complied and he motioned to the next guy in line and said, “As soon as Sorenson comes back, you’re up, Hackett.”
“Yes, sir,” he replied.
Tristan led the way to the locker room and Amber settled on a bench. “Sit, Sorenson,” Tristan said.
“Yes, sir,” he replied, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
Amber said, “There’s no need to be nervous.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
For the next thirty minutes, she went through her questions, which basically consisted of when was the last time they had seen Connelly, did they notice anything out of the ordinary on the mountain that night, and did they know why Connelly was alone on the mountain and not with the class?
All the answers were pretty much the same until they got to Sheppard. Even before he sat down, he looked pensive, and Tristan got the feeling the kid knew more than he was saying. But he responded the same as the others. Tristan met Amber’s eyes and she gave him the same look. He’s lying.
When Sheppard left, Tristan put his hand out to Amber. “Let him go.”
“Tristan…he knows something.”
“I know but browbeating him won’t get him to talk.”
The look on her face said she wasn’t going to listen, and it was important that he make her. When she made her move, he took her elbow and gently swung her back around to face him.
“I’m not going to—”
His gaze locked with hers. “Yes, you are.” He looked into her worried, determined eyes and something turned over in his chest. He wanted to take that all away, but he was sure about this course of action. “Trust me on this and let it go for now.” He said it fiercely enough that her eyes widened.
She made a move to go around him, and he grasped her other elbow. “I know that kid.” He closed his eyes and let out a breath, then opened them to look deeply in her eyes. “Just…trust me.”
“I guess that does go both ways.” She looked pointedly at his hands, and he lifted them, palms up.
“Thank you,” he said.
“I’ll give him some time, but not a lot.”
He nodded. “It’ll work better when he’s ready to talk. Keeping information to himself regarding the death of a fellow Marine will eat at him.”
“Never leave a man behind?”
“You are very astute.”
“Be careful, Sergeant. That sounded like a compliment.”
He grunted and led the way out of the barracks.
“You tried to find him, didn’t you?” Her voice was soft, and he didn’t want her to affect him this way. He didn’t want to talk about James, about how he’d felt like a big brother to him, how worried he’d been when he hadn’t shown up. That was too much emotion to cop to. “So, Stowe,” he said. “You ski, then?”
She paused at the jeep, giving him a knowing look before she pulled open the door. “Like a boss.”
“Downhill?” he asked, settling into the seat next to her.
“Downhill, cross-country and snowboarding, baby.”
“Don’t tell me. You competed?”
“Yes, moguls. But I wasn’t really good enough to take it further than that.”
“You were a jock? In high school?”
“Yes, and in college. Played volleyball. You?”
“Track,” he replied
“Marine Corps Marathon?” she asked.
“Three times. You?”
“Five.”
“That’s impressive. You run in addition to bending yourself into impossible positions.”
“It’s really good for the body, helps you to relax. You could use that.”
“I’m not uptight,” he deadpanned.
“Okay, sure,” she scoffed. “I could give you a few lessons if you’re interested.”
He grunted, then laughed. Once again it felt rusty to him. He wondered if he was in her presence for longer than a day or two whether it would come more naturally. “No. I don’t do pretzel.”
“You could learn to bend. It’ll be painful at first, but then you’ll start to loosen up. Believe me. You need to loosen up.”
“Why do I get the feeling we’re not talking about yoga anymore.”
“I can’t imagine,” she said as they pulled up to the town house. “I’m going to check on the autopsy.”
“In a hurry to get out of here to those white sandy beaches?”
She shivered. “I am, but not at the expense of James.” She got out of the jeep, then looked at him sharply as he closed his door and rounded the hood. “Are you in some way insinuating that I want to hurry though this investigation because I’ve got someplace better to go?”
“You’re dealing with an unknown and tragic situation. It’s freaking cold here. You have to put up with a grumpy bastard who challenges you every time you turn around. Yeah, I think you’d rather be somewhere else.”
She