by Dale Mayer
The trip back was quiet and uneventful. By the time she made it inside, she hated to admit she needed a rest. She’d love to lie down, but the cabin was too cold.
“Go sit down and I’ll get the fire going again.”
She gave him a grateful smile of thanks and put her stuff away in the loft, grimacing at the mess she’d left in her panic to get down on time, and when she returned downstairs, there was a bright blaze going. She filled the coffeepot and put it on the heater stove then went to work, making a few sandwiches for the two of them. That done, she walked through the cabin, poking her head into the different rooms. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, if anything, but she’d seen red on the jacket. If there was one here, then she’d like to know. But chances were good the owner of the jacket with the red stripe was wearing it still. It wouldn’t be here.
“The guy is still out there most likely.”
She turned away from George’s bed to look at Royce standing behind her. “What do you think I was doing?”
He shrugged, but his gaze was shrewd. “You’re going from room to room. So you tell me.”
With a dark look, she brushed past him. “I was just checking to see if anyone was here or not.”
“Not is my vote.” He followed her back to the kitchen where she quickly cut the sandwiches, placing them on two plates and handing them to him.
“I’ll bring the coffee,” she said, “take these out please.”
“Sure. They look great. Thanks.”
She didn’t respond. It was just a sandwich. As she sat down beside him in front of the fire, he took a bite, studied her, and then asked, “So did you see anything beside red?”
She shook her head. “I only saw a strip of red in the trees. Nothing of his face or other gear.”
“If it was here, it wouldn’t be on your stalker out there,” he said.
“Yeah, unless they whipped home and changed their jacket, then went out again.” She smiled grimly. “And came in with the groups as they arrived home.”
He swallowed the bite in his mouth, as if the food was drier than he’d like. “Is that your logical mind at work or is that a really nasty imagination conjuring up horror stories? Are you really suspecting one of us?”
“You forget my line of work.”
“That is not a nice thought.” He took a huge bite of a sandwich and stared thoughtfully into the fire as he chewed. “I guess that would be the easy answer, but not the smartest as there’s a good chance he’d be seen, or his jacket found.”
“And the difficult answer?”
“It’s a large mountain. Any number of people could have seen you and decided to stalk you.”
“And the other incidences?” she asked before popping the last of her sandwich into her mouth. She stared down at her empty plate, then decided a second would be good and stood up.
“Same thing.”
“Maybe.” She started in the direction of the kitchen. “I’m going to make another sandwich. Do you want another?”
“Yes, please.”
She started building a second sandwich for both of them as he leaned against the doorjamb finishing off the first one. She was just about done when he said, “I wonder.”
“Wonder what?” She slapped the tops of the sandwiches then cut them in half. She took his plate from him and filled it again. She picked up her plate and turned back to him. “Wonder what?”
“You searched the rooms to see if there was a jacket. As in you were looking for something that might have been left behind. Did you happen to consider that we should instead be looking for what might be missing?”
She stopped cold. There was a weird tingling inside. Her mind cast through all he wasn’t saying. “You think someone might have searched the cabin while we were gone?”
“A cabin inhabited by a large group of people here on a holiday? If I were a criminal or someone looking for a quick score, there’d be easy money here, wouldn’t there?”
His tone darkened with an ugly overtone. She stayed quiet, thinking about it. “And…” she asked when he didn’t continue.
“And if I saw a girl I really liked the look of, I’d be tempted to follow her back to where she was staying so I could learn more about her.”
Unbidden, her gaze went to the loft where she’d dumped her camera bag. And the disarray she hadn’t expected to see. She’d been in a rush this morning, but she hadn’t been in that much of a rush – or had she? She found the days and mornings blending into each other. She couldn’t remember.
“Do you think we should be checking to see if we’ve been robbed?” she said in a low voice, studying his face carefully.
“I think I’ll be taking a closer look at my stuff. I didn’t bring much of value, but there is a different perspective on what that word means to people.”
Stacy carefully set her sandwich down, her appetite suddenly gone. “I think I’ll go up and check,” she murmured. She walked past him to the stairs, feeling his gaze on her every step. Up in the loft, she stopped and looked around first. Her bed appeared to be as she left it. There was nothing different on it or around it. She wanted to make sure so she flipped the covers back and then quickly remade it.
Her camera bag was tossed. The contents haphazard on the bed. The lenses were worth a lot of money. Seeing them made her feel better. If their belongings had been searched, surely a thief would have snagged the high-priced lenses.
Next she turned to her bag. She lifted it up to rest on the bed. She slowly removed everything inside, her mind mentally ticking off the items as she did so. Two pairs of jeans, two sets of thermals, seven sets of underwear, and two heavy wool sweaters. She kept on until the bag was empty. Then she turned to the side pockets. The first was packed with her toiletries. Normal. Everything was there as far as she could see. She opened up the other end of the bag and pulled out the few things she’d stuffed in there. Then sat back on her heels. She stared at the pile and wondered if she’d have missed it. She stood up and flicked the light switch on. And studied the small space.
