. Carolyn will get the first flight she can out of Hong Kong, but it’ll take a while.”
“Have you been in touch with the police?”
“What?”
“The police. If Ambassador Bruni was killed in a hit-and-run-”
“Right, of course.” He seemed to have trouble focusing. “The police are investigating. I don’t know the details, Jo. I was here at my office working on a presentation when I heard.”
“How did you find out?”
“Alex’s secretary called me. So that I could tell Nora before she heard it on the news.” He was breathless, obviously shaken. “I didn’t have to tell Carolyn. Thank heaven for that. I think the police told her. I spoke to her, of course-I assured her I’d take care of Nora. Jo…”
“I’ll check on her right now, Thomas. I’m sorry about Ambassador Bruni.”
“I knew him longer than Carolyn. People wonder why we stayed friends after they got together, but there was never a question…” He sobbed openly. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”
“How did Nora take the news?” Jo asked, trying to cut through his grief.
“Hard to tell. She stayed calm, but it’s such a shock. I just want to be sure she’s okay. She’s so young, Jo-she should be at college, with professors and counselors and friends.”