Chapter Ten
Scott slept fitfully, reliving the afternoon’s search for Jackson Endicott over and over again.
Then the search for Jackson morphed into the search for Clark—the frantic probing and digging, the desperate effort to cling to hope, the surrender to despair.
And then the waiting and not knowing, trying not to think about the suffering Clark might have endured in his last moments, and everything Scott might have done to save his friend.
He rose early Thursday and tried to banish the nightmares with a shower and hot coffee, but the gray mood clung to him like a second skin as he rode into the silent ski village just as the sun rose.
On his way to the ski patrol office he saw the light was on in Doug’s office.
He detoured there and found the resort director behind his desk, looking like a Ralph Lauren ad, in a Nordic sweater and dark jeans, the scent of some expensive cologne hovering around him.
He looked up when Scott tapped on the door.
“Come in, Scott,” Doug said. “What can you tell me about the avalanche yesterday?”
Scott sank into a chair in front of Doug’s desk. “Hunter found a body. Maybe the kidnapper.”
“Alleged kidnapper,” Doug said. “They still haven’t identified him. And we don’t know for sure he was the person who took Jackson.”
“You sound like a lawyer,” Scott said.
“Only a man who was married to one. Do you want coffee?”
Scott shook his head. “Have you heard anything else from the sheriff? Besides the fact that they don’t have an identity for the dead man?”
“I had to meet them here at six a.m. so they could collect every recording from every camera in the resort,” Doug said. “They’re looking for images of the man.”
“I thought they already looked at the footage,” Scott said.
“Not everything. And when they viewed the video before, they were focused on Jackson and anyone he might have talked to. This time they have a specific face they’re trying to find.”
“Too bad finding him doesn’t help us locate Jackson.”
“The sheriff said it’s pretty certain the kid’s dead,” Doug said.
Scott winced. “We found his backpack. At the edge of the avalanche field. Until we find a body, we won’t know for sure what happened to him.”
“You think there’s a chance he escaped? Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. And he’s probably dead.” He didn’t like saying it, but there was no sense ignoring harsh reality.
“They’re still conducting air searches,” Doug said.
“They are?”
“One flight a day. But until they have a clue where to look, that’s a shot in the dark. An expensive one. If the kid’s last name wasn’t Endicott, I doubt they’d be doing that.”
“Lily and I skied over to Pandora yesterday,” he said. “No one was there. It didn’t look like anyone had been there since the first snow.”
“You and Lily Alton?”
“She was Jackson’s nanny. He’d be more likely to come to her than a stranger.”
“Guess so. Was there something in particular you needed to see me about this morning?”
“No.” Scott shoved to his feet. “I just wanted to know if you’d heard anything about Jackson.”
“I’ll let you know if I do.”
From Doug’s office, he made his way to ski patrol headquarters. Lily was waiting at the door, Shelby at her side. “You’re early,” he said as he unlocked the door.
“Only by a few minutes,” she said. She moved quickly past him into the office, but not before he saw the shadows beneath her eyes.
She was probably as exhausted as he was.
He was tempted to tell her to take a sick day and go home, but he couldn’t play favorites.
She would probably resent the suggestion, anyway.
Over the next quarter of an hour, the rest of the team reported in.
They fed the dogs, gathered their gear and assembled for the morning meeting.
With light snow overnight, they had some routine avalanche mitigation to do, targeting the areas most likely to be unstable.
“We need to plan on a delayed opening for Lifts 11 and 12,” Scott said.
“After all the lifts are running, we need to reposition the pads on the lift towers for Lift 6. And the snow fence is down in part of the mid-mountain terrain park, so Raz, you and Trey take care of that.”
He read off each team member’s duties for the day, then dismissed them. As Lily gathered her gear, Scott found her. “How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.
She stowed a water bottle in her pack and zipped it shut. “I’m fine.”
“How is Shelby?”
“She’s fine, too. We both crashed after we got home yesterday.”
“I’m sorry if I was too hard on you yesterday,” he said.
She finally looked at him, clearly surprised. “You weren’t. You were right. If I’m going to do this work, I need to protect Shelby, even when she won’t protect herself.” She leaned closer, her voice a little softer. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“I was remembering what you told me, about your friend. The one who was killed in an avalanche. You must think of him every time you’re called out to search.”
