by Kimball Lee
*
The phone rang in the hotel room in the wee hours of the morning and Finn answered. It was JP and he said Amanda was frantic. She’d decided she wanted to talk to her brother about her misgivings over his engagement so she’d gone to his suite after midnight but Natalie said she thought he was still with the rest of the group. In fact she hadn’t seen him since she’d taken the gondola down from the Chalet earlier in the day.
Finn woke Charlotte and told her what was going on as he dressed and then he left to meet JP in the lobby.
Charlotte felt goose bumps rise on her arms and she knew it meant trouble. She pulled on jeans and a turtleneck and hurried to the lobby and Amanda grabbed her and dragged her aside to tell her about the conversation with Natalie at the Chalet and how strange and ‘out of it’ Alex had seemed.
“We’ll find him, don’t go crazy with worry, it’s a small village and someone must have seen him leave the Chalet,” Charlotte told her. “Surely there are security cameras on the mountain in case a skier is injured and needs help. What do you mean he seemed strange, I thought he had a mild case of altitude sickness, what did he say?”
“Oh my God, it was what she said but he just went along with it while he mumbled something about loving you. She said Alex had given her power of attorney over his entire fortune, could he have done that, would it be legal?” Amanda was sick with anxiety, she wanted her brother and she could tell by the look on Charlotte’s face that what she’d just told her was not good by any means.
Charlotte looked around the hotel lobby as it began to fill with uniformed policemen; dogs were brought in and given a piece of Bly’s clothing to smell. Some of the dogs were led outside and she heard them barking and howling as they moved farther away. Hotel guests congregated and whispered and were enlisted to search throughout the hotel for Bly. Finn and JP had put on ski clothes and they were going with the ski patrol to search near the ski runs on the mountain. She heard someone say avalanche warnings had been issued for the rest of the day and again she felt the cold hand of fear grip her.
Finn turned to look for her as he left, she stood on the far side of the lobby but she could see the concern on his face. She heard screaming and a scuffle and she realized Natalie had stepped out of the elevator, calm and immaculately dressed. Amanda began to beat her fists against Natalie’s chest, crying and hysterical. Natalie shook her head in mock sadness as the police dragged Amanda away from her.
As Natalie watched Charlotte walk toward her a terrible light began to burn in her eyes and when they met face to face, Charlotte asked, “what have you done to him Natalie, you’ll never get away with it, tell me where he is?”
Natalie leaned forward and kissed Charlotte’s cheek and whispered, “Several people at the Chalet heard your husband threaten Alex, so don’t look at me like I’ve done anything wrong. I’m heartbroken, can’t you tell? I swear I’m not acting, and now princess, we’ll just see who wins.”
END LEGAL ACTION 3
LEGAL ACTION 4
CHAPTER ONE
“I’m afraid Bly is dead!” Charlotte screamed into the cell phone. “Can you hear me West? Where the hell are you? That woman said you’re on the boat somewhere, and now Bly’s missing. He’s gone and no one can find him, and I know she’s done something terrible!”
“Charlotte? What woman, what’s going on, are you still in the mountains? I can barely hear you, where is Alex?” West was asking.
The blizzard had come out of nowhere just after noon on Christmas Day and the wind was howling with such ferocity that it rattled the hotel windows and whistled down the chimneys. Town’s people and guests milled around the lobby talking loudly over one another, they were all stranded at the hotel in the worst snowstorm in a decade. Charlotte waited for the elevator, still trying to make West hear her.
“Natalie, Natasha, didn’t you check her out? She was my college roommate, she’s completely insane! How could she have slipped past your “no detail overlooked” brand of fool-proof detective work?” She was screaming, and furious, and sick to her stomach, and she knew that she had overlooked the changes in Bly. They all had, she and Finn, JP and Amanda, they were guilty of turning away when he needed help. It was so evident to her now, a man like Bly with a women like Natalie, he would never have chosen her, not in a million years.
