Avalanche (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 3) Read online

  “Wait,” Ben yelled.

  Talking to him was not an option. She needed to move. To get far away from him. Her breath snagged in her throat, and she gagged. She ran toward the mountain operations shack, heading for a snowmobile. The wind drowned the sound of Ben’s voice.

  Just outside the shack, a snowmobile sat unattended with the key in the ignition. Through blinding snow, Ben’s silhouette ran toward her. She didn’t care.

  One turn of the key, and the engine ignited. She twisted the throttle, jerked forward and aimed toward the Dragon’s Bowl. At the high speed, snow stung her eyes. The sharp pain felt good. A distraction from agony.

  She reached the edge of the cat track that wound to the summit and turned north. Roy was waiting for her, and she was going to find him. She couldn’t leave him buried.

  Without a helmet and gloves, her skin froze.

  The trail ahead turned sharply to the left, and she hit the curve too fast. The rear of the snowmobile slid sideways and hit a tree. The machine reverberated but kept moving.

  She throttled up, leaned forward over the windscreen and squished her knees against the cold leather seat. Bouncing and sliding to a higher altitude, closer to Roy with every second, she ignored the danger.

  The snowmobile flew over a mound of snow, landed hard and her chin hit the top of the windshield. Blood splattered on the screen. She wiped her chin and kept going.

  How could Ben leave Roy buried on the frozen terrain? Didn’t he care about her?

  Frantic to get to Roy, she increased speed. Her safety meant nothing if she could reach him.

  Almost blinded by the wind and snow, she lost track of the path. Both lengths of the snowmobile’s skis detached from the ground, and she was airborne. The snowmobile landed with a thud in deep snow. Kalin launched over the windshield and slammed onto her back.

  Like an overturned turtle, she couldn’t get up. Everywhere she pushed, she sank deeper. She thrust her head from side to side, gulping air. She was going to be buried just like Roy. The snow would cover her, too. She screamed.

  A ghost appeared over her. Death had arrived to claim her.

  “Grab my hand.”

  “Get away from me!”

  “Kalin, it’s Ben. Let me help you.”

  With frozen fingers, she wiped the snow off her eyes. The madness settled, and she reached for Ben.

  He pulled her forward, and she leaned into his chest. She closed her eyes and sobbed. “This can’t be true.”

  Ben put his gloved hand under her chin and lifted her face. She winced and shoved his hand away.

  “I need to check your face.”

  “Don’t touch me,” she said but pulled him tighter.

  “Please, just let me see how badly you’re hurt.”

  Kalin shook her head. “I need to find Roy.”

  Ben tightened his hold on her and put his lips to her ear. “I’m sorry. You can’t imagine how sorry.”

  “Then why did you call off the search?”

  “When you have time to think, you’ll understand. It’s too dangerous for the others. And we can’t help Roy now.”

  “Yes, you can.”

  “You know he’s gone. If I thought there was even a small chance he was alive, I wouldn’t quit.”

  Within seconds of snow gathering on their clothes, the wind whipped the flakes away. Ben released Kalin and held both of her hands. She let him lead her to his snowmobile.

  “I’ll come back for yours later.”

  Kalin mounted the sled behind him, put her arms around his waist, tucked her hands into his pockets and rested her head on his back.

  * * *

  Four gurneys filled half of the ski patrol clinic, each separated from the other by a beige curtain. The other half of the floor contained Ben’s office and a sanitary cleaning station. A cupboard of medical supplies covered one wall, and windows facing the ski hill provided the view. A slight odor of disinfectant lingered.

  Cotton pads covered with Kalin’s blood littered one gurney. She’d let Ben clean the wound and had agreed to have one of the patrollers drive her to the hospital. By the amount of blood, Ben figured she needed stitches.

  He unlocked the door, the door to the first office of his career. The hub of ski patrol functioned from there. And he’d been useless. His beautiful wife almost killed herself because he bumbled the way he told her the news. He was such a jerk.

  The outer door opened, and he listened to approaching footsteps.

  Oliver appeared. “Let’s go into your office.”

  Ben stepped backward, closed the door behind his boss and sagged into his chair.

  Oliver remained standing, played with his ear without a lobe and stared out the window. “What happened?”

  Ben related the story, including the crashed snowmobile.

  “Do you want to go to town?” Oliver asked.

  “Kalin wanted me to stay here in case the weather changes and we can restart the search.”

  “Not likely. I can’t believe the weather.”

  “Then you think I made the right call?” Ben only second-guessed his decision to call off the search because Kalin reacted so badly.

  “I think the weather’s getting worse. There was no other choice.”

  Ben tapped his monitor and the computer came alive. The current weather report appeared on the screen. “I know. I guess.”

  “We’ve known each other a long time.”

  “Is something wrong?” Ben asked.

  “I’m going to tell you something I’ve said I wouldn’t.”

  The message must be bad, or Oliver wouldn’t be hesitating. “Okay.”

  “I need to ask you not to tell Kalin.”

  “That’s hard to promise when I don’t know what you’re going to say.”

  “I know, but…Well, Kalin can be headstrong, and I don’t want her telling Turner about this. I’m making a choice I shouldn’t.”

