by steve higgs
‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is Victor Korylenko. He is the man that trained the bear and kept him as a pet until he was recruited by Gils Chevalier and brought here. Hubert, your accounts will show that he has been staying in your hotel and that you have been picking up the tab for his stay. Evidence will also show that the bear was being kept in one of your properties. All of the evidence was meant to point to you so that when you were killed by the Yeti this morning, it would look like the beast you had used to exact revenge on the two boys had turned on its master. I cannot be sure about the rest of it, but I assume that Gils then intended to send Victor and the bear away, the legend of a Yeti in this area would bring in tourists for years and Marie would soon return from surgery as Priscille while he and his father together with your wife and daughter ran the whole resort. Both hotels under one ownership.’
Gerard Chevalier left his seat, he was staring at his son, his disbelief clear. As he backed away from the accused, he found himself standing next to Hubert, the two men exchanging a brief glance before Gerard turned his attention back on his offspring. ‘Gils? Is all this true?’
Gils didn’t answer though, he hadn’t yet sat back down after getting up when Priscille announced she was leaving. I might have got some of the details wrong, but the basic concept of their plot was laid bare. The evidence might point to Hubert’s involvement, but it would not take long to prove otherwise. I saw the glint in Gils eyes before he moved, but I was too far away to do anything. From inside his jacket, he produced a gun. Not an old rotary barrel six-shot special like Francois had, but a gleaming new automatic. I couldn’t tell what make it was, but branding was an unnecessary detail because I could tell that he was going to use it.
The Chase. Friday, December 2nd 1421hrs
Gils grabbed Marie’s hand and yanked her toward the door, lifting the gun and shooting Francois before the older man could even see what was happening. In the enclosed space the blast was deafening and there were more shots coming. As he began running, tiny Marie getting dragged along behind him, he fired shots in the general direction of Victor, then lined his weapon up on Hubert.
More rounds spit from the gun, but I was too far away to save my client. As I watched the scene play out, it was Gerard that barrelled into Hubert, saving him as rounds thumped into the woodwork behind where he had just been standing. Then, except for the screaming, all was quiet. Gils had darted through the door and was gone. There was a scream from outside and the sound of another shot as the fleeing couple made good their escape.
‘Are you hurt?’ I asked Hubert, my tone insisting a fast response.
‘No. No, I don’t think so.’
That was good enough for me, I scrambled up and ran across the room, ‘Ben? Where are you?’ My dogs were running along behind me, excited from the activity they didn’t understand.
‘Down here.’ He was just picking himself up from the floor as well. It looked like he had used his body as a shield to stop them from shooting Victor. Not that he was shot, there was no sign of blood, but smoke was drifting from the hole in the wall near them where a bullet had buried itself. What good killing Victor now might have done I could not imagine. ‘I thought I’d had it then,’ said Big Ben as he regained his feet. ‘Where’d they go?’
‘Out this way.’ The new voice was Hilary, both he and Jagjit had been hanging around at the back of the room and were now tending to Francois who was sitting with his back to the wall looking at a hole in his chest. He was leaking blood, but the shot had hit low on the ribs on the right-hand side and would not endanger his life.
He chose that moment to look across at me and give me a weak thumbs up. ‘You want my gun?’ he asked as he unsnapped the clip on his holster.
I grabbed it from him, then Big Ben thumped me on the shoulder. ‘Come on, Tempest. Let’s go!’
He was right, it was time to chase the bad guys. I couldn’t just leave though, there were killers and conspirators in the room I was leaving and I needed to lose the dogs. Jagjit and Hilary went out the door with Big Ben, the three of them disappearing as I scooped the dogs and thrust them at Hubert.
‘Take care of them for me, please. I’ll be back soon.’ I tossed the police chief’s gun to Gerard shouting, ‘Hold them until help arrives,’ as I sprinted after my friends.
I could see Big Ben outside the hotel doors, his height making him easy to spot. Racing to catch up with them, I burst through the doors and into the cooler air outside. None of us had winter coats on but the sun was high in the sky and it was warm enough for now.