“Write this number down, it’s the satellite phone on the yacht, get to a land line and we’ll have a clearer connection. Are you listening, Charlotte? Write it down and call me back immediately, I’ll have the phone with me. I’m going to charter a jet and I’ll be there ASAP,” he said, and his voice was hard as steel.
“She was drugging him, she must have been. He thought he had altitude sickness, he was losing his mind and I did absolutely nothing. Natalie has set herself up to take over everything he owns, and she may not be acting alone. Why didn’t you come with him, West? We both let this happen,” she said, and the line crackled and went dead.
*
West walked to the edge of the pool and the girl swam toward him smiling, she was young and naked and too perfect, he realized. She’d shown up in his life within days of Natasha’s arrival in Alex Bly’s life, and he had become distracted. West worked hard to make sure his body was a finely-tuned machine, and the bit of grey at his temples didn’t detract from his ruggedly handsome features. Still, he was forty six years old and the girl was eighteen and she had seemed so smitten with him, so convincingly sincere. She couldn’t get enough of him and he was caught up in her body and her beauty and the nonstop sex, she made him feel young and fully alive and it was like a drug. A drug that induced the overwhelmingly powerful high of youth, with its promise of immortality.
“I hope that wasn’t business to distract you, baby,” she cooed, stepping out of the pool and onto the deck of the yacht, and pressing her sleek, nude body against him. “Let’s go to the bedroom and forget about the rest of the world.”
West held her at arms-length and his voice was ice cold when he asked, “Who’s paying you?”
*
Charlotte took the elevator to her room and just as she reached her floor, all the lights blinked out. The elevator door had opened just a crack, and at first she panicked, afraid of being caught in a cramped, pitch black space. She worked her hands into the small opening and pushed the doors apart just enough to wedge her body through. Then she felt her way along the dark, seemingly unending corridor to her room. The card key wouldn’t work with the power out, so she beat hard on the door, hoping Georgina would hear her from the adjoining bedroom.
Georgina answered right away and pulled Charlotte inside. “Oh my Lord, this weather is frightening and Finn is out there on the mountain, but he’s alright and he wants to talk to you this very minute,” she said, pointing to a cell phone on the bedside table.
Charlotte picked it up, it was the little cell phone that Finn had let her use when they were camping, when she couldn’t get reception. He had joked that it could reach the president if she needed it to. As she held it in her hand it began to vibrate and instead of a name on the screen it said, “X35.”
“Hello?” she answered.
“My love, sit down and listen to me,” Finn said, “first of all, are you alright? You must be, or you wouldn’t be talking to me now. I’ve told Mum to stay in the room with the baby, I don’t want any of you to answer the door, not even for room service. Do you understand? No one else is allowed in the room, Charlotte. I sent Henrietta down to the restaurant kitchen to gather milk and food for the time being. JP talked to…”
“Wait, wait, wait! Where are you and how are you calling me? I’ve heard there are avalanches on the mountain and this storm has knocked out all the power in the hotel. Finn, I’m so afraid for you out there in this horrible weather, and I have this feeling that Bly might still be alive but he’s freezing to death. There’s no telling what she’s done with him…”
“Charlotte, pull yourself together now, the clock is ticking and you need to do severa
l things, are you paying attention?” Finn said firmly. “The cell phone I left for you is my satellite phone, I’m calling you from JP’s sat-phone, they work anywhere on the planet in worse conditions than these. I’m with JP and five members of the Ski Patrol. We’re safe inside the Chalet for now, and yes, there are ongoing avalanches. The others from the search party are still out there, they know emergency protocol for digging snow caves and they have survival gear, so we’ll stay hopeful. Anyway, we have food but no power, we’re breaking up chairs and tables to burn for warmth.”