  Ben examined his fingernails. If he promised Oliver he wouldn’t say anything, then he’d stick to his word. They’d been through many difficult situations over the last eight years together, and clearly Oliver trusted him. He didn’t want to have a secret from Kalin, especially now with their strained relationship, but Oliver thought he needed to know whatever this was. “Will I be disloyal to Kalin if I don’t tell her?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I’ll keep it to myself then.”

  “Turner came to see me. He thinks Roy is the finance center thief.”

  “Crap.”

  “He thinks Kalin might be involved, too.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “I think he was.”

  “Kalin would never risk her job here.” The instant he said the words, White Peaks came to mind. In Turner’s eyes, Kalin thinking of leaving her job would make her look guilty.

  “That’s why I thought you should know.”

  “Why would Turner tell you? I don’t get it.”

  “Because you’re married to her, and he wants me to keep an eye on you.”

  “He thinks I’m involved?”

  “He didn’t say that, but he doesn’t want you searching the mountain alone.”

  “This sucks.”

  “He wants me to report anything you tell me about Kalin or Roy that might be related to the theft. Even though Kalin is the head of security, he doesn’t want her investigating.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Try to persuade her not to investigate.” Ben turned back to the image on the screen. The reports showed the wind getting stronger overnight.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  In answer to the bell, Jessica shoved open her front door with her hip, pushing against the wind that threatened to shove her back into her suite. Snow whipped across her driveway, blocking out her view of the road.

  All she’d wanted was a bit of sleep, but she couldn’t even have that.

  “I saw something on the
night of the theft,” Aiden Price said.

  Aiden huddled on Jessica’s front porch with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, and cold air blasted past him into her hall. Somehow he appeared insignificant wearing personal clothes. His lift manager uniform gave him credibility, and Jessica suspected that was part of the reason he often wore the getup, even when he wasn’t on duty.

  “Turner called off the search, and the money’s still out there,” he said.

  “You mean Ben called it off. How could he do that to his brother-in-law?” Jessica leaned on her open front door with a quilt hanging over her shoulders and squinted against the raw weather. Her frustration at Turner for cornering her outside the washroom had grown from anger to fury. Finally, exhaustion had wrapped around her like a sleeping bag with a stuck zipper, and she hadn’t been able to summon the energy to go to bed. Instead, she’d camped out on her lumpy couch and fallen asleep. “I’m tired. Do we really need to do this now?”

  “Don’t you want to know what I saw the morning the money was stolen?”

  “Fine. Come in.” Jessica stepped out of the way. Her skis and poles hung on the wall rack to the right. Her helmet, goggles and gloves covered the entrance side table. Gear she would never use with Roy again.

  Aiden knocked snow off his gloves and stamped his feet before stepping across the threshold. He pulled the door closed, shutting out the howling wind.

  Jessica’s cell chimed, and she answered on the first ring. “Hey.”

  “Nice meeting you had with Turner today,” Simon said.

  Without moving the cell away from her ear, Jessica clicked the volume button on the side of her phone to low. “What do you mean?”

  “I was in the can. I heard every word.”

  Aiden raised his eyebrows and gestured with his hands for Jessica to hurry up.

  “I can’t talk right now,” she said.

  “Do you know if I’ll be asked to do a polygraph?”

  “No, and I don’t care.”

  “If Turner fires you, can I have your job?”

  As if Simon could jump from night auditor to finance center manager. “I can’t believe you called me for that. I gotta go.” Jessica tapped the end call icon and tucked the phone in her back pocket. “What’s so important it can’t wait?”

  “The day of the avalanche, I saw Roy near the admin building around five in the morning, carrying a duffle bag and his backpack.”

  Jessica rolled her eyes. “Really.” She leaned casually against the wall, blocking him from going further into her ground-floor suite. “What were you doing there?”

  “I was on my way home from a party, but that’s not the point. I’ve been thinking a lot about Roy. I think he stole the money.”

  “You and the cops. How could he? He had no access to the finance center or the safe.”

  “He could with your help.”

  Jessica clenched her fists at her sides. Didn’t she have one friend left? One person who cared about what she was going through? Instead of being a friend, Aiden was hassling her about the money. “That’s bullshit.”

  “I’m just sayin’ ski patrol found part of his backpack, but no one’s mentioned the duffle bag yet. So where’s the money?”

  “You think I have it?”

  “Yeah. Remember the night I called you when you were in the finance center after hours?”

  Jessica had been so angry with Roy and Helen after following him to her place. How dare he go to her in the middle of the night? Jessica had snuck into the finance center after hours, looking for ways to find fault with Helen’s work and maybe give her a helping hand at getting fired. She’d used a flashlight instead of turning on the lights, and Aiden had seen the flickering beam from his office in the mountain ops building.

  Aiden brought Jessica back to the present by shaking her shoulder. “Are you going to answer me or just stand there staring off into space? I said, I’ve been thinking about the night you were in the finance center after hours.”

  “What about it?”

  “I think you were preparing for the theft.”

  “I think you’re an idiot.”

  “I’m not an idiot. Why were you searching the center with a flashlight?”