‘Do you see them?’ Jagit asked. They had stopped in the area beyond the doors because they had no idea which way Marie and Gils had gone. Ahead of us the cable car cable was lazily turning but there was no car in sight for them to have tried to escape on. If they wanted to get down the mountain, they were going to have to do it on foot or using a Ski-Doo. I realised how accurate my thoughts were as one burst from the underground garage with Gils driving.
Marie was hanging on to his back as they flew over the snow, the throttle all the way open in his haste to escape. He shot through the far end of the resort heading toward the cable car station. Common sense told me he couldn’t possibly escape. He had just shot a cop, and together, he and Marie were responsible for the murder of three people. Even if they could get away from Harvarti, where could they go?
I wasn’t leaving it to chance though, I sprinted for the garage, slipping more than once on the snow as the sun melted it. The attendant inside still looked shocked, the keys to the Ski-Doo most likely taken at gunpoint. I didn’t have a gun, but I didn’t bother asking either. I grabbed keys from the hooks they were hung on and threw them at my friends as they arrived. Matching the numbered key to a machine, I cranked the throttle and left the others in a cloud of smoke. They would catch up or they wouldn’t. The important thing was to catch Gils and Marie, but as I shot across the snow in the direction they had gone, I could hear the others following me. I didn’t turn to look at them though. At the speed I was going, one mistake might put me in hospital and there were cliffs around that I might not see until it was too late.
Concerned for my safety but pushing the machine anyway, I kept the throttle open. Gils and Marie had left an easy to follow set of tracks in the snow and it didn’t take much more than a minute to spot them ahead of me. What at first was a black dot, soon became the shape of a Ski-Doo seen from the back and then I could make out Marie’s bandaged head and her hair whipping about in the wind. With two on the machine, they couldn’t outrun us.
I glanced back, the others were right on top of me, Big Ben closest which made sense on this downhill run as he was the heaviest. When I looked back in the direction I was going, I could see that Gils and Marie were fighting. Her screams could just about be made out over the noise of the engines, then suddenly she pitched into the snow, thrown from the machine by her lover as he realised he had to lose the excess weight if he wanted to escape.
I didn’t slow down for her though, I belted straight by. Big Ben or Jagjit or Hilary would stop for her or none of them would and we could collect her later. It would take her an hour to walk back to the resort and much, much longer to walk anywhere else.
Gils though was getting away from me. The gap, which had been steadily closing since I first spotted them, was now opening up again. I hunkered down over the handlebars to reduce the drag my body was creating but it made no perceivable difference. Suddenly Gils dropped from view as he flew over a drop, then reappeared again as he powered onwards. The terrain until now had been smooth slopes with few obstacles, but we had trees and rocks ahead. I gritted my teeth as I too flew over the bump, the engine freewheeling for a second as I hung in the air before slamming back to earth with a bone-crunching impact. Big Ben flew over the same jump an instant later, he was right on me now and about to overtake.
Ahead, Gils had entered a sparse treeline and was weaving between the trees. Beside me Big Ben was shouting something. I couldn’t hear him o
ver the noise of the engine, but I wasn’t stopping for anything. Gils vanished from view again, going down another drop no doubt to appear again in a second. If I let off the throttle, he would escape.
Big Ben shouted again. He was right next to me and standing up in his seat to get in my face. Then, before I could yell that I couldn’t hear him, he leaped. His shoulder slammed into my arm, tearing me from the machine as we both went tumbling into the snow. End over end I bounced, my momentum carrying me almost to the edge of the jump I had been about to take.
As I came right way up, I saw the Ski-Doo fly into the air and sail to its death. The jump wasn’t a jump, it was a cliff. Big Ben had saved my life. I rolled over to check where he was, finding him a few feet behind me, sitting up and nursing his left arm.
