Chapter Four #2
“There were a lot of people there. Twenty or more. I saw the trio who approached you at the bar New Year’s night.
They were what I’d call the hard-core protestors—a half dozen people who are really angry about the resort’s plan to close Blaine Mountain to free public access.
The rest of the people I met are concerned, but they have other things claiming their attention, too—jobs, families.
There were even some people there with their kids. ”
“Anybody look like they wanted to blow things up?”
“One of the hard-core types said they needed to take action to get the resort to pay attention. He didn’t specify anything in particular, and the others shut him down pretty quick. But I want to take a closer look at him. His name is Nate Lee. Ever heard of him?”
Connor shook his head. “Did you see anyone you recognized? Anybody with an FBI file or whatever you call it?”
“No one. But one of the speakers alluded to people who couldn’t make it that night.”
“What was the result of the meeting?” he asked.
“There’s another big protest planned for Martin Luther King weekend,” she said. “The leaders emphasized it’s going to be peaceful, but I heard mumbling before I left that some of the people were lobbying to ‘make a statement,’ though they didn’t specify what that might mean.”
They reached the top of the lift and skied away from the chair. Connor stopped beside a resort map. “What are you going to do next?” he asked.
“There’s another meeting Friday night,” she said. “Supposedly to talk more about activities for MLK weekend.”
“You’re going?”
“Yes. I want you to come with me.”
He shook his head. “I already told you—”
She grabbed his arm. “They’re not going to trust me.
They know I’m an outsider. But they know you.
You’re head of ski patrol. The redhead with the cute dog.
If you decided to be on their side, it would be a big deal.
They’d bend over backward to include you in their plans because you would give them inside access they don’t have. ”
“I wouldn’t give them anything,” he said.
“Not really. But you could make them think you would help them. That could be enough for me to find out who’s really behind all of this. To find the terrorists I’m after and to stop them before they do more damage.”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t want any part of this.” Without waiting for her reply, he took off, putting distance between her and her plans.
Stacy let Connor ski ahead of her, though she kept him in her sights.
He wasn’t going to listen to anything she had to say, but she would find a way to bring up the subject again.
All she needed was the right opportunity, and she was confident she could persuade him.
Watching him these past two days, she had learned a lot.
He was stubborn, sure. But he had a strong sense of justice.
He hadn’t hesitated to put the drunk who was hassling the waitress in his place.
Connor’s convictions were going to be the key to getting him to help her.
“Are you up for some tougher terrain?” he asked as they exited the lift.
“Depends on how tough,” she said. “Are you trying to ditch me?”
“I want to check out some of the steeper terrain. If someone decided to use those stolen explosives to set off an inbounds avalanche, that would be the place to do it.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted. “I assumed they would blow up a building or a road. That’s the kind of thing that gets lots of attention and could put a lot of people in danger.”
“An avalanche inbounds on a crowded day would put a lot of people in danger and get a lot of attention,” he said.
“Then, let’s check it out.”
She followed him to a rope barricade. He held up the rope, and she skied under it. He stopped at the top of a narrow ridge. “Ski in my tracks across here,” he said. “We mitigated up here yesterday, and there shouldn’t be much danger, but better to be cautious.”
She glanced up at the steep slope to their right and the snowcapped peaks above, and a shiver went through her. “You’re sure it’s safe?” she asked.
“Just ski in my tracks and don’t stop until we get to the other side.” Without waiting for an answer, he took off.
She took a deep breath, gripped her poles more tightly and skied after him.
It probably didn’t take five minutes to cross the slope, but when they reached the other side her body ached from holding herself so tense.
“I didn’t see any fresh tracks headed up above us,” Connor said. “Climbing is the only way up there unless you drop in by helicopter, but not just anybody can fly here. We drop charges from our own chopper when we need to mitigate that area.”
“You mean you just drop bombs from the helicopter?”
“The idea is to hurl them as far as you can, but yeah. You saw the cast boosters. They’re not that big. We’ve learned over time where to aim them for the best effect.”
“So anyone who had worked with you before would know how to deploy the explosives to set off an avalanche?”
“Anyone who worked for us or any other resort.”
“Any names come to mind?” she asked. “Former employees, particularly disgruntled ones.”
“The only former employee I know about is the guy who had my job before this, and he left to work for C-RAD—Colorado Rapid Avalanche Deployment. He’s not disgruntled, and his partner is one of the other patrollers. He’s about the last person I’d see doing anything like this.”
“Think about it, and let me know if you think of any possible suspects.”
