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

for a place to put the gummy remnant. She ended up squishing it in her palm. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to refuse the polygraph.”
    Too timid to steal from Stone Mountain and a rule follower, of course, Helen would think that way. Jessica just couldn’t picture Helen sneaking into the finance center in the middle of the night. “The cops can’t search anyone’s place without a warrant, and since they have no evidence, they can’t get a warrant without tripping someone up. I won’t have our group treated this way. The cops should be looking for an outsider.”
    Eric lifted his chin and studied Jessica. “Since when do you care about anyone in the group?”
    “Just because I don’t show it, doesn’t mean I don’t care. Look, we’re all upset about having to take a polygraph. I don’t think we should let them push us around.”
    “But Turner will be angry if we refuse,” Helen said.
    Jessica studied the dust on her palm, then wiped her hand on her jeans. “I’ll talk to him. Tell him no one feels right about this. Let me at least try, and if it doesn’t go well, we can always do what he wants.”
     
    * * *
     
    Jessica ignored the headache pounding its way from the base of her neck to her temples. It wasn’t even five o’clock yet, so too early to go home. The theft wasn’t directed at her personally, but the missing money would cause her problems. She punched the back of her office chair. The chair swiveled, and the armrest knocked her teacup onto the floor.
    “Shit.”
    She called Roy for what must have been the tenth time, and he didn’t answer. She tossed her cell at the wall, but it fell short and thumped onto the carpet. Roy had probably cut out early and headed to the bar to drink with his all-important buddies. To hell with him.
    With the way Turner treated her, staying at home tomorrow seemed more appealing than coming to work. Maybe she should get back into the real estate business. She still had her license, and she got along well with the people in the local office. The flexible hours of an agent would mean she wouldn’t have to miss any ski time. Maybe she could even ski more.
    If she was going to change her life, a drastic change should do the trick. She should dump Roy and change jobs, except she liked her job and had worked hard to get it. Roy, she could do without.
    A knock on her office door caused an uncontrollable shiver to travel from her spine to her ribcage. After the day she’d had, it couldn’t be anything good. Ignoring that she was mad at him, she picked her cell off the floor and dialed Roy again, but the call forwarded to voicemail.
    “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
    She opened the door. Aiden Price stood in front of her, wearing his lift operator uniform. Jessica had met him during her first week at Stone Mountain. In her enthusiasm to get on the slopes, she’d forgotten her newly printed staff pass. Aiden had been at the lift station and given her a complimentary ticket, making her promise to show him her pass later. An overnight powder dump smothered the runs, and she would have missed the fresh tracks if she’d had to go home and get her pass. He’d said she looked so excited about skiing that he hadn’t had the heart to turn her away. They’d been friends, sort of, ever since.
    Aiden’s toque sat crooked on his head, and his zipper stuck halfway to the top of his jacket as if he’d dressed in a hurry. He stood silently staring at her.
    “What?” Jessica asked.
    “Can I come in?”
    She let him pass. “Man, you smell ripe.”
    Aiden wiped sweat off his forehead. “I’ve been working hard all day. We’re short on ski patrol. I had to manage the lifts and take care of the junior patrollers.”
    “What’s going on?”
    “Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” Aiden asked.
    “To understate things, I’ve had a busy day.”
    “Have you talked to Roy today?”
    “No. Why?”
    “An avalanche hit the Dragon’s Bowl this morning. Roy’s