Page 67 of Crossing Paths
“Leifsen and Fridley…who’s the third?”
“Albee. The woman we’re going to meet tonight.”
That didn’t seem quite accurate. She frowned. “Can we really consider Laken a stalker?”
“Yes,” all three of the others chorused.
Norah supposed that following her around and popping up wherever she happened to bewasrather stalker-like behavior. “Fridley isn’t strictly mine though. He’s more of a shared stalker.”
“Still counts,” Molly piped up as if she were the ultimate referee of stalker determination. “You have three stalkers, minimum.”
Dash rolled his head, and his neck popped audibly. “Three too many.”
The discussion seemed to be stressing him out, so Norahrefocused on John’s original question. “We’re dealing with Laken tonight, and then we’ll look for Leifsen Saturday night.”
“What’s Saturday?” John asked.
“Chloe’s band is playing an outdoor show in the mountains west of Denver.” She got a happy jolt saying the words so casually, as if they were already friends. Even though she knew she might be setting herself up for disappointment if Chloe ended up being involved with Leifsen, she couldn’t help hoping Chloe was just as amazing as she seemed to be.
“Who’s Chloe?” John gave a frustrated-sounding grunt. “I leave town for one night and end up out of the loop.”
“Chloe’s a possible link to Leifsen.” Norah’s stomach twanged as she heard her own words out loud. It felt wrong to define Chloe so dismissively. “An old acquaintance. She seems really nice and not creepy or felonious at all. He showed up to her last gig, but that might’ve been because he followed me there.”
Dash grumbled under his breath.
“So we’re all going to see Chloe’s band on Saturday?” John asked, making Norah’s heart sink a little. That was supposed to be her and Dash’s fourth—fifth?—date. It was hard to keep track when each one kept going off the rails. If someone tried to kill them in the middle of it, did it still count as a date? Norah thought it did. After all, the intention to spend time together was still there, even if it ended up being interrupted by bottle-bomb-wielding sociopaths. In any case, having John and Molly along on a run in public was fine, but having her sister and pseudo brother along on an actual date would definitely put adamper on the kissing and…other activities.
“We can’t,” Molly said, and Norah tried not to look relieved. Dash sent her a funny sideways glance that made her think he was just as glad as she was that it hadn’t evolved into a family affair. “I’m helping you pick up that guy in Pueblo on Saturday. Even if everything goes according to plan—which it never does with you—there’s no way we’ll be back in time.”
“What are you saying?” John’s offended tone was spoiled by the laughter in his voice. “I follow plans beautifully.”
Molly snorted. “Sureyou do. Like when you tackled that guy on the boat and both of you ended up in the reservoir?”
“That was calledimprovising.” John drew out the last word. “Sometimes, you have to make a new plan in the middle of an old plan—”
“How is that following the plan?”
“I’m following thenewplan! You just don’t know it yet, because I just came up with it.”
Dash gave a huff of quiet laughter. “They always like this?” he muttered.
“Always,” Norah said before adding for the sake of honesty, “Unless they’re making out.” Although her cheeks warmed a little, she was glad she’d said it when another soft chuckle escaped him.
While they’d been talking, they’d arrived at the fork in the trail that started the south loop. The popular trail was surprisingly quiet, with just a few other early morning runners sharing the path. Although Norah had worried when Dash had first suggested a run that she would struggle to keep up with him,they stayed shoulder to shoulder as they fell into an easy pace. She knew he had to be holding back for her sake, but it was surprisingly pleasant to run next to him like this, even with the affectionate bickering happening behind them. The sunshine filtered through the trees, dappling the trail in front of them, and leaves scattered over the rocky trail crunched satisfyingly underfoot. It smelled amazing, like pine and fall and Dash.
Another runner approached, and Norah shifted over automatically. As the man got closer and his features were easier to make out, she recognized him.
“Bruiser!” she said, the name just popping out of her mouth before she could stop it. “Uh…I mean… Hey, it’s Davies.” Her weak attempt to save herself embarrassment made Molly and John laugh so hard they stopped running. Norah glanced sideways at Dash, but she couldn’t read his expression. If she had to guess, she would’ve said he was torn between annoyance and reluctant amusement, but he went stone-faced before she had a chance to really examine him.
“Davies,” he greeted as the man slowed to a stop in front of them.
“Porter.” There was a suspicious redness darkening Davies’s cheekbones, and he seemed to be avoiding looking at Norah.
She immediately felt bad she’d embarrassed him. Of all people, she knew what that was like. “Sorry. For calling you Bruiser I mean. I just think of you as Bruiser now.” Dash grumbled something low in his chest, and Norah could feel the creeping heat of a flush warm her face.Great. Now Bruiser and I match.“Not that I think of you very often? I mean, just whenI’m talking to Detective Mill, and he’s asking about us dating—pretenddating—not that Mill knows it was pretend. So…yeah.”
With a strangled-sounding cough, Davies gave a small upward jerk of his chin. Norah wasn’t sure if that was an acknowledgment of her apology or just a hello nod. He was definitely blushing though.
“Thank you for going along with that.” For some reason, words kept flowing out of her to this stranger who she’d pretended wasn’t a stranger. Normally, she couldn’t manage to say anything when she was in an awkward situation, and this was nothing if not awkward, but now she couldn’t manage to shut herself up. “It must’ve been a shock to learn we were dating when you didn’t even know who I was.”
