“You mean Chase.”
“Tell him I’m impressed. He went to a lot of trouble for this one.”
“You found it this morning?”
“Yeah. Then we got busy, and I forgot about it. Seeing you passing by reminded me.”
“I’ll take this back to the patrol office and talk with Chase,” he said. “You two need to cool it on the pranks.”
“We’re just having fun.”
“Then do what most people do. Go out for a beer. Play some pool. See a movie. But leave the pranks away from the job.”
At the office, he radioed Chase, then studied the fake bomb. Whoever did this had at least seen a cast booster. Maybe they looked up an image online. The wiring on the detonator was wrong, but someone who didn’t know better would mistake it for the real thing.
The door to the patrol office opened, and Chase came in, stamping snow from his boots. “What did you need to see me about?” he asked.
Connor gestured to the box. “Recognize this?”
Chase clomped over and looked down at the box. “Is that a fake bomb?” He picked it up and turned it over in his hand. “Pretty sweet. Where did you get it?”
“I thought maybe you made it.”
“Me?” Chase dropped the fake back into the box. “Why would I do that?”
“Cerise found it above one of the lift chairs when she started her shift this morning. I know you two have been pranking each other for weeks.”
“Sure, but I wouldn’t do something like this. Can you imagine the panic if someone saw this and thought it was real?”
“We’re lucky Cerise isn’t the panicky type.”
“Yeah, she’s real steady that way.”
“So instead of pulling her hair to get her attention like a schoolkid, why don’t you man up and ask her out?”
Chase flushed. “Do you really think she’d go out with me? I mean, her last boyfriend was an MMA fighter. He looked like a Greek god or something.”
“And she’s all torn up about the breakup?”
“No way. She dumped him.”
“Then obviously Mr. Greek God didn’t impress. And she’s wasted a lot of time playing with you.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Maybe I’ll talk to her.” Chase looked at the bomb again. “So, did somebody else put that at the lift to scare her? You find out who it was, and I’ll clean their clock.”
Connor put the lid back on the box. “Just get back to work.”
When Chase had left, Connor put the fake bomb in a desk drawer. Later, he would show it to Stacy. He thought about the idea that whoever had stolen the cast boosters had been practicing when they set off the avalanche yesterday. Was this fake a kind of practice, too? Maybe someone wanted to see if they could plant a bomb at a lift without getting caught. If anyone questioned them, they could say it was a practical joke.
Next time wouldn’t be a joke. He pulled out his phone and texted Stacy.I’ve got a development here you need to know about.
Stacy’s left cheekwas freezing, shoved into the snow. Her dad lay beside her, practically on top of her. He had drawn his weapon and was staring in the direction of the blast. A second explosion sounded, this one more muffled than the first.
She shoved at George. “Get off of me,” she said. “No one is shooting at us.”
He rolled off her, and they both sat. He holstered the weapon. “The explosions are coming from over there,” he said and pointed to their left.
“I figured that out.” She stood and brushed snow off her clothing. “I’m betting those aren’t fireworks.”
