She punched in the number for the sheriff’s office. When a woman answered, Lily identified herself, explained that she had been part of the search for Jackson and asked to speak to the sheriff. The woman transferred the call, but the person who answered wasn’t the sheriff. “Sheriff Howard is very busy right now,” the man said. “I’ll be sure he gets your message.”
“Who am I speaking to?” she asked.
“I’m one of the deputies. That’s really all you need to know.”
That was not all she needed to know, but weariness was stealing over her once more. “This is Lily Alton,” she said. “I was with the sheriff earlier today. Tell him that I think instead of traveling over the mountain, Jackson’s kidnapper might try to go around. It would be safer, and they’d have more places to hide.”
“That’s an interesting theory,” the deputy said. “But I don’t think you’re right.”
“Just tell the sheriff what I said and let him decide,” she said.
“Thanks for calling,” the deputy said, and hung up.
She stared at the phone, shaking with anger. She scrolled and found Scott’s number. Wait until he heard about this. But she hesitated with her finger over the number. Scott was exhausted. He was probably already asleep. He wouldn’t welcome her calling and waking him up to complain about a dismissive deputy.
She set down the phone. As much as she wanted to help Jackson, there really wasn’t anything she could do right now. Allshe could do was rest up and be ready if she was needed. And wait.
Chapter Eight
On Tuesday Lily and Shelby went back to their regular post with Ski Patrol. Scott and the rest of the group were there, and everything at the resort was running normally. “I don’t have an update on Jackson Endicott,” Scott told them at the beginning of the patrol meeting.
“News reports said he’d been kidnapped,” Brian said. “His family received a ransom note or something.”
“I heard the family was contacted,” Scott said. “I don’t know if there was a ransom request or not.” He consulted the clipboard in his hand. “Law enforcement is dealing with that. We need to focus on our work here. I need a dog and handler to talk about safety to the ski school kids at ten a.m. Lily, can you take that?”
“Sure.” She sat up a little straighter. “Shelby loves kids.”
“We’ve got a set of posters you can use for your presentation,” Scott said. “Just go through those and you should be good.”
He moved on to patrol assignments, then dismissed them. She waited until everyone else had left before she approached Scott. “You really haven’t heard anything about Jackson?” she asked.
He slotted the clipboard onto a shelf in the ski patrol office. “They’re more likely to tell you news than me. After all, you know the family.”
“I’ve thought about calling Denny and asking, but I hate to bother him.” She nibbled her thumbnail. “I’m so worried about Jackson.”
“We all are, but there’s nothing we can do. Let’s just get on with our work.” He opened a file drawer and took out a large envelope. “Here are the posters for the safety talk. You’ll be talking to the second- and third-grade kids. I think there’s two classes. Meet them midway down Easy Street at ten o’clock.”
At ten, she skied up to a group of ski school children waiting at the edge of the trees, midway down a beginner’s run. Shelby, newly released from her kennel and sporting a new baby-blue SkyCrest bandanna, danced with excitement as they approached the children. “Patroller Lily is here to talk to us about ski safety,” Kristen Waters, one of the instructors, introduced her.
“Hey, everybody,” Lily said. “This is avalanche dog Shelby. She’s going to help me with today’s presentation.”
“Can we pet her?” a little girl in a pink snowsuit and helmet asked.
“You can all pet her after the talk,” Lily said. “First, I want you all to listen carefully. At the end I’m going to ask some questions and if you answer a question correctly, I have prizes.” She held up the stickers and trading cards she had brought along to hand out to them.
The posters featured cartoons of the SkyCrest mascot, a baby-blue dinosaur named Shred, demonstrating lift etiquette, the importance of respecting other skiers and other tips for safe skiing. Lily enlisted Shelby to demonstrate points such as taking turns, and looking up the slope before you merged on a new trail. “What happens if you don’t stay still on the chairlift?” Lily asked.
“You can fall off,” a little boy in a helmet with flames painted on the side said.
“That’s right.” Lily looked at Shelby. “Show them how you fall, Shelby.”
Shelby dramatically plopped onto her side in the snow, sending the children into fits of giggles.
“You get a prize for answering my question,” Lily said. The boy chose a sticker.
“I want a trading card!”
“I want a sticker.” Other children clamored for the prizes.
