Page 7 of Crossing Paths
Cara rolled her eyes affectionately as she clarified, “What’s his name? Description? How’d you meet him? Are you dating or justworking outtogether?” Cara’s eyebrows bobbed up and down suggestively, making Norah choke on a laugh.
The truth was she’d found out about Dash’s gym online, and it was rated the best in the area for mixed martial arts training. She hadn’t set eyes on Dash until she’d forced herself to walk into his gym, but that didn’t fit with this version of events she was letting her sisters believe.
With perfect timing, Molly’s phone beeped, distracting her and saving Norah. After Molly read the text, she looked up at her sisters. “New plan. John’s picking up a skip and asked me to act as backup, so you two are it for research until I get back. Norah, you’ll tackle the security footage of Mom while Cara takes over investigating the hacker.”
“No!” The protest was out before Norah organized her thoughts, sheer panic filling her at the thought of Leifsen turning his attention to sweet Cara, who’d already been through so much. When both her sisters turned surprised faces toward Norah, she scrambled to think of a way to justify her protest. “Um…she’s already working on that embezzler case. Besides, I’m at a…ah…sensitive spot in my research. The security footage of Mom won’t take me long.”I hope.
Her sisters looked baffled by her muddled explanation. Molly sent a look toward Cara, who shrugged, so Molly turnedback to Norah. “That’s fine, I guess?”
Relieved, Norah stood, wanting to get away before they questioned her. “Okay. I’m going to look at the store footage.”
She headed upstairs, motivated to get through the store footage as quickly as possible. Not only was Leifsen a creepy stalker, but he’d likely had a hand in stealing Cara away. Helping to bring him in would be doubly sweet.
***
Hours later, Norah decided that one circle of hell had to be watching store security footage nonstop. She wasn’t sure what terrible thing a person would have to do to get sentenced to an eternity of that though. Her eyes were having trouble focusing, so she blinked rapidly and looked away, taking in the dimly lit details of her tiny room. It was officially a largish closet, but sharing a room made her anxious and unable to sleep, so she’d converted the tiny space into an improvised bedroom as a teenager.
The closet window showed the fading light of evening. Norah stared outside, still blinking to get her distance vision back after spending half the day staring at her computer screen. Just enough sunlight remained to emphasize the dark shadows. Usually she appreciated living on the edge of a national forest, but at this time of day, when the trees stood stark and spooky against the indigo sky and her imagination inserted monsters into every creeping shadow, a part of her wished for the constant ambient light of a big, never-sleeping city.
Her stomach growled, making her jump and then laugh at her momentary startle. It was pretty sad to be scared by herown body’s noises, and it definitely meant she needed a break. Standing, she stretched out the kinks and then headed downstairs to the kitchen.
Sitting at the small table that worked as a desk, Cara looked up from her laptop and blinked. Norah had to smile at her sister’s cloudy expression, sure that it matched hers from just a few minutes ago. The transition from research mode to reality wasn’t an easy one.
Cara smiled back before transitioning to a yawn as she glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Whoa, where’d the day go?”
That wasn’t really a question that Norah could answer, so she just shrugged and stuck her head into the fridge. Felicity’s insistence on all of them eating healthily made it harder to find a quick meal, but there were eggs and cheese and veggies, and Norah could make something with that.
“Molly isn’t home yet?” she asked, her brain instantly filled with terrible scenarios of what might’ve befallen Molly and John.
“She’s spending the night at John’s. The skip pickup went off as planned, but I’m assuming they have a lot of adrenaline to work off now.” Cara smirked.
“Oh.” Norah wasn’t sure how to respond to that, not wanting to picture her sister having sex, so she stayed quiet and opened the egg carton.
“What’d you find?” Cara asked, her tone carefully diffident. When Norah glanced over, her sister was studying a sticky note with more intensity than it deserved.
“Mom stealing things,” Norah said baldly, feeling guilty when she saw Cara wince before her sister quickly smoothed itaway. “Want an omelet?”
“Sure. It really was her then?”
“Yeah.” Picking up an egg, Norah held the cool, smooth oval in her hand as she studied Cara. Even though Jane had proved to her daughters over and over that she wasn’t a reliable person, it still came as a shock every time she did something like this. Norah wasn’t sure if they’d ever get used to their mother’s disregard for the law—or for her own children. “She took a bunch of travel toiletries and a few smaller electronics and then drove away in a red Honda Accord with a Colorado plate. I think the last letter was an L, but I’m not one hundred percent sure about that. She left the parking lot and headed west on the frontage road next to the store, but she could’ve gone anywhere from there.”
By the time she’d finished summarizing what she’d found, Cara’s expression had returned to her usual calm. “You let Fifi, Bennett, and Charlie know?”
“Yes.” Norah cracked the egg she held into a bowl and then added three more. “I wish I could’ve gotten the entire license plate number.”
“You gave them a lot to work with,” Cara assured her. “With that and a place to start, they’re going to track her down in no time.”
I hope so. We don’t have much time to spare.Jane’s first court appearance was coming up in thirteen days. Norah didn’t say that out loud though. Cara knew as well as she did that they were down to the wire. Instead, Norah changed the subject. “How’s your research going?”
“Eh.” Cara wiggled her hand from side to side in a so-so gesture. “Okay. The guy’s slippery, but he thinks he’s smarter than he really is.”
“They always do.”
“Right?” After a short pause, she asked, “How are those omelets coming?”
The gentle reminder made Norah realize she’d stopped beating the eggs as they’d talked, so she refocused on the meal prep. “Sorry.”
“No problem. Your brain’s busy.” Cara’s sigh was almost soundless. “Lots going on right now.”
