Stacy moved outside. “I heard the explosion,” she said. “Is Connor all right?”
“Connor is fine.” Nina locked the door, then jogged away, somewhere off to the left of the building. Moments later she emerged from around the corner at the controls of a snowmobile, the dog riding behind her.
Stacy hurried to collect her own skis, then returned to ride the lift. She skied to Lift Ten but could see no reason the lift would be closed. There were a lot of people milling around, staring glumly at the Closed sign. “What happened?” she asked the man who stood next to her. “Why is the lift closed?”
“Supposedly, there’s been an inbounds avalanche,” said the man. He was tall, with a bushy red beard.
“I thought I heard an explosion,” Stacy said.
“Yeah, ski patrol probably lost track of one of their bombs, and it went off accidentally,” a lanky teenage boy said. “Somebody is going to be in trouble over that.”
Her phone beeped with a message.Where R U?from her dad.
Working.
There was an inbounds avalanche.
I know. I’m on the mountain.
Where?
Bottom of Lift Ten. The lift is closed.
I know.
Frowning, she pocketed the phone once more and looked around. There had to be a way to get up to the avalanche area. She would flash her badge if she had to. But the roar of a fast-approaching snowmobile drew her attention.
The machine slowed as it neared the crowd at the bottom of the lift and stopped a few feet from her. “Stacy!” her father called and waved.
She jogged over to him.
“Get on,” he said. “I’ll give you a ride to the top.”
She climbed on, then grabbed his shoulders as the machine surged forward. “Dad, where did you get this thing?”
“There’s a whole bunch of them parked behind ski patrol, keys and everything.”
“But who gave you permission?”
“I figure your badge is my permission.”
She rested her chin against his back.
“You’re not going to fuss?” her dad called.
“No,” she said. “I’m wishing I’d thought of it first.”
The cluster of ski patrollers and dogs was easy to spot. George steered the snowmobile to them and cut the engine.
“What are you two doing up here?” Nina was the first to speak.
Stacy hurried toward Connor. “I heard the explosion,” she said. “What’s going on?”
He gestured toward the snowfield in front of them. “Inbounds avalanche.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“One guy has a broken leg. We don’t think there was anyone else around.”