“Yeah. I do.” He had to force the words out over the sudden constriction in his throat. “But you probably think about your brother.”
“Yes…but I don’t think it’s the same for me. I wasn’t with him when he died. I wasn’t there for the search, either. It was only after I started training with Shelby that I even thought about it much.”
“I don’t think these searches are easy on anyone. Maybe that’s something we need to stress more in training—the emotional toll this can take.”
She shrugged on her pack, then donned her helmet. “We’ll get through it,” she said, and left.
He followed her out the door a few moments later and spotted her standing with Denny Endicott. “Scott!” she called, and waved him over.
He jogged over to them. “Everything okay?” he asked, looking from her to Endicott. The grieving father didn’t look any better than he had the day before, his skin pale, eyes hollow. “Do you know where I can find Doug?” Endicott asked. “He isn’t in his office.”
“I can see if I can raise him on the radio.” Scott unclipped the radio from his pack. “What do you need?”
“I got another message this morning. From the kidnapper. They say they still have Jackson. They say I have to cooperate if I want to see my son again.”
TEN MINUTES LATER, Lily stood with Scott and Denny in Doug Elam’s office. Doug had summoned the sheriff, but he wasn’t waiting to question Endicott. “What do they mean, cooperate?” he asked. “What do they want you to do?”
“I don’t know. Someone called right after I received the note and said there would be more instructions later.
” He looked down at the note that lay on the corner of Doug’s desk.
Like the first, it was written on plain paper, and Denny had placed it into a clear plastic bag.
“I asked to speak to Jackson, to prove he really is alive, but they wouldn’t let me. ”
“If they say they have him, that must mean he’s alive,” Lily said.
“It could be a hoax.”
She winced at Scott’s words. Maybe he was right, but did he have to dash Denny’s hopes so plainly?
“That’s why I asked for proof that Jackson is okay,” Denny said. “I want to believe he’s alive, but after yesterday…” His voice trailed away.
The door opened and Sheriff Howard entered, accompanied by the undersheriff, Tricia Dees. “What’s this about another note?” the sheriff asked.
Denny showed him the note and told him about the phone call that had followed. “If they won’t give me proof Jackson is alive, does that mean he really is dead?” he asked.
“Mr. Endicott, you must know the odds of your son having escaped that avalanche yesterday afternoon were slim to none,” the sheriff said. “I’m sorry, but I won’t lie to you.”
Denny nodded.
“I think this is a desperate attempt by the kidnappers to get what they want, even though they know they’ve lost Jackson,” Howard said.
“Have you been able to identify the man who was killed yesterday?” Denny asked.
“Not yet,” the sheriff said.
“What about the excavation at the avalanche site?” Denny asked. “Has that started?”
The sheriff looked as if his shoes were pinching his feet. “We’ve run into a snag there. The avalanche occurred in a designated wilderness area. The Forest Service doesn’t want heavy equipment in there tearing things up.”
“We’re trying to get a special permit,” Tricia said.
“So far, no one’s budging,” the sheriff added.
“What else are you doing to find my son?” Denny asked.
“We’re reviewing footage of all the video at the resort,” Howard said.
“We’re trying to find the man whose body we recovered.
We hope that will help identify him or find his connection to Jackson.
We’re still interviewing people who were at the resort that day and might have seen Jackson with someone.
We’ve sent the man’s fingerprints and image to the CBI and the FBI for help in identifying him.
We’re analyzing records for any similar crimes.
We’ve put the word out to the public, asking anyone with information to contact us.
We have Jackson’s picture on social and traditional media. ”
“But you’re not physically searching for Jackson,” Denny said. “Why not?”
Lily was thankful she wasn’t facing the hard look Denny gave the sheriff, but the lawman didn’t wilt.
“We’re a small department, assisted by two agents from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
We’re doing everything we can, but we don’t have the manpower to continue a ground search.
We have to focus our resources on where we have the chance of getting the best results. ”
He didn’t say we can’t waste our time looking for a body, but Lily thought that was probably what he meant.
Denny’s expression hardened. “I’m going to use every resource at my disposal to find out what happened to my son,” he said, then left the room.
Doug was the first to break the silence that blanketed them after Endicott’s departure. “I think we all need to get back to work,” he said.