Conceal, Protect - By Carol Ericson Page 0,27
occurred to her yet that the text could’ve come from anyone? Anyone who knew her half brother was in town. Anyone who knew she’d rush to his side. Anyone who knew Ted had an unidentifiable phone.
Anyone who knew a lot about Noelle Dupree.
“Have you tried calling him back since I talked to you?”
She pressed a button on the phone and listened. Then she held it up to his ear. A robotic voice invited him to leave a message at the tone.
“Do you know where Ted’s staying?”
“He mentioned last night he’d met a few people at the lodge up here. I’m assuming that means at the Buck Ridge Lodge.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “It’s that way, where we’re having dinner with Bruce tonight.”
“I know it. Let’s head over there.”
Noelle waved to the attendant at the front desk. “Thanks for your help. I guess my brother wasn’t injured very seriously.”
J.D. helped Noelle into her jacket, and she zipped it up while they stepped into the cold. She flipped up the hood. “I don’t understand why all these people like skiing in this mess. I’d rather wait until it clears up, leaving a nice powdery carpet.”
“There will be even more people when this storm passes.”
They trudged toward the Buck Ridge Lodge with its timbered, Alpine roof and huge picture windows looking out on the mountain. They swung through the red doors in the front and wandered into the lobby.
Two steps down, the lobby opened onto an expansive room with a fireplace in the center, its crackling blaze drawing clutches of people around its perimeter.
One group held center court, beer bottles and coffee mugs littering their table. And in the center of center court—Ted Dupree—alive and well.
Noelle plucked at his sleeve. “That’s Ted.”
“I noticed.”
She dragged him to the fireplace and nudged Ted in the back with her knee. “What are you doing in here? Are you okay?”
Ted turned and looked up at his sister with a flushed face. The fire or the booze?
“I told you I was staying up here with friends. I’m fine.” He flicked his fingers at the scattered bottles. “It’s coffee for me.”
“Why is your phone off? Why didn’t you let me know you were okay?”
Ted’s dark brows collided over his nose.
J.D. held his breath.
“What are you talking about, girl? Why would I let you know I’m okay? I just saw you last night, and you sorta kicked me to the curb.”
“B-but the call, the text.” She fumbled for her phone and dropped it. It skidded beneath a table. “You texted me that you’d been injured.”
“How could I do that? I don’t even have a phone.”
Chapter Nine
The room spun, and Noelle grabbed the back of Ted’s overstuffed chair. A trickle of sweat crawled down her back. “You didn’t text me?”
“I just told you. I don’t have a phone yet.” He shoved a lock of black hair from his eyes and winked at the pretty redhead sitting across from him. “But I’d better remedy that situation.”
“Ted!” She pushed the cushion of the chair against his back. Didn’t he realize the importance of his statement? Her gaze darted to J.D.’s grim face. J.D. did.
Ted sprawled sideways in the chair so he could look at her without straining his neck. “What’s wrong? I didn’t get a phone yet. No big deal. I’ll pick one up tomorrow and give you the number.”
“I—I got a text from you.” She sank to her knees and reached under the table for her cell, but J.D. beat her to it.
Her fingers brushed his beneath the table, and he gave hers a squeeze.
Straightening to his full height, he brought the phone with him. He stabbed at a few buttons and held the phone in front of Ted’s face. “This didn’t come from you?”
Ted squinted at the display, then turned to his friends. “Hey, did one of you play a trick on my sister and send her a text that I’d been injured on the slopes?”
The semicircle of people around Ted laughed and murmured but denied it.
“Weird.” Ted shrugged. “Maybe there’s another Ted in Buck Ridge. Weird coincidence. Speaking of weird coincidences. You’ll never guess who I saw in this very hotel.”
“Bruce Pierpont.”
Ted snapped his fingers. “Maybe he texted you as a practical joke, even though that dude doesn’t have much of a sense of humor.”
Reaching behind, Noelle pulled herself onto the ledge of the fireplace. “That’s it.”
Ted lost interest in the little drama and had turned back to his new friends, but J.D. joined her on the