That afternoon, Jackie was annoyed to find Mick hadn’t yet returned to the lodge before she arrived in the kitchen. She wanted to pump him for more information on Asia. The campers were still packing up in her cabin, leaving her without a quiet place to do any further computer research. With no way to make progress on the investigation, she set to work helping June clean up after Skip had announced the snow-sculpture winner and the crowd began to disperse.
Skip said a quick hello on his way through the dining hall. “Competition went well, in spite of everything. Cross-country skiing is next. We’re stop number two on the route.” He checked his watch. “With the blizzard delay, I expect we’ve got a few hours until they arrive. June, where’s Fallon? I need her help.”
June looked up from slicing onions. “I don’t know and I don’t have time to go look for her.”
“I will.” Grateful to have a job to do, Jackie took off the towel she’d been using around her waist as an apron. “I’ll check in her room first.”
June nodded and returned to her cooking.
Jackie made her way down the hall to Fallon’s room. She stood outside the partially opened door. “Fallon? Are you in there?”
No answer. After a loud knock, she poked her head in. The bed was unmade, Fallon’s pajamas lying discarded on the floor. It was hard to say if her warm jacket was missing in the jumble of clothing scattered around. Maybe the girl had gone out for some cross-country herself. The day was crisp and clear and she’d been cooped up with a houseful of guests all night. It made sense that she would have craved some fresh air and solitude.
In spite of Roman’s warnings to stay inside, Jackie bundled up and walked into the dazzling day. The sight took her breath away. The whole property looked as if it had been bathed in sparkling sugar. The vivid green of snow-capped trees and the gray, shadowed mountain shone against a palette of pure white.
She was overcome by the beauty. In spite of everything, God blessed her with an exquisite scene that only He could have made. It was the same magical feeling felt so many times in the years she’d returned to this rugged place. The only thing more perfect would be sharing it the way she and Roman had in the past. Picturing him made her head swim.
Dax was busily shoveling snow, clearing a path to the front door. His breath showed in little puffs as he worked, plaid shirt pulled taught across his barrel chest.
“Hi, Dax. Getting ready for the skiers?”
He nodded. “Usually one or two come way ahead of the pack. Skip wants it ready in case they gotta use the facilities or come in for grub.”
“Need help?”
“Nah.”
“You haven’t seen Fallon around, have you?”
“Not since yesterday before the blizzard.”
Jackie sighed and started to move away.
He stopped her. “Fallon okay?”
“I’m not sure. June sent me to find her, but I haven’t had any luck so far. She’s probably out skiing somewhere. Why do you ask?”
He leaned on the handle of the shovel, squinting against the glare. “Something funny that happened. Most likely it’s nothing. I don’t have kids so I probably think everything they do is funny.”
“What happened?”
“Skip asked me to get the mail while I was in town. I brought it back but I had a bunch of stuff in my pack so Fallon took it for me. I saw her thumb through the stack and then she kinda had a fit.”
“What kind of fit?”
He crinkled his forehead. “Just sort of straightened up like she’d gotten an electric shock or something. Dropped the whole stack. I went to help her pick them up, but she waved me away.”
Jackie frowned. “Something in the mail upset her?”
“Seemed that way.” He sighed. “I could be all wrong. I think she mighta been crying. You think maybe I should have stopped her or told Skip? I’m no good with kids.”
Jackie squeezed his arm. “I’m sure she wouldn’t have talked about it anyway. Thanks for telling me.”
Dax turned back to his shoveling.
Jackie walked in a confused fog back toward her cabin. Something wasn’t right with the Delucchis. Deep down she felt Fallon’s reaction was not just typical teen angst. Wishing Roman was there to consult on the prickly Fallon situation, she poked her head briefly into Riverrun and found two women still busily packing up their gear in preparation for the next flight out. It wouldn’t be long. Out the window she could see Roman’s plane approaching.
She described Fallon and asked the women if they’d seen her.
Neither one had. The tingle of worry in Jackie’s stomach began to grow. She was just exiting the cabin when she noticed Byron Lloyd standing in the window of his own cabin, talking on the phone, a serious expression on his normally jovial face. He saw her looking at him and nodded, turning his back so she could not read his expression further. With a burst of determination she knocked on his door.
He answered. “Hello, Ms. Swann. I thought you were avoiding me and here you are, right on my doorstep. Won’t you come in?”
She started to decline, then reconsidered. It wouldn’t hurt to take a peek at Lloyd’s belongings. Maybe it would give her some insight into the fake reporter’s real identity.
He held the door and ushered her in. The place was neat, no evidence of the men who had bunked there the previous night. Lloyd’s bed was made, no dishes sat on the counter or in the sink. The only sign that anyone was staying in the place was Lloyd’s sleek laptop on the table and a small, packed duffel bag near the bed.
He grinned. “Your young Roman can be a hothead. Bit of a rough-and-tumble last night.”
