“There were a lot of people there. Twenty or more. I saw the trio who approached you at the bar New Year’s night. They were what I’d call the hard-core protestors—a half dozen people who are really angry about the resort’s plan to close Blaine Mountain to free public access. The rest of the people I met are concerned, but they have other things claiming their attention, too—jobs, families. There were even some people there with their kids.”
“Anybody look like they wanted to blow things up?”
“One of the hard-core types said they needed to take action to get the resort to pay attention. He didn’t specify anything in particular, and the others shut him down pretty quick. But I want to take a closer look at him. His name is Nate Lee. Ever heard of him?”
Connor shook his head. “Did you see anyone you recognized? Anybody with an FBI file or whatever you call it?”
“No one. But one of the speakers alluded to people who couldn’t make it that night.”
“What was the result of the meeting?” he asked.
“There’s another big protest planned for Martin Luther King weekend,” she said. “The leaders emphasized it’s going to be peaceful, but I heard mumbling before I left that some of the people were lobbying to ‘make a statement,’ though they didn’t specify what that might mean.”
They reached the top of the lift and skied away from the chair. Connor stopped beside a resort map. “What are you going to do next?” he asked.
“There’s another meeting Friday night,” she said. “Supposedly to talk more about activities for MLK weekend.”
“You’re going?”
“Yes. I want you to come with me.”
He shook his head. “I already told you—”
She grabbed his arm. “They’re not going to trust me. They know I’m an outsider. But they know you. You’re head of ski patrol. The redhead with the cute dog. If you decided to be on their side, it would be a big deal. They’d bend over backward to include you in their plans because you would give them inside access they don’t have.”
“I wouldn’t give them anything,” he said.
“Not really. But you could make them think you would help them. That could be enough for me to find out who’s really behind all of this. To find the terrorists I’m after and to stop them before they do more damage.”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t want any part of this.” Without waiting for her reply, he took off, putting distance between her and her plans.
Stacy let Connorski ahead of her, though she kept him in her sights. He wasn’t going to listen to anything she had to say, but she would find a way to bring up the subject again. All she needed was the right opportunity, and she was confident she could persuade him. Watching him these past two days, she had learned a lot. He was stubborn, sure. But he had a strong sense of justice. He hadn’t hesitated to put the drunk who was hassling the waitress in his place. Connor’s convictions were going to be the key to getting him to help her.
“Are you up for some tougher terrain?” he asked as they exited the lift.
“Depends on how tough,” she said. “Are you trying to ditch me?”
“I want to check out some of the steeper terrain. If someone decided to use those stolen explosives to set off an inbounds avalanche, that would be the place to do it.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted. “I assumed they would blow up a building or a road. That’s the kind of thing that gets lots of attention and could put a lot of people in danger.”
“An avalanche inbounds on a crowded day would put a lot of people in danger and get a lot of attention,” he said.
“Then, let’s check it out.”
She followed him to a rope barricade. He held up the rope, and she skied under it. He stopped at the top of a narrow ridge. “Ski in my tracks across here,” he said. “We mitigated up here yesterday, and there shouldn’t be much danger, but better to be cautious.”
She glanced up at the steep slope to their right and the snowcapped peaks above, and a shiver went through her. “You’re sure it’s safe?” she asked.
“Just ski in my tracks and don’t stop until we get to the other side.” Without waiting for an answer, he took off.
She took a deep breath, gripped her poles more tightly and skied after him.
It probably didn’t take five minutes to cross the slope, but when they reached the other side her body ached from holding herself so tense.
“I didn’t see any fresh tracks headed up above us,” Connor said. “Climbing is the only way up there unless you drop in by helicopter, but not just anybody can fly here. We drop charges from our own chopper when we need to mitigate that area.”
“You mean you just drop bombs from the helicopter?”