“Enough of that, here’s what you need to do.” He went on, “first, call your father, I can’t get through to him since it’s Christmas and he isn’t taking calls, but he’ll answer for you, I’m sure. Ask him to contact the authorities in Prague and have them revoke Natalie’s passport in case the police finish their questioning and release her. Tell him you’ll have hotel security find a decent picture of her face on their security video, there should be one of her in the elevator this morning. Take a picture of it with the phone you’re holding and text message it to the ambassador and to me. I’ll send the image to every airport security and exit point and all my operative contacts worldwide. Are you getting all this, my love? Also, make sure he has Bly’s jet grounded until this has all been cleared up, Natalie won’t find it easy to get out of the country if she tries. We know she’s still being questioned by the police now, but she’s obviously damn good at lying and fabricating believable stories.”
“Next, a man is coming to help you, his name is Billy Kipling, JP says you met him on Bly’s jet when you came for us in Taiwan. He lives in Prague so he can get to you one way or another. Don’t ask how he’ll get there, he’ll strap on snow shoes and walk the entire eighty miles if has to. It seems that West isn’t involved in any of this Natalie business, he’s with some barely legal girl on Bly’s yacht in Cabo San Lucas. I’m sure he’s been completely distracted and I wouldn’t rule out the idea that Natalie set up that love affair. West is in his mid-forties and he’s in decent shape, but really, an eighteen year old girl?”
“I just talked to West, he’s hiring a private jet and coming here. You’re telling me he was with an eighteen year old and he thought she was just completely in to him? Men, I swear you all think with your dicks, its obnoxious!” Charlotte said, pacing the floor.
“You’re right my love, we’re all uncivilized animals. Now, call your father immediately, then call me back.”
“I will,” she said, “Finn are you sure you’re safe? What if an avalanche covers the Chalet or hurls the whole building down the mountain?”
“I’ve been in much more dire straits than being stranded in a pub with plenty of food and alcohol and furniture to throw in the fireplace,” He said and laughed, which made her feel better, but also made her miss him terribly.
It was Christmas Day, and she wanted to be curled up with him watching Atticus play with the goodies Santa left in his stocking. Eventually the baby would fall asleep between them, and they would smile at each other with wonder as they watched their beautiful son. Finn would finally move him to his crib and walk back to the bed with his crooked grin that always made her heart race in anticipation of what was to come.
“I promise I’ll be back to you as soon as the storm lets up and the snow on the mountain is stable. Now hang up and call Charles Tremont, say whatever you have to say to get through to him. There’s a gun hidden in a compartment of my suitcase, call me after you talk to him, I’ll explain how to use it and I want you to keep it near you. I love you more than anything Charlotte, and Atticus as well, we’ll be back in our cottage in no time and you know, we have that little ‘baby making’ project to work on,” Charlotte could hear the other men laughing and saying “awe” in the background, then the phone was silent.
Charlotte dialed Charles Tremont’s number using the satellite phone. A woman answered and said, “This is Alice Tremont, who’s calling please?”
“Mrs. Tremont, this is Charlotte, Charlotte McCall Hunter, I wouldn’t bother the Ambassador on Christmas day but it’s imperative that I speak with him. Please put him on the phone.”
“You’re right, it is in very poor taste for you to contact him during a family holiday. In fact I recommend you delete his number and leave us alone. My husband may be convinced you’re his… daughter, but I’m sure you’re simply an opportunist taking advantage of his goodwill. Don’t call back again Charlotte, do I make myself clear?” she said icily.
“Listen to me, I don’t want anything from your husband, not a single thing that’s personal. Do you know who Alexander Bly is? He’s missing and the woman responsible is going to disappear and he’ll never be found unless your husband makes a few phone calls. Can you reach down in your heart and have some compassion for Mr. Bly and his family? If not, then his death is partially your fault, are you prepared to live with that, Mrs. Tremont?” Charlotte was breathing hard, pissed off as hell that this cold woman was holding things up. Every minute that ticked past meant that if Bly had survived whatever Natalie had done to him, he might die while this high and mighty woman refused to give her husband the phone.
She heard the woman speaking to someone, then Charles Tremont took the phone, “Charlotte, what’s going on, darlin’?” Her father’s voice, still new to her, was so filled with concern it sent tears spilling down her cheeks, but she spoke clearly and told him exactly what he needed to do.
