Cold River

by Carla Neggers

  She cursed him cheerfully as she disconnected.

  He clicked off his phone and headed out to the pool. The water rippled in a breeze. Nick had put on a sweatshirt.

  Devin had rolled his jeans up to his knees and stuck his feet in the water. He had on a T-shirt and didn’t look cold. “How was the fund-raiser?” he asked. “You weren’t gone long. Did you even go?”

  “I didn’t stay,” Sean said as he walked over to Nick’s lounge chair. “My sister?”

  Nick glanced up, meeting his friend’s eye. “She’s good with dogs.”

  Sean gritted his teeth. “Nick—”

  “I’m heading home.” Nick rolled onto his feet. “Let me know if you need me in Vermont.”

  “My sister and Jasper Vanderhorn?”

  “You’re going to Vermont. Ask her.”

  As a smoke jumper, Nick was fit, agile, committed, reliable—and daring without being reckless. He brought that same intensity and commitment to their business partnership. Sean trusted him without question.

  Just not with his sister.

  “I never should have left Vermont,” he said half to himself.

  “Hannah?” Devin was slightly pale.

  Sean turned to the teenager. He wondered if he was pale himself.

  Devin’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going back to Vermont, aren’t you?”

  “Late red-eye.”

  Devin leaned back onto his elbows and squinted up at Sean. “Hannah’s onto something, isn’t she?”

  Sean felt a tightness in his throat. “I hope not.”

  Twenty-Three

  January 3—Black Falls, Vermont

  Hannah shut her law book and put away her study notes on the small table in her apartment kitchen. Now she could see why Everett Robinson had been encouraging her to get a study partner and sign up for a review course. The dedication and focus she needed to pass the bar exam couldn’t be on and off. It had to be sustained.

  She noticed a mountain-biking magazine Toby had left behind and a pair of old sneakers Devin had decided not to take with him at the last minute. She couldn’t pretend that her brothers were at work or on a hike or mountain biking for a few hours, or even at a friend’s house for a few days. They were in California—on the other side of the continent.

  For now, she planned to leave everything of theirs in place and continue with her own life as normal. She’d work in the café, study for the bar and figure out options for her own future. She’d been locked into her routines for so long, and now they were changing, regardless of Devin and Toby’s departure.

  Regardless, she thought of Sean Cameron and the attraction that had flared up between them. It had been a momentary thing, understandable given the high emotions of the past weeks, and best forgotten.

  She ran downstairs, suddenly excited for her brothers even as she pushed back her own loneliness. Toby would be ensconced with his upper-middle-class host family and hitting the bike trails. Devin would be swimming in Sean Cameron’s heated pool and figuring out his new job.

  She paused in the hall, peering out the narrow side window into the gray, drizzly January afternoon. There’d been nothing in terms of a lunch crowd at the café, and Dominique had shooed both her and Beth out early. The drizzle was expected to turn to snow showers later in the day, with colder temperatures back tomorrow. She and Beth and a few of their other friends planned to take the initiative and spend a day cross-country skiing. Just get away from everything.

  “Can’t do that in Beverly Hills,” Hannah said under her breath with a quick smile.

  She headed out through the mudroom and jumped in her car, driving up to Rose’s house on Cameron Mountain Road. It was nestled into a hillside, small and without any immediate neighbors, which Rose seemed to like.

  Hannah was surprised when she passed Lowell Whittaker at the bottom of the plowed, sanded driveway. Rose’s golden retriever was bounding toward him. Hannah parked next to a BMW—presumably Lowell’s. Rose was standing in front of her open garage as she watched Ranger scoop up a stick in his mouth, pivot and race up the hill to her.

  As she got out of her car, Hannah noticed fog swirling in the evergreens on the edge of the yard and rising up from the melting snow. There was a lull in the precipitation, but water dropped off pine needles and small puddles had formed in dips in the driveway.

  “I’d rather have a clear, cold winter day than this wet weather,” she said as she approached Rose. “The dampness gets into my bones.”

