Avalanche (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 3) (11 page)

Ben led them to the backyard and pulled another log from the woodpile, a pile he’d created when the construction workers knocked down trees to clear the lot for their house.

“How are you holding up?” Jessica asked.

After only a couple of minutes of not working, the sweat soaking his back chilled Ben. “I’m okay. Mind if I keep splitting logs? I have to get this done.”

Jessica sat on top of the hot tub lid and let her feet dangle. “What did the police want?”

Aiden placed the beer beside her but remained standing.

Ben released the axe.

Thwack.

The log cracked and flew in two pieces, one landing in the shadows, the other near Aiden’s foot, who took a step closer to Jessica. “They asked if they could search our place.”

“Did they have a warrant?” Jessica asked.

“We’ve got nothing to hide.”

Aiden and Jessica exchanged a quick glance. “Did they say what they were looking for?” Jessica asked.

“They didn’t say much while they were here.” Ben didn’t intend to talk badly about Roy. The cops suspected he stole the money, but Ben wouldn’t contribute to the rumors. For Kalin’s sake, he hoped they were wrong.

“Are you a suspect?” Aiden asked.

Ben rubbed the scar underneath his chin and thought about Aiden’s question. The RCMP hadn’t accused him of anything, and when they’d interviewed him, they’d only asked questions about Roy. “Hardly.”

Chica nudged Jessica’s knee, and Jessica shoved her away. “Did they say anything about Roy?”

“Only what I already told you. Why are you so interested?” Ben asked.

Jessica crossed her spindly legs and hugged herself tighter. “They’ve been hassling me, like I helped Roy steal the money.”

Ben lifted the axe.

Crack.

More wood for the fireplace. “They can’t be sure Roy’s the thief. He’s just a suspect because he disappeared.”

“Did Roy leave anything here?” Jessica asked.

“No.” Ben scratched Chica’s ear, and she rewarded him with a tail wag. “Why?”

“He had photos of us that I’d like,” she said. “I thought maybe he’d left his camera here.”

“Sorry. Can’t help. The cops took that with them.” Ben contemplated the untouched six-pack resting on the hot tub. If he was going to drink, it would be with friends. “Thanks for the beer, but I’m exhausted, and I still need to walk Chica.”

He let the axe hang loose beside his leg and waited for Aiden and Jessica to go. He hadn’t mentioned Roy’s suitcase stored in the garage. It didn’t matter. The RCMP had searched the contents and hadn’t found anything interesting enough to take with them. Besides, he didn’t feel like helping Aiden and Jessica.

“I’ve been phoning you all morning,” Kalin’s mom said. “Where have you been?”

“Meeting with my boss.” How could Kalin tell her mom about the search underway for Roy’s body? Seven days of snow piling on top of him dampened Ben’s optimism. She’d met Ben in the mountain ops building before he left for the Dragon’s Bowl and stayed while search and rescue reviewed the plan.

Best to wait until the search ended before telling her mom. She didn’t want to think of her mom curled on her couch, waiting for news of Roy and the search. She’d had enough heartache.

“We need to talk,” her mom said.

Kalin exited the mountain ops building and tromped down the steps to the snow covered path. The warble in her mom’s voice told her something bad happened. “What’s wrong?”

“Constable Miller called. He asked questions about Roy.”

Kalin rubbed the back of her neck as if that would fend off the impending ache in her shoulder muscles. She should have figured Miller would call her mom. “What kind of questions?”

“He wanted to know if Roy had money troubles. And whether I knew if Roy had more than one bank account. What’s going on?”

As she headed toward the Alpine Tracks lift station, the cold stung Kalin’s bare forehead, but she ignored the pain and kept walking. “Did he say anything else?”

“I asked about the investigation into the avalanche, and he said he didn’t have any new information. Why would he want to know about Roy’s money situation?”

Kalin stood to the side of the lift maze. Skiers and snowboarders queued in front of the chairs, ready to head up the slopes. She hadn’t skied since Roy disappeared, fear prevented her, but as a director she needed to be visible on the hill. “I wasn’t going to mention anything, but there was a theft here the night before Roy died.”

“You didn’t think that was worth mentioning?”

“I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Why are the police asking about Roy?”