Henrietta returned from the kitchen with a basket of food just as Charlotte opened the hidden compartment in Finn’s suitcase. She took out the heavy pistol and three “magazines,” as Finn referred to the bullets in their holders. The satellite phone was on speaker and with trembling hands she did just as he instructed. The safety was on and he told her how to use her thumb to click it off quickly, she loaded one thirteen round magazine into the gun and put it, and the extras into her coat pockets. Then she told Finn to come back to her, but not until the snow was safe to cross.
He told her he trusted her not to take any chances with her own life, to get the picture of Natalie, then barricade herself in the hotel room until he or Billy came for her and their family.
*
Charlotte dragged a love-struck front desk clerk into the office as he babbled in Czech, and the only words she recognized were “American Jock.” With a lot of gesturing and pantomiming and picture drawing from Charlotte, the young man played the surveillance footage from that morning and she finally snapped a decent picture of Natalie.
The power had come back on before she left the hotel room, but still she decided to take the stairs, making sure to grip the gun in her coat pocket. She opened the door to the stairwell and a hand on her arm stopped her. She turned quickly, her heart racing, and stared into the face of a strikingly attractive blonde woman about her age.
“Sorry to startle you, you’re Charlotte Christiansen, right? I’m Madison Newland, I recognized you from a while back at the fund-raiser in Las Vegas, and I wondered if there was any news about Mr. Bly?” she said, as Charlotte tried to calculate how this woman knew her and if she was a threat.
“Las Vegas?” was all Charlotte could manage.
“I work for Mr. Bly, well, for Bly International. I’m a photographer, a war correspondent for one of his publications, World at Large magazine. You look badly shaken, and I don’t blame you. I know you were friends with Mr. Bly and the two of you were engaged for a while. There’s a lounge next to Bar 45 just for members of the media to post their stories, can you sit with me for a minute? I’d really like to be of some use in finding him, maybe you can tell me what’s happened since you all arrived and I’ll use my ‘journalistic wiles’ to listen for clues.” She showed Charlotte her passport and press ID and even a picture on her phone of Alexander Bly presenting her with an award. Charlotte saw herself in the background of the picture, it was taken the year she and Bly were so much in love. She waited for Charlotte to answer, and Charlotte decided to trust her.
CHAPTER TWO
Charlotte studied her as she got their drinks, and it seemed she did remember seeing her before, but it wasn’t in Las Vegas. It was on a billboard in Los Angeles when she was still at UCLA, Maddie had been that year’s Tropical Dream model. She took off her coat, and as she sat down, Charlotte realized that she wasn’t just a pretty face with big brown eyes, perfectly arched eyebrows, and a pouty pink mouth. She had the kind of curves men dreamed about, the kind that made them stupid with lust, the kind that made a bikini look like a million bucks.
“God, that woman sounds like a total nightmare,” Maddie said, when Charlotte told her what had gone on before Bly disappeared, “and she was your college roommate? Fuck that noise, you should have bitch slapped the shit out of her the minute you realized she tried to make herself over as you! I mean, obviously Alexander Bly is the kind of man that makes a girl want to get seriously down and dirty, but… oh sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that. Or the other word, the ‘F word’.”
Charlotte laughed for the first time that day, it was surprising to hear those words from such an ‘all American’ looking girl, but it made her real and likeable. “No, I love it, it’s true and I should’ve slapped her ass back into the gutter she crawled out of. As far as Bly goes, she is so not his type. I mean she’s strangely attractive, but a cheap sequined dress in a restaurant full of women wearing Chanel and Dior? I should have known something was just wrong. My husband and I are only here to ski, and it’s our little boy’s first Christmas, and mostly because Amanda, Bly’s sister, begged us to come. I really need to check on Amanda, a doctor gave her a sedative earlier and I know her mother is supposed to arrive sometime, as soon as the storm clears up. It does seem to be getting much better outside, at least we can hear over the wind now, and I can see the lights along the river bank.”