Just One Kiss (Whisper Lake #4) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,49

She was thinking—probably about all the reasons why they shouldn't be friends again. That needed to stop.

"What do you have going on the rest of the day?" he asked, hoping to distract her from her thoughts.

"I have to bake cookies. The hospital Christmas party is tomorrow afternoon, and I've been tasked with bringing three dozen cookies. I guess Brett will have to help me make them."

"I'm sure he'll enjoy that. I think my mom is making cookies, too, or maybe that was for the carnival."

"She was on the carnival baking committee. The ER nurses are in charge of tomorrow's sweets. I was also thinking that I should get a tree." She took a quick look back at Brett. "He's already asleep."

"He had a lot of exercise today."

"I want to make this Christmas magical for him," she continued, as she turned her gaze back to his. "I don't usually decorate for the holiday, but I feel like this one should be everything it's supposed to be. It won't make up for his mom not being around, but maybe it will help."

"And maybe she'll be back by Christmas."

"I hope so."

His phone buzzed with an incoming text, and he pulled it out of his pocket. He handed it to Hannah, not wanting to be distracted while driving through the mountains. "Could you read that for me?"

"It's from Trevor. He's at the Motor Inn off Highway 7 in room ten."

He was relieved that Trevor had finally gotten back to him, but not that he'd ended up in a motel.

"Is that good news?" Hannah asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't know why he left the cabin, but I'm glad he finally got back to me. I've been texting him since Friday night."

"He sounds relatively coherent."

"I'll go by the motel after I drop you and Brett off."

"I'm sorry you have to take us all the way back."

"It's not a problem."

"When you talk to Trevor, maybe you can find out what he spoke to Kelly about."

"I will definitely ask him."

"He might have been the last person to talk to my sister. He could have information that no one else has."

"That's one reason I've been relentlessly texting him."

Hannah tapped her fingers nervously against her thighs. "I wish we could both go see Trevor, but I can't expose Brett to whatever is going on at that motel."

"No, you can't. I'll handle it, and I'll make sure to get any information he has. You can count on that, Hannah."

"Thanks."

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at her house. He got Brett out of his car seat and carried him into the house and up the stairs to Hannah's guest room. After one very sleepy trip to use the bathroom, Hannah tucked Brett into the middle of the bed, surrounding him with pillows, so he couldn't possibly roll off the edge, and then they went downstairs.

The whole routine of putting a child down to sleep felt surreal, as if they were parents, as if Brett was their child. It was not an experience he'd ever had before, but he found himself liking it more than he would have expected.

They were almost to the door when the doorbell rang. A somber-looking Adam stood on the porch. He looked like he'd come from work, wearing a heavy wool coat over dark slacks and a button-down shirt.

"Is it bad news?" Hannah asked.

"It's news," Adam said quietly. "Can I come in?"

"Yes. Let's go in the kitchen. Brett is asleep, but I don't want to take a chance he'll overhear anything."

He followed Adam and Hannah into the kitchen. As eager as he was to talk to Trevor, he wanted to know what Adam had found out.

"We've been tracking Kelly's boyfriend, Russ Miller," Adam said, as they sat down at the table.

"The hotel manager?" Hannah asked.

"Yes."

"Did you find him? Does he know where Kelly is? Was she with him?" The questions poured out of Hannah's mouth,

"We found him," Adam replied, his lips drawing into a tight line. "At a campground outside of Denver. He was dead."

Jake couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He's dead?"

"Yes. Russ Miller was stabbed twice. His body was found near a river that ran through the campground. It was about a mile from the cabin where he was staying with your sister."

"Oh, God." Hannah put a hand to her mouth. "Is Kelly…"

"We didn't find her," Adam said quickly. "But she was with him at the campground. The attendant said that Russ checked in last Monday with a woman and a child. She identified the woman as