  Rose kept her eyes on her dog. She was dressed for the weather in a waterproof jacket, the hood pulled up over her tawny hair. “I feel closed-in on days like today, but it won’t last. All this water will freeze tonight and we’ll be in the cold again tomorrow.”

  Hannah stood next to her friend and nodded toward Lowell Whittaker. “What’s he doing here?”

  “He’s interested in getting a dog,” Rose said without inflection.

  “Does he want to get into search-and-rescue?”

  “I doubt it. He’s talking about adopting a failed or injured search dog. I think he’s more curious than anything else, or just looking for a distraction.” She put out a hand as Ranger sat in front of her, and he dropped his stick into her palm. “How’re you doing with your two brothers in California?”

  “Different. I didn’t realize how little sleep I’ve gotten since November. I’d wake up several times a night and check on Devin, just listen in case he was pacing.”

  “He went through hell. You all did. I wish…” Rose paused, throwing the stick back down the driveway. Ranger immediately charged after it, legs pumping, golden fur gleaming. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

  “You were on a job. You didn’t know what was happening.”

  “That’s my point.” She went on quickly, “How do Devin and Toby like California?”

  Hannah hesitated, but decided to take Rose’s lead in changing the subject. “They love it.” She watched Ranger return with his stick, clumps of wet snow clinging to his tail and undercoat. “They both say Sean’s place is nice.”

  Her friend laughed unexpectedly. “I’ve been there. It’s incredible, is what it is. Are you afraid Devin will get spoiled? Sean won’t let him. He’ll make him work. He didn’t get rich robbing banks.”

  Hannah smiled but said nothing. Her father had served time for robbery.

  Rose petted Ranger, praising him for a job well done, then squinted down through the gloom at Lowell, still at the bottom of the driveway. “He’s heading home soon. He’s cold. How’s he going to take care of a dog if he can’t handle a little weather?” Her tone was only half-teasing. “I won’t say anything to him, of course.”

  “Of course not. You’re the nice Cameron.”

  Rose’s eyes narrowed.

  “Sorry,” Hannah said quickly.

  “It’s okay. I understand where you’re coming from. We can be a hardheaded lot. Lowell says his wife is freaked out about what happened here. I don’t know that having a dog would make her feel more secure, though.”

  “Maybe a bomb-sniffing dog would,” Hannah said, and realized she wasn’t joking. Ranger was an air-scenting dog, trained to find people in an area versus tracking a specific person, but Rose was an expert in every kind of search dog.

  Lowell picked his way through puddles and patches where the rain had washed away the sand, exposing ice. “Ranger is a well-behaved dog, Rose,” he said, clapping his thick gloves together as if his hands were cold in spite of them. “He’s also handsome. I don’t know if I can ever talk Vivian into a dog, but I’d love to have one—just as a pet. The work you do requires an enormous commitment.”

  “It does,” she said, “but owning any dog takes a certain commitment.”

  He sighed. “Yes, I understand your point.” He turned to Hannah and smiled. “What a welcome surprise to see you here. You and Rose don’t look the least bit cold. Now, why is that, I wonder?”

  “Warm clothes,” Rose muttered.

  He had the grac
e to laugh. “You’re native Vermonters. A little cold weather doesn’t bother you.”

  A cold breeze penetrated the fog and intermittent drizzle. “If you go up to the lodge,” Rose said, “A.J. and Elijah will outfit you with winter gear that’d hold you through any dog outings in the Vermont winter.”

  “They won’t want anyone in Black Falls to freeze to death,” Lowell said.

  Rose narrowed her blue eyes on him. “That’s correct.”

  “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Your father—”

  “He didn’t die of hypothermia because he wasn’t dressed properly for the conditions or was in over his head in that storm.” Rose’s voice was steady, without any obvious emotion. “He died because he was murdered.”

  “Yes. Yes, that’s true. Awful.” Lowell glanced at Ranger as the golden retriever bolted back up the driveway with his stick. “What a remarkable dog. I should go, though. A nice hot fire awaits me at home.”

  “How long will you be staying in Black Falls?” Hannah asked.

