He was gone and she didn’t regret it for a moment.
She’d been to see Jesse once in the hospital. He was recovering from the gunshot wound and a severe loss of blood. He’d been sedated and only half aware of her presence and she felt awkward, standing by his bed, holding his hand in both of hers. She kept remembering him kneeling in the snow beside Abby. Holding her. Comforting her. Lee had to admit it, they looked good together.
She’d seen Abby as well. The reporter was also in the hospital, being treated for shock, the gunshot wound to her leg—and for a whole faceful of bruises and contusions where Mikkelitz had beaten her. They’d shaken hands, although Abby had seemed more inclined to want to hug her, and Lee had stood awkwardly while the other woman thanked her, the terror of the hours she’d spent with Mikkelitz still visible, deep behind her perfect blue eyes. Lee had left the hospital room a little more abruptly than the occasion warranted.
And now, today, the media had packed up and gone. The Mountain Murderer story was cold news and the tourists were slowly returning to Steamboat and Mount Werner, encouraged by the fact that accommodation was available and special discount prices were being offered as local traders tried to save something from the season.
Today was also the day when Abby would leave the hospital and return to Denver. Somehow, Lee knew that Jesse would be going with her. And as she knew it, she shook her head angrily, knowing that Jesse and Abby, no matter what they had between them, were simply not as right for each other as Jesse and she.
She knew it. Was sure of it. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Jesse and Abby, she knew, might last a few more years together. But inevitably, they would drift apart and break up again.
But this time, knowing Jesse as she did, he would be too proud to return to her. She smiled sadly as she thought about it. Would she be too proud to have him back if he did, she wondered? Then she admitted, no, she wouldn’t. Pride was all very well. But it had no place between two people who were so right for each other.
There was a tap at the door—a light double tap that she knew was Jesse’s.
“Come in,” she called, and he stood there, a little awkward, his weight not fully on his wounded right leg, smiling at her, tearing her heart.
“Just dropped by,” he said, gesturing vaguely to indicate that he was here.
She nodded.
“Abby’s … kind of … on her way back to Denver. Flying out of Hadley at one o’clock,” he said.
She nodded again, and for the sake of something to do, glanced at her watch. It seemed appropriate, since the time of day had just been mentioned.
“Should be an easy run out to the airport,” she said. “Road’s clear, I guess.”
Jesse walked to the window and looked at the traffic outside. “I guess so,” he agreed. “Been no snowfalls in forty-eight hours, so I guess the road’s clear.”
Silence. Awkward, tangible. It stretched on, then Jesse finally said, “Abby would probably like to say good-bye, you know? And say thanks for what you did.”
She made a dismissive little hand gesture. “No call for that,” she said. “She already said all that and anyway”—she glanced around at the nearly empty desktop, looking for Ned Puckett’s crumpled up memo—“I’ve got paperwork I’ve got to catch up on.”
She thought she could just get through saying good-bye to Jesse. She wouldn’t be able to bear it if Abby were here, thanking her. She was uncomfortably aware of how she’d been tempted to shoot Mikkelitz and take the chance that he might or might not pull the trigger on Abby. The thought had only been there for a microsecond, but it had been there.
“Just tell her good-bye from me,” she added.
Jesse nodded two or three times. “I’ll do that,” he said. Then, after a pause, “I’m going with her.”
Lee rattled open the top drawer of her desk, making a production of finding a felony report form and a ballpoint pen, keeping her eyes down and away from Jesse’s as she spoke.
“I kind of figured you would be,” she said. She looked up, felt herself smiling like a death’s head. “I guess you’d better be going then.” She looked quickly down, beginning to fill in meaningless details on the form.
Jesse frowned, looking at her, hesitated for a few seconds. “Yeah, I guess so. Be seeing you, Lee.”
“Yep.” Just the one syllable, bitten off, delivered head down, still writing. “Be seeing you.”
He let himself out. She heard the door click softly shut behind him, finished writing her name in the space for “reporting officer,” wrote after the name “Sheriff, Routt County, Colorado,” then set the pen down and put her hand over her eyes and wept silently.
She didn’t hear the door re-open. Didn’t hear Jesse enter the office and stop, watching her shoulders shake with grief. She didn’t hear anything until he spoke her name.
“Lee?” he said. “Are you okay?”
He’d gotten halfway down the corridor, wondering at her strange, over-bright behavior and her abrupt manner. Something was wrong, he knew, and he turned back to see what it was.
Now the hand dropped away from her eyes and he could see the tears running down her face as she made no effort to stop them. And the eyes, those gray, uptilted eyes that he’d loved since he was seventeen, had a depth of sadness in them that looked fit to tear the heart right out of his chest.
