Descent (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 1)

by Kristina Stanley

Fred waited until Brightman finished with the second lock installation, handed them both a key and disappeared through the outer door. “I talked with him. Interesting that he didn’t tell us he had a key.”

  “I asked Charlie about drinking and driving. He basically told me to get lost.”

  “I can’t imagine he wanted to discuss the subject,” Fred said. “Let’s keep the room tight until we see what happened to the German skier. Then we can decide if anyone gets in after hours. Besides, the teams are only here for another five days. After that, only the Holden team will be around and this room won’t be used for tuning.”

  Kalin felt the pressure mounting. Reed hadn’t mentioned a deadline, but she guessed he’d want to know who killed McKenzie within the next five days.

  * * *

  The next stop for Kalin was Nora’s. As she walked, she pulled her neck tube over her nose. The exposed piece of skin between the tube and her bottom eyelashes stung, and she picked up her pace.

  Nora answered the door and frowned at Kalin. Her dull eyes were puffy from crying.

  “I wanted to check on you. Charlie said you called in sick today.” Kalin remembered the deliciousness of being sick as a child, of being taken care of, of having no responsibilities. Sometime during the growing up process that had disappeared and turned into getting out of bed no matter how awful she felt. She couldn’t pinpoint the moment the transformation occurred, but she missed lying in bed having her mom take care of her.

  “I think I have that flu that’s going around,” Nora said.

  “Tell me about it. Can I come in?”

  “I’m really not up to it.” Nora leaned tight against the doorframe on one side and pulled the door close to her on the other.

  “Did you hear about the accident today?”

  “Charlie called me. It’s just like Steve.”

  “I hope not. Is that why you didn’t go to work today?”

  “No. I just feel lousy.”

  “Do you know the German skier?”

  “It’s not that. It just makes Steve’s death seem so real.”

  “Can I do anything?”

  “I’m tired. I need to go to bed.”

  Before she could react, Kalin was staring at the outside of Nora’s front door. She might as well go home. She’d wanted to tell Nora Charlie suspected she was going to work hung over, and Nora should clear that up with him before she lost her job, but Nora wasn’t in a sharing mood. She hoped Nora had been sick and not doing something else.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Kalin smelled wood burning when she was a couple of houses away from home and couldn’t wait to warm herself in front of their fireplace with Ben. She needed to find a way to balance her personal and professional life. The Goddess hung around the periphery of their lives, waiting for a chance to use her Goddess charms to steal Ben away. Weren’t Goddesses known for trickery when it came to love?

  Chica bounded toward Kalin the second she was inside, running in circles and rubbing her head against Kalin’s leg. Ben rose from the couch, pushed Chica out of the way and hugged Kalin. The glow from the flames bounced off a bottle of red wine and two glasses that graced the living room table.

  She hung her ski jacket in the front hall and kicked off her winter boots.

  Ben poured her a glass of wine. She wrapped her fingers around the stem and sat beside him on the couch, poking her toes underneath his thigh. He was trying to make up for pressuring her about her job. “I went to see Nora. She wouldn’t let me in.”

  “That’s odd. What’s up with her?”

  “She said she has the flu, but I don’t believe her.”

  Ben lifted his wine as if to take a sip but stopped before the glass touched his lips. “Because?”

  “I think she was upset, not sick. Have you heard anything more about the accident today?”

  Ben massaged Kalin’s calf, and she stretched her legs over his thighs. “Nothing’s being released until Edwin’s family gets to Calgary.”

  “Thanks for telling me about the keys to the tuning room. I had the locks changed today.”

  “No problem.”

  “I created a list of everyone who’s been issued a key. How come you have one? And why didn’t you tell me?”

  A smile deepened across Ben’s face. “You think I snuck into the tuning room and tampered with McKenzie’s binding?”

  Kalin couldn’t help herself and laughed. “Yeah. And your motive is to be the next Olympic Super-G star. I think you better start practicing.”

