She could call 911, but the thought of trying to explain the situation, and the response that might be offered by a sheriff’s department with at most two deputies on duty this time of night, seemed a waste of time. Best to get to the resort, find Agent Anthony and get more help from there. She didn’t even know for certain if Shane and the others had been headed for SkyCrest. They might truly have merely been going out to dinner.
“What’s the plan?” her dad asked as she tucked away her phone.
“I texted Connor to meet us at the highway intersection.”
“So he’s on his way?”
“I have no idea. If he gets my message, I’m sure he’ll show up.” As soon as she said the words, some of the tension went out of her. Why was she so sure this man she had known such a short time would be there for her? Yet she believed he would not let her down.
They skirted around a bonfire, where men and women were talking and laughing, some of them passing a bottle around. “At this rate, all the protestors are going to be too hungover to show up at the resort tomorrow,” she said.
“Maybe that’s what Shane wants,” George said. “When I helped myself to the beer, a guy standing nearby told me to take all I wanted, that Shane had paid for it, and there was plenty more where that came from.”
Her stomach knotted at the words. “If he wants everyone out of the way, it could be because he has an alternative plan for tomorrow,” she said.
“No organized protests, just a lot of bombs going off.” George increased his pace. “We need to get out of here.”
They only had another few hundred yards to go before they reached the county road, where she hoped Connor would be waiting.
At first she thought the shouting was another drunken reveler. Then footsteps pounded behind her, two figures running out of the darkness toward her.
She froze and drew her Glock.
“Agent Macrae! Don’t shoot!”
“Stacy, it’s me, Connor.”
Shaking with relief, she returned the gun to the pocket of her coat. Connor and the man with him slowed and walked to meet them, while Farley raced toward them. She bent to greet the excited dog.
Then Connor’s arms were around her, and she was trying very hard to hold back tears.
Connor could havestood and held Stacy for the rest of the night. His legs were still shaking with the relief of finding her, of knowing she was okay. He had been tortured by the need to protect her from harm but was now filled with pride at her ability to protect herself. “Come on.” He forced himself to pull away from her but still kept one hand on her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
He led the way to his truck, putting Stacy and George in the front seat, leaving Agent Anthony to crowd into the narrow back seat with Farley.
Stacy fended off Farley’s attempts to wash her face and turned to look at Anthony. “Hello, Damien,” she said.
“Hello, Stacy. I assume your father told you I’m here to take over this investigation.”
“That’s beside the point at the moment,” she said. Anthony made a noise as if to protest, and she rushed to fill the void before he could speak. “We have to stop Shane Greer from blowing up SkyCrest resort.”
“Connor has given me a disjointed story of a plot to bomb the resort with explosives stolen from ski patrol,” Anthony said. “I’m not sure how much I believe. So far we’ve spent the evening running around with a lot of drunken revelers and finding a very angry man tied up in a chicken house.”
“We were locked up in that chicken house for hours,” George said.
“How did you get out?” Connor asked.
“I overpowered that man you found when he came to bring our supper,” George said.
“And only broke a few ribs in the process,” Stacy said. “We need to get you to a doctor, Dad.”
“Later. We have to stop Shane first.”
“We saw Shane and two others leaving the ranch in a truck forty minutes ago,” Connor said.
“I think they’re headed to the resort,” Stacy said. She turned toward Anthony. “Shane has the cast boosters stolen from SkyCrest. Dad and I saw him and some others—including the two men who were in the truck this evening with Shane—practicing with them at an old quarry on the ranch. I also found a plan of the resort in Shane’s office that showed a number of target sites. I think he planned to set the bombs tonight anddetonate them tomorrow, during one of the busiest ski days of the season.”
“I thought the plan was for fireworks on Martin Luther King Day,” Anthony said. “While everyone is at the rally in town.”
