Cold River - Carla Neggers [61]
He stared out the café window at Main Street. “I think California will help. The change of scenery will do me good.”
“I hope so,” Hannah said. The swelling on her cheek had died down overnight. Her wrist had turned shades of purple and blue. “If you get homesick if you need to talk to someone just do it, okay? Don’t wait. You’re as tough and resilient as anyone, but you went through hell last month.”
“Yeah. We all could have died up on the mountain in about ten different ways. Beaten to death. Frozen. Shot.” He turned from the window and sipped hot cocoa from an evergreen mug. “Rigby wasn’t a maniac, you know.”
“I know, Dev. He was a cold-blooded killer.”
Her brother raised his eyes, still haunted from his nightmare. “What was he like when you talked to him?”
“Convincing.” They’d gone over this ground before. “I didn’t question that he was a mountain rescuer. No one did. It makes me sick to think I gave him any information that helped him find you.”
“He already knew about the cabin from when he and Melanie Kendall killed Drew. They must have followed Drew up there one day or something. I didn’t know about it until Nora found it in November. She pretty much stumbled onto it.” Devin licked chocolate foam off his lips. “I keep hearing the shots that killed Rigby.” He paused, staring into his mug. “Elijah saved my life. He and Jo. I was useless.”
“So was I, Dev. We all did what we could, but maybe events unfolded the way they were meant to.” Hannah smiled, hoping to help shake Devin out of the aftereffects of his nightmare. “Look at Jo and Elijah now.”
Devin gave a small smile back at her. “Planning a wedding.”
“Nora was so excited when she found Drew’s cabin. I’d told her I’d brought supplies up there, and she was determined to figure out what he’d been up to.”
“She’d never have made it back there in the storm if you hadn’t warned her about Rigby.”
“He nearly beat me to death.”
“But you got away from him and found Jo and Elijah—”
“I was lucky,” Devin said.
“You made your own luck. You were able to show Jo where the cabin was and take shelter there. Elijah knew he had to find Nora before she succumbed to hypothermia. He got her to the cabin.” Hannah sat back in her chair. She’d had coffee, but she wasn’t hungry. She hadn’t slept that well herself. “You held your own with experienced pros.”
Toby bounded into the café from the center-hall door and grabbed a corn muffin off a tray on the glass case. “Hey, Dev, Hannah,” he said. “Tomorrow’s the big day. All set for our adventure, Dev?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Devin said.
“We better not annoy Sean. Don’t want him to pitch us out of his airplane.” Toby grinned, obviously not worried about any such thing. “I wonder if he has any parachutes on board. Probably, given his other life as a smoke jumper.”
Toby bit into his muffin, crumbs falling into his lap. He hadn’t grabbed a plate or a napkin, no butter, no jam. He ate all the time—he’d probably had scrambled eggs before heading down to the café.
“What’re you up to this morning?” Hannah asked him.
“I’m hitting the weight room at school. It’s open.”
“I can drop you off—”
“Nah. I’ll walk. It’ll be above zero by the time I get out of here. Dev, you want to go with me?”
Devin shook his head. “I’m working up at the lodge today. My last day.”
Even if he hadn’t been working, Hannah knew he wouldn’t weight-lift with his younger brother. Toby was a competitive athlete, and while Devin was fit, he was more likely to hike than to spend time in a gym. Neither brother was the student she’d been, but Devin’s grades had really suffered after Drew Cameron’s death in April. He almost hadn’t graduated. Then came a summer of aimlessness and trouble. His friendship with Nora Asher after her move to Black Falls had offered a glimmer of hope. They’d both had to sort out their options.
Lowell and Vivian Whittaker entered the café with Everett and Ginny Robinson. Hannah got to her feet. “Duty calls,” she said to