There were several bedrolls available, but she hadn’t used any of them. She hadn’t even been over there to check any out. But one was disturbed. As if someone had sat on it, maybe. She frowned. To her knowledge, no one had been up here but….here was proof that someone had been. Maybe… Or maybe it was just her mind becoming overwrought. Damn. She repacked her things carefully and realized something else. She packed the same all the time, but that wasn’t the way she’d unpacked. Someone had taken her stuff out of her bag and had carefully packed it, just not exactly the same way she had done so. She had to stop and wonder if she’d made the mistake. But she knew herself better than that.
She was a creature of habit. And a neat freak. A condition that had only gotten much worse as so much in her world had gotten out of control; she’d locked down on what she could control. She was only just now easing up some of those restrictions she’d put on herself. Coming here was one of them.
She walked back down slowly, her mind wondering at who and why when she hit the bottom stair and saw Royce standing there, holding out her plate with the sandwich.
“And?”
“I can’t be sure, but I think someone went through my bag.”
He scowled. “Anything missing?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She stared into his eyes, her mind racing through the items she brought. Finally, she shook her head and repeated, “I don’t think so.”
*
Royce polished off his second sandwich in a few bites. He got up and poked the fire while she ate slowly. He understood. She was processing. There was a lot of information to sort through.
“You said you thought the man we found had been murdered. Do you have any evidence that points that way?”
He shook his head. “Proof, no.”
She nodded as if she suspected as much. He stood up. “You must have your suspicions.”
“Sure.” She grabbed his plate and walked i
nto the kitchen. “The circumstances were beyond odd. There were marks saying he’d been tied up recently, he wasn’t dressed for the weather.” She sighed. “But he’s not on my table and I can’t know for sure.” She glanced at him. “Without the details from the autopsy, I’d say Mother Nature killed him – it’s just a question whether someone contributed in any way.”
“Can you make a professional call and find out?”
She glanced over at him as he came up and leaned against the counter. “I was trying to avoid doing that. You know – that need for a holiday?”
“Yeah, some holiday.” He looked at the fatigue lines on her face. She needed something to brighten her day. And he had just the answer. “Let’s go sledding.”
She looked at him in shock. “What?”
“I said let’s go sledding. There’s a big run not far from here. It’s safe and long and a ton of fun.”
An odd look entered her eyes. Then she shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
He grinned. “Let’s go.”
He tugged her toward the doorway. “Get your boots and coat on. I’ll grab the magic carpets.”
At that last bit, she turned to stare at him then giggled. “Magic carpets? Really?”
His grin widened. “Really.”
Warmly dressed, the two ran out the door. He led the way to the top of the hill he knew well. It led down to the parking lot. At the bottom of the run, they could board the tram up the other side. Then they would have fun on a few of the smaller runs. This area was well known by the local sledders, and often the tourists joined in on the fun.
And that’s exactly what Stacy needed. He was the perfect person to introduce her to a childhood favorite sport.
She was way too serious most of the time, and now she was wary to boot. There might or might not be a stalker, but for the next few hours it wouldn’t matter. They’d have nothing but a great time.
He hoped.
*
What the hell was Royce carrying – and why? He watched the two race to the top of the hill on the left, and damn if they didn’t both get on something small and bright and slide down the long easy slope. From where he stood, he could see them bouncing and flying through the air, hitting a bank of snow and jumping forward into the suddenly raised cloud. He heard the shrieks of laughter, and something tightened inside him.
How dare they?
He didn’t want them having fun like that.
He didn’t want them laughing.
He definitely didn’t want Royce getting any closer to Stacy.
With a snarl, he sat back on his haunches and watched the two of them. They were almost at the bottom of the hill now, still laughing and cheering the ride on. Fear, anger, disgust, and so much more roiled through him. He wanted to hit something. Lash out at the two of them.
Make them pay.
And yet…why?
They were having fun – so what? At least if they became closer, they’d hurt that much more when one of them went missing.
He contemplated ruining two lives with one act. His hobby was definitely getting more complicated.
That worked.
As long as they didn’t find anything important out there, he was good.
Actually, he was great.
Chapter 22
Stacy couldn’t remember ever having such fun. She felt like a kid. Like how cool was that? She sat on the sled, Royce’s arms around her waist, and raced down hillside after hillside in complete abandon. The way the mountain had set up the sliding area allowed for both skiers and sliders to go up the chair lift, but at the top the paths split off and both wound down in different directions. She had no idea this area was even here. She’d seen other sledders over the years, but being a diehard skier, she’d relished every moment she had on the mountain, and that meant always with boards strapped to her feet. At least one, if not two.
It was great to switch that up – or down as the case may be. She loved this.
And the attentiveness Royce showered on her, the way he constantly held out his hand to help her up, always an eye out for her care, warmed her inside. She didn’t remember ever seeing this side of him before. Surely it had been there, but not directed her way. Probably at one of his gazillion girlfriends. And that was the difference. It also made him that much more attractive. She understood the women falling for him.
