Chapter One #2
But Farley had stopped again and was staring toward the back of the building.
Connor wanted to leave, but his conscience wouldn’t let him. What if some animal was trapped back there? Or worse, what if a rat had gotten in? The last thing they needed was a rodent chewing on explosives. He sighed. “All right, Farley,” he said. “Show me what’s got you so agitated.”
Connor had to squeeze through a narrow passage between boxes to follow the dog, who led him to a void between the last row of boxes and the wall.
Odd that whoever had loaded this section hadn’t pushed the boxes flush against the wall but no big deal.
Connor shone the beam of his flashlight over the space. At first, he didn’t see anything.
Then Farley pawed at the wall. Except it wasn’t wall. The dog’s claws ripped right through the surface.
Connor bent and pulled at the torn material. It was paper. Paper painted the same color as the stucco outside the building. Heart hammering, he swept the light over the wall more slowly, revealing a cutout two feet wide and three feet high. Wide enough for a man to crawl through.
Wide enough for explosives to be taken out. The explosives that had probably been sitting in this empty space.
He fumbled for the radio clipped to his ski patrol vest, then thought better of broadcasting the news to anyone who might be tuned in, and pulled out his phone.
He had to move out of the building to acquire a signal.
He found the number he wanted and waited while it rang.
And rang. After five rings, the call went to voicemail.
Connor hung up and immediately hit Redial.
This time someone answered on the third ring. “What’s going on?” Doug Elam, SkyCrest Resort’s director of operations, sounded awake and alert.
“We’ve got a problem,” Connor said. “A big one.”
Sheriff Van Howard’s thick moustache was touched with frost as he stood in the gray dawn behind the munitions magazine.
Snowflakes dusted the shoulders of his shearling jacket and that of the blue parka Doug Elam wore.
Both men scowled at Connor, who scowled right back.
Whatever had led to this breach of security, they weren’t going to pin this on him.
“When was the last time you checked the magazine?” Howard asked.
“Two days ago. And everything was fine then.”
“You said the dog pointed this out to you?” Doug asked.
“Yes, sir. Farley knew immediately something wasn’t right.
” Connor looked down at the dog, who looked up at him with the face of a kid’s teddy bear.
“He was with me two days ago and acted fine, so I know this happened since then. Plus, you can see here where someone cleared away the snow from this area so they could cut into the wall.” He indicated the thin snow cover on the ground around the hole.
“What exactly did they take?” Howard asked.
“I’ll have to do a complete count to be certain, but from the gap they left, I’d say at least four boxes of cast boosters, twenty-four to a box. Probably some detonators, too.”
The sheriff sucked his teeth. “What kind of damage could all that do?” he asked.
“You could bring down a whole mountain with that much explosive, set in the right places,” Connor said.
Doug groaned. “Tell me this was just kids,” he said. “Maybe they thought they were stealing fireworks.”
“You and I both know that’s not the case,” Howard said.
Doug looked pained. “Then who? Who does something like this?”
“Somebody who wants to take down a mountain,” Howard said. He glanced at Connor. “You know any of this bunch that’s been protesting the resort expansion?”
Connor tensed, a dull ache pounding in his skull. “I don’t know any of them. I’ve seen the signs around town and read stuff in the papers.”
SkyCrest was petitioning the National Forest Service to be able to expand lift-served operations onto six hundred additional acres on Blaine Mountain, adjacent to the resort’s current licensed operation.
“Only a very small group of people oppose the expansion,” Doug said. “Most people see what a good thing it will be for the area—more jobs, more terrain to relieve crowding, more cash for the town coffers.”
“Sure, but it’s also taking away a whole section of backcountry terrain people now recreate on for free,” Connor said. He probably should have kept his mouth shut, but he didn’t like the idea of anyone thinking he let the resort make his opinions for him.
“You sound like you’re on their side,” the sheriff said.
“I can see things both ways.” Connor glanced at the hole in the building. “But I don’t condone anything like this. This is wrong. And dangerous.”