“Come on. Let’s check out a few other locations.”
They spent the next three hours on a tour of every avalanche-prone area of the resort, from windblown cornices to steep couloirs.
Most of the terrain was out of bounds, the paths of the snow released in an avalanche spilling onto inbounds runs.
By the time they slipped back under the ropes and onto a wide, groomed run, Stacy’s muscles ached from exertion, and she had a new respect for the work Connor and his team did.
“Is anyone ever hurt on the job?” she asked. “It seems like one mistake, and you could blow off your hand. Or worse.”
He shook his head. “It could happen, but I’ve never known it to.
Everyone trains to safely handle what is basically dynamite, and we all have a healthy respect for what it can do.
” He tilted his head, thinking. “The first year I was working here, a couple skied up to the patrol shack where I was stationed and said there were a handful of orange canisters on the edge of a run. They were all marked Danger: Explosives. Me and the guy I was with raced over there, and sure enough there were half a dozen cast boosters scattered under the trees. Later, we figured out they had fallen out of a pack on the back of a snowmobile. We recovered them all and nobody was hurt, but I’ve been paranoid about securing the things ever since. ”
She looked out across the run to the view of snowy mountains beyond. “I’m a little disappointed we didn’t see anything suspicious this afternoon,” she said. “It would have been nice to catch the thieves before they hurt anyone.”
“Maybe you’ll learn something from the meeting Friday.”
“Have you changed your mind about going with me?”
He shook his head. “Not a chance.” He planted his ski poles. “Feel like one more run before we get some lunch? An easy one, I promise.”
“Sure.”
He led her into the trees, cutting through thick powder that felt like floating. She followed him through the white trunks of aspen, terrain like a Japanese woodcut. They had the run to themselves, the thick snow muffling the sound of their passing, enveloping them in a silence that felt magical.
By the time they emerged onto a wide, groomed run, something had shifted between them. He hadn’t let down his guard completely, but she thought he was beginning to trust her more, or at least to resent her less.
Two preteen girls flagged them down. Connor skied to a stop beside them. “Do you need some help?” he asked.
“Oh no.” One of the girls grinned, flashing braces with purple bands. “We were just wondering if you had any trading cards?”
“We’re collecting them,” said her companion, in a green helmet spangled with glitter.
“Sure.” Connor unzipped his jacket and took out what almost looked like playing cards. He handed one to each girl and one to Stacy. She looked at the picture of Farley, standing against the backdrop of the mountains, flashing the tip of his pink tongue in a canine grin.
“Farley!” The green-helmeted girl squealed as she read the card. “He’s so cute!”
“Thanks,” the girl with braces said. “We don’t have this one yet. We’re trying to collect them all.” She tucked the card into her jacket, and the two girls skied away.
“Farley has fans,” Stacy said as she admired her own card.
“All the dogs have them. It’s a way of creating awareness about the avalanche dog program. And kids like them.”
“I like them.” She tucked her card away. “Why isn’t Farley with you now?”
“Running around on snow all day wears a dog out. We don’t want them exhausted if they’re needed for a rescue.” He checked his watch. “But it’s about time for him to get some exercise.”
They skied down to the base area, and Connor unlocked the door to the ski patrol office. He released Farley from his kennel. The dog raced around, making tight turns in the small space, then flopped onto his back at Stacy’s feet. Laughing, she rubbed his belly.
Belly rub over, the dog sat upright, and Connor handed him a biscuit. “I need to take him out for a bit,” he said. “If you want to get something to eat, I brought a sandwich from home.”
“All right. I’ll meet you back here.”
When she returned twenty minutes later, Farley was sprawled in a worn upholstered chair, and Connor was at his desk, unwrapping a sandwich. Stacy sat across from him and removed the top from her cup of chicken corn chowder. “That smells good,” he said.
“I could have gotten you some,” she said.
“No, thanks. I’d go broke eating here every day.”
“So would I,” she said. “Fortunately, the government is paying for this.”
He grinned. “My tax dollars at work.”
Farley moved from the chair to sit by her side.
“No begging,” Connor said, his voice stern.
“He’s completely innocent,” Stacy said. “Can’t you tell by his face?”
The dog looked at her with liquid eyes. Eyes not unlike his owner’s, she thought.
The door burst open, and a young man raced in. He pushed his goggles on top of his orange knit hat and stared at them, eyes wide. “There’s a guy in the trees, upside down in a tree well. I tried to pull him out, but I couldn’t. I’m afraid he might be dead.”