by Kathi Daley
I looked up from my musings as Zak walked in the front door. He’d gone over to the administration office, where the mainframe of the computer was stored, to take a look at the reports he’d spent the past two days creating. “Did you find anything?”
“Actually, I did.” Zak took off his coat and boots and put them in the entry closet. “The video feed has definitely been tampered with. I was able to locate the section of tape that has been spliced and patched. Whoever did it knew what they were doing, which in my mind should narrow down our suspect list.”
“Unless the person who tampered with the security video isn’t the same person who killed Daniel,” I pointed out.
“You think the person who altered the feed did so to protect the killer?”
“I think it’s a possibility we should at least consider.”
I decided to call Jeremy after dinner. The idea that someone was stealing dogs had me a lot more alarmed than I cared to admit. As many times as I went over the scenario in my head, the only reasons I could come up with for someone to do such a thing were unpleasant to say the least.
“Hey, Jeremy. Any news?” I greeted him as soon as he answered his cell.
“No. I had one of the owners offer a nice reward, but so far no takers.”
“Did you publicize the fact that the owner was offering a reward?”
“I have flyers everywhere. If the dognapper was after money I would think he or she would have responded by now.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “If you don’t have any action by tomorrow go ahead and post a warning. I don’t want any other dogs to fall victim to this psycho.”
“Did you ever talk to Salinger?” Jeremy asked.
“No. I left a detailed message for him, but he never called me back and I got busy and didn’t follow up. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Any luck with your murder case?”
I sat down on the bed, folded my legs under my body, and leaned back onto the pillows. “Not so far. We have several people with motive and even some with opportunity, but we can’t seem to put everything together. The whole thing is getting frustrating.”
“I’m sorry your trip isn’t going as planned. Did you at least get some snowboarding in?”
“Sort of.” I explained about the man in black and my near-miss earlier in the day.
“Do you think it was intentional?”
“I don’t know. Lord knows I’ve had rookie skiers run me off my route before, but this guy came out of nowhere and we were on a black diamond run. If it was an accident I won’t be surprised to hear the guy crashed before getting to the bottom.” I paused. “You just gave me an idea. Maybe I should check with the clinic here to see if anyone fitting the description we have was brought in. If he did crash I’ll know he just ended up on a run he shouldn’t have been on, but if he made it to the bottom chances are he meant to be there and intentionally tried to run me into the trees.”
“Might be worth looking into.”
After I hung up I called the clinic and spoke to the receptionist about the out-of-control skier. She said no one matching that description had come and I thanked her, then headed downstairs, where I ran into Alex, who was coming up the stairs. “What is it, sweetie? You look upset.”
“It’s Scooter.” Alex held up her phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
“Hey, sweetie, how’s LA?” I asked into Alex’s phone.
“It’s okay. It’s sunny and warm, which seems all wrong for this time of year, but my dad is taking me to Disneyland tomorrow and I’m superexcited about that.”
“I’ve been to Disneyland. You’ll have a blast. Be sure to take lots of selfies and send them to me. I want to see everything.”
“I’ll try to remember. Dad said I can bring Griffin, so maybe I’ll have Dad take some of both of us.”
“Griffin?”
“He’s my new friend. His dad works with my dad.”
“That’s wonderful. Maybe I can meet him sometime.”
“Maybe you and Zak and Alex can come visit us this summer. Griffin is really nice. I think you’ll like him a lot.”
I felt myself tear up but pushed it down. Scooter seemed to have accepted his situation, which was good, but the reminder that he wouldn’t be with us next summer made me want to bawl like a baby.
“So what’s your favorite thing in LA so far?” I choked out.
Scooter was quiet. I waited, but he didn’t answer.
“Are you still there?”
“I’m here. I like Los Angeles okay and I’m having fun with my dad, but I miss you and Zak and Alex. Are you having fun in Canada?”
“We are, but it would be a lot more fun if you were here.”
“Do you think Digger is okay?” Scooter asked, referring to his dog.
“I’m sure he is. You know he loves Tiffany and he has a lot of friends to play with because Shep and Karloff are at the house too. Still, I bet he’ll be so happy when you come home after your vacation with your dad.”
“I miss him so much.”
Uh-oh. I’d done what I hadn’t wanted to do: make Scooter sad. When he’d first gotten on the line he’d sounded happy; now it sounded like he was about to cry.
“Did Alex tell you the funny story about the confused bear?”
“Confused bear?”
The story wasn’t really all that funny, but I needed something to change the mood of the conversation, so I quickly thought up a few elaborations. “You know that because it’s winter bears are supposed to be hibernating, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, today, when we were at the top of the mountain, this huge black bear came wandering out of the forest. He was yawning and he looked sort of disoriented, like I do when I’m woken up too early in the morning.”
Scooter laughed. “Was his hair all wild and crazy like yours?”
“It would have been if he’d had long hair. Anyway, I guess he was hungry because he turned and headed toward one of the outdoor decks where some skiers were having lunch. When he climbed up on the deck the skiers mostly scrambled out of his way. He climbed up onto one of the tables and sat down right on top of a plate of food. He just looked around, not even caring that he was going to have potato salad all over his butt.”
