Page 36 of Peak Suspicion
No one had asked her about the message left on her classroom whiteboard. Either word hadn’t spread, or people were more interested in other things. Either way, Mira was happy to not have to talk about it. She hadn’t even told Shayla, and her friend was clearly too interested in other things at the moment.
Shayla and Mitch moved toward her. “Mira, I want you to meet my mom,” Shayla said. She looked up at Mitch. “Come with us and you can meet her, too.”
As they approached, Shayla’s mom looked up and beamed. She was a little shorter and a little heavier than her daughter, but had the same smooth brown skin and smattering of freckles across her cheeks. Her natural hair was cut close, and she wore large gold hoops and a cream-colored jumpsuit. “Mom, I have some friends I’d like you to meet,” Shayla said. She touched Mira’s shoulder. “This is Mira Veronica. And this is Mitch Anders.” She didn’t touch Mitch, but her smile broadened slightly as she grinned at him. “Mira and Mitch, this is my mom, Andrea Green.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Mrs. Green wiped her fingers on a towel and shook hands.
“Thank you for working so hard to help put this together, Mrs. Green,” Mitch said. “I know it’s a big help to the school.”
“Oh, it’s a labor of love,” she said. “Are you both teachers?”
“They are,” Shayla said. “Wonderful teachers. We’re lucky to have them on staff.”
Mrs. Green turned to Mira. “What do you teach?”
“Spanish,” Mira said.
“Oh,hablo español un peux. Una lengua mas bonita.”
“Si,” Mira said, holding back her amusement. “It is a beautiful language.”And so was French, which Mrs. Green apparently spokeun peu.
Mrs. Green turned to Mitch. “And what about you, Mr. Anders?”
“I coach track and basketball, and teach technology.”
Mrs. Green looked him up and down. “I should have guessed.”
Shayla frowned, but said nothing. A couple walked up and asked for ice cream. “We’ll let you get back to work, Mom,” she said.
“It was nice meeting you,” Mitch said, and Mira echoed the sentiment. Shayla led them away.
“Your mom seems very nice,” Mitch said.
“I don’t know what she meant, saying she should have known you’re a coach.”
“Probably by the way I’m dressed.” He patted her shoulder. “I wasn’t offended.”
She looked up at him. “I was wondering if you’d like to go to a movie with me this afternoon,” she said. “We could leave the barbecue a little early and catch a showing in Junction.”
“I’d like that,” he said.
They were staring into each other’s eyes, oblivious to everyone around them, when Mira slipped away.
She was halfway across the room when two khaki-clad deputies entered the room. One of them was Carter’s brother Aaron. She waved to him, but he didn’t acknowledge the greeting, his expression grim. He and his fellow deputy scannedthe crowd until they spotted the sheriff and made their way to him. He handed off his baby girl to his wife and moved a short distance away to confer with them. Then the three of them moved toward the silent auction table.
They passed up the items available for bids and stopped in front of Shayla and Mitch. Seconds later, Mira stared, horrified, as they placed handcuffs on Mitch and led him away.
Mira pushed through the crowd, the hum of conversation rising around her. When she reached Shayla, her friend was holding back tears, her face ashy as those around her peppered her with questions. “Come with me,” Mira said, and took her hand and led her away, into the hall. Mira tried doors until she found one that was unlocked and they entered what turned out to be a science lab. Mira shut and locked the door behind them.
“Over here,” she said, and led Shayla to a lab bench in the far corner of the room, out of sight of anyone who might look through the narrow window in the door. “What happened?” she asked. “Why did they arrest Mitch?”
Shayla began to cry. Mira held her hand and waited as her friend fought for control. “They said…” Shayla began, then swallowed and tried again. “They said they were taking him into custody…in connection with Bryce Atkinson’s kidnapping!”
Chapter Eleven
Carter was washing the Jeeps, shirt off and barefoot in shorts, humming to himself as he scrubbed and rinsed. He was thinking about the two tours he had led that day. In the morning, he had hosted a pair of couples who were traveling Colorado together. The husbands had been friends in high school and the couples had known each other for forty years and traveled all over the world. Yet they had still been thrilled to see the mountains and waterfalls around Eagle Mountain, laughing at all of Carter’s corny jokes and teasing the younger couple who were also on the tour.
In the afternoon, one family on the tour had been from Mexico. Carter had tried out some of the Spanish he was learning, then explained he was taking a course for first responders. This led to dozens of questions about his work with search and rescue, as well as more Spanish lessons as the family’s two teenagers offered the Spanish words for everything they encountered on the tour.