“Have you had any other problems at the resort?” Howard asked Doug.
Doug’s shoulders lifted and lowered. “Just minor stuff. Signs tacked up around the place. A bunch of lift chairs chained together one morning. Nothing like this.” He stared at the hole in the magazine building, lower lip thrust out.
“Okay. Well, since explosives are missing and this happened on federal land, we’ll have to call in the feds.”
Doug’s complexion went a shade paler. “ATF?”
“I don’t know,” Howard said. “I’ll report the theft, and they can decide who to send.”
“Just what we need,” Connor said.
“What’s your problem?” Doug asked.
Connor shook his head. “Don’t mind me. I just had enough of government bureaucracy in the army.” He checked his watch. “Right now we need to get this building sealed up, and I’ve got a bunch of terrain to mitigate before the lifts run.”
“I’ll get a security guard over here to watch the place until law enforcement is done,” Doug said. “Then maintenance can do something about the hole.”
“You’ll need to leave everything as is until the feds can get a look at it,” the sheriff said.
“When will that be?” Doug asked.
“Don’t know,” Howard said. “But this area is off-limits until then.”
“When am I going to get the additional patrollers I’ve been asking for?” Connor asked. “We’re down one patroller and one dog. It would help a lot if I didn’t have to pull double duty handling munitions and directing patrol.”
“Once we get approval from the government for the new expansion, the hiring freeze will be lifted,” Doug said. “Until then, you’ll have to make do. You’re doing a great job so far.”
Making do wasn’t a good policy when it came to protecting people’s lives, but Connor had made that argument more than once already and been met with the same corporate line. He whistled for Farley and left with the sled in tow.
Patroller Anders Iverson met Connor in front of ski patrol headquarters. The tall Nordic blond was red-faced in the cold. “I was just coming to look for you,” he said. “Everyone’s waiting.”
“I got held up a little,” Connor said. “Tell everyone to come out here, and we’ll get started.”
The team gathered around him. They were a mixed lot of young men and woman.
Five of them, like Connor, had avalanche rescue dogs, but the dogs had remained inside in their kennels.
The last thing they needed during avalanche mitigation work was a dog getting spooked and running in the wrong direction.
They organized into two-person teams. Connor liked for the same two people to work together as much as possible.
The more they knew each other’s habits and tendencies, the less room for error, in his opinion.
“Before we get started, I have to tell you someone broke into the magazine last night,” he said. “Cut a hole in the back wall and stole some boxes of cast boosters.”
Someone in the back swore loudly. The others looked stunned.
“Keep your eyes open out there,” Connor said. “Report anyone acting strangely. And keep your ears open, too, in case anyone brags about it.”
“Who would do something like this?” asked Lily Alton, the newest member of patrol. The brown-haired twenty-eight-year-old had transferred to SkyCrest from a closed sister resort and immediately clicked with the team. Connor had put her with him on avalanche mitigation.
“The sheriff thinks it might be someone from the group that’s been protesting the resort expansion,” Connor said. “But I don’t know.” He uncovered the sled with that day’s supply of cast boosters. “For now, we need to get to work. We’re already behind schedule.”
“Someone could do a lot of damage with that much explosive,” Anders said. “What’s law enforcement doing about it?”
“The sheriff is contacting the feds,” Connor said. “I imagine they’ll send someone to look into it.”
Anders moved in closer and kept his voice low. “They’ll want to question you,” he said.
“Sure. I’ll have to tell them what I found.”
Anders shook his head. “No offense, but you might want to talk to a lawyer.”
“Why?”
“Who do you think is going to be their number one suspect? The man who had access to the munitions magazine.”
“Someone cut a hole in the back of the building. They didn’t have to have a key. Not to mention, I’m the one who reported the theft.”
“Yeah, but you know the resort is going to hush this up quickly. Don’t let them pin this on you.”
Anders and the others left.
Shaken, Connor stared after them. This definitely wasn’t the way he had thought to start the new year.