Avalanche (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 3) (24 page)

Kalin dangled the set of keys she’d found in Roy’s locker in front of Ben. “If Roy no longer has a storage locker in town, then what are these keys for?”

Ben and Kalin sat in his truck, watching drizzle hit the windshield. After a poor night’s sleep, they’d driven to the storage unit and discovered Roy had canceled his contract after only using it for two weeks. The owner didn’t know why Roy had removed his things but was happy to get the key back from Kalin.

Ben held out his hand. “Let me see the rest of the keys.” He took his time examining each one.

“Did Roy tell you what he stored in the unit?” Kalin asked.

“His kayak was the big thing. He didn’t have much else.”

Kalin’s brain shifted into gear. “He either sold the kayak or stored it somewhere else.” She fogged the side window with her breath, then wiped the glass clean. She repeated the process twice. “Aren’t the rental kayaks stored in the basement of mountain ops for the winter?”

Ben raised his eyebrows. “You think Roy put his kayak there?”

Kalin shrugged. “Let’s drive back up. Maybe one of those keys fits the lock. Would you recognize Roy’s kayak?”

“It’s not hard. He painted his name on the side. He loved that thing.”

Kalin pulled her seatbelt across her chest and clipped it in place. “Let’s go.”

Black ice speckled the highway. Ben swerved around a corner, the tires slipped, and Kalin held her breath. They were at the edge of a hairpin turn. “Careful.”

“Sorry about that.” Ben slowed until he had control.

Ben driving at a snail’s pace was killing her, but the cliff along the edge of the road leading to white-water rapids kept her from saying anything.

When they finally reached the resort, they entered the mountain ops building, trotted down the stairs and headed toward the back of the room. On his third try, Ben found the key that opened the lock.

The door creaked open, and the room released an odor of damp lifejackets. Kalin reached her hand to the inner wall and found the light switch. Her feet stuck to the floor as if they were caught in deep, wet snow.

“What’s the matter?” Ben asked.

“I have a bad feeling.”

“It’s just a kayak.” Ben entered first, and Kalin followed.

Hanging from hooks, kayaks filled one wall of the storage room. Multiple paddles leaned against the wall in a corner. Lifejackets and helmets filled a shelf. Roy’s kayak hung on the lowest set of hooks.

Kalin kneeled and slid her hands along the fiberglass. Roy must have had fun in this baby. She wished she’d seen him river kayak.

Ben leaned over her shoulder and looked in the hull. “What’s that?”

Army-green material peeked out from behind the seat. Ben shut the door to the storage room.

Kalin’s heart sank. She had a good idea what the material belonged to.

Ben kneeled beside her, and they stared at the boat.

She pushed the seat forward and pulled out the bag. The zipper grated as she pulled the tab from one end of the duffle to the other. Along with some of Roy’s clothes, another cloth bag filled the space. “This doesn’t look good.”

“Should we look?”

“No. Yes. I guess we have to.” Kalin reached inside the duffle and lifted the second bag to the floor.

The Velcro strap detached when Kalin pulled on it, and the bag flopped open. More money than she’d ever seen in one place filled the bag. It had to be the finance center money. Nothing else made sense. “I don’t believe it. He really stole the money. How much do you think it is?”

“I don’t know.” Ben ran his hand over the cash. “Let’s count it.”

“I can’t believe how much this hurts. How could Roy do this? He knew my career was here. Was this a direct attack at me?”

Ben leaned his forehead onto Kalin’s. “Don’t think like that. Maybe Roy needed the money for something. I still don’t understand why he went skiing that morning.”

“To celebrate his newfound wealth and laugh at all of us.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“No. But I’d rather be angry than sad.”

The concrete floor jabbed at Kalin’s knees, and she welcomed the pain. Anything to distract her from the knowledge Roy had stolen the money. She couldn’t see any way around that fact. The more the total grew, the faster her heart raced.

When the amount maxed out at just over one hundred thousand, Kalin stood and leaned her back against the wall. She grabbed a lifejacket off the shelf and hugged the flotation device to her chest as if it could save her from drowning. “I knew. I mean I thought…Now it’s just real.”

Ben stood and hugged her. He whispered in her ear, “Is it possible Roy got this money legally?”

Kalin’s laugh erupted, sounding more like a sob. “Thanks for suggesting that, but I can’t imagine how. What should we do now?”

“Let’s check if there’s anything else in the kayak.”

Kalin collected Roy’s lifejacket and wet suit from the forward half of the kayak and stuffed it into the duffle bag with the rest of his clothes. They opened the door and returned to the employee locker area. Kalin placed the duffle bag on a wooden bench and pulled out her cell.

* * *

Constable Miller stood in front of the neatly stacked money. “When did you find this?”

“Right before we called you,” Kalin said.

“What have you touched?”

