Page 46 of Peak Suspicion
“Not yet. Do you remember anything else about him? His eye color? Any particular odor? What he sounded like?”
“I couldn’t see his eyes. He didn’t smell like anything in particular, and he never spoke.”
“We’re still looking for hikers who might have seen the man in the parking area or on the trail,” Aaron said. He glanced at Carter. “I’m going to get some coffee and I’ll check back with you in a minute. We’ll need to head back.”
“Thanks.”
“That was nice of him to give us some time alone,” Mira said.
He leaned over and kissed her forehead, just to the right of the bandage. “I was so afraid when I saw you lying there on the trail.”
“I know. But I was glad to see you.”
“I hate that I have to leave soon, but you probably need your rest. I’ll come back tomorrow to take you home.”
“I’d like that.”
He started to pull his hand away, but she held on. “I’ve been thinking about how much time I’ve wasted.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was with a man before who turned out to be completely different than I thought. It made me doubt my judgment. I was afraid to be with anyone again. But you keep proving you’re dependable.”
His heart sank. “That’s me. Dependable. Steady. Not at all exciting.”
“I don’t want exciting. I just want you.” She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. On the lips. Hers were swollen and tasted a little of antiseptic, but he didn’t care. She wanted him, and that was all that mattered.
“Humph.”
He drew back to find the nurse standing at the end of the bed, scowling at them. “I’d better go,” he said.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mira said, and closed her eyes.
He walked out of the room, though it felt a little like floating. Aaron was waiting in the hallway, a paper cup of coffee in one hand. “All good?” he asked.
“All great.”
Chapter Fourteen
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected] and 14 others
Subject: Spanish for First Responders
Tonight’s class has NOT been canceled. I expect to see you all there. Estar listo para trabajar.
Mira
Mira taught the class the next evening seated in a chair at the front of the room, her arm in a sling. “Tonight, we’re going to take advantage of my recent experience and practice all the questions deputies, search and rescue, and paramedics might have needed to ask if I had spoken only Spanish.”
“You don’t think that’s too traumatic?” Deni asked.
“No,” Mira said. “I was pretty out of it at the time, so I think this will help. I’m counting on some of you who were there to remember what you asked. We’ll skip the part where I’m lying on the ground, though.” She held up a whiteboard marker. “I’ll need a volunteer to write down, in English, all the questions you come up with, then we’ll work on translating them into Spanish.”
Bethany took the marker. “Dalton, why don’t you start?” Mira asked.
They covered search and rescue first, then she called on Aaron for the law enforcement perspective. Hearing the questions about her attacker once more did not, as she had hoped, elicit any new information. Earlier in the day, the sheriff had told her they had no new leads on the black-clad man.He had managed to avoid being seen by any other hikers or passersby.
