The Wrong Track (12 page)

“I think Dave's out skiing this morning,” the receptionist said in response to Nancy's question. “If you want to see him, you might try the Cascades trail. It's one of his favorites.”

Nancy hustled back to the ski school to pick up her equipment. Outside she tightened her boots into the ski bindings and slid her hands into the pole straps, then skied gracefully to the trail head.

For a few minutes Nancy just concentrated on skiing. The new skis were shorter and the poles longer than the ones she had used before. Ben had told her it would be the perfect equipment for skating, but it took Nancy a few minutes to feel comfortable with it. Soon, though, she was gliding along the trail, pushing off with her left ski and gliding on the right as Ben had taught her. There was no doubt about it. The new equipment was terrific, and she was soon skiing at a fast clip.

The beginning of the trail was easy, and her arms and legs were moving in a tight, comfortable rhythm. Nancy kept her eyes peeled for
Dave, and as soon as Aerie split off she took Cascades. After only a few minutes on the trail Nancy spotted a man with a Tall Pines jacket in the distance. She put on the speed, sure that it must be Dave Kendall. When there was only twenty feet between them Nancy called out his name.

“Dave! Wait for me!”

The man turned—it was Dave. Instead of slowing his stride, though, Dave quickened it, shooting farther away from her.

Nancy wasn't going to let him get away that easily. She slid both skis into the tracks and resumed a diagonal stride. She stretched her right arm out, gaining the maximum distance she could with her pole. As she pushed off with all her might, pulling the pole behind her, her other arm swung forward.

The distance between Nancy and Dave shortened. She reached forward again, putting more power into her poling. It was the only way she knew to gain real speed. If she could just keep going, she'd catch him.

With a final burst of energy Nancy began to double-pole. She reached forward with both poles at the same time, pushing off with every ounce of energy she could muster. The trail dived down into a deep forest. Dave was closer. In a few more strokes she'd be down the slope next to him. She reached forward and dug her poles into the snow.

Then suddenly, without warning, Nancy felt herself fall forward. One minute she was
skiing—the next, the binding on her right ski had snapped open.

Nancy tried to control herself, but it was no use. She fell to the ground, head over heels—and started rolling and tumbling downhill, headed straight for a huge tree.

N
ANCY CONTINUED
to hurtle through the air. Moving instinctively, she tucked her body into a ball and shifted her weight to the right.

It worked! Nancy rolled in the snow and slid to a stop just inches from the tree.

“Are you okay?” Dave Kendall's skis sprayed snow as he stopped next to Nancy.

She took a moment to catch her breath, then stood up carefully. “I'm fine,” she answered, brushing the snow off.

Before she could say anything more Dave headed back up the trail. When he returned a minute later he was carrying Nancy's skis under one arm. “These must be yours,” he said as he handed them to her.

Nancy took the skis and checked them out. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the
binding that had snapped open, no reason why it should have failed. But as Nancy looked more closely she saw that the front screw, the one that held the binding to the ski, was missing. It must have been loose when she started up the trail, and the extra force she put on the skis racing downhill toward Dave had caused it to come out.

“You could have been seriously hurt,” Dave said when Nancy showed him the binding.

Nancy gave Dave a long look before she spoke. “I've been involved in an awful lot of ‘accidents' since I came to Tall Pines,” she said. “A jammed sauna door, mysteriously switched trail signs, poisoned soup, and now a broken binding. I'm beginning to wonder why someone's trying to hurt me.”

“I guess you never thought being a reporter could be such a dangerous profession,” Dave said, raising his eyebrow. “Or that a ski resort could be such a treacherous place.”

With that, Dave turned around in the trail and started to ski off, leaving Nancy to walk back by herself. Nancy instantly weighed the consequences of dropping her cover. It was something she had to do if she was going to get anywhere with him and her questioning.

“I'm not a reporter, Dave,” she called to him evenly.

He turned around to face her, his nervousness and anxiety apparent. “You're not?” he asked.

Nancy let her ski drop to the ground. “No. I'm a detective.”

“A detective!” Dave let loose a peal of laughter. “A detective!”

This was hardly the response Nancy had expected. “What's so funny?” she asked, studying him curiously.

“This whole time I thought you were a reporter.” He paused. “Aren't you awfully young to be a detective?” he asked.

“Not really,” Nancy told him, crossing her arms. “You still haven't explained what's so funny.”

Suddenly Dave got serious. “Nothing.”

Nancy paused. “It wouldn't have anything to do with that missing bank file, would it?” she asked.

Before Dave could answer, two skiers came down the trail, and Dave stepped out of their way. As soon as they had passed, Nancy asked him again about the file that was missing from his office. “Where is it, Dave?” she asked. “What's in it that made you take the file? Does Rob Watson have it?” she bluffed.

At Watson's name Dave shot Nancy an angry look. “What do you know about Watson?”

“Only that I saw you skiing with him last night,” Nancy told him. “And that I suspect the two of you are behind my ‘accidents.' ”

“What makes you say that?” Dave asked. He leaned on his ski poles and narrowed his eyes. “What if I told you I was just giving Rob a friendly tour of our state-of-the-art trails?”

“That doesn't explain what he was doing in the administration building the other night,” Nancy
said, meeting his glance. “Or why you've always been near whenever I've almost been injured.”

Nancy ticked off the evidence on her fingers. “Fact: You knew I was going to take a sauna. Fact: You came by my table the night I was poisoned. I'd say it's probably even a fact that you and Rob stole the money from Tall Pines and framed Rebecca for it—”

“That's enough!” Dave stopped her. He held up a gloved hand and shook his head slowly. “I'll tell you the truth. I did block that sauna door, and I even switched the trail signs. I came by the ski shop right after you and that girl went up on the trails. Ben told me you were skiing Aerie. I came up Cascades and switched the signs.”

