“Maybe I will,” Margery said, her voice growing in strength. “It would be good to talk to her.”

  “Then do it now,” Allison urged. “She needs to hear from you too.”

  Silence. Then Margery whispered, “Thank you.” And hung up.

  Allison stared at the dead phone in her hand in wonder. Maybe, just maybe, Margery had turned a corner and would call her mother. It might not lead anywhere, but it could lead … somewhere.

  Jager walked into the restaurant, hoping he was a few minutes early. He’d made a reservation on the off chance it was so busy he and Allison wouldn’t get a table. When he gave his name to the hostess, she smiled.

  “I have your table ready for you.”

  “I’m expecting my party to meet me here,” he said.

  She smiled and said, “If you give me her name, I’ll let you know when she arrives.”

  “Police Officer Allison Monroe,” he said.

  He watched as her eyes lit up, obviously knowing who the woman was. But she was polite enough not to say anything. They were given a table by the window where he could see out into the night sky. It really was a beautiful city.

  She brought him a glass of water and asked him if he wanted a drink.

  He shook his head. “I’ll wait until she gets here.”

  The hostess smiled and disappeared.

  Jager sat, studying the lights outside. Being a tourist town, it was relatively clean, busy, lots of nightlife with the mountains surrounding them. It was a stunning location, but he’d heard a lot of horror stories about the prices of houses and the type of work offered. The town needed lots of support staff to run the lifts and to work in the hotel restaurants. But most of those jobs had lower wages.

  Interesting that Allison worked here, given she wasn’t much of a skier or snowboarder. It might be a cushy police job; he didn’t know. Although he didn’t think it could be that cushy. Where there was money, there were drugs. Where there were drugs, there was crime. In every city, no matter how pretty and nice it looked on the surface, there was an uglier side.

  He looked up to see Allison weaving her way toward him. He almost didn’t recognize her. She was in a midnight-blue sheath that stopped just below the curve of her butt. And it seemed like her legs went on forever.

  He appreciated the view, noting that instead of heels, she wore flat sandals. He actually approved of that. Heels looked exquisite but were so detrimental on the spine that he didn’t really want to see women wearing them. But then he knew he was the odd man out.

  He stood and held a chair for her.

  She smiled. “Aren’t you the gentleman?”

  “I try to be when I have dinner with a lady,” he said smoothly.

  She glanced at her dress and smiled. “I don’t get to dress up very much anymore.”

  “And why is that?”

  She stared at him, her eyes darkening. “My husband died a couple years ago. I haven’t dated much since.”

  “And you probably found it had changed since you last dated.” He nodded. “I understand.”

  “How long ago did your accident happen?”

  He smiled. “Two years.”

  “It’s hard coming back from something like that.”

  But she didn’t offer any sympathy, and there was no pity in her eyes. He appreciated that. “True enough. I had a relationship prior to the accident. But she broke it off when she found out what happened.”

  Allison made a startled gasp, her eyes widening. “Are you serious?”

  He shrugged. “I talked to her afterward, but apparently, while I had been deployed on a mission in Afghanistan, she hadn’t been faithful. She hadn’t gotten around to telling me about it.”

  Allison winced.

  He chuckled. “I’m not saying that to make you feel bad. Between that and the accident, I’ve been out of the dating scene too.”

  Her eyes crinkled. “And yet you were pretty fast to ask me out for dinner,” she teased.

  “But you weren’t easy to convince.” He gave her a half smile. “I’ll have to work on my technique with you.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t bother. It worked just fine. I’m the one who was hesitating. I dipped my toes back into the dating circle about a year ago, but I can’t say I liked anything about it. Either society moved faster than I had, or, while I was comfortably married, something happened to what relationships were supposed to be about.”

  “I think traditional relationships are still around, and I think people still want the same thing. But the path getting there seems to be different.”

  “Internet dating,” she said on a groan. “Apps like Tinder and whatever else the latest one is to find hookups.” She shook her head. “So not my style. Walking down a beach, going for coffee, having a day up in the mountains”—she nodded—“that’s more my style.”

  “I’ll have to remember that,” he said smoothly.

  Her eyebrows shot up. “I thought you’re only here for a day or two.”

  “I am. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a day of pleasure.”

  “Do you ski?”

  He frowned, tilted his head slightly to the side and studied her face. “I used to.”

  “So you haven’t since your accident?”

  He shook his head. “I have a prosthetic leg. Although I can run with it, and I cycle with it, I can’t say I’ve tried skiing or snowboarding yet.”

  She grinned. “Are you game?”

  Sensing the challenge in her voice, a spark lit inside him as he answered. “Well, if you’re okay seeing me fall flat on my face over and over again, I’m game to give it a shot. I’m in Vail. I might as well get out on the mountain once.”

  With a nod, she said, “I’m off tomorrow. Does that work?”

  He chuckled. “There’s definitely nothing slow about you now. But considering time is as short as it is, that’s perfect.”

  “Morning or afternoon?”

  That surprised him. “You don’t think I’ll manage a whole day?”

