Avalanche of Trouble

by Cindi Myers

  “My dad always told me, ‘Don’t borrow trouble,’” Gage said. “Don’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet.” He caressed her shoulder, and she fought the urge to lean into him again. “You’re a smart woman. When the time comes, you’ll make the right decisions.”

  “I’ll make the decisions,” she said. “And hope they’re right.” But what was the right decision with Gage? If she only had herself to think about, she might risk a relationship with this cop who had a reputation for never being serious—the small-town guy who didn’t fit with her big-city life.

  But this wasn’t all about her anymore. She had to make the right choices for Casey, too. And the little girl needed stability more than anything right now. She didn’t need new situations and new people in her life. Maya stood. “I think I’d better say good-night.”

  “Good night.” Gage didn’t reach for her hand or try to pull her back. Instead, he let her walk away, into the bedroom, where she closed the door behind her. Did it cost him anything to let her go so easily? Earlier, she had sensed he was struggling, but maybe she had only been projecting what she wanted. After all, in a few days when she went back to Denver, he would return to the life he had always known, while her life would never be the same again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next morning, Maya and Casey accompanied Gage to the sheriff’s department, where someone had converted one of the conference rooms into a kind of playroom, with art supplies, games and toys. Adelaide met them at the door with a little girl about Casey’s age. “This is my granddaughter, Rhea,” Adelaide said. “She wanted to come play with Casey today.” Adelaide leaned closer to Maya and lowered her voice. “I explained to her that Casey can’t hear, but you know children—they’ll find a way to get along.”

  “Thank you for bringing her,” Maya said. She made introductions and the girls headed for the piles of art supplies. Maya settled into a chair at the conference table while Adelaide sat across from her.

  “How did it go at Gage’s place last night?” Adelaide asked.

  “It went fine.”

  “He seems to think a lot of you and Casey.” The older woman studied her, like a bird watching a juicy bug. What did she expect Maya to say—that she and Gage had enjoyed a night of torrid lovemaking? Was she hoping for gossip about Gage’s prowess in bed?

  “He’s been a big help to us,” Maya said. “It was kind of him to open his home to us.” Certainly, she had felt physically safer with Gage than she would have at the B and B—though the man unsettled her emotionally like no one she could remember.

  “He and his brother are two of the finest men you’ll ever meet,” Adelaide said. “I can’t tell you the young women in this town who have set their caps for Gage, but the best of them haven’t managed to hold his attention for more than a few months.”

  “Gage doesn’t think a long relationship is a good idea with his job.” Maya repeated the words Gage had told her. Had he been trying to warn her off, even then? What had happened to change his mind—or had she been misreading those signals, too?

  “A man in Gage’s position needs a wife and family to ground him,” Adelaide said. “To give him a reason to come home at night and to remind him that being careful is a good thing. It doesn’t mean he can’t do a good job. Family is the best reason in the world to do their job.”

  Obviously, the older woman had a lot of opinions about what Gage—and probably Maya, too—needed. Time to steer the conversation in another direction. “How long have you worked for the sheriff’s department?” she asked.

  “Seven years. My husband was an officer here for almost thirty years. He retired and a year later, he died of a heart attack. I was about half-crazy, sitting around our house all alone with nothing to do, so when I heard the woman who had this job was quitting and moving out of state, I came down and told the sheriff at the time that he ought to hire me.”

  “Wasn’t it hard, being married to a man who might be killed every time he went to work?” Maya couldn’t believe she had asked the question—she hadn’t even been aware of the thought until she blurted it out.

  Adelaide shifted, crossing her legs. “It was if I let myself think about it too much,” she said. “But look at how he did end up dying—that could have happened if he was a baker or an accountant or anything.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Maya said. “I hope Gage finds the right woman.” That was the appropriate thing to say, wasn’t it? The timing was all wrong for the two of them, so she should wish he would find happiness with someone else—though the thought made her stomach tighten and her fists clench.

  “What about you?”

  Maya stared. Was Adelaide suggesting she was the right woman for Gage?

  “You’ve got that girl to raise now. Do you have a man back in Denver you could see yourself settling down with?”

  “Oh. No, I’m not seeing anyone.”

  “I’m not saying you couldn’t do a fine job raising her on your own,” Adelaide said. “Plenty of women—and men, too, I imagine—do a fine job by themselves. But if you can find someone to love and share the burden, it’s a help and a comfort.”

  “Casey needs all my attention right now. I don’t have time.”

  “So you’re going to wait until she’s grown before you look twice at a man? Haven’t you heard of multitasking? I’ll bet you do it all the time already. You’re a teacher, right?”

  “Yes.” What did that have to do with anything?

  “If you can handle a class full of kids, some of whom don’t even want to be there, I think you’ve got plenty of energy to deal with a little girl and a man.”

  The phone sounded and Adelaide stood. “I’d better answer that. If you or the girls need anything, let me know.”

  The two little girls, giggling, worked together on a poster-sized drawing of what might have been a zoo full of animals. A curly-haired woman with a bucket in one hand and what might have been a carrot stood in front of the giraffe, a big smile stretched across her face. A monkey swung from a tree behind her and a big-eared elephant arched his trunk over her head. That was the woman Maya wanted to be—serene and happy in the face of chaos.