She nodded in the direction of Roy’s kayak. “We removed the bag from the kayak and counted the money.”

Miller closed his eyes for a second. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”

“We didn’t realize how much it was,” Ben said. “Once we did, we called. We haven’t touched anything else.”

“What made you search this room?” Miller asked.

“We found out Roy closed his storage unit in town, and Kalin wanted to find where he’d stored his kayak.”

Miller finished taking their statements. “I’m going to seal the room and call in my team. In the meantime, make sure I can reach both of you. You may have seriously compromised the investigation.”

Kalin and Ben left Miller alone. On their way out, Kalin picked up the duffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. Miller didn’t need to know the money had been inside the duffle. The contents belonged to Roy. Now it belonged to Kalin.

* * *

“Are you going somewhere?” Constable Miller asked Paul Turner.

Turner nodded and continued filling a box resting on his office chair. The president’s chair would no longer be his position of power. Instead, he’d be reporting to a man who had a bigger office on the same floor of the same building. His autonomy would be gone. It couldn’t be helped.

Miller stood with his hands cupped in front of himself, shoulders straight, watching Turner. “Where are you going?”

Turner sighed. He supposed he should tell the cop and stop him from being suspicious. “My son has cystic fibrosis. He’s not doing well. I’m moving my family to Calgary where he can get the medical care he needs.”

“Are you changing companies?”

“I’ve taken a position with the Marriott.” Turner left unsaid that it was a job junior to his current position, with a lower salary. He scowled and continued packing. With the resort being sold, he’d lose his job anyway.

“I’m sorry to hear about your son.”

“Is there a reason you’re here?” Turner placed each of his pens in their velvet-lined boxes. His wife had given him one every time he’d been promoted. So meaningless.

“We found the finance center money.”

Turner’s hand stopped midair, his pen pointing at Miller like an arrow. “All of it?”

“Looks like it.”

“Where?”

“In Roy McCann’s kayak in the mountain ops storage room.”

“Really. Did Kalin have anything to do with the theft?” Turner didn’t care at this point. What he did care about was that the money was found before he left the resort for good. Having an unsolved crime hanging over his head would not be great for his career.

“I don’t believe she did. She found the money and called me. Ben was with her. We’ll continue to investigate, but for now, she’s not a suspect.”

“What happens to the money?”

“It’ll be held as evidence until we complete the investigation. My team is in the storage room now. We’ll call it a night and come back tomorrow. Looks like an ice storm is about to hit.”

Turner strode across the room, peeled back the flap of a box resting on the floor and slipped a business card from a gold plated holder. “Here. This is my boss at head office. Can you call and give her an update? She’ll oversee Stone Mountain until a replacement for me is hired.”

After Miller left, the room felt off. He’d been meticulous when he’d taken over the office. His office had been organized. He’d been in control. The chaos surrounding him seemed like an omen of his future life. He had one task left. Pay back the money he’d borrowed from Stone Mountain over the last year to take care of Warren.

He had to leave for Warren and for Crystal, but he didn’t have to like it.

Simon stood on Jessica’s doorstep. “I need to move back in.”

Jessica blocked the entrance to her home. With one foot on the doorsill and the other in the front hall, she held the door tight against her back.

Simon’s normally perfect hair poked out at wild angles. His chest heaved. He had nerve showing up unannounced and declaring he needed to move in, but they’d been friends for too long for her to turn him away. He should be at the hospital under psychiatric care, not standing there begging for a favor.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” He wiped rain off his face and shook his head. Small droplets of water hit the window.

“Of course.” Jessica stepped backward. Simon wore faded blue jeans, hiking boots and a dark gray ski jacket. Standard resort clothing, but out of character for Simon. She couldn’t believe he would let himself look so common.

Simon moved forward and closed the door. He turned the deadbolt, locking her in the house.

Jessica’s hackles rose, and she couldn’t say why. “Come on in. I’ll get us a beer.”

Simon followed her and crashed on the couch.

Jessica retrieved two beers from the kitchen. “Roy did it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Kalin and Ben found the money,” Jessica said.

“How do you know?”

“I saw them leave mountain ops. Kalin was carrying Roy’s duffle bag.”

“Why do you think they have the money?”

“Roy’s duffle’s been missing since the theft. They must have found it somewhere in the building.”

“Where were they headed?”

“Toward their home. And to think, I was going to tell you Natalie stole the money.”

Simon straightened and leaned toward her. “That’s stupid. As if Natalie could figure out something so complicated.”

“She had the safe combination written in the back of a paperback.”

“How do you know that?”

“I found the book in your condo when she asked me to put the unit for sale.”

“You’re selling the unit? That figures.”

“What figures?”

“That Natalie would turn to you. She’s trying to take everything I have, including my friends.”

“No, she isn’t.”

