Page 56 of Peak Suspicion
She turned toward him, letting the blanket slide down. “That wouldn’t be a bad idea at all,” she said, and pushed him back on the bed. “I have a little time before I have to leave for work.” She knew one way to shove her fears aside. At least for a little while.
Wednesday was oftenthe slowest day at the tour company. Carter and Dalton spent the morning detailing Jeeps and making small repairs. But Carter’s mind wasn’t on his work. Instead, he was worrying about Mira. She should be safe enough at school, but then again, someone had sneaked into her classroom and left that sinister message. He would feel better if he knew for sure the sheriff had found the person responsible.
“Dude, that’s the third time you’ve checked the air in that tire,” Dalton said. “Is something wrong with the gauge?”
“Nothing wrong with the gauge.” He rose. “I’m just distracted.”
“Too much sex will do that,” Dalton said.
Carter sent him a sour look. “I’m worried whoever hurt Mira is still out there,” he said.
“Guess the sheriff’s office has been too busy with the child kidnapping attempts to track down Mira’s attacker,” Dalton said.
“They’re still working the case,” Carter said. “The sheriff called her this morning. But they don’t have much to go on.”
“She doesn’t have any idea who it might be?” Dalton asked.
“She says not, but I wonder about her ex.”
Dalton leaned across the hood of the Jeep. “Trouble there?”
“He ended up in prison. She says he was a mild-mannered guy before that, but maybe prison changed him. He might have spent his time inside resenting her for dumping him.”
“If he’s still locked up, she shouldn’t have anything to worry about,” Dalton said.
“He’s been paroled. Then he disappeared.”
“I could try to track him down.”
“I’m sure the cops have already tried that,” Carter said.
“But they don’t have a hacker like me.” Dalton grinned. “And even if they have looked and found out stuff about this guy, they’re probably not telling you everything. And you want to know everything, right?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then leave it to me.” He straightened. “I’ll need the guy’s name and anything else you know about him.”
“His name is George Suarez and he was arrested in Santa Fe a couple of years ago.”
“What did he do?”
“You can’t tell anyone,” Carter said. “It would really upset Mira.”
“I would never do anything to upset Mira.”
He explained about George’s involvement in child pornography. Dalton made a face. “Doesn’t sound like they kept him in prison nearly long enough. I’ll see what I can find out.”
Chapter Seventeen
Mira tried to apologize to Shayla at school on Wednesday, but her former friend refused to speak to her. She turned her back whenever Mira approached, and left the room while she was still talking. Mira swallowed back tears and stopped trying to make amends. She was happier than she had ever been with Carter, but the loss of her friend meant she had no one to share her happiness with.
At least the Spanish class for first responders was going well. The students had moved on to more complex medical and legal terms. Wednesday evening, they were deep in a discussion of how to explain the use of a defibrillator when phones starting going off all over the classroom.
“We’ve got a callout,” Carter said. “A teen in distress.”
The mood of the room shifted as if someone had flipped a switch. The air practically crackled with adrenaline. Mira felt the anxiety herself. “Good luck,” she said, as people began to exit. “Be careful.”
Carter stopped to kiss her cheek. “I’ll call you later,” he said.
