Page 5 of Crossing Paths
With a grumbly noise, he waved his hand as if dismissing her thanks. “Let’s not waste this time then. Palm heel strikes, when you do them right, can be even more effective than a punch…”
As Dash continued, Norah focused on him, filing every word into the proper place in her brain. At the back of her mind, she was almost giddy with the knowledge that he’d closed down the entire gym for her because he knew she’d be uncomfortablewith people watching. The happy, hopeful butterflies in her belly took flight again, but she batted them down, determined to concentrate.
After all, empty-gym time was precious and not to be wasted.
Three
Norah peeked around the door before stepping into the entry of her house, feeling the usual guilt that she was learning self-defense from someone other than Felicity. There usually wasn’t anyone around after her sessions, so she was able to grab a shower and get a few hours of research done before any of her sisters returned. Today, rather than the mostly empty house she’d expected, it sounded like all her sisters were home—and all were speaking at once. Giving up on her plan of slipping in unnoticed, Norah stepped inside, curious as to what was happening.
“Norah!” her oldest sister, Molly, called from where she was pacing the kitchen, a cell phone pressed to her ear. “You’re home. Good. Cara and I need some help in here.”
Charlie spun around from where she, Felicity, and Bennett—Felicity’s brand-new husband—were deep in discussion by the bottom of the stairs, their heads so close they were almost touching. “Wait your turn, Moo.Weneed Norah. We’re so close to finding Mom. If she slips away one more time, leaving us wanderingaround Nebraska again, I’ll… Well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but it’ll be bad.” Charlie crossed the living room and grabbed Norah’s shirt as if to lock her in place.
Eyebrows shooting up, Norah met Charlie’s amped-up gaze. “What’s happening? You really have a lead on Mom?” Her stomach twisted with a mix of emotions. Although it hadn’t been exactly a surprise when Jane had disappeared after using her daughters’ home as collateral on her bail bond, Norah still felt sick every time she thought about it. She also hated the thought of her mom going to prison, and she was annoyed at herself that she even cared. After all, Jane didn’t seem to mind that her actions were about to make her daughters homeless.
“Yes.” Felicity was the one who answered as she bounced across the room to join them, Bennett close behind. He gave Norah a chin lift in greeting.
Although her other sisters had thought Bennett was strange at first, Norah had liked him right away. He didn’t seem weird to her—just quiet like she was.
Judging by the excited gleam in Felicity’s eyes, she wasn’t feeling the same messy mix of feelings about their mom that Norah was. “It’s a good lead too. Do you remember Evan Sage?”
The name rang a bell, but Norah had to think hard before saying, “He was a deputy who moved away sometime last year.”
“That’s the one.” Charlie grinned as she cast a sideways glance at Felicity. “He got a job with the police department in a small town in North Dakota—”
“South,” Felicity interjected.
“Right.” Giving a little shrug, Charlie accepted the correctionwith good grace. “I always get those two confused. I wish they’d just merge into one big state called Dakota. Anyway, apparently he’sstillobsessed with our Fifi here.”
Bennett made an unhappy grumbly sound, but Charlie ignored him.
“He texted her when he spotted Jane on some security footage, taking a five-finger discount at their local Walmart just an hour ago. Store security didn’t manage to catch her, so they passed the case to the local PD.”
“He’s notobsessedwith me,” Felicity said mildly, giving her husband a reassuring pat on the arm.
Without pausing, Charlie continued, “Obsessed Deputy Evan sent over the video files from inside and outside the store. Could you go through them and make sure it’s Mom and if you can spot what she’s driving?”
“Of course,” Norah said, shoving her conflicted feelings aside as a spark of excitement grew inside her. As much as she knew she needed to learn the self-defense skills Dash had started teaching her, her first love was doing research, safe behind her computer screen. Although Leifsen had been popping up on her screen regularly with terrifyingly upbeat messages and menacing happy faces, she’d beefed up her laptop’s security even more, and she was pretty sure this time he wouldn’t be able to hack in. “Are the files saved in our shared drive?”
“You know it.” Releasing Norah, Charlie grabbed hold of Felicity’s and Bennett’s arms and towed them toward the door where their travel bags were waiting. “Text us if you find anything. We’re going to get on the road and head toward Dakota.”
“That’s not a thing,” Felicity complained as she freed herself from her sister’s hold in order to reach for one of the bags. Bennett got there first, hoisting up all three, making it look as if they barely weighed anything. Giving him a smile of thanks, Felicity turned back to Charlie. “You can’t just change two states’ names to make up for holes in your geographical knowledge.”
“But it makes so much sense. Thanks, B.” Charlie headed out the door, and her voice grew fainter as she crossed the front porch. “Think of how much embarrassment it would save people. I can’t be the only one who gets those two confused.”
“Bye, Norah,” Felicity said, rolling her eyes.
Norah smiled, liking that she’d been included in the joke.
“Bye, Molly and Cara!” Felicity called.
The two in the kitchen chorused their goodbyes, and Molly added, “Keep in contact, and don’t do anything stupid.”
Holding the door for Bennett, Felicity called back, “I never do anything stupid.”
Molly stuck her head into the living room. “Try to keep Charlie from doing anything stupid then.”
“I heard that!” Charlie yelled from outside.