A quick check revealed that I was bruised, but otherwise uninjured. I had jarred my neck and my face hurt where it had slammed into the snow. I had no injuries that were worth reporting though. All thanks to Big Ben.
‘How you doing over there, buddy?’ I asked.
‘Better than Gils, I’ll bet. Any sign of him?’
I turned around and edged toward the drop off, then peered as far as I could. I didn’t want to get too close to the edge, it was snow not rock after all and could choose to fall off at any point. ‘I don’t see him,’ I replied. Rather than stand, I crawled across the snow to get away from the edge and then got to my feet. I offered Big Ben a hand up.
‘Tempest?’ he said as he clambered to his feet, his left hand still cradled across his body.
‘Yeah?’
‘How the heck are we going to get back up this mountain?’
Amanda Harper. Friday, December 2nd 1800hrs
Big Ben and I had trudged up the hill for over an hour before we were spotted. Jagjit and Hilary had lost sight of us and had been arguing about whether to go after us or take Marie back to the hotel when actual police had arrived. At some point the cable car had been declared operational and the first people on board were police from Tignes whom Francois had called. Arriving in Harvarti, they had commandeered some Ski-Doos and had come after us. Finding the chaps arguing over Marie, they had taken charge and sent them back to the hotel escorted by a cop. Another cop had handcuffed Marie and taken her back as well.
Big Ben’s wrist was probably broken, not that I thought it would slow him down for long if at all, but we would have gladly accepted a ride back to the resort even if we had been in peak fitness. The sun had already set when they found us, and I was a good way beyond cold.
As the police officer I was clinging to, brought the Ski-Doo to a halt, I found that my hands no longer worked properly, we had rushed out into the icy environment ill-prepared for a prolonged exposure and the dipping temperatures the day’s end would bring. The cold had penetrated to my core and was threatening hypothermia if I didn’t get warm soon.
Our arrival was seen from people inside the hotel though, Hubert Caron and Gerard Chevalier both rushing out to give assistance along with members of hotel staff. They brought blankets and helped us inside where warm air hit my skin like needles dipped in fire. I wanted to ask Hubert and Gerard how it was that they came to be working together now, but my jaw was chattering too much, and my face was numb. I was offered brandy but managed to stutter out, ‘Tea, please.’ The warmth rising from the cup used first to steam some life into my face before it cooled enough for me to drink it.
Finally able to speak, I had answered Hubert and Gerard’s questions, of which there were plenty. It started with the most obvious which was from Gerard. I had answered as gently as I could but had to watch as he then wept at the news of his son’s death. From the description Big Ben and I gave, they believed he had fallen into a glacier many hundreds of feet below. There was no chance of survival and his body would be hard to find. Hubert expressed that they would try though and had given the other man a brief hug of camaraderie as he did. Somehow, among the treachery and tragedy, the two men had found some common ground. Gerard left us at that point, his grief and confusion too great to air in public.
When he was gone Hubert asked, ‘Do you know how Victor was able to control the enormous bear?’
I finished my tea and put the cup back on the table. I was no longer shivering uncontrollably but I was still cold. The hot liquid was helping me, but I would need a long bath or a shower yet. ‘I don’t,’ I admitted. ‘There wasn’t time to question Victor and he speaks very little English I’m afraid.’
Across the table, Big Ben said, ‘He had a little electronic box with a button on it that must have something to do with it. I waited for him to arrive and watched to see if he had a weapon I would need to deal with, but he was shouting in Russian and pressing the button on the box while he looked around for the bear.’
Gerard spoke again, ‘Then you might be interested to know that the veterinarian that came up from Tignes found a radio receiver tucked behind the bear’s left ear. He believes there is something in the bear’s head that gives it an electronic shock.’
‘That would force me into submission,’ I breathed, horrified by the idea. ‘Will it be okay?’
‘That I cannot say,’ replied Hubert. ‘It may be too dangerous to be allowed to live and it certainly cannot be returned to the wild.’
‘Where are my dogs?’ I asked, suddenly remembering them.