He’s not my Roman, she wanted to say. Instead, determined to take control of the conversation for a change, she folded her arms and stared directly at him. “Mr. Lloyd, I looked up the magazine you said you’d written for and they had no record of you.”
He blinked. “That right?”
“Yes, that’s right. There is no Byron Lloyd working for Adventure Road Magazine and there never has been. Why is that?”
“I see.” Lloyd turned away and walked to the chair, sitting heavily. “So you’ve been investigating me? Why?”
“Answer the question.”
He looked at her for a long moment, no trace of his usual smile. “It’s easy to explain, really.”
“I’m listening.”
“I write under a pen name.”
Jackie started. A pen name. She felt ridiculous for not considering that. Could he be telling the truth? She felt her cheeks flush with heat. “What is it?”
“Did you tramp through the snow all the way to my cabin to ask me what my pen name is? I’m flattered, really.” He glanced out the window. “Fallon seemed almost as interested in my career as you are.”
“Fallon?” Jackie was brought back to her original mission. “Have you seen her recently?”
He shifted, crossing his arms over his big stomach. “As a matter of fact, yes. Early this morning she was here, knocking on my door, asking to have a few minutes on my computer.”
“Why would she do that? There’s a computer in the lodge she can use.”
He pursed his lips. “Said her parents took away her personal computer a few months back. I gathered she wanted to conduct some private business. Stayed about fifteen minutes, then left. That’s the last I’ve seen of her this morning.”
Jackie considered. “What sites did she visit?”
He shrugged. “As I said, that’s her private business. I didn’t ask and she didn’t volunteer the information.”
Jackie took a deep breath. “Look, Mr. Lloyd. You’ve been asking questions and popping up in private conversations since you got here. I’m pretty sure after she left you checked the search history on your computer, just to satisfy your own curiosity, maybe?”
A flush appeared in his cheeks. “Such a thing to say. I should take offense.”
“I’m getting worried about Fallon. No one has seen her for hours and Dax said she’d been really upset. If you know something about where she might be, I think you’d better come clean about it.”
He let out a long sigh, which ruffled the edges of his droopy mustache. “She spent some time poking around looking for info on a city in Arizona. Place called Avondale.” The sun streaming through the window painted his face in harsh light. “Then she booked a flight there.”
Roman landed and prepared to load the next set of passengers for a return trip to the airport. His growling stomach sent him to the kitchen in search of a snack and, he hoped, time to tell Jackie what he’d discovered about Lloyd. The tricky part was how Jackie would react to his snooping.
He could sit on the information and do nothing. But what if Lloyd was the shooter, waiting for another chance? Roman’s gut tightened. Lloyd wouldn’t get another opportunity to hurt Jackie. Not if Roman could help it. He met Jackie outside the lodge, noticing right away the look of worry on her face.
“Roman, I’m glad you’re here. I think I found out something about Fallon that’s going to upset June.”
He watched her nervously twist a strand of hair. “What is it?”
She was about to tell him when June popped her head out of the kitchen window. “Come in here, you two. On the double.”
Roman followed Jackie to the kitchen, wondering what she’d discovered about Fallon. The kitchen was warm, smelling of fresh-baked bread that set his mouth watering. June sliced off a piece of a golden loaf and handed it to him, along with a cup of coffee.
“Thanks, Mrs. D.”
She smiled and patted him on the back. “Enjoy, sweetie.”
Jackie fiddled with her slice, cheeks pink and a worried frown creasing her forehead. She glanced at Roman and gave him a distracted nod before turning her attention back to June. “I, I think I need to tell you something.”
June began to grate a block of cheese. “Fire away.”
“I’m not sure…I could be wrong.”
June continued to shred the cheese into pale yellow strands. “What is it, hon? I’ve got to get these quiches in the oven.”
“I’ve been looking for Fallon. I happened to stop by Lloyd’s cabin.”
Roman gulped coffee and burned his tongue. What had she been doing there?
Jackie took a step closer. “He said Fallon asked to use his computer. She wanted to research something.”
June stopped working on the cheese and turned to Jackie, grater suspended in the air. “I don’t know why, when she’s got a perfectly good computer in the office.”
“Lloyd said she wanted privacy.”
June turned away from the counter. An inexplicable tone in her voice brought Roman to his feet. “What would she need to look at privately?”
“She was researching flight information.”
“Flights? She wanted to fly somewhere?” Her voice was tense, like a tightly pulled thread.
Jackie continued after a moment of hesitation. “Lloyd thinks she wanted to go to Arizona, to Avondale.”
“Arizona?” June’s voice sank to a whisper. Her face paled to cream-white. “Not Arizona. Not that.”
It was only Roman’s quick action that kept June from striking her head on the floor as she crumpled. He managed to catch her around the shoulders and ease her down, resting her upper body against his knees.
He shot a look at Jackie. “Call for help.”
At first he thought she hadn’t heard him.
Then, with a look of mingled horror and anguish, Jackie nodded and ran from the room.