Scooter was cracking up by this point. Just the mention of the word butt was usually enough to get him going.
“Was he eating the food?” Scooter asked.
“No, just sitting there looking around like he knew he had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed and was wondering where in the heck he was.”
“So what happened?”
“One of the skiers who’d left their backpack under the table the bear was sitting on wanted him to move, so he picked up a roll and threw it at him.”
“Did he move?”
“No. The bear picked up a half-eaten burger that was left behind when everyone scrambled and threw it at the skier. Before you knew it, everyone was throwing food at the bear and the bear was throwing food at the people and it was a huge food fight.”
Scooter giggled. “You’re making that up.”
“Maybe part of it,” I admitted. “But we really did see a bear and he really did look like he couldn’t figure out how he ended upside in the snow when he should have been sleeping.”
“Maybe he was bearwalking.” Scooter really was cracking up by this point. “Get it? Like sleepwalking but for a bear.”
“I get it.” I smiled. One of the very best things about little boys is that they’re so easy to cheer up. I talked to Scooter for a few more minutes and then turned him over to Alex, after promising to talk to him again the next day.
Chapter 8
Friday, December 30
I was exhausted the next morning when Zak woke me up, after tossing and turning all night after speaking to Scooter. I felt so bad that the situation with his father was so hard on him. I could tell he really did long to have his father in his life after so many years of absence, but he was scared abou
t the possibility of a permanent move.
Given the option, I probably would have simply stayed in bed with the covers pulled over my head as I worried about the little boy I loved so very much, but Zak had a free morning and Nikki had offered to take us over to Echo Ridge to meet Michael and the others, so we decided to make a day of it and get some more snowboarding in. I dropped Charlie off at the doggie daycare while Zak made breakfast and Alex got ready. We’d arranged to pick Nikki up at around ten and planned to spend the entire day at the neighboring resort.
“Morning, Paige,” I said when I entered the lobby of the doggie daycare facility.
“Good morning, Zoe, Charlie.”
Charlie ran over to Paige the moment I set him down on the floor. It was obvious the two had bonded when he’d visited the other day.
“Will Charlie be spending the day with us?” Paige asked.
“If that’s okay. We’re planning to go over to Echo Ridge and I’m not sure what time we’ll be back.”
“You must be Zak’s Zoe,” a tall blond woman who was standing off to the side said as I handed Paige Charlie’s leash should she need it.
“I am. And you are…?”
“Stephanie Carrington Bradford. Nikki has told me all about you. It seems she’s quite taken with your daughter’s knowledge of literature. Nikki loves to read.”
“I’m glad the two of them are hitting it off.” I supposed I should correct everyone’s assumption that Alex was my daughter, but somehow it didn’t seem important enough to go to the effort and, if I was entirely honest with myself, I liked it when people thought that.
“You’ll love skiing Echo Ridge,” Stephanie said. “The snow there is the best on the mountain.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“If you two don’t mind, I’ll take Muffin and Charlie back to the play area,” Paige interrupted. “We have several reservations that should be here any minute, so I’d like to clear the lobby.”
Stephanie and I both said good-bye to our respective fur babies and then left the building and headed toward the parking area.
“Now that I’ve run into you, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?” I didn’t suspect Stephanie at this point, but I figured I might as well get a feel for the situation from her perspective while I had her attention.
“Veronica warned me that Chance had asked you to snoop around. Just for the record, despite anything anyone might have said to you, I didn’t kill my brother.”
I was planning to be a bit subtler in introducing the subject, but since she’d brought it up I figured I’d jump right in. “Why would anyone tell me you had killed him?”
She stopped walking as we arrived at her car.
“I know there’s speculation that the reason for my brother’s death is the vote on the sale of Bear Mountain on January 3. And I know anyone who’s been on the mountain for any length of time is aware of my desire to sell my stock. And yes, it frustrated me that Daniel held all the cards and refused to even consider selling to Michael despite my repeated efforts to sway his stance. I also realize that with my brother’s death the door is open for me to get what I’ve wanted for a long time. I realize that gives me a motive, but I can assure you that I would never kill Daniel or anyone else for nothing more than financial gain.”
“I understand that at one time your father’s estate was divided in thirds and at some point Daniel bought your other brother’s stock.”
“That’s correct.”
“It occurred to me that if Daniel wanted to keep the resort and you wanted to cash out, you would have offered to sell your stock to Daniel as well.”
Stephanie laughed. Not a ha-ha laugh; more of a snicker. “Daniel could never have afforded to buy me out. Unlike Theo, who was willing to settle for pennies on the dollar, I wanted the full cash value for my shares.”
“Daniel bought Theo’s stock for pennies on the dollar?”
Stephanie unlocked her car door. “Theo is what most people would refer to as a mess. He’s never been the sort to act responsibly or even to maintain a steady job. Shortly after we inherited the stock from our father, Theo, who struggles with a gambling addiction, got into debt with some very scary people. He went to Daniel for help. Daniel agreed not only to pay off his debt but to let Theo live on the resort rent-free for life in exchange for his stock.”
