Avalanche (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

wind’s too strong up here. Most of the tracks have already been obliterated. There was only a few feet and then nothing.”
    The glint of something shiny poking out of the snow caught Ben’s eye. He sidestepped closer and pulled a bent ski pole into the air. He spoke to the group nearest him. “Use your probes here and work your way up.”
    Ben phoned the mountain operations administration assistant and asked him to check the number on the pole against the list of patrollers. He heard him click on his keyboard and his intake of breath.
    “The pole belongs to Roy.”
    “Can you find Turner? I don’t know if anyone has told him about the avalanche yet.”
    Ben turned back to Oliver. “Now we know.” He called Roy’s girlfriend, Jessica, and the call switched to voicemail. Then he tried Kalin and got the same result.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Kalin and Jessica waited in the reception area outside the president’s office. Jessica’s phone rang, and she ignored it. Seconds later Kalin’s rang, and she switched off the ringer without checking the display. Turner had a strict policy about no cell phone use in his office, and she didn’t want to worsen his mood with a minor transgression.
    While they waited, Kalin took deep breaths to settle herself. Maybe she should have called the RCMP before coming to Turner’s office, and maybe she should have waited until they knew exactly how much money had been stolen. Maybe.
    Her boss didn’t accept mistakes, and she wouldn’t be the first person to lose her job for making one. At the least, this would affect her reference check. Talk about terrible timing.
    Turner had been the president of Stone Mountain Resort for six months. He’d been hired to replace the previous president, Gavin Reed, after a fire destroyed most of the lower village. Turner had taken a resort in financial trouble and created profits in record speed. A weak person couldn’t have implemented the required changes. Kalin suspected he dreamt of managing a larger, more prestigious resort and needed to prove himself. Hearing about a theft this large would really set him off.
    Turner walked straight past them and motioned for them to follow. He entered his office beyond the desk of his administrator.
    “I need to report a theft,” Kalin cleared her throat. “Sometime between closing yesterday and opening this morning, someone broke into the finance center. This morning Helen discovered the empty safe.”
    Turner pulled at his shirt collar, exposing the edge of a tattoo. Kalin knew two things. One, the gesture meant he was angry, and two, he’d be even angrier if he realized she’d spotted the tattoo. He kept his past private, so she averted her eyes.
    “Is she telling me you lost an entire day’s receipts?” Turner asked Jessica.
    Jessica bit the inside of her cheek. “It’s worse. We also lost Saturday’s cash in addition to the money we keep stocked to make up the daily floats.”
    “How much?”
    “Helen thinks around one hundred thousand.”
    “Thinks? Why doesn’t she know exactly?”
    “We don’t have night audit’s receipts yet,” Jessica said.
    “Well, get them.”
    A bead of sweat formed on Turner’s forehead, surprising Kalin. She’d never seen him sweat. He snapped his gum and let out a long breath. She smelled mint mixed with a medicinal aroma.
    “How the hell could something like this happen?”
    Jessica flinched at Turner’s raised voice. “Helen said someone from the bank called on Saturday afternoon. They told her the cash drop was broken and not to bring the money to town until they called to say they’d fixed the unit. They said most likely it would be Monday since they’re closed on Sundays. So last night, the money from both Saturday and Sunday was in the safe.”
    “Did Helen verify the call was from the bank?”
    Jessica looked to Kalin before answering, then straightened her back and faced Turner. “I don’t know. I’ll ask—”
    “Ask? Are you kidding me? This