  A deep peal of laughter burst from Ben’s throat. “Well, it’s a relief to finally get that out in the open.”

  “Should I call Miller and tell him you’re guilty?” Kalin’s laugh dwindled and turned into a frown. “We shouldn’t be joking about this.”

  “I know. I got a key a couple of years ago. Security was short staffed, and I picked up the extra hours.”

  “Did anyone ever ask for the key back?”

  “No. It’s still on my key ring along with the other keys I got at the time. I thought I might need them again someday and didn’t want the hassle of getting them reissued.” Ben went to the front hall table and grabbed his keys. He sorted through them and held one up. “I think this is the one to the tuning room.”

  “If it is, you can throw it out. It won’t fit the new lock. Do you know what time the overnight snowmakers get off shift?”

  “Around five. It depends on how long their debrief meeting is.”

  “I was thinking I should talk with them. On the morning McKenzie died, maybe one of the snowmakers saw someone entering the room.”

  “Okay Miss Detective, any chance you can let the cops question the snowmakers?”

  “We’ve been over this before. Reed asked me to help.”

  “Reed’s not the one being put in danger.”

  Kalin set her wineglass on the table. She didn’t want to argue with Ben. She had enough stress at work. “I’m not in danger. I’m just going to ask if they saw anyone.”

  “I give, but you’ll have to get up early.” Ben wiggled his eyebrows.

  “I know I’m not a morning person, but I can do it if I have to.”

  “I wasn’t thinking about the morning.” He wiggled his eyebrows again. “I was thinking we should go to bed early.”

  Pushing her annoyance aside, Kalin kicked his thigh and laughed. “Nice try with the eyebrows. I’m not going tomorrow. I’m too busy. I’ll go the day after.”

  “Even better. Let me entertain you.”

  “You’re such a dork sometimes. All the girls think you’re so cool, but I know the real you.”

  “I am cool. In fact, I’m Mr. Cool to you.”

  “Okay, Mr. Cool. Let’s see what you have to offer.”

  Ben picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, firefighter style. “Oh, I’ll show you. The question is can you keep up?”

  He tossed her on their bed and flopped on top of her.

  She lifted her arms, and he pulled her sweater over her head. He used his teeth to unsnap the front of her bra in one quick motion. “Ta da. Not only am I cool, but I’m extremely talented.”

  “You look like a rooster who just scored.”

  “I haven’t, but I will.”

  * * *

  “Told you I’d score.” Ben wasn’t going to admit to Kalin how exhausted he was. She was a dynamo. He wrapped one arm around her, and she pressed her cheek onto his chest. She flopped her leg over his thigh and snuggled closer. Their quilt lay on the bedroom floor where they’d tossed it, the sheet tangled underneath them, and until he cooled down, that’s where they’d stay.

  “So are you going to tell me about Vicky and the fire department?”

  Kalin’s breath tickled his chest when she spoke, and his intense feelings for her frightened him. He didn’t want Vicky to screw up his relationship with Kalin. “I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

  “You’re going to see her a lot now. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
<
br />   “Are you mad at me?”

  “You can’t control what she does.”

  Ben heard the thumping of Chica’s paws before he saw her. She bounded and landed on the bed with them. He shoved her gently back onto the floor. “You’re being pretty understanding. I’d be pissed if I were you.”

  “It’s not your fault she joined the department. You can hardly tell the chief not to have her back.”

  Ben stared out the window and thought about what to say.

  “Why are you being so weird about this? Did something else happen?”

  Ben nodded and his chin hit the top of Kalin’s head. “Sorry.”

  “Are you going to tell me or should we play twenty questions? Maybe I could torture it out of you.” Kalin stuck her finger in Ben’s belly button and pushed.

  When he didn’t say anything, she plucked a couple of his dark chest hairs.

  “Okay, okay, I give.” Ben took a deep breath. “She showed up at the fire station.” He told her what had happened, including that Fred had shown up and seen Vicky half naked. By the time he finished, Kalin was laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Ben asked.