“Jesus, Lee,” he breathed, moving toward her. “What’s the matter?”
But she stopped him, one arm flung up, palm out, as if to hold him back.
“Just go!” the words were wrenched from her. “Just go, please. Go to Denver with Abby and, for Christ’s sake, be happy.”
He frowned at her. Not understanding. “Denver?” he asked.
She nodded, the tears still running. “You said you’re going with her. Just go! Now! Please, Jesse?” The last two words were a helpless plea and suddenly, he understood.
“I’m going with her to the airport,” he explained. “That’s all. I’m seeing her onto the plane, then I’m coming back here.” He hesitated, then finished, “If you want me.”
She stopped sobbing, choked in disbelief. “If I—” she started, couldn’t finish the sentence, shook her head in wonder and tried again. “If I want you? Oh, Jesus God, Jesse, of course I want you, you damn fool!”
He grinned foolishly at her, relief and pleasure mixed in the expression. “Anyways,” he said, “I figured if I stuck around for another eighteen years or so, with any luck, I might get you back into bed again.”
She was out of her chair and around the desk in one movement and his arms went around her as she buried her face into his neck. He smelled the natural fragrance of her hair, felt its softness against his cheek, felt the press of her body against his and he kissed her.
She responded enthusiastically. So did his body, and she pressed herself harder against him, twining one leg around his to hold him closer to her. He winced. Luckily she’d chosen his left leg, but the movement sent a shaft of pain through his wounded right one as he set more weight on it. She didn’t notice, so he didn’t bother to tell her, afraid she might pull away if he did. Her tongue explored his mouth, found his, and he forgot about the leg.
Neither of them heard the door open as Tom Legros entered. He stopped, startled. His sheriff had her back half to him, her shapely, jean-clad butt was resting on her desk and she had one long leg twined around her deputy’s. Their arms were around each other and their faces locked together.
Just a little embarrassed, Tom looked away from the scene by the desk. Neither of them seemed to have noticed his arrival. He wasn’t quite sure how to cope with the situation. Maybe they had noticed him after all. Maybe he should say something. Tentatively, he cleared his throat.
Lee disengaged her lips from Jesse’s by a few millimeters and said, rather indistinctly, “What is it, Tom?”
Tom cleared his throat again nervously. Still looking to one side, not looking directly at them, he rotated his Stetso
n in his hands.
“It’s Miz McLaren again. Seems she’s got another guest complaining about those boys on the snowmobiles. Wants to talk to you, but I guess—” He hesitated. He wasn’t quite sure what he guessed. He continued.
“Anyway … what do you want me to tell her, Sheriff?”
Lee leaned back a little in Jesse’s arms. She considered her reply for a few seconds, then, more distinctly, said, “Tom? Tell her, fuck her.”
He leaned forward a little, not sure that he’d heard her right. “Tell her?” he hesitated apologetically.
“Fuck her,” Lee repeated, a little more distinctly.
Tom nodded nervous agreement. “Tell her … fuck her. Yep, I’ll do that, Sheriff. I’ll … get on it right away.” He backed apologetically out the door, closing it behind him. In the corridor, he took a deep breath, set his Stetson squarely on his head, and started back to the phone.
He figured he’d maybe paraphrase Lee’s message, just a little.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Steamboat Springs and Routt County are real places. Many of the shops, hotels and bars named in this book are real as well. The characters, of course, are all fictitious.
In addition, as authors sometimes do, I may have taken a few liberties with the organization of law enforcement agencies in the town to suit the purposes of my narrative. I hope the real-life law officers of Routt County will forgive this minor self-indulgence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John A. Flanagan, now a full-time author, is a former advertising and television writer. His adventure series for young adults, Ranger’s Apprentice, has spent more than five months on the New York Times best-seller list.
Background for the Jesse Parker series came from his many visits to the ski fields of Colorado and Utah. He lives with his wife, Leonie, in Manly, Australia, on Sydney’s northern beaches.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
FORTY-FOUR
FORTY-FIVE
FORTY-SIX
FORTY-SEVEN
FORTY-EIGHT
FORTY-NINE
FIFTY
FIFTY-ONE
FIFTY-TWO
FIFTY-THREE
FIFTY-FOUR
FIFTY-FIVE
FIFTY-SIX
FIFTY-SEVEN
FIFTY-EIGHT
FIFTY-NINE
SIXTY
SIXTY-ONE
SIXTY-TWO
SIXTY-THREE
SIXTY-FOUR
SIXTY-FIVE
SIXTY-SIX
SIXTY-SEVEN
SIXTY-EIGHT
SIXTY-NINE
SEVENTY
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
01 Storm Peak Page 43
