Odd Man Out by B. J. Daniels

Author:B. J. Daniels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1995-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Long before sunrise, J.D. pulled off Highway 191 into a plowed area not far from Grayling Pass on the far side of Fir Ridge. “What’s wrong?” he asked as the darkness settled around them.

Denver glanced back at the highway. “Nothing.”

“I don’t think we were followed, if that’s what’s worrying you.”

She looked behind her again and he could tell she didn’t believe that. “It’s nothing,” she said again. “Probably just the heebie-jeebies.”

J.D. knew those well. He’d lain awake last night thinking about Denny. As he studied her face in the shadowy darkness, he wondered what the future held for them. That old spark of hope he’d thought dead stirred in his heart. For a while, he’d forgotten about liars and murderers; he’d even forgotten about Pete and the case file.

“Denny, last night, after you left the Stage Coach, I followed Pete out to your cabin. He went to that tree house we built.”

“The tree house?”

“He found the case file Max had hidden there.”

“So there was a case file.” She grumbled softly under her breath. “Why didn’t I think of the tree house? Only Max would hide it there. What was in the file?”

J.D. chewed at his cheek. “I don’t know. Pete wasn’t in the mood to show me.”

“What?”

“He had a gun,” J.D. explained. “But that was only one reason I didn’t try to stop him.”

He heard her chuckle. “So which one of us is the bigger fool?”

He grinned. “I’d say it’s a toss-up.” He rubbed his whiskered jaw and stared out into the dark. “What are the chances I can talk you into staying here and letting me get the information from Davey?”

Her laugh was low as she climbed out of his pickup. He concentrated on the dark for a moment, wondering if they were just as foolish to trust Davey, then followed her.

The faint starlight did little to illuminate the predawn sky. Denver fingered the tiny flashlight in her jacket pocket, but quickly rejected the idea. As J.D. handed down her cross-country skis and backpack from the pickup, she felt the blackness envelop her and the memory of Davey’s wreck on Horse Butte came back in vivid detail like an omen. Her fingers shook as she snapped her boots into the bindings; she told herself it was just the cold.

She swung the backpack on, automatically pulling her long braid out from under the strap. Bending down to put on his rental skis, J.D. was an ebony-etched shadow in the night beside her. She was getting used to having him around.

It had snowed during the night. The earth lay cloaked in a soft white mantle. Away from the shadow of the trees, the snow glowed, clean and cold, a virgin tapestry. Denver skied to the top of the ridge and turned to watch J.D. glide toward her. Something in the way he crossed the snowfield tugged at her. His smooth, fluid grace. The power behind his gentle movements as he joined her on the ridge line.

“Where to, Sunshine?” he whispered, just inches from her.

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