After all, she had too – once. That didn’t mean she was willing to repeat it. But a part of her wanted to.
She shrieked as they hit a large bump and the snow flew in her face, the icy crystals biting into her skin. Then she laughed. For all the icy wind hitting her, the cold sting of the snow made her feel alive. Revitalized. For this she thanked Royce. He’d showed her a good time these few hours.
The sun was going down behind the mountains, casting long shadows on the trees and adding a chill to the day. Still, it had been a fantastic afternoon. Her morning has been good too. She’d gotten decent pictures this morning.
From this happier position, she had a better perspective. She had some distance from the mess of her belongings and realized there could be any number of reasons why her bags might have been searched – either of the two women might have needed monthly supplies unexpectedly for one. As for the stalker – maybe it was someone out for a hike and he’d stopped to take a few pictures. Like she had.
And the man they’d found – that had nothing to do with them. He’d had an unlucky death. Until she knew more, she couldn’t say what had happened or why and speculation was dangerous. As she knew all too well.
“That was fun.” She stood and brushed the snow off her coat.
“Do you want to go again?”
“Do we have time?” She turned to study the chair lift. It was still running, but there was no line up. An odd boarder stepped onto a chair as their turn came. She studied the clock. “We don’t have time but maybe we can go up one last time, but that’s it.”
He turned to look at her. “Let’s grab this lift, then we have to catch the Hummingbird lift to go even higher then turn toward the cabin.”
She frowned up at him. “Can we do that?”
He shrugged. “I have before. But it’s a little touchy.”
“Ya think.” She grinned. “As long as you know where we’re going, let’s do it.”
He grabbed her hand and raced to the chair. The lift operator was walking around checking his watch as if looking to see when he could shut it down. She screamed. “We’re here. We’re here.”
The lift operator waved at her. She laughed as she ran through the empty path leading to the chair.
“Thanks!”
“No problem. You still had a few minutes. This is your last lift though.”
“No problem. We need to catch the Hummingbird as well, too.”
He nodded. “I’ll tag them that you two are coming.”
“Thanks.” She hopped up onto the chair, Royce taking the seat beside her as the chair scooped them up and carried them up the hill.
“Glad we made that.”
“It’s a long hard walk if we hadn’t.” Royce agreed. “Too bad there’s no coffee at the top of Hummingbird.”
“Oh, I could really use some hot coffee,” she exclaimed. “But we could hardly sled home with our hands full of hot drinks.”
He laughed. “We’d be wearing the coffees on the first bump.”
“True. Besides, the rest of the group will have coffee made.”
“Sounds good to me.”
The chair rose up to another tower weighed down by ice and snow. The beauty was incredible, the stark contrast between Mother Nature and the steel structure incredibly strong. She loved it. The trees stood tall under their white snowcaps, and some bowed under the weight of the world beside them. There was no sound but for the steady hum of the steel cable slowly climbing higher and higher.
The higher they climbed, the colder the air and the more biting the wind. She huddled deeper into her jacket, her collar pulled up over her ears. Damn, she’d f
orgotten this chill. They’d been racing into the wind as they steamed down the mountain but sitting still like they were now, the cold was treacherous.
Royce reached out and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. She nestled in and closed her eyes, letting her breath warm up her face.
She was glad they were heading back. Honestly, they should’ve gone back earlier but with the sun up and having so much fun, it had been easy to push the idea away.
Now she wished she’d had the foresight to think ahead.
“You okay?” Royce’s warm voice tickled her ear and heated up her neck.
She nodded but stayed quiet.
“Good. We’re almost there.”
In fact, the chair lift slowed and the chair swung slightly as it slowed its ascent. She got ready to jump off and get out of the way before it hit her.
As they landed, he grabbed her hand and raced her over to the sister lift. Thankfully this one was short. At the top, she shivered. The wind was bitingly cold.
“Wow, this is nasty up here.”
He nodded. “Not to worry, we won’t be here long.” He motioned at a path going down the back. “We need to go down there.” She nodded and sat down on the hard plastic. Instead of trying for a big running push then hopping on like he always had before, he just sat down behind her and pushed them forward with his hand. The sled took off but at a slower pace.
It curved to the left, taking them toward the slash in the trees. She was grateful they weren’t going at top speed. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if they hit a tree.
Then she understood. The trees, although a long distance away, were up a small rise. If she’d been on skis, it wouldn’t be noticeable but on the magic carpet with much of the momentum already running out, they barely crested it. At the top, he put his boots down and slowed them to a stop. He pointed to the right this time. Down below a long ways away was the cabin.
“We could walk or we could slide.”
“And how do we stop when we get there?” she asked, worried.
“We’ll have to crisscross our way down. There is a lot of deep snow on the side of the hill and that will bring us to a stop, at which point we turn and cross to the other side again.”
