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

if it was a reflection or a light from a person.”
    The team erupted into a frenzy of motion.
    Ben grabbed his skis from the rack at the side of the room. Roy’s assigned spots contained an empty slot. “Oh, crap.”
    “What?” Oliver asked.
    “Roy’s touring skis and poles aren’t here. He can’t have—”
    “Dawn patrol?”
    “Who the fuck knows with Roy? I hassled him about not taking the job seriously. Maybe he’s…Christ. I don’t know.”
    Oliver leaned close to Ben’s ear. “Keep it together. You can do this.”
    Ben took a deep breath. “Anyone seen Aiden?”
    As the lift manager, Aiden Price needed to be informed if ski patrol initiated a search and rescue mission. Ben would leave only two patrollers to monitor the eight ski lifts and one hundred and twenty ski runs on the mountain.
    “He’s not in yet,” one of the patrollers said.
    Before issuing commands to the group, Ben locked eyes with Oliver.
    “You’re in charge,” Oliver said.
    Ben gave one curt nod and faced the team. “Call in everyone,” he said to the administration assistant who’d been hovering in the doorway nearest his desk. “Then see if you can find Roy. Also check if anyone else is missing.” To the rest of the team, he said, “Let’s go.”
    He tightened his helmet strap and bolted toward the outdoor shed that stored the snowmobiles.
    Time had just become the enemy.
     
    * * *
     
    Twenty minutes later, Ben surveyed the destruction caused by the avalanche. A sea of knocked-down trees, ripped by the roots from the ground, covered the terrain to the right of the Dragon’s Bowl. The forest to skiers’ left remained pristine. If Roy had been on the demolished side of the run, for sure the avalanche crushed him. Ben’s gut wrenched, but his job demanded he suppress his emotions and get on with the search.
    “Everyone turn your beacons to receive mode.” Ben pointed toward the toe of the avalanche. “Let’s start there.”
    The team zeroed in on the spot. Each held a receiver aimed toward the surface. No one spoke. Boots crunching on snow, the swish of ski pants rubbing together and heavy breathing disturbed the silence.
    The thunder of a helicopter distracted Ben. He crouched, tucked his chin to his chest and waited for the helicopter to land. The blades whipped wind and snow in all directions. The side door opened. A man with two search dogs jumped to the ground and duck walked away from the blades. Once they were at a safe distance, the helicopter took off.
    The handler released the dogs and commanded them to start at the toe. The dogs ran in a zigzag pattern with their noses to the snow, barking repeatedly, moving from lower to higher altitude. The red vests the dogs wore kept them visible but didn’t hamper their movements.
    “I’ve got a signal,” a patroller said.
    Ben clomped over chunks of snow and joined the searchers. Each person held a receiver close to the ground, taking one careful step forward after another.
    “Here,” another patroller yelled.
    The patrollers closest used their probes and searched beneath the snow. Minutes passed, but they found nothing.
    “Over here,” the dog handler shouted. “They’ve got a scent.”
    Fifty meters away, the dogs scratched at the surface, tails wagging, indicating a find.
    The patrollers who were probing near the transceiver signal walked toward the dogs.
    “No,” Ben said. “Keep to your area.” He radioed the rescuers higher on the mountain to join the dog handler.
    A patroller in the toe of the avalanche waved at Ben. “I’ve hit something.”
    Ben grabbed his shovel from his pack and connected the two ends together. Even though his body ached to slam the blade into the snow, he shoveled carefully. “I can’t find anything. Keep probing.”
    Ben shoveled more snow.
    Clunk.
    The tip of his shovel rested on a solid object.
    “Careful now,” Oliver said.
    Ben removed snow surrounding the object, and part of a transceiver peeked through the