Farley scampered around the man, but the agent ignored the dog. Inside, Farley accepted a treat from Connor and went into his kennel, but Connor left the door to the cage open. He settled behind his desk. “What’s this about?” he asked.
Anthony pulled up a rickety folding chair. “Tell me about the missing explosives.”
Connor repeated the story of how he had discovered the theft of the four boxes of cast boosters.
“Who has access to the keys to the magazine?” Anthony asked.
“Me. And there’s another set in the resort office. But whoever stole those explosives didn’t use a key. They cut a hole in the building wall. That should be in your report.”
Anthony’s lips tightened. “There was an inbounds avalanche yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“It was snowing hard yesterday. I would think an avalanche wouldn’t be that unusual.”
“It would be unusual in that location at that time of day. And lots of people heard an explosion shortly before the snow released. If you were at the resort earlier this morning, you would have heard the sound multiple times as ski patrol did avalanche mitigation.”
“Could you have heard a gunshot? Or a slamming door?”
“It was the sound a cast booster makes when it explodes,” Connor said.
“Who could purchase these explosives?” Anthony asked.
“Anyone with a license. They’re primarily used in mining and avalanche mitigation.”
“So a miner would have access.”
“As would whoever stole the boxes of explosives from our magazine.”
Anthony looked at him calmly. “We only have your word that the explosives were stolen.”
Connor worked to rein in his temper. “We have a hole cut in the back of the building and four boxes of cast boosters and one of detonators that are no longer in our inventory.”
“You keep the inventory records.”
“Yes.”
Anthony said nothing, merely looked at him.
Connor pressed his lips together. Two could play this game.
Anthony was the first to blink. He stood. “I’d like to search your vehicle and your apartment for the missing explosives,” he said.
“Sure.” Connor stood. “As soon as you show me a warrant.”
Another peeved expression from the agent. “If you’re innocent, there’s no reason not to cooperate.”
“There’s no reason for you to accuse me of theft, either.”
The two men faced off. Farley emerged from his kennel and came to stand beside Connor, silent, his gaze fixed on the agent.
Anthony glanced at the dog. “We’ll talk later.”
He left, and Connor knelt and hugged the dog. “Thanks for backing me up, buddy,” he said. He gave Farley another treat, then pulled out his phone and texted Stacy.Everything okay?
A moment later his answer came in the form of a thumbs-up emoji. He ignored the flutter of nerves in his chest and pocketed the phone. Stacy knew what she was doing. She would be all right.
“Two skiers injured in a collision at the top of Lift Seven,” came the message on the radio. “Need a couple of toboggans and some help.”
