Jack Frost: Detective Jack Stratton Mystery Thriller Series Page 23

  Over the last thirty or so hours, Alice had placed five increasingly concerned calls to Brian Strickland, but the office was closed because of the blizzard and his cell phone went right to voicemail.

  “Listen, Mrs. Stevens, I have to go up there and let Jack know what I found out. Bree can…”

  She trailed off. Her heart had suddenly sped up so fast that her mouth didn’t know how to work anymore. She was staring at the log for the crew forum—specifically, Mack’s post about going for his dream climb.

  Directly beneath it was a post from Bree: Have fun! Ex 21:24.

  Alice’s finger traced the words. But it wasn’t the post itself that made Alice’s knees start to shake; it was the location of Bree’s computer when she sent it.

  “Exodus 21:24,” Mrs. Stevens said. “I don’t know that verse.” She took out her phone. “I’ll look it up.”

  Mrs. Stevens’ words barely registered. Alice’s stomach knotted as she copied Bree’s IP address and pasted it into the tracing program. Bree’s IP address had changed.

  GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN appeared on the screen.

  Mrs. Stevens looked up from her phone. “Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Where have I heard that before?”

  Alice was still finding it difficult to talk, and impossible to tear her eyes from the damning evidence on the screen. Garmisch-Partenkirchen—a little town in Germany at the foot of the Zugspitze, the mountain where Mack’s dream climb ended in his being buried alive in an avalanche.

  “Bree wasn’t in Colorado when Mack died. Bree was in Germany with Mack.”

  “But I don’t understand… She was with him? Why would she write ‘Have fun’?”

  “To make the rest of the crew think she was still in Colorado.”

  “Oh, my.” Mrs. Stevens’ voice was strained, and her hand shook as she held her phone out for Alice to read. “You should take a look at this.”

  As Alice read the verse, her own hand began to shake.

  Exodus 21:24. An eye for an eye…

  “I need to get to Jack.”

  55

  Gone-dola

  Although the wind had died down, to Jack, the storm was beginning to seem endless. Snow continued to fall, and the sky was dark, making it difficult to determine the time of day. I can’t wait for this storm to end. For all of this to end.

  He walked through the front doors of the frigid lodge and headed straight for Abe’s room, his rapid footsteps echoing off the walls and his impatience growing with every step. He hated waiting for someone else to do a dangerous job that he could do himself. Not that he possessed anything near the climbing ability of Frida or Chiri—they were in a league of their own—but he shared their drive to take action.

  He flexed his dry, chapped hands. When he knocked on the door, he was all revved up and spinning in place.

  The bureau scraped, and Leah swore. “Took you three long enough…” Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Jack? I thought it was Harvey, Wally, and Gavin.”

  Jack set the flares on the floor and glanced over at Abe, sleeping—or unconscious. Bree gave him a weak smile. He turned his attention back to the distraught, disheveled Leah. “Where did they go and when did they leave?”

  Raised voices sounded from down the hallway, and Jack stepped outside to see Wally and Harvey stomping down the corridor.

  “You took forever in the kitchen. Pretty selfish,” Wally snapped.

  “Selfish? I picked up food for everyone.” Harvey lifted two plastic shopping bags.

  “You said you were going to grab something, not sit there and stuff your face.”

  “Where’s Gavin?” Leah bellowed over their squabbling.

  Wally and Harvey stopped short. “He’s not back?” Harvey asked in disbelief.

  “You two stupid—” Leah started, when Vicky came rushing out of Abe’s room.

  “Where did he go? Did he take his gear?” Vicky asked, her voice rising.

  Wally shook his head. “No. He put his jacket on, but he didn’t go outside. He said he was cold and—”

  “That snake is trying to leave without me!” Vicky started to push past Harvey and Wally.

  Jack grabbed her arm. “Hold on.”

  “Let go!” She struggled like a cornered animal, her eyes wild. “Gavin’s leaving in the gondola! I have to catch him.”

  Jack tightened his grip. “He’s not going anywhere without the fuse.”

