Avalanche of Trouble

by Cindi Myers

  “Maybe so, though we haven’t found evidence of that.” Hake’s one-time bodyguard had died in a struggle with Travis when he had kidnapped the woman who was now Travis’s fiancée. Three years previously, the same man had murdered Andy Stenson, a young lawyer in town who had also worked for Hake.

  Paige leaned toward Gage. “It looked to me like work has been done up there on Hake’s property,” she said. “There’s a lot of tire tracks, and maybe even a new building or two.”

  “I’ll see if I can find out anything,” Gage said. “Maybe someone working up there saw or heard something related to the Hoods’ killing.” He stood. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll see you and Maya in the morning.”

  “I’m hoping she’ll get a good night’s sleep,” Paige said. “And that tomorrow we find her niece safe.”

  “We all hope that.” He returned to his SUV and headed toward the house he rented on the edge of town, but he had traveled less than a block when his cell phone rang. “Gage, this is Al Dawson, over at the high school.”

  “Sure, Al.” Gage glanced at the clock on his dash. Ten minutes until midnight. “What’s up?”

  “I came in to do the floors here in the gym, but found the lock on the door is broken. Somebody bashed it in.”

  “Did you go inside?” Gage asked, looking for a place to turn around.

  “No. When I saw the damage to the door, I figured I’d better call you. It looks like we’ve got another break-in.”

  “I’ll be right there, Al. Don’t go in.”

  “I won’t. What’s going on, Gage?” Al asked. “Travis was out here just this morning to take a report on some items that were stolen from the chemistry lab. This used to be such a peaceful town—now we’ve got crime all over the place.”

  “I don’t know, Al,” Gage said. “But I’ll be right there.” Ordinarily, a random burglary wouldn’t seem that unusual, but two burglaries in one week was enough to rate a headline in the local paper. Add in a double murder and Gage had to ask what the heck was going on.

  Chapter Four

  On his way to the high school, Gage called Travis. “Didn’t you respond to the high school this morning about a break-in?” he asked when his brother answered the phone.

  “Yesterday morning,” Travis said. “It’s already this morning.”

  “Sorry to wake you,” Gage said. “But I just got a call from Al Dawson, the janitor over there. He says the gym door has been tampered with.”

  “All the doors were fine when I was out there,” Travis said. “The thief got into the lab through a broken window.”

  “Al thinks somebody broke into the gym. I’m on my way out there.”

  “I’ll meet you.”

  Al was waiting by his truck when Gage pulled into the lot at the high school. Security lights cast a jaundiced glow over the scene. Whoever had attacked the door to the gymnasium hadn’t bothered with subtlety. They had bashed in the area around the lock with a sledgehammer or iron bar. “Is this the only door that’s been damaged?” Gage asked.

  “I think so,” Al, a thin man in his sixties, said. “I took a look around while I was waiting for you and I didn’t see anything else.”

  “You don’t have any security cameras focused on this area, do you?” Gage asked.

  Al frowned. “We’re a rural school district. Our budget doesn’t run to security cameras.”

  “All right.” Gage took out a pair of gloves and pulled them on. “I’ll check things inside. You wait here.”

  But before he could open the door, Travis pulled up. Gage waited for his brother to join them. Travis greeted them, then surveyed the door. “They obviously didn’t care about hiding the damage,” he said. “Same thing with the science lab yesterday—smash and grab.”

  “What did they take from the lab?” Gage asked.

  “Science equipment—some test tubes and flasks, reagents and a Bunsen burner,” Travis said.

  “You think it was kids making drugs?” Al asked.

  “Kids or adults,” Travis said. “We’re keeping our eyes open.”

  “I was just about to take a look inside,” Gage said.

  “I’ll come with you.” Travis pulled on a pair of gloves and followed Gage inside, both men careful to keep to one side, out of what they judged was the direct path of entry. Later, a crime scene team would investigate and gather what evidence they could. “I don’t hold out much hope of getting good prints,” Gage said as he flipped the light switch. Banks of floodlights lit up the wood-floored space. Basketball hoops hung from the ceiling at either end of the gym, and metal bleachers lined the far wall.

  “Doesn’t look like they did any damage in here,” Gage said, surveying the empty room.

  “Let’s get Al in here and see if he sees anything out of place.” Travis walked back the way he and Gage had come. A minute later, he returned with the janitor. “Do you see anything missing, Al?”

  The janitor scratched his head. “I don’t see anything—then again, I wouldn’t necessarily know. You need to get one of the coaches over here for that.”

  Gage checked the time. Almost one in the morning. “For now, we’ll seal off the area and get one of the reserve officers over here to babysit the scene until the crime scene guys can make it over. What time do the coaches show up?”

  “Seven thirty or so, usually,” Al said. He frowned across the silent gym. “I guess this means I won’t be doing the floors in here tonight.”

  “No one comes in here without an escort from the sheriff’s department,” Gage said.

  They went outside again and while Travis pulled crime scene tape from his SUV, Gage called in a reserve officer to stand guard and made notes about Al’s statement. “I’ll swing back here early to talk to the coaches,” he said.