Kalin glanced around the area before answering. Frost tendrils spread across the metal rods that held each chair to the cable. White lights hung around the lift operator’s shack, and the festive image brought thoughts of Christmas and family holidays. The image didn’t match the anxiety inside her. “I guess it looks suspicious the money was stolen the night before Roy went missing.”

“They think Roy’s the thief? You can’t be serious. He wouldn’t steal anything.”

“I know, but I can understand the cops have to look at all possibilities.” Kalin described the theft to her mom, making the event sound unimportant.

“Miller asked about Jack, too.”

“What?”

“He wanted to know how Jack’s accident affected Roy. Then he asked what I thought about Roy being interviewed more than once about the hit-and-run.”

“Why would he ask that?” Kalin whispered. She hadn’t meant to, but her voice betrayed her. Roy interviewed more than once. About Jack’s accident. What did that mean?

“I don’t know what he was getting at.”

“Don’t worry. Miller likes to be thorough when he’s investigating. He’s just poking around.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”
Not.
Jack’s case was unsolved, but why dredge it up again? Why not let him rest in peace?

“There’s something else I want to ask you. But don’t get mad,” her mom said.

Kalin gripped her phone tighter.

“What’s Ben doing about finding Roy?”

“Mom, you know he can’t do any more than he already has. The failed search is killing him.” Her words were true, but Kalin still treated Ben as if she was mad at him. He needed to know she loved him and he’d made the right decision. The frightening experience with the mini avalanche helped, but she couldn’t bring herself to let him close yet. The hurt pressured her insides and filled her. There wasn’t room for Ben right now.

“You should use your position to prove Roy is innocent.”

“I can’t believe you said that. What happened to ‘don’t become obsessed with this like I was with Jack’?”

Before Jack died, Kalin spent Sunday mornings with him. He’d pull her into his arms, knowing they didn’t have to get out of bed. She’d never again slept in on a Sunday. If she wasn’t working, she rolled out of bed and asked Ben to go snowshoeing, hiking or skiing, whatever the season demanded. Drastic loss required drastic change.

“That was different. Jack’s death was unsolved, but at least we got to bury him. Roy’s reputation is at stake. Jack’s wasn’t.”

Her mom was right. Time to refresh her memory. Kalin finished the call and headed for the HR file room. She pulled the files for Eric Wilson, Jessica Scott, Simon Crane and Helen Armstrong. All of the finance center staff.

* * *

Just as Kalin opened Helen’s HR file and placed the folder flat on top of a metal file cabinet, the hairs on the back of her neck tingled.

“We’ve got a problem,” Helen said.

How long had Helen been standing in the doorway?

“What’s up?” Kalin closed Helen’s file, piled it on top of the other files she’d pulled and gave Helen her attention. If Helen had tried to set up Roy, Kalin would make sure she failed. Maybe Kalin had it wrong. What if Helen set up Jessica? Then the manager’s job opened up for her.

Kalin believed Jessica was one of the top suspects, except it didn’t make sense Jessica would draw attention to herself by losing her key and not reporting it if she was going to rob the finance center. Unless she wanted Turner to think someone stole her key. Then she’d been fired. The whole situation confused her. Whom could she trust?

Helen interlocked her fingers and rested her hands on the front of her skirt. “I haven’t dealt with staff issues before and was hoping you could help me with something.”

“I’d be happy to.”

Helen wore a blue skirt, high on her waist and held in place by a wide belt, topped with a short cream jacket. Kalin had only seen her in passing on her first day of her promotion, and since then she’d updated her hairstyle from tied tightly behind her head to loosely framing her face. The expensive-looking blonde highlights added a level of softness to her chestnut hair, and the trace of eye shadow feathered on her eyelids complemented her brown eyes. She seemed too timid to rob the finance center, but who knew.

Kalin glanced at her own jeans and wool sweater and had a sudden longing for something more elegant to wear.

“Simon Crane was caught using the Internet during his night shift.”

“Why’s that a problem?” Kalin asked. The night auditor worked from midnight into the early morning. He organized the resort’s daily receipts, preparing them for the finance center to reconcile the following day. He used to report to Jessica, so now he would fall under Helen’s responsibility.

“It’s the sites he’s looking at. They’re pornographic. He left one of the sites up on the computer screen. The employee working the next shift saw the image. She’s upset and scared to work alone with him.”

“How often has he been accessing the sites?”