  She wanted to be a size four with perfect hair, too. Life didn’t always give people what they wanted. Right now, she wanted Gage to find the killer who had murdered Angie and Greg, who was threatening Casey. She wanted Casey to be safe and maybe, one day sooner rather than later, to be happy. Then she could start to think about her own happiness.

  * * *

  HENRY HAKE’S HOME was the sort of stone and cedar chalet favored by wealthy second-home owners—a combination ski lodge and mini-mansion, with soaring beams, antler chandeliers and expanses of double-paned glass that looked out on the aspen-studded slopes of Mount Rayford. Travis drove his SUV past the open black iron gate and parked on a paved driveway, the concrete scored to look like cobblestones.

  “The place looks deserted,” Gage said when he stood beside his brother in front of the oak double doors at the front of the house. Dried leaves had collected in front of the door and old pollen dusted the windowsills.

  “My guess is, Hake hasn’t been back since he disappeared,” Travis said. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and took a key from his pocket. “State patrol sent a couple of officers out here after Hake’s office manager reported him missing, but they didn’t find anything suspicious.”

  Gage, also gloved, followed his brother into the house. A stone-floored entry opened into a great room with a double-sided fireplace and oversized log furniture with thick leather cushions, red-and-green wool throws draped artfully here and there. What looked to be a genuine grizzly bear rug stretched in front of one side of the fireplace, and bookshelves soared almost to the ceiling between the massive windows. Gage gave a low whistle. “Hake lived here by himself?”

  “His assistant said he entertained a lot�
�clients and investors.” He moved across the room to a door on the other side and opened it.

  “What are we looking for?” Gage asked.

  “Any information about those investors or the silent partners he had in the Eagle Mountain Resort project,” Travis said. “Hake’s assistant swears she doesn’t know their names and she never met them.”

  “Do you believe her?”

  “She hasn’t given me any reason not to. She seemed genuinely distressed by Hake’s disappearance and has been cooperative.” He crossed the room to a dust-covered desk.

  “I take it you’ve already searched his office,” Gage said.

  “I would have, but the assistant told me Hake moved all the business files here to his home office, about a week before he disappeared. The plan was to shut down the other office space and run everything out of here. He paid her a generous severance package. She was packing up the last of the office furniture and supplies when she called to report him missing.”

  “What is she doing now?” Gage asked.

  “She moved to Colorado Springs and has a new job.” Travis tried the top drawer of the filing cabinet that sat behind the desk, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “Is there a key in the desk?” Gage asked.

  Travis opened the middle drawer of the desk and rifled through the contents. Gage turned to study the open shelving along the opposite wall. Not much of interest there—some copy paper, a paper cutter, box of envelopes, half a dozen books. He walked over and pulled one of the books from the shelf. “The Deadliest Game—Chemical Warfare in World War II. Looks like Hake was interested in military history,” he said, seeing that the other titles on the shelf also dealt with different aspects of the war.

  “I found the key.” Travis held up a pair of small gold keys held together with a loop of wire. He turned and fit one of the keys into the top drawer of the filing cabinet. The drawer slid open easily.

  Too easily. The two brothers stared at the empty drawer. Travis opened the other three drawers—all just as vacant. “Why bother locking an empty filing cabinet?” Gage asked.

  “According to the Colorado State Patrol investigator’s report, made the day after Hake’s disappearance was reported, this cabinet was full of files pertaining to Hake’s businesses,” Travis said. “At the time, they didn’t think anything in here was relevant to what they were considering a case of a man who had left town of his own accord for a while, but the report definitely mentions them.”

  “And now they’re gone,” Gage said. “Who took them?”

  Travis’s eyes met his. “Maybe the person who put Hake’s car in that ravine.”

  * * *

  AT ELEVEN THIRTY, Darla joined Casey and Maya in the conference room-turned-playroom. “The sheriff told me what happened after you left here yesterday,” she said. “How are you doing?”

  “I think I’m more shaken up by the whole thing than Casey is.” Both women turned to watch Casey, who, after greeting Darla, had gone back to coloring with Rhea. “She had the presence of mind to lock herself in the bathroom and call 911. Gage thinks the attacker heard the sirens approaching and fled.”

  “The police artist Sheriff Walker found to work with Casey will be here shortly,” Darla said. “I’ll translate her descriptions to him and we’re hoping together we can come up with a picture to help us identify the culprit. Once he’s captured, you’ll both feel better.”

  The door opened and Gage walked in. Maya’s breath caught, and her heart fluttered. She had always thought of herself as a woman who would never lose her head over a man, yet being with Gage left her so undone.

  “I’m Tim Baker, the forensic artist.” A young man she hadn’t noticed before, long dark hair tied back in a ponytail, offered his hand. “I’ll be working with Casey this afternoon.”

  “Tim has a lot of experience working with children,” Gage said.

  “I find that most children, even very young ones like Casey, are very intelligent and know a lot more than we give them credit for,” Tim said. “The challenge is finding a way to help them communicate the details they know.”