  “As long as Vivian wants to. At least a few more days. We’re overseeing the work on the guesthouse. It’s going well. Bowie O’Rourke keeps to himself and seems to be doing an excellent job. How’s work coming on your cellar?”

  “He’s almost done.”

  The wind and drizzle picked up. Lowell said goodbye, patted Ranger and headed for his car. After he was down the driveway and back on the road, Hannah picked up the stick again and threw it for Ranger, who looked eager for more fetching. He ran after it with just as much energy as the last time. Hannah watched him, aware of the drizzle dampening her hair, collecting on her jacket.

  “You were last in California in June,” Hannah said without looking at her friend.

  “That’s right. I was there training firefighters in handling search-and-rescue dogs.”

  Hannah curled her fingers into fists to help keep them warm. “Did something happen?”

  Rose stared out at the white-and-gray landscape. “I was preoccupied with my father’s death. I could have missed something. A fire that was supposed to be out sparked again. A man—an arson investigator—was trapped. No one could get to him in time, and he died. I keep thinking…” She turned and faced Hannah. “What if he’s dead because I was so distracted by my own problems? What if a firebug’s still out there because I messed up?”

  “You’re not a firefighter or an arson investigator.”

  “I understand that.” She looked up at the bleak sky, her mind clearly back on that June day. “I’ve been such a wreck.”

  “What about you and Sean’s partner? Nick Martini. Devin’s told me about him.” Hannah smiled. “He’s another sexy smoke jumper, as well as a wealthy businessman.”

  Rose breathed out and fastened her Cameron blue eyes on Hannah. “Hannah…Nick and me…just forget whatever you’re thinking, okay?”

  Hannah sighed. “Your brothers will kill him dead if he took advantage of you when you were at your most vulnerable. Honestly, Rose. From what I can gather from Devin—the man’s a rake.”

  Her friend laughed outright. “Very Jane Austen of you. Rake. Yes, Nick Martini is a total rake.” Rose squatted down and opened up her arms as her wet, slobbering, eager dog returned with his stick and welcomed her affection. She was a private person, solitary despite being the youngest of four. “Now I’ve said too much.”

  “Rose, if you want to talk—”

  “Thanks, Hannah. You’re a good friend.” She stood up. “We all have too much tragedy on our mind.”

  “It’s a new year,” Hannah said. “You haven’t been to the café in a few days. Dominique’s making her fire-breathing chili today. Why don’t you stop by for a bite?”

  “Thanks. I’ll see if I can manage it,” Rose said without much enthusiasm. Her panting golden retriever flopped onto her feet. “Will Bowie be there?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you remember the time you and I decided to try diving at the swimming hole down on the river? We were what, sixteen? We got caught in high water, and Bowie pulled us out. He was so strong—he got us both at once and hauled us out of there.”

  Hannah smiled at the memory. “We yelled at him and said we weren’t in any danger, and he said we were like sisters and he was just protecting us.”

  “Underneath the rock dust and muscles is a hopeless romantic. Hannah, it’s not your fault he went to jail.”

  Something in Rose’s tone made Hannah’s breath catch. “You weren’t in town then. What have you heard? Rose—”

  “I have nothing against Bowie. I hired him to fix my steps.” Rose motioned to the snow-covered stone steps that led up the hillside to her front door, which she seldom used in winter. In summer, the steps would be flanked with flowers. “It was an easy job, but I couldn’t do it by myself.”

  “When was this?” Hannah asked, surprised.

  “November. I didn’t want to ask A.J. or Elijah for help. A.J. was so busy with the lodge, and Elijah was just back home from the army. I saw for myself what he’d been through when I visited him in Germany in April.” Another wind gust blew down off the mountain and whipped raindrops off her jacket into her face. She hardly seemed to notice. “I saw Bowie’s van at the cemetery one day and stopped. He was checking on the culvert to order materials for that job. I asked him then, on the spur of the moment, and he agreed. He was only here a few days. I wasn’t even around.”

  “When in November was this, Rose?”

  She was pale now, scratching Ranger’s head without looking at Hannah. “He was working here the week those killers went after Nora Asher and your brother.”