  “You should hear your voice. And Fred. Boy, he must not have known what to do.”

  “I can’t believe how much I love you. Only you would find this funny.”

  Kalin’s cell rang.

  “Are you on call?” Ben asked.

  “No, but considering what’s going on, I should get that.”

  “Don’t.”

  “I have to.” She walked to the chest of drawers, shaking her butt at him and laughing. Impossible. She was impossible to be mad at when she strutted around naked, which he suspected she knew. She dumped her backpack onto the floor and found her phone among the contents scattered on the hardwood.

  “Kalin Thompson.” She hit the speakerphone button and sauntered back to Ben, wiggling her hips.

  “The police are questioning Ian. What did you say to them?” Reed said.

  Kalin stuck out her tongue at the phone, making Ben chuckle silently. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Did you take Ian’s name off all lists?”

  Kalin plunked onto the edge of their bed. “Ian’s name was on the list of people who had keys to both the tuning room and the outer administration door.”

  “I told you to keep Ian out of this.”

  “I understand. But—”

  “But what?”

  “I can’t alter the facts. I gave the RCMP a full list. It’s up to them to decide what to do with the information. I didn’t single out Ian.”

  “I don’t want you giving anything else to the RCMP without my approval first.”

  “Okay.” After the call, Kalin dropped her cell on the bedside table and placed her forehead on Ben’s chest. “That was pleasant.”

  “He was almost yelling at you. How do you work for him?”

  “I think the situation with Ian is too personal.”

  “You’re standing up for him? You shouldn’t have answered, and Reed shouldn’t be calling you at home unless it’s urgent.”

  “He’s my boss. I can’t ignore him. Anyway, I included Reed in the list I gave to the RCMP.”

  “And mine too. Right?”

  “I thought about taking yours off, but it would look bad if anyone ever found out.”

  “No kidding. Maybe Reed killed McKenzie,” Ben said.

  “You mean Gavin or Ian?”

  “Gavin. I heard he pressured Coach Jenkinson into putting Ian on the team. He’d have known there wasn’t a spot and someone had to leave the team for Ian to get a shot.”

  “I don’t believe Gavin murdered McKenzie, but I’m not so sure about Ian.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Jeff helped Donny into the passenger seat of his truck, stored the wheelchair in the back and slid onto the front seat. He twisted the key in the ignition, increased the heat and turned on the seat heater. “Man, I’m sick of the cold.”

  “You’re such a girl,” Donny said, wishing his legs felt cold too. He could only imagine the cold from the leather seats seeping through his jeans to his skin.

  Jeff reversed out of the driveway. Their father stood in the front door and scowled at them. “What’s with him this morning?”

  “Mom had an early shift at the hospital and didn’t make his breakfast. I guess he’s hungry. Did she say anything about your eye?”

  “Nope. Just shook her head at me.” Jeff stopped at the corner and waited for traffic to clear. “We should move out.”

  Donny examined Jeff’s face. “Do you mean it?”

  “I do. I can’t take much more of him.” Using the bottom half of his sleeve, Jeff wiped frost off the inside of the windshield.

  “What about Mom?” Donny asked.

  “He never touches her.”

  “Not yet. If we’re not there, he might.”

  “Shit. We’re going to have to move out sometime. We could try. Besides, I can’t see him hurting her. She’s the one thing he values.” Jeff signaled and turned left out of their suburban neighborhood. “I applied to UBC.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was going to wait until I got accepted, but I think we need to make plans. If I get in, we can both move to Vancouver. UBC has a good engineering program, and it’s close to Whistler/Blackcomb. We can still ski…”

  Donny slowly nodded.

  “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…sometimes I forget.”

  With a chuckle, Donny said, “Don’t be so sensitive. Besides, I’ve been thinking of trying the sit-ski.”

  “Awesome. You should.”

  “I’m only contemplating it. So UBC?”

  “What do you think?” Jeff asked.

