Page 21 of K-9 in Pursuit

“I get it,” she said. “You were trying to avoid her.”

“Not when I first met her, but later…yeah.”

“Several other people I talked to mentioned the other teenagers. I talked to Leann already but I’ll try to find the others and speak with them, too. Everyone I’ve spoken with so far says they never heard Sharee arguing with anyone.”

“Who is this older man you’re looking for?”

Her eyes met his—dark and beautiful and filled with such sadness. “I might as well tell you. You’re going to hear about it sooner or later. Did Sharee ever tell you why she came to live with me?”

“I think she said something about having come here to ski.”

“Her parents bought her a season pass, but that wasn’t the reason she was here. She had to leave school in Richmond. A teacher filed a restraining order against her.”

He stared. “Why?”

“She was harassing him. The same way she was harassing you. Only worse. He was married and had little kids. She started calling his phone and showing up at his house, uninvited.”

“Is the teacher the good-looking, dark-haired thirty-year-old?”

“Yes. She told one of her friends the two of them were still in contact and planned to get back together. I doubt that’s true, but Sharee might have believed it was possible. She might have contacted him again, despite the court order. It’s possible the man had decided he was never going to get her out of his life.”

“Unless he came here and killed her? Have you told the sheriff this?”

“I told them about Sharee’s previous trouble with the teacher. But now I’ve learned that Sharee told her friend they were going to get back together.”

“They can find out where this man is now and what he’s been doing, and if he came to SkyCrest.”

“I will tell them. I thought they might pay more attention if I could find anyone else who had seen him or someone who might be him.”

“Now that you’ve told me about him, I’ll keep an eye out for anyone who might be him,” Brian said.

“If he did come here to hurt Sharee, he’s probably long gone,” she said. “And I could be completely wrong. He didn’t threaten her before, other than in court.”

“You told me Sharee was strangled. I’m sorry if that’s too painful for you to talk about.”

“No. I have to talk about it if we’re going to find who did this.”

“Right. I’m sure no expert, but it seems to me that strangling is so up-close, and well, personal. And maybe…impulsive? I mean, it’s not like someone brought a weapon to a meeting with her, then used it.”

“You mean it was a crime of passion?” she asked.

“Not necessarily sexual passion. Maybe anger? She could have had an argument with someone. Maybe one of the other girls was jealous of her. Or she rejected one of the boys and they didn’t take it well?”

“Maybe.” She smoothed her hands down her thighs. “When I talked to Sharee’s friend Leann, she said something that surprised me. She told me Sharee didn’t hang out with other kids except at the ski resort. She went out almost every evening, but apparently it wasn’t with the teens she saw during the day. I don’t suppose you ever saw her out in the evenings?”

“Never,” he said. “But I wasn’t looking for her.”

“Of course not.” She stood. “I’d better let you get back to work.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more.”

“Listening helped. I can’t talk to my dad and stepmom about this. They don’t want to hear anything negative about Sharee. And I would never blame her for what happened to her—that isn’t right. But looking at the things she did might point to who did this awful thing to her.”

“Are your parents staying with you?”

“They left this morning to go back to Richmond.” She hugged her arms across her chest. “To tell you the truth, I’m relieved. It was hard, having them stay with me. My stepmother blames me for not keeping a better eye on Sharee. And I guess I blame myself.”

He put a hand on her shoulder. “This wasn’t your fault.”