Anthony met the trio at the bottom of the trail. “I’ll take over from here,” he said.
“Arresting us won’t stop anything,” Shane said as Anthony cuffed him. “We’ve placed charges all over this resort, set to go off after the resort opens.”
“We’ll find the charges and disarm them,” Anthony said.
“You’ll never find them all,” Bruce said.
“You’d better hope we do,” Anthony said. “Mass murder carries serious penalties, including death.”
Shane opened his mouth but apparently thought better of speaking and looked away.
“How are we going to get them down the mountain?” Stacy asked Anthony.
“I’ve arranged for someone to pick them up.” A low growling rose up from lower down the mountain. Anthony turned. “I think that’s their ride.”
An orange snowcat rumbled up the mountains on tracks. When it stopped, Stacy had to tilt her head back to see into the cab. The door opened, and a man in black SWAT gear jumped down. A second similarly clad officer remained in the cab, along with the driver.
“Three to transport,” Agent Anthony said.
“We’ll take good care of them,” the SWAT officer said. He took Bruce by the arm and led him to the vehicle. It took both officers to boost each shackled man into the cab, but none of the three resisted.
“We need to get those explosives off the mountain,” Connor said.
“There’s a bomb squad on its way from Salt Lake,” Anthony said. “They were closer than Denver.”
“In the meantime, we can find and mark the bombs for them to remove,” Connor said. “I’ve already located the ones at Lifts One and Four.”
“The ones on the ridges will be harder to find in all this snow,” Stacy said.
“I know some experts who can help,” Connor said.
“Don’t tell me your dogs are trained to sniff out explosives,” Anthony said.
“That would be pretty sweet, but no, they can’t find explosives. But the ski patrol members know every inch of this resort. Right now, before anyone else destroys the tracks, we can find where Shane and the others stood when they launched the bombs. We know the general trajectory the cast boosters take when thrown. I think we have a good chance of finding all of them.”
“The resort will have to be closed until we determine it’s safe,” Anthony said.
“Agreed,” Connor said. Doug would hate it, but even he would see the potential disaster if they missed even one explosive that detonated and killed a guest.
“Let’s get ski patrol in here,” Anthony said. He turned to Stacy. “We need to question Greer and the others. Maybe we can get them to tell us how many bombs they deployed and more about the timing mechanism. And we need to get your father medical help.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I can look after myself,” George protested, but he allowed Stacy to lead him to one of the snowmobiles. He climbed on behind her.
She didn’t look back as she followed Anthony toward the base area.
Maybe it was a good sign that Anthony was including her in the interrogation, Connor thought. Maybe he recognized how badly this situation might have gone without her determination and effort.
Connor pulled out his phone and checked the time. 5:00 a.m. Most of the patrol members would be getting out of bed soon anyway. He sent a group text.Everyone report to SkyCrest ASAP. We’re on the hunt for unexploded bombs.
He didn’t have to wait long before the first call came in. “Is this a sick joke?” Anders asked.
“No joke. I’ll explain it all when everyone is here, but we’ve got four hours before the resort opens to find a bunch of unexploded cast boosters wired to timers.” No need to mention the resort would open late today, if at all.
“The stolen cast boosters?”
“Looks like it.”