  “I told you the light was burnt out, and I needed a file.”

  “Sure it was. If you don’t have the money, then who does?”

  Jessica pressed her hand onto his chest and pushed him backward. An idea was forming, and she needed time to think. “I want you to go.”

  He leaned forward until their noses were almost touching. “If you don’t want me to tell the cops what I know, I want in on the money.”

  Jessica shoved hard, and Aiden stepped backward. “Get out.”

  * * *

  The following morning, four days after the horrid avalanche, Jessica entered Turner’s reception area. His assistant, Gertrude Anderson, barely glanced at her. The fluorescent lights were too bright for the early hour and gave a bluish tint to Gertrude’s skin.

  “You can sit there.” Gertrude nodded at the chair nearest Turner’s office door.

  Jessica waited, watching Gertrude hunch over her keyboard, resisting the urge to wave away the scent of her noxious perfume. How could this woman represent the president’s office with her fifties hairstyle, her frumpy clothes, and the constant frown she’d perfected? She didn’t exactly have the youthful, energetic image the marketing department tried to promote for the resort. If Jessica were the president, she’d hire a different assistant.

  Making her wait after asking her to come in at seven in the morning was a nasty move. Twenty minutes passed, and Jessica broke the silence. “Any idea what he wants to see me about?”

  While her fingers moved furiously across the keyboard, Gertrude shook her head.

  Jessica waited another ten minutes, tapping her fingernails on the armrest and watching the clock round the bottom of the circle past seven thirty. Turner had never kept her waiting for so long before. He prided himself on being efficient and not wasting time, his or anyone else’s. When he finally opened the door, her bottom remained epoxied to the chair.

  “Come in.” Turner walked to the table in the center of his office, placed a white, eight-and-a-half-by-eleven envelope on the surface and waited for her to follow.

  She released her grip from the armrest and dragged her feet into his office.

  “I’m disappointed in you.”

  Disappointment she could take.

  “I understand how upsetting it is to lose a good friend and how that might cloud your judgment.”

  Jessica relaxed her shoulders, and the tension in her back subsided.

  “Because you’re the finance center manager, I’m holding you responsible for the theft.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but Turner held up his hand.

  “I’m not saying you stole the money. I’m saying you didn’t have the right processes in place to prevent a theft. You left the combination to the safe the same for a month. You lost your key and didn’t have the lock changed. You can’t ignore company policy and expect no repercussions.”

  “I’ve updated the training manual, and I’m going to put the clerks through a new course on the process.” As long as Turner didn’t check the truth in her statement, and if she still had a job at the end of the meeting, she could churn out a new manual in an evening.

  “That’s great, and I’m sure we’ll be able to use it. However, I need to think about what’s best for the company, and right now I don’t think that’s you.”

  “I’m not what’s best for the company?” Jessica dug her fingernails into her palm. “Are you firing me?”

  “Don’t be obtuse. That is exactly what I’m doing.”

  Jessica tried holding his gaze, but his eyes sliced through her like the edge of a ski through soft snow. “You have no grounds to fire me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “You have. I checked with our employment lawyer, and because you lost your key, didn’t have the lock cha
nged and didn’t report the incident, I do have grounds. Gertrude is cleaning out your office now.”

  Jessica’s pulse quickened, and a headache pounded at her temples. “She knew before I came in here you were going to fire me. That bitch just sat and typed. She never said a word.”

  “Careful with your language. Her job is to do as I ask.”

  Jessica crossed her arms and dug her heels into the carpet. “I won’t go.”

  “You have no choice. We no longer have a constructive working relationship.”

  “What if I take the polygraph?”

  “It’s too late for that. You can take it if you like, but it won’t change anything.”

  “Has Kalin approved this?”

  “This is not about her.” Turner handed Jessica the envelope. “Your termination papers are in here. You’re being let go with cause.”

  Jessica eyed him for a moment. She thought about the idea Aiden had planted in her head. Time to get busy. With rent due February 1st, she needed money. She’d lose her free ski pass and have to buy another. Her overdue car loan hovered in the periphery, waiting for payment. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

  She snatched the envelope and stormed out.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Shortly before eight a.m., Kalin leaned her snowshoes against the wall outside her office. She slid her key into the lock and felt a hand press on the small of her back. She stumbled through the door and twisted violently to face her attacker.

  Chica growled, and the hair along her spine bristled.

  “If that mutt bites me, I’ll have her put down.”

  “Easy, Chica.” Kalin rested her hand on Chica’s head, and the dog settled.

  Jessica’s face flushed, and she wiped an eye with the back of her hand. “How could you let Turner fire me?”

  Kalin waited until her pulse returned to normal. “Can you calm down and have a seat?”

  “I don’t want to sit. I want answers.”

  “I’m happy to talk to you but only if you settle down. Please have a seat.” Kalin waited for Jessica to take the guest chair, then sat opposite her. Sometimes she missed her old boss who didn’t overstep his boundaries. A year-round employee should not have been fired without her approval and her making sure the labor laws were being followed. Turner was out of control. What was he doing firing Jessica? And who was going to fill the manager role now? Maybe the job at White Peaks was what she needed.