  “He found one this morning.” Vicky stopped struggling and looked pleadingly at Jack. “In the pantry behind his imported coffee. We were waiting for the wind to die down. But he was supposed to take me!”

  “Why wouldn’t he take everyone?”

  “Someone up here is a killer.” Her eyes darted suspiciously toward Jack. “And once the killer knew we could escape, they might have just started—I don’t know—killing us all.”

  Jack searched her eyes. She was telling the truth, but…

  We turned this place upside down looking for backup fuses. There’s no way they just magically appeared behind the expensive coffee that only Gavin is allowed to touch…

  He turned to Leah. “It’s a trap.”

  When Jack, Vicky, and Leah reached the gondola, the motor was humming and the gondola was already starting to move off the platform. Jack broke into a sprint, but he knew he’d never catch it in time.

  “Stop the car, Gavin!” Jack yelled. “Stop the car!”

  Gavin opened the door and leaned out. “I’ll send help back for you! One of you is a killer! This is the safest way!”

  Vicky let fly a slew of obscenities and heaved her ax at Gavin. It fell ten yards short and disappeared down the cliff.

  “I’ll recall the gondola.” Leah changed direction and charged for the control booth.

  Jack heard arguing behind him and turned to see Wally and Harvey running up. Idiots! They were supposed to stay with Bree. Instead they’d left her all alone with Abe. Probably worried we’d leave them behind.

  Shaking his head, Jack looked at the gondola, still moving. A light pulsing in the gloom above it caught his attention. Jack squinted to see the metal clamp that held the gondola on the cable.

  Green lights flashed.

  The gondola’s connection to the cable was surrounded by avalanche charges, and they were armed.

  Jack ran to the edge of the cliff. The gondola was still over the slope. If Gavin jumped now, the drop was just twenty feet. He’d break his legs, but he’d live. If he stayed on the gondola another moment, he’d pass the edge of the slope, and the fall would be a hundred feet or more. “Gavin! There’s an avalanche charge on the cable! Jump!”

  Gavin held up his middle finger. “Nice try, Jack! I’ll send help! You have to—”

  “GAVIN!” Vicky waved her arms frantically and pointed at the clamp. “He’s telling the truth, Gavin! I swear! Jump, now!”

  “Sorry, love, but I just don’t trust you!”

  But at that moment Gavin’s smile faded, and he looked up. He must have heard the warning beep of the explosives as the lights turned red. Either way, when Gavin looked at Jack, it was with a mix of terror and hopelessness.

  The charges detonated just as the gondola swung free of the ridge.

  The gondola shuddered violently, the cable snapped, and Gavin disappeared down the mountain.

  56

  Pull Over

  The Charger slid sideways on the snow-covered road as Alice struggled to make the sharp turn. The worried little voice in her ears was now screaming. It was bad enough not hearing from Jack when she’d just chalked it up to the blizzard and faulty technology. Now, when she knew he was trapped on a mountain with a love-crazed killer…

  She hit the straightaway and punched the gas. The Charger roared, but the tires spun and the car shimmied sideways. Feeling a little love-crazed herself, she forced herself to slow down. It wouldn’t do Jack any good if she got herself killed trying to get to him.

  A siren blared, and lights flashed in her rearview mirror. Alice swore under her br
eath, but she pulled over to the side of the road. The police car raced by her, followed by an ambulance and a fire truck.

  The parking lot at the base of the mountain was just ahead. Her chest tightened as she fell in behind the emergency vehicles. She prayed they kept going past it, but when the police car pulled into the gondola parking lot, the pain in her chest spread throughout her body.

  Then she saw the gondola station itself and the metal cables that supported the gondola, sagging halfway to the ground.

  Alice choked back a cry. Please, Lord, let Jack be safe. Please.

  The police cruiser stopped in front of a brick ranger station, and the ambulance and fire truck parked behind it. Alice jumped out of the Charger and raced after them into the building.

  Inside, a ranger was talking with two people Alice recognized from the Planet Survival videos—Chiri and Frida. Chiri’s hands were gesturing wildly and the pompoms on his hat danced across his head.

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” Chiri was saying. “You need to get help up there right now! One man is critically injured and won’t last much longer.”