  She shook her head. “No. For your first time, you’re better off if you don’t. There’ll be all kinds of sore muscles as it is. And, if some of those muscles were injured, you know they’ll be that much sorer.” She shrugged. “Besides, I have free tickets for half days. If you want, we can go out together.”

  He was pleased with her generosity and appreciated it. “Only if you let me take you out for dinner again.”

  At that she burst out laughing. “I’m not sure that was as smooth …” She gave him a cheeky grin. “But I accept.”

  “In that case, it was much better than the first time because you were much easier to convince.”

  After that the conversation fell to simple things about Vail itself.

  “I guess this is the thing about a tourist city, isn’t it?” Jager said. “It attracts people with money, but, to keep the tourists happy, you need maids and waiters and ski lift operators. So the service industry struggles to keep many such low-paying jobs filled.”

  “I think that’s the same for every tourist town. Vail is extremely wealthy. Property prices are sky high. But there has to be a way for the rest of us to live and to work here. Otherwise we can’t support the residents in their chosen way of life,” she said drily.

  “Do you have an apartment or a house?”

  “I have a basement suite,” she said with a laugh. “I’m lucky to get that. I know the owner, and she doesn’t currently live in her house, so she likes the idea of a police officer staying there while she’s away.”

  “You’re right. You are lucky.”

  “Not that lucky. I still pay rent. And my job definitely doesn’t pay very much.”

  “And the reason for staying?”

  She dropped her gaze to the table, her fingers playing with the paper napkin.

  He reached across and gently touched her hand.

  She raised her gaze and stared at him. “I was just thinking about that very thing the last couple days. The reason I stayed is because my husband died here. It’s hard to let go.”

  “Did he die in a ski accident?”

  She nodded. “He did. He was also a police officer. I thought for sure, if one of us was to go, it would be job related, but Vail has been relatively quiet for us. And then he went skiing with friends one day, took a bad fall, hit his head. I was on duty that night. I told him to get it checked out, but he said it was fine, just a headache. He went to bed. When I woke up the next morning, he was in really bad shape. There was a bleed on the brain. We lost him very soon after that.”

  Jager stilled. “I’m sorry. That’s rough.”

  She nodded. But she settled back in her chair as if trying to distance herself from the event. It was something else he could understand.

  Just then the waitress came to their table with menus. He ordered a glass of wine for himself and offered her a glass. She accepted. He looked at the prices, and his eyebrows went up. He returned the wine menu to the waitress, and she left them alone again.

  Allison must have seen his expression because she laughed. “Welcome to Vail.”

  “Well, anything for a lady. But it’s interesting that the restaurants are charging this much but probably aren’t paying the servers what they’re worth.”

  “Exactly. Right? But then they have to pay crazy prices for their property or leases.”

  He nodded. “Still doesn’t seem fair to the workers.”

  “A place like this is for the tourists, not for us commoners.”

  He grinned. “Well, that’s all right. We’ll live it up today.”

  “What’s it going to be tomorrow night?”

  At that, he laughed out loud, loving her humor, not feeling the need to explain or to be anything other than himself. “I’m sure I can do better than this.”

  “Well, if you’ll take a local’s suggestion, there’s a really good Italian place around the corner. Prices are about half what we’ll find here, and the food’s home-cooked.”

  “Sold,” he said with a grin. “We don’t have to stay here either, if you won’t enjoy the food. But it was your choice.”

  “It’s the first place that crossed my mind,” she said and looked at the dinner menu still on their table. “It just seems like a lot of money for a little bit of food.”

  He leaned over and closed her menu. “It’s not about the price. If there’s something here you enjoy, we will stay. If there’s nothing you want, then we can go somewhere else. We can have our wine. We can even have an appetizer, and we can move on someplace else.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes twinkling. “So we’re going from high-end to low-end?”

  “We can go from high-end to another high-end. Really, the money isn’t the issue.”

  Just then the waitress returned and told them about the special. As soon as she said halibut, Allison straightened. “Oh, that sounds really good.”

  The waitress nodded.

  Jager liked to try a lot of different foods, particularly when he was cooking, but, at a fancy gourmet restaurant, he tended to stick to safe choices.

  When the waitress left, he turned to Allison. “See? Decision made.”

  Allison chuckled. Then she returned to the subject he had mentally put away. “Were you close with your parents?”

  He nodded. “I was, even though I didn’t get to see them very often. It’s only been six months since they passed, but it’s been a tough six months.”

  “I’m sure they were there for you during your accident.”

  “Yes. I expected my girlfriend to be there too. But it seems like, when the chips are down, it’s your parents you can count on.”

  “I’m sorry. I felt guilty about my husband for the longest time. I was on shift, and I had told him to get the head wound taken care of, but he didn’t think much of doctors, and he was young and invincible—in his mind.”

  “How long were you married?”

  “Two years,” she said with smile. “It was a crazy two years. Fun, fast, lots of laughter. But lots of work too. We worked different shifts, and the chief wouldn’t let us have our leaves together. That caused us some strife for a while. My husband wanted me to quit and to get a different job.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he wanted to spend more time with me. That meant having my days off when he had his days off of work.”