“The IT department gave me data from the past week. He’s been logging on every night. The scary part is the photos are of girls wearing uniforms that look similar to the front desk uniforms. Could you come with me to talk to him? I’m friends with his wife.”

“And that makes this awkward for you. Of course I’ll come.” Simon would know how much money the resort made every night. Clearly, his ethics weren’t the greatest, leaving nothing to stop him from being a thief, too. She’d thought he was a little too perfect when she met him. “Does he have access to the safe?”

Helen pinched her bottom lip between her teeth. “He shouldn’t.”

“Could he have gotten the combination somehow?”

“I don’t know, but I doubt it.”

“Does he ever go to the finance center?”

Helen stopped fidgeting and clasped her hands. “Every morning he brings the previous night’s receipts to me or whoever is on shift. Sometimes he hangs around to chat.”

“So he could have seen the combination?”

“I guess, but he doesn’t have a key.”

Kalin checked the time. It wasn’t quite late enough for Simon to have gotten much sleep following his shift, but after what he’d done, she didn’t care. “Okay, call him and ask him to come in. We’ll meet him in his office.”

* * *

“You look like crap. What’s wrong with you?” Aiden asked.

Jessica stood in line at the Mountainside Café at the base of the Alpine Tracks ski run. It wasn’t even ten in the morning, and she needed a caffeine boost.

She glared at Aiden. He was such an idiot. So she wore a wrinkled gray sweatshirt with the hood pulled over her head. Her pants hung loosely from her hips, and she hadn’t bothered to lace up her hiking boots. Who cared? “I lost Roy. My friends all think I helped steal the money and are avoiding me. I don’t have a job. Turner promoted Helen. Like she’s capable. She could hardly function as a clerk. If he thinks she’ll do better than I—”

“It’s got nothing to do with you anymore. I heard the real estate office needs people. You could work for them again.” Aiden peeled the plastic lid off his cup and added a second pack of sugar to his coffee. He reached the outer door to the café, and instead of leaving, he turned and offered to buy Jessica a tea.

“You should really talk to the real estate guys.” His eyes raked down her body. “But not in those clothes.”

“I guess I have to. I don’t have much money saved.” Jessica accepted a chai tea from the barista. “And piss off about my clothes.”

Ignoring her snap, Aiden dropped a couple of Toonies on the counter and ushered her away from the till to a secluded seat in the corner.

The radio clipped to the outside pocket of Aiden’s lift uniform squawked. An operator at one of the lifts needed a break. Aiden hit the transmit button. “I’ll be there in ten.” He focused back on Jessica. “How much space do you think the missing money would take up?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sure you do. How big’s the safe? You must have seen the money stacked. Could the bills fit in Roy’s backpack?”

The café’s window overlooked the base of the ski hill. For early January, the resort was unusually quiet, meaning low revenue. She gave herself a mental kick. It wasn’t her problem anymore. “It’s hard to say, but the money was in small bills. And it depends on what else was in the pack. Did the duffle bag look heavy when you saw him?”

“Yeah. So let’s assume that’s where the money was. Would he have taken both bags up the hill?”

“You’re assuming he took the money.”

“Of course he did. Why else did he trek up the mountain? Anyway, if the bills didn’t all fit in his pack, maybe he stashed the rest somewhere.”

“He liked to ski at dawn. Everyone knows that.” Jessica lifted her cup and inhaled the scent of cinnamon. The heat penetrating the cup warmed her hands. “Ben doesn’t seem to have anything of Roy’s, and the police would have found the money when they searched the house if that’s where Roy hid it.”

“I bet the cops suspect Roy had all the money in his backpack. They have no way of knowing about the duffle bag.” Aiden pointed at Jessica with his coffee. “You know Roy. Would he have split the money up and hid it in different places?”

“How could I know that? I never thought he’d steal in the first place. When Roy left the admin building, where’d he go?”

“Into mountain ops.”

“Why didn’t you wait until he came out and follow him?”

“I didn’t know he’d robbed the finance center. I thought, as usual, he was too drunk to walk home and planned on crashing on a gurney. If I’d known what he’d done, I wouldn’t have left him there.”

“Could the duffle bag be somewhere in mountain ops?”

Aiden sipped his coffee and looked at Jessica over the steam. “That’s dumb. How could the money be there and no one’s found it?”