  Alice clamped her hand over her mouth to trap the scream that was escaping her aching soul. She stood riveted to Chiri’s every syllable.

  “Two other men are dead,” Chiri continued, while Frida nodded vehemently. “Not an accident. They were murdered.”

  57

  Chance

  Vicky collapsed to her knees. Little puffs of breath escaped her lips, and tears streamed down her grief-stricken face.

  Jack jogged along the edge of the cliff, trying to see where the gondola landed and if there was any chance of Gavin surviving the fall. He found a good place to peer over the ledge. The gondola had cleared the slope and plummeted a hundred yards before smashing into jagged rocks. It was hard to tell at first that what resembled a balled-up wad of aluminum foil was the upside-down car, lying on its roof.

  Leah reached his side and looked down at the wreckage. “Do you think there’s any chance…”

  He shook his head.

  “We should at least check.”

  “There’s no getting down there without gear. I’ll come back with mine.”

  “No, I’ll do it.” She glared up at the gray sky. “Whatever his faults, Gavin was still part of the crew.”

  Vicky was still sobbing and Harvey and Wally helped her to her feet. She pushed the men aside and staggered off. Jack watched her go in the general direction of the lodge.

  “First things first,” Jack said. “We all need to get back to the lodge. We’ve left Bree all alone with Abe.”

  Leah didn’t budge, though. Something had caught her attention. She pointed at a spot fifty yards down the slope below them. “Jack…”

  He followed the line of her finger to a spot of bright-orange fabric protruding from the snow. A backpack. As Jack squinted, he saw that it was still attached to a body, and the body was lying in a very unnatural position.

  “It’s Eric,” Leah whispered. Her climbing ax slipped from her hand and landed in the snow. “We’re all going to die.”

  Jack stared. He had hoped the killer had been Eric. But Eric was a victim. Which meant only one thing.

  The killer is one of us.

  58

  I Didn’t Expect That

  Vicky kicked the coffee table against the wall. “I’m not going back into Abe’s room. It’s freezing in there. If we’re going to stay together, let’s at least do it by the fireplace.” She walked over to the fireplace, chucked a log in, and stared at the flames.

  Harvey and Wally apparently agreed, as Harvey flopped down in the recliner and Wally took the couch.

  “I’d better go check on Abe,” Leah said. Her face was drawn, pale. She blames herself, Jack thought.

  He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll do it. You stay here.” He leaned close to her. “Leah, listen. It’s not your fault. None of it. I know you think it is, but it’s not.”

  Leah reached up and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

  Snow fell from Jack’s boots as he jogged down the hallway, craning his neck, praying that Abe’s door was closed. It was. “Bree. It’s Jack.”

  The bureau scraped against the floor, and the door opened a crack. Bree peered out, then moved the bureau the rest of the way.

  Jack stepped inside, and Bree sat in the chair next to Abe’s bed, her legs stretched out in front of her. “Did Gavin get the gondola going?” she asked.

  Jack walked to the window and stared out at the lightening sky. “Gavin’s dead.”

  Bree put both hands over her face.

  “It was a trap,” Jack said. “The gondola was sabotaged. It’s destroyed.”

  “We’re stuck here,” Bree whispered.

  “The weather’s clearing up. Visibility’s going to increase. I’ll be able to light off the signal flares soon.”

  Abe groaned. Bree stroked his forehead. “He woke up while you guys were gone. For a few minutes, anyway. He’s not going to last much longer, though. Do you really think help will come in time?”

  Jack forced himself to meet Bree’s gaze. He wanted to tell her they would be okay and that help was on the way, but he didn’t know that. No one could be sure. And he wanted to be careful with his words, in case Abe could hear him. The slimmest hope could sometimes be the difference between life and death.

  It had been hours since Chiri and Frida had set off to get help. If they were successful… But the storm was still in full swing when they started. No one else thought their descent was even possible. And now Jack was worried they might be right. He lowered his eyes and stared at Bree’s boots and the bits of ice slowly melting on the floor.

  “Someone has to come for us sometime, right?” Bree said with a hopeful smile.