“Why would she show you the combination? To tell you I stole the money?”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s going to put the theft on me. That way, she won’t have to support me.”

“Why aren’t you surprised about the book?”

“Don’t go there.”

Jessica tensed. Simon gave off an eerie vibe. Why had she let him in? She’d trapped herself alone with him. In a moment of clarity, she understood. “
You
had the combination, not Natalie.”

“What?”

Jessica’s chest tightened. “Why did Roy go up the mountain if the money was in the duffle bag?”

“What do you mean?”

“If he hid the money, what reason did he have to go up the mountain?”

“Roy was unpredictable. You know that. Kalin kicked him out the night before he died. Maybe he wanted to blow off steam and went out on his touring skis.”

Sometimes Roy slept on a gurney in the ski patrol clinic. When Kalin kicked him out, it was a likely place for him to go. Had Roy seen something he shouldn’t have? “How do you know he was wearing his touring skis?”

Simon’s cheeks reddened. “I didn’t. I just assumed he did.”

“Oh, shit.”

“What?”

“Somehow you got Roy to go up the mountain. Did you see him take the money? Were you trying to get rid of him so you could have it?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You started the avalanche, didn’t you?”

Simon grabbed Jessica’s arm, wrapping his fingers tightly around her bicep. He yanked her to her feet. “Get your jacket. We’re going out.”

“Why?”

“If Kalin and Ben have the money, we need to get it.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. Kalin won’t keep it. She’ll call the cops if she hasn’t already.”

Tightening his grip on her arm, Simon pulled her toward the front door. Jessica ran her free hand along the entrance side table, feeling for anything she could use as a weapon. Her every fiber screamed.

Simon’s eyes followed her hand. “Nice try. There’s nothing there.” He slid his hunting knife from its sheath. “I said we’re going out. Get your jacket.”

Jessica didn’t move.

“I won’t ask again.”

With the jagged edge of the blade shining in front of her, she had no choice. She grabbed her jacket from the front hall closet and stepped into her winter boots.

“We’ve been friends forever.”

“I don’t give a shit. Move.” Simon shoved her between her shoulder blades, pushing her outside before she had a chance to zip her jacket or grab a hat and mitts.

The porch light was off, and she couldn’t see through the rain to the end of the driveway. She had no hope someone passing by might see them.

“Go to your left,” Simon said.

“There’s only forest back there. Let’s go find Kalin and Ben.” Jessica twisted to the right, but Simon planted his foot against her ankle, stopping her. The rain seeped through her thin yoga pants, freezing her thighs.

“We’re going behind the house where we can talk privately.”

If Simon forced her into the forest, she’d never get help. She shoved him, gaining a foot of space from him. Lurching forward, she slipped and her bare hands slammed against the ground. Shards of ice cut the skin on her palms, but she ignored the pain and pushed herself to her knees. She didn’t make it to standing. Simon pricked the knife tight against her throat. She froze.

“Try that again, and I will kill you.” Simon’s cold lips touched her ear, his breath burned her cheek, but his whisper couldn’t have pierced her more if he’d screamed the words.

“Get up.” He dragged her to her feet.

Jessica threw her arm against the house, barely keeping her balance. Blood from her hand left a small stain on the wall.

“Please. Simon we’re friends.”

“We need to talk where we won’t be disturbed.”

“We can do that inside.”

Simon hit her hard on her back. “No, we can’t.”

She pitched forward but didn’t fall. The pressure of the knife against her back stopped her from running. Keeping the bottoms of her boots flat against the slippery surface, she slid her feet forward. Lifting her feet off the ground meant the possibility of a fall, and Simon might stab her by accident.

Simon grabbed the back of her jacket and stopped. “This is far enough.” He shoved her shoulder, twisting her so they faced each other.

“How did you get a key?”

“I stole yours off your kitchen counter. I can’t believe you didn’t notice.”

“What about the combination?” She could see Simon starting to relax. He let the knife hang by his side. His ego dictated he had to brag. If she kept him talking, if she found the right moment, she’d bolt.

“That was easy. Helen tapped it into the keypad every day. I watched her fingers and figured out the pattern. One day she handed me that stupid romance book to return to Natalie. As soon as I was out of sight, I wrote it down.” Simon pointed the tip of the knife at Jessica’s throat. “Enough with the questions. Who else knows about the money?”

Jessica’s eyes followed the blade. “If I had to guess, I would say only Ben and Kalin.”

“What about your buddy, Aiden?”

“I don’t know.”

Simon circled Jessica, pointing the knife at her face. “I’m sick of this conversation. Let’s go.” He walked behind her, giving her a nudge toward her house.

Jessica’s chest heaved. Rain pellets slammed her face and stung her eyes, but she didn’t dare close them, even for a second of relief. Staying on her feet meant survival.

A sharp pain sliced through her lower back. She gasped and fell.