Cold River - Carla Neggers [6]
Letting both her brothers sleep, Hannah tiptoed out of the small apartment and took the curving stairs down to the center-hall entrance of the old house. It had such character—such potential—but its owner seemed only interested in the basic maintenance necessary to keep the place from falling down, presumably until he decided the time was right to kick everyone out—her and her brothers, the small first-floor gallery and the café—and gut it, renovate it and sell it for a fortune.
Hannah unlocked a solid-wood door that was original to the house and entered the café’s dining room. It had its own entrance onto Main Street, as well as one off the center hall. She’d heard Dominique Belair and Beth Harper, her two partners, arrive earlier. They’d decided on the name Three Sisters Café, considering themselves sisters in spirit if not by blood. Each of them knew what had to be done to get scones, muffins, homemade yogurt, fresh-cut fruit and other goodies ready for the café’s 7:00 a.m. opening.
Her heartbeat quickening at the same time her pace slowed, Hannah took in the gray early-morning light, the gleaming hardwood floor and the dozen-plus wood tables and chairs. On the interior wall, the countertops and glass case were empty, spotless. Before long, the bright winter sun would stream in through the tall windows and customers would start arriving.
But mentally, Hannah was back in April—eight months ago—as small, black-haired Melanie Kendall sat across from Thomas Asher in the café and pretended to be an interior decorator from Washington, D.C., taking a break from her busy schedule. She and Kyle Rigby, her partner in killing, had already made sure Drew Cameron had died of hypothermia on Cameron Mountain.
Hannah stopped breathing. Don’t…
She couldn’t stop the images.
After years of searching, Drew had discovered the site of the Camerons’ original house in Vermont in what was now a wilderness on the north side of the mountain. He hadn’t told anyone while he secretly built a small cabin on the remains of the old foundation. What supplies and equipment he couldn’t get up the mountain on his own, he’d enlisted a local high school senior—Hannah’s brother Devin—to carry for him, never admitting why or showing off his work-in-progress.
He’d meant the cabin as a surprise for his four adult children.
Melanie had flirted with Thomas Asher while the children of her and Rigby’s victim had called in search teams and headed up the mountain themselves to look for their father. She had known Drew was dead—that the cold had done its work before anyone had realized he was missing.
Hannah eased behind the glass counter. For the past five weeks, every morning had been the same, and she knew what the next rush of images would be. She stared across the counter toward the windows overlooking the river, the landscape taking shape under the lightening sky. She’d been the one who’d hired Nora Asher, Thomas Asher’s eighteen-year-old daughter, to work at the café when Nora had moved to Black Falls after dropping out of Dartmouth College in September. Nora had wanted to experience life in small-town Vermont. By then, her father and Melanie Kendall were engaged. Already suspicious of Melanie, Nora had enlisted Devin’s help to conduct their own background check on her future stepmother.
In November, Nora’s stepfather, Alexander Bruni, a prominent ambassador, was killed in a hit-and-run in Washington, D.C. Nora panicked at the news of his likely murder and took off up Cameron Mountain.
Devin went after her, as a friend, telling no one.
Clever, calculating Melanie manipulated her fiancé into hiring Kyle Rigby to search for his missing daughter.
Hannah could see Kyle on that bleak November morning, his broad shoulders, his aura of competence and reassurance as he’d walked into the café. Posing as a mountain rescuer, he’d asked her to tell him what she could about where Devin and Nora might be.
He had fooled everyone. He hadn’t wanted to help. He’d wanted to make sure Nora and Devin didn’t get off Cameron Mountain