Cold River - Carla Neggers [19]
And he’d been killed, Hannah thought. A few hours later, his partner, Melanie Kendall, was blown up in her car at the lodge, presumably by the people who’d hired her and Rigby.
Sean pulled the cabin door shut. “Why are you here alone?” he asked quietly. “Any of us would have come with you.”
“Devin would have, too.” She eased her boot into the binding of her snowshoe. “I guess I just needed to come on my own. What about you? Are you alone?” She looked back at him with a quick smile. “Your brothers aren’t hiding in the trees, are they?”
He didn’t return her smile. He lowered his sunglasses, making his eyes impossible to read. “I’m alone.”
Hannah pulled off a glove and squatted down to adjust the strap on the back of her boot. “So you must not be afraid I’m the mastermind of this network of killers.”
Sean leaned into one of his ski poles. “Long hike?”
She realized she’d gone too far in trying to compensate for her self-consciousness around him—for not telling him the whole story about why she’d come up here. “Longer than I wanted it to be.” She stood up, feeling downright warm. “Did you follow me?”
“I parked on the old logging road and came up the back trail.” His tone was even, pragmatic. “You can ride back with me.”
She quickly put on her other snowshoe. Hike down the mountain with Sean? Sit next to him for the ten-mile drive back around the mountain to the lodge? She’d hiked up here for a reason, and he knew it, and he wanted to pry it out of her. Even under normal circumstances, she’d be reluctant to go with him, just because he was Sean Cameron.
These weren’t normal circumstances.
She tried to keep him from seeing her turmoil of emotions. “I don’t mind hiking the way I came,” she said, adjusting the strap on her second boot.
“It’ll be dusk by the time you get back.” Sean spoke calmly, without pleading. “One wrong turn, and you’ll be spending the night on the mountain. Elijah would have your head for hiking up here by yourself.”
“I’m prepared for the conditions.”
“Of course you are. You’re always prepared for anything.”
She gave him a sharp glance, but she didn’t see the slightest hint of impatience in him.
Just pure, uncompromising Cameron determination.
“You choose the route,” he said. “I’m going with you.”
Hannah reached for the ski poles leaning against the cabin. Now that she’d been still for a while, the cold was seeping into her. Even so, she felt the blood rush hot to her face. “I’m not going to get rid of you, am I?”
There was just the glimmer of a smile. “No.”
“Why, because I’m alone—or because you don’t trust me?”
“Something’s on your mind, Hannah. You ran out of the café this morning right after Bowie left and headed straight up here.”
“I didn’t run.”
“Does he blame you for his arrest?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t asked him. This morning was the first time I’ve talked to him since his arrest. You were there. You all heard what we said to each other. We talked about the leak in the cellar.”
“You went looking for him. The leak’s not a crisis. You wanted an excuse to talk to him.”
“I’ve known Bowie since I was a tot. I don’t need an excuse to talk to him, and the only way to get hold of him is to go looking for him.”
Sean sighed. “All right. I give up. I’d rather argue with you someplace warm.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She’d meant it as a light comment but saw his mouth twitch with sudden humor and immediately realized what she’d said. She decided she’d only make matters worse by trying to explain. “Supposedly the Cameron who first built up here was a bit of a hermit. Makes sense, considering how isolated it is.”
“It wasn’t as isolated then. The land was cleared for farming, and there were houses scattered along the river and up onto the mountain slopes.”
“It was never crowded, that’s for sure. You Camerons always have liked things a little rugged. You might live in Beverly Hills and not be used to Vermont winters anymore, but you fight wildfires.” Hannah started across the clearing. “I’ve never been west of the Mississippi.” Thinking of Toby’s imminent departure, she glanced back at