style="font-size:15px;"> “Working at Evergreen Software like everyone else?”
Bud delivered her root beer with a wink, and she plunged her straw into the foam while he took the man’s order, giving her time to think.
If she refused to answer his questions, it might seem suspicious, but she didn’t want to tell him her life story—especially since she didn’t have one, outside of waking up with a dead Johnny Diamond on a hotel room floor.
And she didn’t want anyone to know that story.
He handed the menu to Bud and turned his rather sharp green eyes back to her. “Evergreen?”
“No. I’m working at my cousin’s shop right now.” She toyed with her straw. Two could play at this game. “I guess you’re not a local, either, since you mentioned the internet connection in your hotel going down.”
“That’s right.” He thanked Bud for his beer and took a sip through the foamy head. “I’m here doing some research for a book.”
She released the breath she’d been holding in one slow exhale from parted lips. “What kind of book?”
“Sort of a travel book that also touches on the history of the area and local legends and customs.” He held out his hand. “I’m Cole Pierson, by the way.”
“Caroline Johnson.” She wiped her fingers on her cocktail napkin and squeezed and released his hand quickly.
If Johnny Diamond was from this area, the book might explain why Cole was snooping around his social media. Maybe she could even get some info out of Cole about Diamond without arousing his suspicion.
The bartender delivered her food, and she hesitated.
Cole said, “Go ahead. You don’t need to wait for me.”
As she sawed her burger in half, Cole watched her with his head to one side. “Who’s your cousin?”
Biting her lip, she placed her knife across the edge of her plate. Did his research make him naturally nosy, or did he sense her secrets?
“Linda Gunderson. She owns—”
“Timberline Treasures.” His cell phone buzzed in his front shirt pocket, but he ignored it. “I heard about the store that Linda and her sister own. Maybe you can put in a good word for me so I can interview them.”
“Louise is out of town, but I’m sure Linda would be happy to talk to you about Timberline’s history, and you won’t need an introduction from me.”
“Is that a no?”
Bud placed a plate overflowing with mashed potatoes and several slices of meat loaf in front of Cole, and Cole whistled. “Looks good.”
Caroline took a big bite of her burger. Did he expect her to respond? He really didn’t need an introduction to Linda, since she loved talking about Timberline. Was he trying to extend their contact with each other?
Not that she minded, since he was a sweet piece of eye candy, but she had other priorities here.
He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “So how about it? You’ll tell your cousin she can trust me?”
Caroline’s heart skipped a beat. Trust him? How had they jumped from exchanging a few words over dinner to trust?
“Trust you?” She gave a nervous giggle. “I barely know you. Like I said, you don’t need an introduction from me. Linda will talk to you about Timberline.”
He took another sip of beer and then picked up his knife and fork, holding them poised above his plate. “Do you know anything about Timberline? Did you visit your aunt much?”
“Cousin, and no. This is my first time out here.”
He raised his brows as he cut into his meat loaf. “What brings you out here now?”
“Fresh start.” She shrugged.
His glance shifted to her right cheek and the bruise she’d been masking with makeup. Or had she imagined that glance?
The man made her nervous. He asked too many questions. Everyone else had accepted her story without blinking an eye.
Time to deflect and go on the offensive.
“Is that what you were doing in the library? Research?”
“Looking into some local stories, local personalities.”
She pushed away her half-eaten burger. Was Johnny Diamond a Timberline local? Maybe they’d been headed here together? If so, nobody seemed to recognize her yet.
“Why this town? What’s so special about Timberline?” She needed an answer to that question herself. Why was the name of this town scribbled on a piece of paper and stuffed in her jacket pocket?
Cole cocked his head. “The Timberline Trio case for starters, and all the recent fall-out from that old case.”
She nodded. She’d heard the Timberline Trio case mentioned a few times since she’d arrived, but didn’t know much about it—something about some kidnappings that happened twenty-five years ago.
“You really haven’t been around much, have you?”
“Well, I guess I won’t be a good person for you to interview, then.” She grabbed her check from the bar and plucked a ten and a five from her wallet. “Good luck with your research.”
She slapped the check and the cash on the bar and spun around on the stool and hopped off. She couldn’t get out of here fast enough.
“Nice meeting you, Caroline Johnson.” His voice trailed behind her, but she didn’t turn around.
Just because a stranger asked questions didn’t mean you had to answer them—no matter how attractive the stranger was.
When she hit the sidewalk, she blew out a breath, which turned frosty in the night air.
Linda’s duplex sat at the end of the main street in town, so Caroline was able to walk everywhere—at least to work and back. She had enough money from Johnny Diamond’s loot to pay cash for a used car, but she didn’t have a driver’s license or any other ID. Walking would have to do for now.
She reached into her jacket pocket for her hat and tripped to a stop on the sidewalk. It must’ve fallen out. She scanned the ground around her, and then kicked at the curb with the toe of her boot.
She’d left it, along with her umbrella, on the bar, and the last thing she wanted to do was go back in there and have another exchange with the nosy, if hunky, writer.
She could leave them at Sutter’s and pick them up tomorrow. Nobody would steal a hat or umbrella. Bud had probably already put her things behind the bar.
Hugging her jacket around her body, she took a step, and a drop of rain pelted her cheek. She looked up at the dark sky and shivered. A ten-minute walk in the cold rain without a hat or umbrella would turn to misery
