“Was this ridge marked on the map you found?” Connor asked.
“There were several ridges marked,” she said. “I don’t have a good enough feel for the layout of the resort to know if this was one.”
“There’s a cornice up there that releases a lot of snow on these runs,” he said. “It would be a good place to plant a bomb. Weshould take a look.” He dismounted. “We have to hike from here. I think there’s enough moonlight to see. I’d rather not use a light and make ourselves a target.”
“Dad, maybe you should wait here,” Stacy said. She hadn’t missed his grunt of pain as he dismounted the snowmobile.
“I’m not waiting anywhere,” he said and set out after Connor and Farley on the narrow trail at the base of the cliff, which seemed to lead straight up. Stacy pushed past him to get behind Connor.
They climbed for long minutes, the only sound the crunch of boots on ice and their labored breathing. Then Connor stopped abruptly. Stacy almost plowed into him but stopped herself with a hand on his shoulder. “What is it?” she whispered.
“Lights up there on the ridge.”
She looked up and saw two circles of light moving steadily along the ridge. “Where’s the third person who was in the truck?” she whispered.
Connor shook his head.
“If they detonate a bomb up there now, we’re toast,” George said.
“The ones by the lifts were unexploded,” Connor said. “So maybe Stacy is right about timers. They’ll make the biggest impact if they trigger the bombs while people are present.”
“Would that be hard to do?” she asked. “Rig a timer on the detonator?”
“I could do it,” he said. “These days there’s probably a video online to show you how.”
She stared at the lights moving slowly along the ridge. “Could we sneak up behind them?”
“Better yet, come in from both sides and trap them,” George said.
“There’s only one way up there,” Connor said. “Better to wait here and ambush them on the way down.”
“After they plant the explosives,” Stacy said.
“If we try to climb up after them, they’re sure to hear us coming,” Connor said.
They fell silent, waiting. Aching cold seeped through layers of clothing. Stacy’s feet and hands were numb, but even shifting her feet made a noise that seemed magnified in the night stillness.
Muffled voices drifted to them from overhead. Stacy searched the surrounding snow for any sign of the third man. And where was Anthony? They could have used him below for backup and to alert them if anyone else was approaching.
Her father breathed heavily. How badly was he hurt? Standing out here in the cold couldn’t be good for him.
Shuffling noises from above sounded louder, the lights bobbing erratically.
“They just tossed a cast booster,” Connor whispered.
“Did you see where it landed?”
“No.”
More movement from above. “They launched a second one.” He sucked in a breath. “Depending on where they landed, they could bring down half the mountain.”
“They’re starting back down,” Stacy said. She eased the Glock from her pocket.
George was already moving away. “I’ll post up farther down the trail,” he said.
“Let them move past us, and I’ll come in behind,” Connor said.
She looked and saw that he, too, was armed, moonlight glinting off the handgun. “All right,” she said.