  Another little chunk of snow fell off Bree’s heel and turned to mush. Jack swallowed and forced himself to keep his face neutral, expressionless. Staring at the glistening treads on her boot soles was like figuring out the key letter in a crossword. Suddenly, it all made sense.

  Bree was lying.

  Her hands were tucked in her jacket pockets. She stared at Jack with the same warm, weary smile teammates might share over a beer after losing a hard-played softball game.

  His back stiffened. Plausible reasons Bree could have for going outside flickered through his head. As they did, Jack realized what he was really doing was coming up with counterarguments to any possible alibi Bree could produce.

  “Do you need me to go get more snow for Abe, or can you manage?” Jack asked.

  Bree flexed her left foot and winced. “I would appreciate if you or Leah could go. My ankle’s still bad. I can’t walk that far on it yet.”

  Jack resisted the urge to put his hand on his climbing ax. “I’m sure Leah will do it. We’d all do anything for Abe.” He paused. “After all, he’s got a little girl at home depending on her daddy to come back to her, right?”

  Bree’s lip trembled, and she nodded.

  “And he’s going to buy her one of those little Jeeps for her birthday. What’s her name again?”

  Bree ground her teeth. Tears were falling now.

  “Annabelle—that’s it,” Jack said. “She’s a beautiful girl. Remember how he tried to show me all those pictures?”

  Bree wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. “Change the subject,” she muttered.

  “I’m sorry it’s upsetting.” He took a step toward her. “It’s just that I can’t forget the look of love and pride on Abe’s face when he talked about her. That little girl is lucky to have such a wonderful father—”

  “Shut up!” Bree pressed her hands against the sides of her head and doubled over. Her tears stained the floor as she rocked back and forth.

  “You didn’t mean to hurt Abe.”

  Bree’s head snapped up. “What?” she said, as if she hadn’t heard him correctly.

  “It was you, Bree. Your boots are wet. You went outside so you could detonate the charge on the gondol
a.”

  Bree’s eyes darted around the room. “Me? You think I’m the killer? I just walked… Wait, that’s why you asked me to get ice? Wet boots don’t make me a killer.”

  “No. But stabbing Ollie does.”

  Bree wiped her nose and sat up straight. “That’s ludicrous. Ollie is twice my size.”

  “That’s why you stabbed him in the back. It was obvious Ollie knew his killer. Whoever stabbed him would never have gotten the jump on him in that hallway unless Ollie let his guard down.”

  “Ollie knew everyone on the crew. Any one of them could have done it.”

  “But they didn’t. You did. You stabbed Ollie, and he must have spun around and broken your nose. That’s why the bloodstain on the wall was about five feet up from the floor. That was your blood.”

  Jack couldn’t prevent his hand instinctively moving to the climbing ax on his belt when Bree thrust her hands deeper into her pockets.

  He softened his voice. “You didn’t mean to hurt Abe. Ollie took Abe’s gear.”

  “It was an accident,” Bree whispered.

  “Why?”

  “Why?” Bree’s eyes blazed. “Charlie. He’s why. He was the most decent man I ever knew, and these bastards got him killed. Gavin was too much of a pampered prima donna to do his own stunts, so Ollie had to do them. You saw it, at the challenge the other day. Ollie took all the risk and Gavin got all the glory.” Bree shifted in her chair and leaned forward. Her voice stayed low but intensified. “Ollie was paid extra for the stunts, but it was super hush-hush. If the fans found out, ratings would tank and so would profits, and we’d all be out of a job. It all boils down to money, right?

  “But then Ollie got hurt. So you’d think then Gavin would step up and actually do his job, wouldn’t you? But no… Ryan, Gavin, and Ollie all ganged up on Charlie and bullied him to do the stunt. Charlie was scared out of his mind. He wasn’t some macho extreme-sport nut; he was a musician who did sound work for his paycheck. I begged him not to do the stunt, but they told him if the show shut down, the production crew would be fired. That’s what did it. He had a huge heart for people. He put these selfish pukes before himself, and what did it get him? Killed. Buried alive. And it’s all their fault.” Tears streamed down her reddening face.