  Thirty minutes later, he and Travis walked back to their cars, prepared to leave. “Did you get Ms. Renfro taken care of?” Travis asked.

  “She’s over at the Bear’s Den,” Gage said. “I told her I would pick her up and take her back to the camp in the morning. She wants to help search for her niece, and I think it’s probably a good idea. The little girl will recognize her, plus Maya can communicate with her in sign language.” He glanced over his shoulder at the high school. “I guess I’ll swing by here first, see if I can get anything useful from the coach.”

  Travis clapped him on the shoulder. “Let me know what you find. I’ll see you later at camp.”

  Gage opened the driver’s-side door of his SUV. “And to think just yesterday I was complaining about being bored,” he said. “That’s what I get for opening my big mouth.”

  * * *

  MAYA LAY AWAKE much of the night, alternately weeping and praying, terrified of what might be happening to Casey, unable to accept she would never see her sister again.

  When the clock showed 6:00 a.m., she got out of bed and took a shower, then did her makeup and ventured downstairs. When she walked into the dining room, which was painted a cheery apple green, Paige gestured toward a buffet, on which sat a large coffee urn and plates of muffins. “Help yourself,” she said. “The other guests haven’t come down yet, but I knew you’d want an early start.”

  Maya filled a coffee cup and stirred in cream and sugar. “I don’t guess you’ve heard anything from Gage?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, no,” Paige said. “I’m sure he would have called you if they had found anything.”

  Maya dropped into one of the chairs at the dining table. Paige sat opposite her. “I know it’s hard,” Paige said. “But don’t give up hope. Everyone available is looking for your niece—and we’ve done this before. Two summers ago, a little boy got lost when his family was hiking and they found him the next day, a little cold and scared, but safe.”

  Maya wrapped both hands around the sky-blue mug decorated with little fleurs-de-lis. “I keep telling myself th
at we’ll find Casey today. I wish I was up there right now, helping to look for her.”

  “It’s still too dark out to see much,” Paige said. “And do you even know how to get there?”

  “Gage took me there last night.” She sipped her coffee. “And I can follow directions, if someone tells me which way to go.”

  “You might as well wait for Gage,” Paige said. “He should be here soon.”

  “He probably has plenty to do besides babysitting me,” Maya said.

  “He probably does,” Paige said. “But that’s the kind of guy he is—a real gentleman. I know it’s an old-fashioned word, but it’s true. He really cares about people. It’s what makes him good at his job.”

  Maya shifted in her chair, curiosity warring with embarrassment. Curiosity won. “Are you and Gage involved?” she asked.

  Paige laughed. “Oh my goodness, no. What made you think that?”

  “I know you went down to talk to him after you showed me to my room. I just thought...” She shrugged.

  “No. Gage and I are not involved.” Paige pinched off a bite of muffin. “Neither one of us is interested in getting serious,” she said. “It’s easier.”

  “I know what you mean,” Maya said. “I’m not seeing anyone right now, either.” Though she couldn’t help thinking how nice it would be to have someone she could lean on. She pushed the thought away. She had been standing on her own two feet for plenty of years—no reason to stop now. “How did you end up in Eagle Mountain?” she asked.

  “I came here on vacation and fell in love with the place,” Paige said.

  “Where did you live before?” Maya asked.

  “Portland, Oregon.”

  “This is certainly different from Portland,” Maya said.

  “Different was what I needed at the time. I was coming off a painful divorce, and both my parents had died in the three years prior to that. I had a little money my aunt had left me, so I used it to buy this place and fix it up.” She shrugged. “At the time, I thought maybe I would stay a few years then move on, but I got involved in life here and I love running the B and B. It’s a good fit all around.”

  “I think small-town life would bore me after a while,” Maya said.

  “There’s plenty to do here if you know where to look,” Paige said. “Maybe not as many choices as in the city and we’re low on anything resembling the club scene, but I’ve made a lot of friends here. I care about this place and it feels like home.”

  The doorbell chimed and Paige scraped back her chair. “That’s probably Gage.”

  Maya told herself her heart beat faster because she was hoping for news from Gage about her niece, but she had to admit to the thrill of attraction that ran through her when the sheriff’s deputy stepped into the dining room. “Good morning,” he said, and nodded and touched the brim of his hat.

  The courtliness of the gesture moved her. He looked tired, and there was a heaviness about his eyes that heightened her own sadness. “Did you get any sleep last night?” she asked.

  “A little.” He accepted a cup of coffee from Paige, and pulled out the chair next to Maya. “I had a late call. Break-in at the high school.”

  “Kids?” Paige asked.

  “Maybe.” Gage sipped his coffee.

  Maya thought of the students in her classes—a mixed bunch of good and bad. “I guess even little towns like this aren’t immune to that kind of thing,” she said.

  “Kids get bored and in trouble everywhere,” he said. “Though we like to think in Eagle Mountain there’s a little less trouble for them to find. No gangs, anyway. Drugs are always a concern, but there’s not as much of it here. And people in smaller communities get involved—if they see a kid up to something, they don’t hesitate to call it in.”

