LITMIR.BIZ

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committed against him personally. Chloe admired his dedication to justice but this was taking it to the extreme. She raised one eyebrow.

      “We don’t have any bad guys hiding here, so I think you can go home and get some sleep.” Since she’d moved to Colorado Springs, Chloe had heard a lot about Montgomery and the Vance families and their close-knit ties. Perhaps that’s why this man felt he had to stand guard over the mayor. Maybe he was some kind of close family friend—which would make his job much tougher. A trickle of sympathy spurted up.

      “Hey, Chloe, I’m back.” Theresa, her co-worker, raised an arm as she walked through the elevator door. “Ooh. I see you’ve had company while I’ve been away.” She offered the FBI agent a fawning smile. “You can take your break now if you want, Chloe. I’ll look after your friend.”

      “That’s kind of you.” Brendan Montgomery smiled at the woman, but never budged from his position. “Your sacrifice is unnecessary though. I have a few more questions for Mrs. Tanner. You were the nurse on duty when he was admitted, correct?”

      “Yes,” she admitted grudgingly, searching for an excuse to get away from Theresa’s curious stare without being too obvious.

      “Then I’d like to ask a few more questions, if you don’t mind.”

      “You’ll have to ask while I have my break.” Loathe to face the barrage of questions that would follow, Chloe strode to the elevator. Once inside she stepped as far away from him as the space allowed. “I don’t know anything more and I really need to relax for a few minutes. Please, just leave me alone.”

      “Hey!” Brendan Montgomery held up both hands. “I’m not stalking you. I just thought we could have some coffee while I ask you some questions.”

      “Ask away. But I’m telling you, I don’t know anything.”

      “You might have seen something without recognizing what it was,” he said as the elevator opened.

      “If I did, I’m too tired to remember it.” Chloe stepped out toward the cafeteria. She knew he was following but pretended she didn’t. She needed to think about Christmas, figure out a way to handle her son’s request to go skiing with his friends for the holidays.

      “You’re going to eat all that?” a voice over her shoulder asked.

      Chloe glanced down, saw a carton of chocolate milk, three sandwiches, two apples, a cellophane-wrapped bowl of pudding and a piece of pie. Cheeks burning, she returned most of it then walked toward the cashier.

      “I’m paying.” A twenty-dollar bill pushed past her shoulder and before she could object the cashier had made change.

      She opened her mouth to argue, caught a gleam of interest on the cashier’s face and offered a simple “Thank you.” Chloe chose a table far away from the few staff who dotted the area, sat down and began to unwrap her sandwich. Night shift wasn’t bad, except that she always got so hungry, and she missed saying good-night to the kids.

      Brendan Montgomery flopped down across from her. A moment later his hand thwacked the table. “Hey, do you know Madison Tanner?”

      “She’s my daughter.” She frowned. “How do you know Maddy?”

      “Soccer,” he announced with a grin. “I’m the new coach, started last week. But I didn’t see you at the last practice.”

      “I was working. The sitter took her.” She frowned, troubled by his information. “Is something wrong with their former coach?”

      “No. Buddy Jeffers is still on our side, but his work at the high school is taking a toll. He mentioned he needed help or he’d have to quit. My mother volunteered me to team coach with him.”

      “Your mother?” Chloe frowned. He sure didn’t look like a mama’s boy. “I don’t believe I know her.” The flicker of a smile that tiptoed across his lips puzzled her.

      “Ever hear of the Stagecoach Café, Mrs. Tanner?”

      His mother was a waitress? Chloe frowned, then remembered. “You said your name was Montgomery,” she said aloud, thinking. “Fiona Montgomery owns the Stagecoach—”

      He nodded. “My mother.”

      “Oh.” She had to clamp her lips closed to stop her thoughts about Mrs. Montgomery from becoming public.

      “I see you understand how I came to be a soccer coach.” Brendan chuckled, his whole face alive with amusement.

      “I’m sorry.” Chloe felt herself blush. “It’s just that she is a little—”

      “Overpowering?” He nodded. “No kidding. What did she hit you up for?”

      “Nothing, really.” Chloe wished she hadn’t said a word.

      “Tell the truth. I can take it.” He raised one eyebrow meaningfully. “I know my mother is like a steamroller. You won’t hurt my feelings.”

      Chloe took one look at his face and knew he’d pry it out of her somehow.

      “The blood drive last spring,” she told him. “She needed someone to put up posters. She was rather…emphatic that I help out. I came home after work to find two hundred posters on my porch, with very explicit directions.”

      “That’s my mom.” He nodded, then shrugged. “I can’t cure her, so I just love her. Be glad she didn’t find out you have kids.”

      “Why?” Chloe swallowed the last of her sandwich and sipped her chocolate milk. “Doesn’t she like them?”

      “Oh, yeah, she likes them just fine. But she likes their toys a lot more.” He shook his head at her puzzled frown. “Never mind. It would take too long to explain my mother. Anyway I wanted to ask you about the mayor.”

      “I already told you—”

      He held up one hand. “I got the official line. I’m not after that.”

      “Then what?” She finished the rest of her lunch, rose and carried the tray and contents to the nearest garbage. She had ten minutes more but decided not to linger. That would only mean answering more of his questions and she didn’t like to tell strangers anything. She’d learned not to trust long ago.

      “Mrs. Tanner?” Brendan Montgomery followed her to the elevator.

      “It’s Chloe. I don’t have any more information about the mayor than his medical condition. And I told you about that.”

      “Anyone visit him?”

      The lurch of the elevator sent them upwards. Chloe thought a moment.

      “His wife and children. And a cousin or something from Europe. They left around nine-thirty to go home for a rest, but I’m sure they’ll be back tomorrow morning. There’s nothing they can do while he’s unconscious and with the surgery he’s just had…” She let it trail away.

      “Yes, of course. I knew about Lidia and her family.” He matched his pace to hers. “Anyone else?”

      “No—oh, yes. The deputy mayor. Mr. Frost, isn’t it? He was here for a while, but he just stood on the sidelines. Never spoke to Mrs. Vance, either, except to offer his regrets. At least, that’s all I heard.”

      “So no one else stopped by?” He sounded disappointed.

      Chloe didn’t understand what more he wanted. She was a nurse. She was paid to care for the patients, not to ask the names of whoever stopped by.

      “It’s a restricted area,” she told him again. “The general public isn’t allowed up here.” The elevator doors opened. She stepped out, stopped. “Look!” She pointed at a small figure in jeans and a flannel shirt standing in the door of the mayor’s room. The police guard was missing.

      “You know I did see someone with a shirt like that earlier. I just can’t remember—hey!”

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