‘Oh, um, they are being looked after by the ladies in the spa.’
‘I’ll get them,’ said Big Ben at the mention of women. He had drunk his tea and was on his second brandy, the large balloon glass dwarfed by his hand as he cupped it. Sitting next to him and unnecessarily close, was a member of Hubert’s staff, a young woman with a first aid kit who must have had some medical training because she had declared Big Ben’s wrist was not broken after all. She was immobilising it nevertheless while trying not to gaze at Big Ben’s stupidly pretty face.
‘I wasn’t sure what to do with them,’ Hubert said. ‘The police arrived with the coroner to collect the bodies of Remy and Andre but of course they had to forget that task and call for reinforcements. They were all over me with questions so I tucked your dogs in the spa with my wife’s dogs.’
I laughed. I bet they had hated that.
Hubert hurried away, returning a minute later being led by my Dachshunds. The pair of them looking very pleased with their afternoon. I was as pleased to see them as they were to see me, and I was warm enough now that I could get up and move so I picked them both up for a fuss. They clambered all over me in their attempts to lick my face and nuzzle my neck. I squeezed them both tight until they wriggled to be set free then plopped them both back on the floor. The police were still milling around and would want to take statements from me soon no doubt. However, I was hungry again and I needed to change my clothes, plus it had been an eventful day and I needed to get clean.
‘If the police want me, Hubert, please have them call my room. I need to sort myself out and have some quiet time.’
‘Yes. Yes, of course.’ He put out his hand for me to shake. ‘Mr Michaels, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. I must confess I feel a bit lost now with my family in custody and accused of murder. How could I have had no idea?’
I couldn’t answer that question for him so I just shrugged.
Seeing that he was keeping me, he patted my arm and turned to walk away himself, then turned back. ‘I forgot to tell you. Your wife arrived. She was given a spare key to your room.’
‘My wife?’
Seeing my confusion, he said, ‘She said she was your wife. Amanda Michaels. No?’
A little voice from three feet south sounded a bugle charge. ‘Thank you, Hubert. I am glad she was able to get here.’ I smiled and left him in the lobby as I hurried to the room.
The Dachshunds scampered around my feet, bouncing off each other as they ran and played, but they got to the door first and instantly started sniffing under the door; they could tell there was someone inside. I searched my pockets for the key card, coming up empty
until I remembered it was in the back of my trousers. It had to be a miracle that it was still there.
My heartrate began to rise as I swiped the card, watched the little light change from red to green and pushed the door open. It had only been a couple of days since I last saw her, and it was still the very early days of our relationship, but I couldn’t deny the elation I felt at the opportunity to see her. With all that had happened since I arrived, it felt like weeks since we kissed.
There was no one in my room though. The dogs had rushed in but otherwise I was alone. Then I spotted a bag that wasn’t mine which had its contents spilled across the bed. Maybe she was in the restaurant. I needed to get a bath and clean myself up before she saw me so perhaps it was best that she wasn’t here right now.
I pushed the bathroom door open and stopped dead because there she was. The shower was running, and she had her back to me, her blonde hair a wet mass of soapy bubbles as she shampooed it. Guiltily, I realised I was staring at a naked girl without her permission to do so. I turned my eyes down and began backing out of the room.
Then Bull barked from between my feet, the little dog announcing my Peeping Tom activities at the top of his lungs.
‘Tempest!’ exclaimed Amanda from the shower. I glanced back up to find she had turned around and had to avert my eyes again quickly.
‘Um, sorry, I didn’t realise you were in here,’ I backed up to the door, fumbling behind me for the handle as it had swung closed. ‘Sorry, I’ll be outside.’
Hanging myself.
‘Hey, where do you think you are going?’ she called after me as she stepped out of the shower. She crossed the room, still naked and dripping wet, her skin glistening with a soapy sheen as she wrapped me into a hug and began kissing me. ‘Sorry, I dropped my stupid phone and broke it or I would have called to let you know I was here.’