  “It’s great. You want to move out now to see if Mom’s safe before we go too far?”

  Jeff appreciated Donny didn’t ask about skiing. That he instinctively knew Jeff didn’t want to make a career of the sport. “Yeah.”

  “You sure you want me to go with you?”

  “Sure. Someone has to work.”

  Neither said a word until they were ten minutes from the turn into Stone Mountain. The one highway between the resort and Holden demanded four-wheel drive technology in the winter, and the wheels of Jeff’s truck held snug to the snow-covered road.

  “Have you talked to Nora since McKenzie died?” Donny asked.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “With McKenzie out of the way, you could get back together.”

  Jeff laughed. “You always liked her.”

  “You were the one glued to her through high school. I thought you’d marry her.”

  “Yeah, well that didn’t work out.”

  “Why don’t you ask her out again?”

  “I saw her the night before McKenzie died.”

  “And?”

  Jeff took his time and prepared his words. “I was heading to the parking lot after the bar closed and found Nora sitting in a snow bank. She didn’t see me. I watched her for a bit and realized she was crying. It took me a while to persuade her to let me drive her home. McKenzie had just dumped her. By the time I got her home, Aunt Lisa was waiting on her doorstep, so I just dropped her off.”

  “What a bastard. Did Nora tell him she was pregnant?”

  “She’s pregnant?” Jeff looked at Donny, and the truck swerved to the right.

  Donny broke into a sweat and put both palms on the dashboard. “Watch the road.” He couldn’t remember much of the crash he’d been in, but he’d never gotten over the fear. His pulse settled only after Jeff got the truck back under control. He kept his hands on the dashboard until his breathing slowed. “I saw her in the drugstore buying a pregnancy test.”

  “Have you told anyone?”

  “No. I found out by accident. I’m not sure she’s pregnant. I don’t know the results of the test. Besides, I wouldn’t gossip about her. She deserves better.”

  * * *

  A few minutes after nine, bells jingled
when Kalin pushed open the door to Holden’s single art gallery. The gallery specialized in local art, and Lisa Hudson had her studio in one of the back rooms. Nora talked a lot about Lisa, and Kalin was looking forward to seeing her.

  The last ten days had worn on Kalin, and she thought she deserved a present. Her office had a vacant feel as if she hadn’t moved in yet, and her idea was to put local art on the wall, something that showed the spirit of the resort and the mountains together.

  Lisa, a lithe woman of about fifty, with blonde hair tied back in a red bandana and wearing a smock covered in a multitude of colors, poked her head out of a side door. “I’ll be right there,” she said with a smile in her voice.

  While Kalin waited, she toured the gallery, getting a feeling for the artwork. She stopped in front of a painting of the Dragon’s Bowl.

  “Captivating, isn’t it,” Lisa said.

  “You could say that.” Kalin tilted her head up to meet Lisa’s eyes. She didn’t often meet a woman taller than herself.

  “You don’t like it?”

  “I love it, but it’s a bit too dramatic for my office. I was thinking of something fun. I’ve just been promoted and want my office to be welcoming.”

  Lisa’s face brightened. “Nora told me about your promotion. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. Nora suggested I come here.”

  They meandered through the gallery, viewing paintings, but nothing inspired Kalin.

  “Come on. I’ve got others in the back I don’t have room to display.” Lisa steered Kalin through her workshop, past an easel with a freshly painted canvas drying on it and into a storage room.

  “You must have been up early,” Kalin said.

  “Pardon?”

  “The canvas is wet. It looks like you got an early start.”

  Lisa smiled. “I’m always up early. I do my best work in the morning.”

  A vibrant painting of two boys skiing filled one wall.

  “Wow,” Kalin said.

  A wide grin, full of perfect teeth, beamed across Lisa’s face. “Thanks. They’re my nephews.”

  “It’s fantastic. Too bad it won’t fit in my office.”

  “It’s not for sale.” Lisa pressed her fingers to the bottom corner of the canvas. “That one has too many memories for me.”