Blue Twilight. Maggie Shayne

okay, Max.” Jason put a hand on her shoulder. “I did hear her pretty clearly when she said ‘Endover, New Hampshire,’ Lou. And the bad reception here is probably why the call was so choppy, and why we got cut off. If anything, it makes me even more certain I heard her correctly.” He shrugged. “Since she hasn’t called again, I’m assuming she’s still someplace where she can’t call out. Still here, in Endover.”

      “How could she call again? Your cell phone isn’t working here, is it?” Lou asked.

      Jason’s gaze shifted from the bed, to the dresser, to the window. “I … no. It’s not. But she hasn’t called home, either. I’ve been checking the machine.”

      “Have you asked anyone around town about her?”

      “I, uh—I talked with the police chief.”

      Lou frowned. “When was that?”

      “Right after I arrived here.”

      Nodding slowly, Lou said, “Before you called us?”

      “Right.”

      “Then why did you say you didn’t want the police involved?”

      “Lou, that’s enough.” Max barked the words at him. He sent her a look of impatience, but he stopped grilling Jason.

      Jason lowered his head, pushed his hands through his hair. “Look, I barely know if I’m coming or going here. I went to the Endover police because it seemed like the thing to do. It was a waste of time, though. There’s only one cop in town and he was no help at all. I figured I’d have to do this on my own.” He looked from one face to the next, as if trying to read them.

      Stormy thought Lou was suspicious as hell of Jason. And she wasn’t entirely sure she didn’t agree with him. Max, on the other hand, seemed to believe him—clearly she wanted to. She kept touching his arm, his shoulder, as if to comfort him.

      Stormy turned to the other two. “Where do you want to start?”

      “I’d like to see that visitor center,” Max said. “I think you were right, Storm. She could have stopped there for directions or something.”

      “The visitor center is closed,” Jay said. “I stopped there on the way into town. The place is abandoned.”

      “Then we can case the town, check for any other place where she might have stopped. Diners, gas stations, that sort of thing.”

      Lou nodded. “I’d like to talk to the local police chief myself, see what he has to offer. Helpful or not, it’s a good idea to let him know we’re here and we’re looking for her, put him on alert to keep an eye out and contact us if anything turns up.”

      “There’s no point, Lou,” Jason said. “The local cop doesn’t even believe she was ever here,” Jason said.

      “It won’t hurt anything to talk to him,” Lou said. “What was she driving?”

      “Little red Neon,” Jason said. “Only two years old.” He swallowed hard. “She works part-time waiting tables to make her payments.”

      “You have the plate number?” Lou asked.

      He nodded. “Yeah.”

      “So we can have the local cop keep an eye out for the car, too. Like I said, it can’t hurt.”

      Max stroked Jason’s upper arm. “Lou’s right, hon. We should use every resource we can, even if it does seem unlikely to pan out.” She glanced at Stormy. “I think we should run a check on this town. See if anything like this has happened before.”

      “I’ll get the laptop out of the car,” Stormy replied.

      Lou put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her even as she turned to go. “Let’s book ourselves some rooms first, huh? Set the computer up in one of them?”

      Stormy heard it in his voice, loud and clear. He didn’t trust Jason. He wanted a place where they could talk without him hearing every word. “All right.”

      “I’ll take care of the rooms,” Max said.

      Lou shot her a look and seemed about to say something, then bit it back. Maxie rolled her eyes at him. “A double for me and Stormy, and a single for you,” she told him. “That suit you, Lou?”

      “Fine.” He pulled out a wallet, reached for a credit card.

      Max put a hand over his. “This is going on the company card,” she said. “It’s our first official case.” She headed off to book the rooms.

      Lou sighed, turned and went after her. Stormy didn’t blame him. She was liable to have him sharing a bed with her if he didn’t keep an eye on things. And he’d pissed her off all morning without even meaning to.

      Once they had gone and she found herself alone in the room with Jason, she cleared her throat. He walked to the bed, folded up his map.

      “Is it going to be hard, working with me?” she asked.

      He looked up at her, sent her a sad smile. “If I have trouble working with every girl who ever turned me down, Stormy, I’m in for a pretty tough existence. No. It’ll be fine.”