Tainted Mountain Read Online Free

don’t belong on the mountain.”
    The cries from the crowd grew even louder now. “Save our Peaks!” “Don’t desecrate the sacred Mother!” “You don’t belong here!” Eyes full of vengeance, mouths opened in escalating rage, they shouted at her.
    And Scott was off on his own mission. Cops only halfway to the steps. No help in sight.
    The young girl’s pretty eyes shone with excitement and she placed her hand on the angry young man’s muscled shoulder.
    He looked ready to tear out her jugular with his hands.
    Nora backed up, panicked and frozen in place.
    The guy leapt up the last step and advanced on her. “This moun-
tain was given to us to keep sacred for the whole world.”
    The girl jumped up on the step, close behind him.
    Nora took another step back and bumped into the courthouse wall.
    The cops couldn’t get to her in time. More people pushed toward her, forming a wall of bodies that blocked her from sight. Scott wouldn’t see her now even if he looked.
    Malevolence shooting from his eyes, the tall Native American pulled something from his pocket. Impossible against the riotous clatter of the surging crowd, Nora heard the swisht of a blade jumping from a handle.

Three
    Barrett McCreary III slid his Serengeti sunglasses over his nose, cutting the glare from the plaza. Too damn bad the glasses couldn’t hide the sight of Big Elk and his rant.
    â€œBarrett.”
    Shit. Another idiot holding him up.
    Cole Huntsman. For a smart man, an expert on uranium mining, he sure dressed like an illiterate granola. Cole pushed his shaggy pale hair from his forehead. “I found that study on in situ mining in Canada you asked me about.”
    â€œIt hasn’t been five minutes since we spoke.”
    Cole held up one of those fancy phones that could contact the moon and download an encyclopedia, if anyone knew how to use an encyclopedia anymore. “I e-mailed it to you.”
    Even if he looked like a tree-hugger, this guy impressed Barrett. He was smart, efficient, and not one to waste Barrett’s time. “Nice work.”
    A woman’s voice sounded from the courthouse steps, startling Barrett with its clarity. Across the courtyard, Nora Abbott stood on the steps, looking remarkably cool for the mess she’d put herself in. Both Barrett and Cole focused on her addressing the hostile crowd. That coppery hair and bright eyes made her cute as a penny, but she had to be smart too, to keep that ski area running through this drought. She should know better than to throw herself in front of that mob.
    But that was not his problem. He hurried across the plaza while Cole was distracted. Barrett wanted nothing more than to get home, shed this stupid suit and tie, and get down to business. With the congressional hearings on uranium mining set for next week, there were palms to grease, weight to sling around, and dirt to dig.
    He hadn’t been quick enough. Around the corner popped Scott Abbott. Just who he didn’t want to see. And certainly not in public.
    â€œI need to talk to you,” Scott said.
    â€œNot here.”
    Crowd clatter rose from the platform.
    â€œTomorrow, then. On the mountain,” Scott said.
    â€œSix a.m. There shouldn’t be anyone on the trail that early.”
    Scott squinted toward the noisy courthouse. His eyes widened when he saw his wife and, without another word to Barrett, he elbowed his way into the crowd.
    Barrett didn’t want to wait around for the finale. Big Elk had succeeded in his typical mischief. The brothers and sisters to the moon and sun were storming the steps. Par for Big Elk’s course. He took a last look at the crowd and turned to leave.
    Wait.
    He spun back toward the steps.
    It was her.
    How could she be standing there? A train wreck of memory slammed into his gut in an explosion of pain followed by paralysis. His mind spun back forty years. He saw the woman he loved smiling at