Carla Neggers: Cold Dawn

Rose shut the door tight behind her, barely noticing the cold on her walk back to her Jeep. Ranger sat up and yawned as she got behind the wheel. “Funny how things work out sometimes, isn’t it, buddy?”

He slumped back down, and she turned the Jeep around and headed back to the main road.

Next stop, Black Falls Lodge and her brother A.J.

With any luck, Nick wouldn’t be there.

When Rose arrived at the lodge, she didn’t see Nick’s rented car in the parking lot. She gave Ranger a quick walk, again not bothering with her hat and gloves. She paused and squinted out at the white-covered mountains in the distance. Up closer, she noticed a few cross-country skiers on the groomed trails in the meadow behind the lodge. If she’d brought Ranger here this morning instead of to the Whittaker place, who would have discovered Derek’s body? Would he even have gone out there?

Would he be alive now?

She shivered in the cold and headed inside with Ranger.

She was surprised to find Brett Griffin, one of Derek’s two friends who’d been in the fight at O’Rourke’s last year, standing in front of the stone fireplace in the lobby. Ranger flopped down next to him.

“It definitely was Derek,” Brett said, his voice quavering as he stared at the fire, flames rising from logs cut from managed woodlots on lodge property. He didn’t seem to notice the heat. His light brown hair curled below the line of his jaw, and he wore a heavy wool sweater and wind pants that were baggy on his lanky frame. “The police found me at Harper Four Corners and told me. I was taking pictures for a photography project I’m working on….” He trailed off, his anguish obvious.

“I’m sorry, Brett,” Rose said, suppressing her own emotions. “I know Derek was a friend.”

Ranger placed his head on Brett’s boot. Brett smiled, as if forcing himself to focus. “I guess I’m still in shock. I’ve only been back in Black Falls a few weeks. I’m house-sitting up the road for one of my ski students. It’s perfect, or so I thought.”

“Have you seen much of Derek since you’ve been back?”

“No, not really. I haven’t had much to do with him since last winter. I thought he was going to stay in Colorado, but he had established contacts in Vermont. I ran into him at Okemo last week. He seemed good.” Brett faltered, glancing back at the fire. “I know we weren’t favorites around here.”

Rose placed a hand on the back of one the comfortable, overstuffed chairs arranged in front of the fire. “People know you weren’t a big part of the fight last year. You didn’t harass Hannah.”

“I didn’t stop Derek.”

“When you saw him, did he mention he wanted to talk to me or that he planned to go out to the Whittaker place?”

“No, nothing like that. We just talked about skiing. Damn. This is awful.” Brett eased his foot out from under Ranger’s head. “Just what you all need.”

“Never mind us. We’ll get through it.”

“Finding him this morning must have been hard on you.”

“It was,” she said softly.

Brett didn’t speak for a moment. The fire crackled, glowing chunks of a log shifting as it burned. “Derek liked you, Rose. He never got into whatever went on between you two last winter, but I know he felt bad about it.”

Suddenly feeling warm, she unzipped her jacket. “None of that matters now.”

“I guess it doesn’t. It’s hard to believe he’s dead.” Brett pointed to the lobby door. “I should go.”

“I can run you up the road if you’d like.”

He gave a faint smile. “The exercise will do me good.” He lifted a down vest off the back of a chair and shrugged it on, then snapped it up, his hands steady but his movements slow, as if every snap were a struggle. When he finished, he looked at Rose, tears shining in his pale gray eyes. “I know that fight at O’Rourke’s last year wasn’t Derek’s first or his last. He could be a real bastard. What if someone had it in for him?”

“Who would?” Rose asked. “Just because some people didn’t like him doesn’t mean anyone wanted him dead.”

Brett pulled a knitted hat from his vest pocket but didn’t put it on, just held it bunched up in one hand. “Rose…do you think there’s any chance Derek killed himself? I don’t mean to be so blunt, but if his death wasn’t an accident, then maybe it was suicide and not murder.”

“I don’t know what happened to Derek.”

“Of course you don’t. Sorry. Damn, this isn’t what I expected when I got up this morning. I’ll be around. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” His cheeks reddened with embarrassment. “As if there would be. You Camerons can take care of yourselves, that’s for sure. I’ll see you later.”

He left quickly, mumbling hello as he passed A.J. coming in.

Rose watched her older brother walk stiffly to the stone fireplace. He patted Ranger, then grabbed a log from a copper box, pulled back the screen in front of the fire and set the log on the red-hot coals. “It’s quiet around here,” he said, replacing the screen. “Midweek, not that many guests. Most everyone’s out enjoying the good weather.”

“A.J.—”

He held up a hand and turned to her, his back to the fire. “I should have stopped you from going out to the Whittaker place from the beginning. I didn’t understand why you wanted to, but I wasn’t going to come between you and your work—you and Ranger.”

“I appreciate that.”

She could see the pain in A.J.’s blue eyes, which so reminded her of their father. “You must be beat. Have you had lunch?”

“I had something at the café. I just wanted to stop by before I head home.”

“You shouldn’t be alone, Rose. Why don’t you stay here tonight? Your favorite room’s available. Or you can stay with us at the house.” He seemed to make an effort to smile. “The kids love their aunt Rose.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine at home. I’ll have Ranger—”

“Ranger’s great, but he’s still a dog.”

Normally she’d have come back with a retort, but she didn’t have one.

A.J. sighed and unzipped his canvas coat. “I talked to Elijah. He’s debating whether to head back up here. He says he’s not getting much done in D.C., anyway.”

“What about Sean?” Rose asked.

“Nick Martini had already called him.” A.J.’s gaze narrowed slightly. “I assume you know Nick’s staying here.”

“I do, yes,” she said, keeping her tone neutral.

“He was just here. He grabbed a sandwich and took off again. He didn’t say where he was going. He drove. That’s all I know.”

Rose glanced down at Ranger, settled in comfortably on the hearth. She could hear the suspicion and curiosity in her brother’s voice, but he wouldn’t ask her outright if there was anything personal between her and Nick. She’d wondered last week when Sean was in town if he had begun to suspect, but he hadn’t said anything. Of her three brothers, Elijah was the most likely to flat-out interrogate her about her love life, but they all kept a watchful eye on her, especially since their father’s death. Now Nick would be facing her brothers’ scrutiny.

Would he even care?

Probably not, Rose thought.

She couldn’t imagine where he’d gone. To confer with the firefighters on the scene that morning? To pry information about her from people in town?

She could hear the squeals and laughter of small children down the hall and knew they were from Jim and Baylee, her four-year-old nephew and two-year-old niece.

A.J. took in a shallow breath. “Lauren’s having a hard time with this,” he said, referring to his wife of five years.

“I’m sorry, A.J.”

“Never mind. We’ll get through it. Take care of yourself, Rose. Let us know if there’s anything we can do.”