Colorado Bodyguard Read Free Page A

anything,” Sophie said. “She started her career as an investigative reporter. I think she had a lead on a big crime and came here to report on it.”
    â€œWhat kind of crime?” Graham shifted in his chair, the only sign that he was growing impatient.
    â€œI don’t know. It would have to be something big, if she was going to boost ratings.”
    â€œAnd she didn’t tell you anything?” Carmen spoke slowly, thoughtfully.
    â€œNo—just that she was working on a new project that would fix everything.”
    â€œAnd she never said anything about coming to Montrose or Black Canyon Park or anything like that?” Simon snapped off the question, as if interrogating a suspect. Rand knew this was just his way, but Sophie bridled at this approach.
    â€œNo,” she said, and pressed her lips together, clamming up.
    â€œHow often did you talk to her?” Rand asked.
    She turned toward him. “Once a week or so. Sometimes more often.”
    â€œAnyone else she was close to? A best friend? Neighbors?”
    â€œShe still talked to her ex-husband, Phil, occasionally. Have you interviewed him?”
    Rand frowned. “Why do you think we should talk to him?”
    â€œAren’t husbands—or ex-husbands—always the first people police suspect when someone disappears?”
    â€œIt depends on the case,” Graham said. “Did Lauren and Phil Starling have a contentious relationship?”
    She flushed. “No. I mean, she wasn’t happy about the divorce—he was cheating on her, after all. And he left her to be with the other woman.”
    â€œBut she’d already granted the divorce, right?” Simon asked. “She didn’t put any obstacles in his way.”
    â€œNo. She even agreed to pay support, since she made more money than he did.”
    â€œSo he didn’t really have any reason to follow her from Denver to Montrose and do her harm,” Rand said.
    â€œWe don’t know that for sure. And you won’t know until you talk to him.” She looked stubborn, chin up, mouth set in a firm line.
    â€œWhat about other family members?” he asked. “Brothers, sisters, parents?”
    She shook her head. “There’s just the two of us. Our parents were killed in a car accident when I was a sophomore in college. Lauren was a senior in high school.”
    â€œSo you’re used to looking after her,” he said.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œMaybe she resented that,” Simon said. “Maybe she purposely kept things from you.”
    â€œI’m sure she kept a great deal from me. Whatever you think, I didn’t try to run her life. But I know her. She wouldn’t take her own life. And you can quote statistics all day long, but even if—and it’s a huge
if
in my mind—even if she wanted to kill herself, why would she travel five hours away from her home to disappear in a national park?”
    â€œSometimes people choose a place that’s meaningful to them,” Marco said. “One they associate with memories or special people.”
    â€œShe’d never been here before. This park meant nothing special to her. She loved the city. She wasn’t a hiker or a camper or anything like that.”
    â€œSo why was she here?” Graham brought them back to the essential question. “What was this story you think she was working on?”
    â€œI don’t know, but it must have been something major, if she thought it could save her career.”
    â€œIf she wanted to report on a major crime, you’d think she’d stay in Denver,” Carmen said.
    â€œExcept you guys are here.” Sophie sat up straighter, and looked them each in the eye. “Why form a special task force if there isn’t something big going on here? I did my homework. I know about the drug busts, the human-trafficking ring and the murder of that pilot. Maybe Lauren had uncovered something to do