Gone Too Deep by Katie Ruggle Page A

toward the door.
    â€œI’m sorry if I made us late,” Ellie apologized, a little confused by the rush. She grabbed her new room key from the table by the door as he herded her by it.
    Lou snorted a laugh. “We’re not late. Cal just likes to stick to a schedule.” Her voice lowered to a stage whisper. “He’s a little anal.”
    Callum’s directing hand swung toward Lou’s butt, connecting with a smack that made her yelp and jump out of range. She sent a glare his way, but her laugh bubbled out, ruining her show of disapproval.
    They headed for Callum’s pickup, and Lou climbed into the backseat, despite Ellie’s protestations.
    â€œYou’re already doing so much,” Ellie said, reluctantly sitting in the front passenger seat when Lou didn’t budge. “You don’t even know me, and you’re still going out of your way to help.”
    Leaning between the front seats, Lou gave Ellie’s shoulder a light bump with her fist. “We’re not doing that much. Besides, until you arrived, our investigation into Willard’s death had pretty much reached a standstill. The whiteboard hadn’t seen any action for a while. Helping you fits right into what we were doing anyway.”
    â€œBut mapping the cabin and taking off work so you can help me arrange a guide…” Ellie shook her head. “That’s going above and beyond. So, thank you. I really appreciate it.”
    â€œDon’t count your guide until he’s hatched out of his grumpy, monosyllabic egg,” Lou warned.
    After struggling with that for several seconds, Ellie finally asked, “What?”
    Callum gave an amused cough. “She means that it’s likely George won’t agree to be your guide.”
    â€œBut he’s a search and rescue volunteer, right? Doesn’t that mean he likes to help people?” Even as she said the words, Joseph’s image popped into her head, and she shuddered.
    â€œYes, but I heard it was like pulling teeth to get him on the team.” Lou was leaning so far forward between the seats that she was level with Callum and Ellie.
    Giving her an irritated glance, Callum snapped, “Sparks, sit back and put on your seat belt.”
    His sharp tone would’ve made Ellie scramble to do his bidding, but Lou just rolled her eyes. “We’re a block away from Levi’s. Just don’t crash the truck, and I’ll be fine. Actually, please don’t crash the truck, since it’s currently our only mode of transport.”
    â€œYou don’t have a car?” Ellie asked. In the city, with the public transportation, being vehicle-less was doable. In the mountains, though, it would be almost impossible not to have a car.
    â€œI did. It was a lovely truck, but it burned.”
    That was unexpected. Callum was parking the pickup as Ellie replied, “Burned? In an accident?”
    â€œNo. It was definitely on purpose.”
    â€œWhat happened?” Mountain living was apparently more treacherous than Ellie had imagined.
    Lou made a face. “Ugh. Stupid Clay happened. Homicidal, arsonistic stalker.”
    â€œI don’t think arsonistic is a word.” Callum’s voice came from Ellie’s open door, and she jumped. Caught up in Lou’s abbreviated tale, she hadn’t notice him circling to her side of the truck.
    â€œIt should be,” Lou said as Ellie hurried to climb out of the pickup. Callum caught her arm to steady her as she landed on the ground, but her new boots were a huge improvement on her high-heeled booties. She didn’t even slip at all that time. Ellie stepped aside so Callum could help Lou out of the truck.
    â€œHomicidal?” Ellie picked out what she felt was the most critical part of Lou’s explanation. “Do you think he was the one who killed Mr. Gray?”
    â€œNope. Clay just tried to kill Callum and me. The timeline wasn’t right for him to