  “Or having his days off when your days were off,” Jager corrected. “It’s not up to the female to quit her job to make the man happy.” He kept his tone light. He didn’t want her thinking he was judging her or her husband for it.

  She smiled. “And it’s easy to look back and see how none of it was significant. What really mattered was spending time together.” Her tone was soft. “But we had what we had, and it was fun.”

  “Good. That’s about all we can expect from any relationship. There’s no guarantee tomorrow will ever come. So it’s all about enjoying today and making the most of it.”

  “Did you stop by Freddie’s house?”

  “You mean Freddie’s ex-house? They’ve already filled his spot with a young woman.”

  Allison nodded. “They were pretty upset about his rent.”

  “Apparently he had money. And he had jobs out of town.” He told her what the girl had shared, how he’d gone through the boxes Freddie had left behind. “There was a scrap of paper.” He pulled it from his pocket and placed it on the table. “Do those numbers and letters mean anything to you?”

  She frowned as she studied them. “Potentially a license plate?”

  He stared at it. “Interesting.” Then he explained about the black truck and what they’d found. He pulled his phone out and showed her the pictures.

  She shook her head. “That’s not good.”

  “No, it isn’t. But are the cops likely to do anything about it?”

  She frowned. “Not likely. You’d have to prove it’s the same paint.”

  “Which, as you well know, a forensic test could easily do.”

  “But that costs money, and we are way over budget.” She pursed her lips. “Look. If you send me those photos, I can ask my commander.”

  “I gather he only opens cases he feels are worthwhile?”

  She nodded. “Exactly. I know the resources and the budget are pretty tight,” she admitted. “We lost one police officer about two months ago, and the commander wasn’t sure that he could replace him.”

  “Did he?”

  She nodded. “But the position was open for a good three or four weeks.” She lifted her gaze. “You really think your parents were murdered?”

  “It would be hard to be an accident with that kind of an impact.”

  “But you don’t think it was deliberate, do you?” She chose her words carefully.

  He could see what she was trying to say.

  “It could be an accident.”

  He shook his head. “Not given the corner where it happened.”

  She frowned, her fingers tapping the tabletop as she studied the photos. Finally she handed his phone back. “Send them to me, will you please? I’ll talk to the commander in the morning.”

  “Before or after we go skiing?” he asked humorously.

  “We get four hours on the mountain for our ticket. You choose.”

  “The leg is better in the morning,” he said curtly.

  “Good.” She said it so casually it was hard to see if she had a problem with his statement. “I’ll talk to the boss before we head out.” She thought about it a minute. “Might as well take my truck.”

  “Can’t be much snow here, can there? It’s summertime.”

  She nodded. “We’ll go out on the glacier.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t that expensive?”

  “It’s what my tickets are for.” She shrugged. “I’ve had them for a long time. But I never really had anybody to go with me. It’s not my thing, remember?”

  “I’m honored,” he said simply. “And it can be not ‘our’ thing for the day.”

  “Do you have gear?” And then she laughed. “Of course you don’t. We’ll get you fixed up before we head out.”

  “Is it really worth it at this time of year?”

  She glanced up and frowned. “We won’t be rock skiing, if that’s what you’re wondering. I can check the conditions in the morning though. Maybe that’s something we should consider.”

  “If the conditions are okay, fine. I wouldn’t have thought there’d be any decent skiing until November to December.”

  “Right. Then how about we go hiking instead?”

  “I’m up for that.” He gave a quick nod of his head. “The leg would handle that just fine.” Particularly as her version of hiking wasn’t likely to be too extreme.

  She beamed. “Now, if you were to come back in the winter, then you could go skiing.”

  He chuckled. “Or at least come back when there was a snowstorm and enough snow that I wouldn’t be fighting rocks and sudden jolts on my leg.”

  Instantly she was sympathetic. “I’ve been up there at this time of year, so I wasn’t even thinking about it. But it is rougher conditions.” She shook her head. “It’s not that you’re a beginner, but it would be much harder physically on your body.”

  He shrugged. “Not even worried about that. But I do like the idea of a hike.”

  “In that case, I will go to the station and talk to my boss. I can let you know afterward if he wants to talk to you or not.”

  “Yes, please. Let me know either way.”

  “And then we’ll head out for a walk. Depending on how far you want to go, either we can take a picnic with us or we can just go for a shorter one.”

  “A longer one with the picnic would be perfect.” He glanced around at the lights. “It’s really beautiful here. Are there a lot of outdoor activities, other than winter activities?”

  She nodded. “Oh, yes, lots. There’s plenty happening all the time. Hiking trails, rivers, lakes, bicycling.”

  He nodded. “So, a real recreational center.”

  She chuckled. “Absolutely.”

  “Accidents?”

  “Some but not too terrible.”

  He nodded.

  Just then the waitress arrived with her halibut and salad. He looked at it and said, “It’s not a huge portion, but it’s a nice-looking piece.”