Elijah heard Jo’s quick intake of breath, but he was closer to Devin and caught him as he fell forward, shutting his eyes, grimacing. He sank against Elijah’s chest. “You’re all right now, Devin. I’ve got you. Who’s after Nora?”

“That big bastard…”

“Rigby?” Jo asked sharply. “Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. Nora…” Devin’s eyes flickered open, and Elijah could see the fear shoot through the teenager as he tried to pull away. “I have to go to her.”

Jo wasn’t having it. “Not a chance.” She shrugged off her pack and set it on a gnarled, snow-covered tree root. “You’re hurt, and you need to be straight with us, so that we can help.”

Elijah got Devin down onto the ground, his clothes already soaked. He moaned, near tears, shivering in pain as snow collected on his bare head.

“What happened?” Elijah asked.

“I spotted Rigby just past this grove of spruce trees. He didn’t see me at first. Nora and I had split up. He was heading straight for where I was supposed to meet her. I pretended to be her-to distract him-and he came after me.” Coughing, sobbing, Devin squeezed his eyes shut again, just for a moment, before he collected himself. “Once he figured out I wasn’t Nora, I tried to warn her and give her time to hide. I was running like hell myself. He whacked me in the side and I went flying, got the wind knocked out of me. I thought he’d come and finish me off. But he didn’t.”

“You’re not his priority,” Jo said with brutal clarity.

Devin stared straight at her. “Nora was right. She said not to trust anyone.”

“Where is she, Devin?” Elijah asked.

“I don’t know. I tried to distract Rigby and lead him away from her. I yelled for her to run.”

“He nailed you with your walking stick?”

“Yeah. I think so. I dropped it when I fell yesterday.”

Elijah studied Devin a moment. The kid was a mess. His pack was gone, and he was injured, wet and cold. Even if Nora was better outfitted and uninjured, she, too, was in danger of hypothermia. Rigby didn’t need to stick around. The treacherous conditions would do his work for him. Hence the mini landslide. Distract, delay, divert. Implicate Devin. Then let time, the cold, the wind and the snow take their toll. Make it look as if two teenagers with a flair for drama, at odds with each other, had come to a bad end on Cameron Mountain.

And make Devin look responsible-desperate for money, desperate to impress wealthy Nora Asher, refusing to take no for an answer.

But would Rigby get out of the storm, or would he make sure his work up here was finished?

Either way, Elijah knew they needed to get Devin warm and find Nora.

Fast.

He became aware of Jo peering at him, but she said nothing as she turned her attention back to Devin. “How long ago were you attacked?” she asked.

Devin’s teeth started to chatter, and he seemed to shrink into the arm he held to his middle, as if to control waves of pain. “I don’t know.” He moaned, shivered. “Half hour? Maybe more.”

Jo unzipped her pack and dug inside. “You helped Drew haul building materials up here last fall. Did you and Nora figure out what he did with them?”

He didn’t answer and went very still, his jaw visibly tensed as he tried to keep his teeth from chattering. Elijah sensed his fear-his terror that he might say or do something that would worsen Nora’s situation. It was what he and Jo needed to penetrate. “We’re out of time, Devin,” he said. “You need to tell us what you know. What if Rigby was up here in April and killed my father? What do you think he’ll do to Nora?”

Devin pounded his fists into Elijah’s chest, but he didn’t have the strength to do any damage. Then he buried his face in his bloodied, bruised hands and cried. “I shouldn’t have left her.”

“Left her where, Devin?” Elijah asked.

He took his hands from his face and pointed up the hill into the trees. “There’s a flat section up there. You go through spruce trees. On the other side-Nora found a cabin. We were both looking, figuring Drew must have built something up here.”

Jo produced a dry fleece pullover from her pack. “You hadn’t searched before?”

“No. I…” Tears streamed down his cheeks. “I couldn’t.”

“I understand,” Jo said. “Did Nora go into the cabin?”

“Yeah. I think so. We were going to look around for a little while, then meet up and hike back down to the lodge and find you. The storm, though…” He looked at Elijah, then Jo, his fear and regret palpable now. “I have to find her. I have to help her.”

Jo shook her head. “Elijah will go,” she said firmly. “He knows these woods better than either of us. You and I will do what we can.”

They would be taking a risk by splitting up, but Elijah knew-as Jo obviously did, too-that it was the only way they stood a chance of finding Nora before either Rigby or the conditions got to her.

Elijah rose, adjusted his pack. “You know what to do, Jo?” he asked, only half-serious, because, of course, she did. “Stay in the cover of the trees. Don’t expose-”

“Yeah.” There was just a hint of amusement in her eyes. “Go. I’ll get Devin to the cabin and meet you there.”

Elijah blew her a kiss and winked at her. “See you soon, sweet pea.”

Color rose in her cheeks, and Devin managed a weak smile at her. “Sweet pea?”

A gust of wind rattled through the trees, and Elijah pushed off in the direction Devin had indicated. He thought of the countless times he’d been up here as a kid with his father, searching for that damn cellar hole.

Twenty-Eight

Nora huddled against her boulder. She didn’t know how long she’d been there. She was still in a tight ball, but she was shivering uncontrollably, her teeth chattering as she tried to stay quiet and out of sight. She needed to go to Devin, help him. Something terrible had happened to him. She just knew it. He’d sacrificed himself for her, but she felt paralyzed-what could she do to help him? She didn’t want to make his situation worse, and she didn’t want to get killed.

Help me, someone. Please, help me.

She didn’t dare speak the words out loud. She wasn’t sure she could, anyway, but she didn’t want to make a sound.

I’m so cold.

She heard the crack of a branch somewhere behind her, maybe above her, and felt a painful surge of adrenaline. Tears poured down her raw cheeks and into her mouth. Her nose ran. She stiffened, trying to keep her teeth from chattering, in case whoever was out there could hear her.

Mom…Dad…I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry…

“Nora. It’s Elijah.”

She sniffled, thinking she’d imagined his voice.

“I’m here to help you, okay?”

His voice was so gentle, yet strong, confident. She pictured him in front of the class and remembered his so-blue eyes when he’d looked at her and asked her why she’d wanted to go winter camping. She’d given him some dumb answer. The truth was that she’d wanted Alex and her parents not to think of her as a wimp anymore. She’d wanted them to be proud of her.

I am a wimp.

“Call to me, Nora. Throw some snow up into the air. Anything.”

Elijah sounded close. Her tears were flooding down her face now, snot running, her entire body shaking with relief and self-disgust and terror.

“Devin’s okay. He’s with Jo Harper. I’ll keep you safe, Nora. Trust me.”

Devin, Devin-oh, God! Thank you! Thank you, thank you!

Nora tried to speak, but she started to cry, and her body convulsed into shivers. She was so tired and tensed up, she couldn’t even pry her arms apart to grab snow. Instead, she sat back hard against the boulder and managed to kick a foot out, causing snow to drop off the lower branches of the tree in front of her. A clump of it fell onto her nose. She couldn’t even feel the cold.

She kicked again, and more snow fell, and then she couldn’t do anything but shiver and cry and pray.