“And you feel that arrangement was worth less than the value of the stock Daniel received?”
“Much less, although to be fair, the resort wasn’t worth as much then as it is now, and if Daniel had given Theo cash instead of room and board he would have blown it in a month. I don’t blame Daniel for the way he handled things, but it did make things more difficult for me.”
“Why didn’t you offer to buy Theo out instead so you would have the two thirds to sell?”
“It happened a long time ago, before I’d met my husband. It hadn’t occurred to me yet that I would want to sell. Besides, I didn’t live on the mountain; the whole thing was a problem I didn’t want to deal with. Now, I must go.”
“One last question: If part of the deal Daniel made with Theo was for him to live rent-free at the resort, what happens if the resort sells?”
“I don’t have all the details about the deal Daniel made with Theo, but I’m sure that situation was addressed in some way. As far as I’m concerned, if the resort sells we’ll be sure Theo is taken care of. I really do have to run. I’m sure we’ll see each other again. It seems our fur babies have become buddies.”
“Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.”
I returned to the Jeep we’d been given to drive while visiting the resort. If I looked only at motive it would seem Stephanie’s was as good as anyone else’s for wanting her brother dead, but I’d sensed sincere grief behind her confident exterior. On the other hand, the manner in which she’d brought up the subject had made it appear she was prepared with a response. Of course it was common knowledge by this time at least among the family that Chance had asked us to look into things, so it was natural that anyone even remotely involved might be ready with answers to the questions they knew were coming.
When I returned to the house Zak said he’d managed to obtain a list of the kitchen staff who had worked the party the day Daniel was murdered. We didn’t necessarily suspect any of them of killing Daniel, but they had been moving around clearing dishes and refilling the buffet table, so one of them might have seen or heard something. As it turned out, one of the kitchen staff was currently working at Echo Ridge, so we arranged to meet with her, as well as Michael and Mercedes, while we were visiting the property.
“You’ll enjoy the terrain at Echo Ridge,” Nikki assured us thirty minutes later as we made the drive to the other side of the mountain. “The east side of the mountain is not only steeper at the top but it tends to get more snow, so most years you’re likely to find a deeper snowpack there than you will at Bear Mountain. After I introduce you to Michael and the others I’ll take you up to some of my favorite runs.”
“Does Michael know we’re coming today?”
“Yeah, I called him. He knows you’re looking into Daniel’s murder. I’m sure he’ll share what he knows. Like I said before, he really is a nice guy despite what you’ve heard.”
As it turned out, Michael did seem like a nice guy, at least on the surface. Not only did he welcome us with open arms but he had coffee and pastries waiting for us when we arrived at his office. It was decided that Nikki would take Alex on a tour of the village at Echo Ridge while the adults chatted.
“Nikki told me why you’re here today,” Michael said as he poured our coffee. “It’s a beautiful sunny day and there’s some great skiing to be had, so I suggest we cut right to the chase. I didn’t kill Daniel. Yes, I’m interested in buying Bear Mountain and restoring the mountain to single ownership, and yes, it’s true Daniel and I didn’t always get along, but he was my cousin and I never would have done anything to harm him.”
�
��Did you grow up as friends?” I wondered. They’d lived on the same mountain, after all.
“Unfortunately, no. Our fathers had a fierce rivalry and Daniel and I were each brought up to blame the other side of the family for any problems that arose. Xavier Carrington might have believed he was doing the fair thing, dividing the mountain between his two sons, but all he really did was lay the basis for a feud that has lasted generations.”
“And you feel uniting the mountain under a single ownership would serve to end the feud and reunite the family?” I asked.
“I do. It might be too late for Daniel and me, but two families united by blood but separated by jealousy seems like such a waste. The feud between the two families never has sat right with me, and after my sister passed and I obtained full ownership of Echo Ridge I decided it was time to reunite that which should never have been divided.”
“So you approached Daniel about buying his half of the mountain?”
“I did, but he wouldn’t even consider it.”
“Would you have considered selling your half to him to unite the mountain?”
“I might have considered it if that would have been a possibility, but Daniel could never have afforded to buy me out. One of the ongoing problems between the two families had to do with the fact that the east side of the mountain gets more snow than the west. Because of that, Echo Ridge has always been a lot more profitable than Bear Mountain. If I had to guess, after the drought of the past few years, Bear Mountain is probably barely making it.”
That was news to me. While what I had seen of Echo Ridge so far showed it to be a more modernized resort than Bear Mountain, the latter was still one of the nicest resorts I’d ever visited.
Zak jumped in for the first time. “I understand Kyle and Mercedes are dating.”
“They are, yes. I know it sounds odd, but they aren’t related by blood.”
“Nikki explained that,” I said. “And you support the relationship?”
“Very much. Mercedes might not be my niece by blood, but I love her like a daughter and want only the best for her. Kyle’s a good kid. I’d be jumping the gun to assume the two will marry—neither has brought it up to me—but if that’s what happens I would welcome Kyle into my family with open arms.”