  “I guess being nosy has its upside,” Maya said.

  “It can.” He helped himself to a muffin. “We can go whenever you’re ready.”

  “Let me grab my backpack.”

  She waited until they were on their way before she asked the question that had been foremost in her mind all morning. “Have you heard anything from the other searchers?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry. No.” He glanced at her, then back at the road. “Have you thought about where Casey might have gone if she ran away? Let’s go with the theory that she saw what happened to her parents and ran, scared. Is there anything in particular that she’s attracted to? Is she drawn to water? Would she hide in a cave, or would she avoid that?”

  “I think a cave would frighten her. I don’t think she cares about water, one way or another.” She frowned, trying to think past her exhaustion and fear. “I mean, she’s five years old. She’s a sweet, innocent girl who’s never known danger for a minute in her life. Seeing her parents killed—” She shook her head. “She must be terrified.”

  “We haven’t found any indication that the people who killed your sister and her husband harmed Casey,” Gage said. “Hold on to that hope.”

  She nodded. “I will. I’m hoping Casey spent the night hiding, and once she sees me, she’ll come out.”

  “That’s what we’re hoping, too.”

  “You were right—I do like Paige. And she vouched for you as a good guy.”

  “Were you worried I was otherwise?”

  “No, but it’s always good to have someone verify my first impression.”

  “Glad I passed the test. Though I can’t say I’m all that comfortable knowing you two have been discussing my merits and flaws.”

  “Ha! As if men don’t do the same with women.”

  “I promise, I haven’t discussed you with anyone.”

  Under other circumstances, that admission might have disappointed her, Maya told herself. But there were bigger things at stake right now. “What’s the plan for this morning?” she asked.

  “I think you should hang around the main camp. If any of the search team spot Casey, or any signs of her, they can contact the base and we’ll get you to that location.”

  That sounded like a lot of sitting around and waiting for other people to find Casey—not what she had in mind. “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “I want to take a look at the property adjacent to the place your sister and her husband owned. A few years back, a developer bought it and had plans to build a big resort, but he ran afoul of local environmentalists. The property is supposed to be vacant, but Paige told me last night she was up there a few days ago and it looked as if someone had been working there. If I can find whoever that was, maybe they saw something that will lead us to your sister’s killer. Or maybe someone there has seen Casey.”

  “Or maybe this mysterious person is the killer.” Maya wrapped her arms across her stomach to ward off a chill.

  “Maybe.” Gage looked grim. “It’s something I need to find out.”

  “I want to come with you,” Maya said. “If there are other people working there, it makes sense that Casey would have headed in that direction.”

  “I don’t know what I’m going to walk into,” Gage said. “I can’t risk putting you in danger.”

  “I don’t care about that.” When he gave her a questioning look, she set her jaw. “No offense, Deputy, but I’ll do almost anything to save my niece. That’s more important to me than anything else right now.”

  “And if I order you to stay away?” he asked.

  “Then you would have a fight on your hands,” she said. “And when it comes to people I love, I’m not afraid to fight dirty.”

  “The scary thing about that,” Gage said, “is that I absolutely believe you.”

  “Why is that scary?”

  “Let’s just say, I never met a teacher like you. I’m still making up my mind whether I like that or not.”

  “You don’t have to like it. Just don’t stand in the way of me taking care of my niece.”
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  “I won’t stand in your way,” he said. “Unless you’re in mine. But I think we’re on the same side in this matter. Just respect that I have a job to do. I want to find your niece as much as you do, but I also need to find your sister’s killer. I think we can do both.”

  “Are you going to take me with you this morning or not?”

  She waited a long, tense moment for him to answer. If she had to, she would go to his brother, the sheriff. Or she would get the press on her side—there was bound to be a reporter at the site, surely.

  “All right, you can come with me,” he said. “But if I sense anything dangerous, I’m taking you right back to camp—no arguments.”

  “All right.” That would have to do—for now. Maya had meant it when she told Gage she would do anything to protect her niece. Anything at all.

  Chapter Five

  Gage wasn’t used to people pushing back against decisions he made as an officer of the law, and his first instinct with Maya had been to shut her down. But he had heard the determination in her voice and seen the grief in her eyes, and recognized a fight he couldn’t win. He didn’t really expect to run into any danger on Henry Hake’s land, and if they did, he was confident he could protect them both.

  He parked behind Travis’s SUV and the sheriff walked out to meet them. “The first group of searchers just went out,” he reported. “Lorna has her dog with her, and a couple of other people say they know a little sign language, so if they see Casey, they can try to communicate with her.”

  “Thank you,” Maya said. She looked pale in the early morning light, and Gage read the disappointment in her eyes. She had been hoping for word of her niece when they arrived—she wanted to hear that the little girl had already been found.

  Gage put a hand on her shoulder. “Wait over by the fire for me. I need to talk to the sheriff for a minute.”

  She nodded and moved toward the fire, a sad but determined woman. Gage didn’t know if he would be as strong if he were in her position.