  “I imagine it’s a bigger challenge when the child is deaf,” Maya said.

  “Yes, but she does have a language,” Tim said. “With Darla as my interpreter, I’m sure I’ll be able to understand what I need to create an image of her attacker.”

  “I’m sure I can help, too,” Maya said.

  Gage touched her arm. “I thought while Darla and Casey are working with Tim, I’d take you to lunch,” he said.

  “Children are sometimes more forthcoming when Mom isn’t hovering.” Tim opened his computer bag and began setting up a laptop. “Since Darla and Casey have already established a relationship, everything should be fine.”

  Maya started to protest that she wasn’t Casey’s mother, but Gage interrupted. “Come on,” he said. “You could use a break, couldn’t you?”

  Casey had already turned to greet Darla, who in turn introduced Tim. She barely glanced over when Darla signed that she should say goodbye to Maya, then waved half-heartedly, her attention quickly captured once more by the affable young man. Tim picked up one of the markers the girls had been working with and wrote his name, then drew a cartoon of a penguin that had both girls laughing.

  “Rhea, I think your grandmother is ready to take you home,” Gage said.

  Rhea’s eyes said she wanted to protest, but Gage soothed her feelings by putting his hand on her shoulder. “Casey has work to do now,” he said. “We’d better leave her to it.”

  Gage and Maya left Rhea with Adelaide, then walked out to his SUV. “It feels strange to leave her like that,” Maya said, looking back toward the sheriff’s office.

  “She seemed happy when we left,” Gage said. “And you can’t say she’s a timid child.”

  “No, she isn’t,” Maya agreed. “She’s much more confident than I was at her age—or at any age. How many adults would have the presence of mind to hide from a killer and call 911? Or survive two days and nights alone in the woods? I don’t know if I’m cut out to raise a child like that.” There—she’d said it—she’d given voice to the fear that had lurked in the back of her mind since news of her sister’s death had sunk in. How was she qualified to be a parent? If she had contemplated having children at all, it had been as something that would happen years from now, once she was further along in her career and happily married to the man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. Even when she had signed the papers agreeing to be Casey’s guardian, she had never believed it would happen.

  Gage reached over and took her hand. “I’m guessing at some point every parent in the world has thought the same thing,” he said. “All parents have to learn as they go. You’ll do fine.”

  “I guess all I can do is try.” But his vote of confidence made her feel better. He had a gift for knowing just what to say and do—at least for her.

  “What do you feel like eating for lunch?” he asked. “The selection in Eagle Mountain isn’t the most varied in the world, but we could run over to Junction if you like.”

  “I don’t want to go to a restaurant,” she said.

  He went still, though his expression didn’t change. “Oh?”

  “No. I want to go back to your house.” She wet her lips. “To finish what we started last night.”

  He glanced at her, as if making sure she was serious. Then he keyed the mic on his radio. “This is unit two,” he said. “I’m going ten-seven until further notice.”

  * * *

  GAGE TOOK HIS cue from Maya and played it cool. He drove to his house, unlocked the door and followed her inside. She deposited her purse on the table by the sofa, then walked back to his bedroom, as if she had done so dozens of times before. When he caught up with her, she was standing just inside the doorway, surveying the king-sized bed with its navy blue comforter, and the simpl
e oak dresser and nightstand. “It’s much neater than I expected,” she said.

  “My mother insisted we make our beds before breakfast every morning,” he said. “It’s a habit that stuck.” He put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her to face him. “Are you saying you expected me to be a slob?”

  “Aren’t most people? Trust me, if you had walked into my bedroom unannounced, you would have found the bed unmade and clothes on the floor.”

  “If I walked into your bedroom unannounced, I wouldn’t be thinking about your housekeeping practices.” He pulled her close against him. “I’m not thinking about them now.”

  “So I can tell.” She tilted her head up to his in an invitation he wasn’t about to refuse. She kissed him back—unhurriedly, with an intensity that stirred him. Her fingers brushed the back of his neck, her nails pressed against his scalp. Her other hand was at his back, fingers splayed across his ribs—or where his ribs were under the tactical vest.

  She broke the kiss and pulled back a little. “All this hardware is sexy in its own way,” she said. “But I’m looking forward to feeling you out of it.”

  He unbuckled his utility belt and set it, clanking, on the dresser, then began unbuttoning his shirt, starting at the top. She tugged the shirt from his waistband and undid the bottom button, working her way up until they met in the middle. He captured her hand and kissed it, sucking the fingers into his mouth one at a time, enjoying the way her eyes glazed and her breath grew uneven. Then he released her hand and stripped off the shirt.

  While he removed the vest and the rest of his clothes, she also undressed until she stood before him in bra and panties, both pale pink and relatively plain and as erotic as anything he had ever seen. She had a trim waist and rounded hips and small but full breasts that swelled over the top of her bra, and he couldn’t resist cupping her in his hands, smiling when she gasped as he dragged his thumbs across her hardened nipples. “Is this the kind of lunch break you had in mind?” he asked.