“Welcome back, champ!”
“So glad you’re okay!”
Then the man Darius had seen at the roundabout—the big man with the bushy beard—rose from a meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a tall glass of milk.
“Sasha Dillon.” He was as tall as Darius and still dressed in buckskin. He looked down at Sasha, his expression largely hidden behind his beard. “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved.”
Sasha took one of his big, callused hands in hers. “It’s good to see you, too, Bear. Thank you for your prayers. This is Darius Silva. He’s a detective.”
Darius wasn’t sure Bear understood what that meant, but it didn’t matter. “Nice to meet you, Bear.”
Bear ducked his head as if shy. “Darius Silva.”
They continued toward the table where Darius had eaten lunch before, but this time it was crowded. He recognized a few of the folks. When the people at the table saw Sasha, they got to their feet to welcome her, big smiles on their faces.
Sasha smiled back. “Everyone, this is Darius Silva.”
Creed Herrera and Eric Hawke greeted Darius with a handshake.
“Good to see you again, man.” Hawke motioned to the pretty dark-haired woman who sat beside him. “This is my wife Vicki and our kids, Caden and Mollie.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Austin Taylor. We talked on the phone.” Taylor stood, shook Darius’ hand. “Good to meet you in person. This is my wife, Lexi, and our kids, Emily and Kit.”
Sasha introduced the others. Harrison Conrad and Kenzie with their boy, Bruce. Jesse with his wife Ellie and twins Daniel and Daisy, and little Dylan.
“Ellie’s a nurse,” Sasha told him. “She helped take care of me.”
“I met her at the hospital.”
“Oh.” Sasha seemed not to remember. “On the other end of the table are Chaska and Naomi and Chaska’s sister, Winona, with her husband Jason and their baby boy, Chayton. I think you’ve already met everyone else.”
Darius tried to make eye contact with everyone, did his best to memorize names with faces. “Good to meet you all.”
He took a seat at the end of the table, leaving room for Sasha, Megs, and Mitch to sit close to their friends.
Megs sat beside him, handed him a menu, then looked down the length of the table. “Darius just topped out on that new five-eleven route at the gym.”
“Way to go!”
“He’s new to Scarlet, and he’s already crushing five-eleven?”
“A detective who climbs. I like this guy.”
Darius wasn’tnewto Scarlet. He was just visiting. And he couldn’t take credit forcrushingthe route. “I had a lot of very expert coaching, and it took me a few tries to make it without falling.”
Rain and a server who said her name was Cheyenne arrived with drinks, then took their orders. By the time they’d gone, the conversation had moved on, leaving him free to talk with Sasha.
“You did a great job today.” There was a soft smile on her lips.
“If that’s true at all, it’s only because I had so much help.” It struck him as crazy that he’d had two of the most famous women climbers in history—both world champions—coaching him.
“You move well. You could easily master that level of difficulty on your own.”
He wasn’t so sure. “I’ve watched a few of your climbing videos. I’ve seen how you move up the rock. You seem immune to gravity. You make it look effortless.”
“Thanks, but I’ve had years of practice. I lived at the rock gym as a teen. I didn’t want to do anything else. When my friends got into boys, I just wanted to climb.”