“But why?” Nancy asked. “Lots of people could have gotten hurt, not just Bess.”

Dave hung his head for a moment, then finally looked at Nancy. “I believed that you were a reporter,” he said, giving Nancy a weak smile, “not a detective. I wanted you to give Tall Pines a rotten write-up. The best way to guarantee that was to cause trouble for you. But I never meant for anything serious to happen—you have to believe me.”

“The poisoning wasn't serious?” Nancy emphasized the last word. “You could have killed me!”

“I dribbled only a couple of drops of the water in your soup when I stood the vase up,” Dave explained. “It was enough to make you sick but not seriously harm you. And I knew someone would come along when you were locked in the
sauna. As far as the trails are concerned, I didn't know your friend was a novice skier.”

“What about these?” Nancy asked, pointing to the bindings on her skis. “Was this another one of your planned ‘accidents'?”

“Nope,” Dave said, holding up his hands. He shook his head and leaned forward on his poles to look at the bindings. “I didn't have anything to do with that.”

Nancy narrowed her eyes. “Were you anywhere near the skating pond last night?” she asked.

“Nope,” Dave repeated. “Why?”

“Someone knocked me cold, and since you've admitted to the other accidents, I thought maybe you were responsible for that one, too,” she said.

“I wasn't near the place.” Dave actually smiled now. “Looks like I'm not the only one who wants to give you a hard time, eh?”

Nancy didn't think he was funny. She wasn't sure he was telling the truth. But if he was, there was still another criminal to catch. She kicked at the snow and thought out loud. “You wanted me to give Tall Pines a bad write-up. Why? Was your stealing the payroll cash part of your plan to cause trouble at Tall Pines, too?”

“I didn't have anything to do with the theft,” Dave said, suddenly very serious again. “As far as I know, Rebecca Montgomery took the money.”

“Rebecca denies it, and I believe her.” Nancy told him that Rebecca was the reason she was at Tall Pines. “I honestly believe she's innocent. In
fact, I still think Rob masterminded the theft and you were his accomplice.”

“What?” Dave's face reflected his shock. “You've got to be kidding.”

“No, I'm not. It's hardly a secret that Rob is making major improvements at his camp. How's he paying for them?” Nancy looked at Dave for a moment before she said, “I saw the file you have on Rob in your office, and I know how little money he makes. I think you and Rob decided that an extra fifty thousand dollars would help him nicely.”

“Look, Nancy, I had nothing to do with that robbery, and neither did Rob.” Dave's voice was low and insistent. “I admit I engineered those accidents, but I didn't steal anything.”

“Where did Rob get the money for the construction?” Nancy asked.

“The same place most people do—the bank. He took out a huge construction loan. I thought he was crazy to start a big project, but sometimes you can't talk sense to Rob.”

Nancy watched as a clump of snow slid down a pine bough and landed on the ground. “What's between you and Rob, anyway? When did you get to be such good friends? I doubt Karl Reismueller will be happy to hear about your friendship,” she concluded.

Dave was hesitant but finally spoke up. “No, Karl wouldn't be too happy, especially if he found out I work for Rob Watson,” he said.

“You work for Watson?” Nancy asked, stunned by the news.

“Yep.” Dave pressed his lips together. “I know it sounds a little sleazy, and I guess it is. When Rob heard about Karl's plan to open Tall Pines, he asked me to get a job here and do what I could to sabotage the place. Then, when I told him a reporter was coming to review Tall Pines, he thought it was the perfect opportunity. He told me to make sure you gave Tall Pines a bad write-up. What better way than to make you miserable while you were here?”

Shaking her head in disgust, Nancy said, “That's pretty low.”

“The resort business is competitive, but as in any other business, people don't always compete honestly,” Dave said with a shrug. “But I didn't steal that money, and I don't know a thing about your bindings, or who knocked you out cold, or that missing file you keep talking about. That's the truth.” He laughed a little. “I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but I am leveling with you.”

With that Dave picked up Nancy's broken ski and studied the binding. “I think I can fix this good enough to get you down the trail,” he said, pulling out a pocket knife. As Nancy watched, Dave moved another screw to the front of the binding.

“You'll have to go slowly,” he told her, “but it will sure beat walking.”

Nancy hooked her boots into the bindings and tried to glide. Though she felt a slight wobbling, the skis seemed reasonably secure.

“I think it'll be okay,” she told Dave. “Thanks.”

He stepped into his own bindings and slid his hands into the pole straps. “I'm not proud of my part in this,” he said as he skied in the tracks next to Nancy. “When I get back I promise I'll tell Karl I quit. I hope you can keep it quiet about your ‘accidents.' I really can assure you that I never meant to harm you.”

“I'm glad to hear you say that,” Nancy said. “Because if you weren't quitting, I would have to press charges against you. I'd suggest you clear out as soon as you can.”

When they reached the bottom of the trail Nancy returned her skis to the shop, her mind fully occupied. The fact that Dave Kendall was only partially responsible for what had been happening at Tall Pines was frustrating news. It meant that Nancy still had to discover who had knocked her out, sabotaged her skis, and stolen the payroll money. It also failed to explain who Sheila's mystery man was or who had taken the missing bank file.

Nancy was about to find Jody Ashton's home address when her name was paged over the intercom. She picked up a house telephone on the ski school counter and told the operator she was ready for the call. In a second Chief McGinnis's voice came through.