Everything To Prove. Nadia Nichols

because his expression wasn’t promising.

      “All right,” he finally said. “We’ll trade our canoe for a motorboat and take a trip up.”

      KAREN WAS WAITING on the dock when they arrived. “I hope you didn’t mind coming back by canoe,” she said as Libby climbed onto the dock.

      “It was wonderful. Thank you for thinking of it.”

      “How did your meeting with Mr. Frey go?”

      “He was more talkative than I expected.” Libby glanced back to where Graham was already shifting his gear into a motorboat. “Graham is going to take me to talk with his father. He says he might have something to add to the story.”

      “How’s Solly doing, Graham?” Karen asked.

      “Not so good. He still has a cold, but he won’t see a doctor. Doesn’t trust the white man’s medicine.”

      “I’ll pack you some food to bring to him,” Karen said, and Libby accompanied her up to the lodge. “Well, you’ve managed to accomplish two things in less than a day that I’ve been trying to do for several years,” she said wryly while arranging food in a basket in the kitchen. “You’ve met Daniel Frey, and now you’re going to meet Solly Johnson, though I don’t know what light he’ll be able to shed on Ben Libby.”

      “Actually, I’m hoping he’ll know something about the plane crash that killed Ben’s son,” Libby explained.

      “Ah. Well, it’s possible. And if nothing else, you’ll get a good boat ride with Graham. He’s our best guide. He knows this lake better than any of the others, all the lore and legends, and he knows where the best fishing can be found. Our guests really enjoy being guided by him. They request him more than all the others.”

      “Does he have any family other than his father?” Libby asked.

      “His mother lives in a village on the Yukon, and I believe he has several brothers and sisters,” Karen replied. “I think he has a soft spot for a certain girl who works for Daniel Frey. Luanne Attla. He’s brought her here a couple of times. She’s a nice girl.”

      “Yes, I met her this evening. She has a tough job.”

      “I offered to hire her but she seemed determined to stay with Frey. He must pay his help a whole lot better than I can.” Karen handed the basket to Libby and smiled. “Tell Solly he’s welcome here any time. And good luck.”

      CARSON WAS TOO TIRED TO EAT after the dive class at the university adjourned late Sunday afternoon. He’d thought the class would’ve been an easy teach and scoffed at the dean’s suggestion that he reschedule it for a time when he was “feeling better.” All he had to do was show some slides and film clips on the AV equipment, talk a while, answer questions, draw some stuff on the blackboard. The students in the class were all experienced. There would be no need for long explanations or simple kid talk. But in retrospect, teaching beginners would have been a helluva lot easier. The way the divers had studied him had put him off. It was as if they were looking for cracks in his armor. Waiting for him to collapse onto the floor. And then, not an hour before the class finally ended, he’d given them what they’d been waiting for. He stumbled into a desk and all fourteen experienced, young and physically fit divers had leaped to their feet as if to catch him before he fell.

      Ironic, that he’d been scheduled to teach this class long before his accident, but it was his experience with being rescued that had been the source of multiple questions from the divers, who all feared the same fate. He told them what he could, but mostly he was relating facts that he’d been told by Trig, who’d made the actual rescue. He personally had little recollection of anything at all after the cable had tightened around him and dragged him into the wreckage.