  “Who else knows? The police? Jo? Your brothers—do they know?”

  “I haven’t said anything to anyone. I don’t see what difference it makes. I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble for Bowie any more than you do.”

  “Did he have a key to your house?” Hannah asked.

  “I left one. To my knowledge he never used it.”

  “You have a phone here. What about cell-phone service?”

  Rose nodded as if Hannah had asked a question. “With anyone else,” she said, “we wouldn’t think twice.”

  “Bowie isn’t anyone else.”

  Neither spoke for a moment, only Ranger’s panting and the steady drizzle breaking the silence. On a clear day, Hannah realized, with binoculars, the lodge would be visible from atop the driveway.

  “Just go,” Rose said, her voice strangled. She looked up, water dripping out of her tawny hair now, running off the end of her nose as she tried to smile. “I promised Ranger we’d go for a run.”

  Hannah nodded. “The invitation for chili stands.”

  Though reluctant to leave, she finally returned to her car. A few fat, sopping snowflakes mixed with the drizzle and splattered on her windshield. Mindful of the conditions, she resisted the urge to speed down the mountain road.

  When she came to Harper Four Corners, she pulled into the old tavern. There was more snow mixing in the rain now.

  Reverend McBane had the door open before she was halfway up the walk. “I saw you going up the road and hoped you’d stop by on your way back down.”

  “I went to see Rose Cameron.”

  “Ah. She’s been keeping to herself even more than usual these days. What can I do for you?”

  “She said she was here in November. Bowie O’Rourke was over in the cemetery—”

  “Yes, I remember. Rose walked over to talk to him about something.”

  “Was that the only time you saw them together?”

  He nodded, his eyes as sharp and incisive as ever. “Hannah?”

  “It’s nothing. Never mind. I’m not suggesting anything.”

  “Bowie was by earlier this morning to clean up at the crypt.”

  “Did you talk to him?”

  “No. He was gone by the time I walked over there. Gloria hates these dreary days. She’s been curled up by the fire with a book since we got up. I just had a loo
k around. I didn’t linger, I have to say. I’ve been inside enough crypts in my day. Not a part of the job I miss.” He grinned, his lined face lighting up. “The next time I need to be in one, I’d prefer to be inside a coffin.”

  Hannah smiled at his gallows humor. “You weren’t afraid to go over there, though.”

  “When you get to be my age, you’re not afraid of much—certainly not ghosts. Besides, A.J. Cameron and Wes Harper have been keeping an eye out for Gloria and me. Fortunately they live on Ridge Road and drive by here often enough.”

  Hannah shivered. “I shouldn’t keep you out here in the cold.”

  As she spoke, the old man’s attention was drawn to something behind her. She heard a vehicle and turned, just as Elijah Cameron’s truck pulled into the tavern’s driveway behind her beat-up car.

  Sean was behind the wheel.

  Hannah’s heart pounded. What was he doing back?

  “He must be looking for you,” Reverend McBane said, as if reading her mind.

  She turned to him. “Why do you say that?”

  He shrugged, tightening his sweater around his thin frame. “Gloria and I have always believed Sean would return to Black Falls to live at least part-time. We think he’d like to renovate this place.”

  Hannah tilted her head back. “Reverend McBane, has Sean expressed an interest in buying this property?”

  The old man looked uncomfortable. “He asked us not to say anything—”

  “You know he’s a shark. All the Camerons are when it comes to property. Not dishonest—just sharks.” She scrutinized McBane, her heart racing now. “Reverend…Sean’s already bought this place, hasn’t he?”

  “He’s been very generous,” McBane said vaguely.

  “If I looked up the deed?”

  “You’d see it’s in the name of a private company.”

  “Which Sean owns,” Hannah pronounced. “I’m right?”

  Lester McBane sighed. “I forget you’re a lawyer.”

  “I haven’t been admitted to the bar yet,” Hannah corrected.

  Gloria McBane peeked around the corner from the kitchen. “Sean suggested making us life tenants,” she said. “It’s worked out beautifully for all of us.”