Page 60 of Thunder Pass

“We need to talk to Elias,” Ruth said as soon as they left The Fang. “I want to find out what he knows about the checkpoint.”

“Agreed.” As they drove through town, Gunnar swore he sensed unease in the atmosphere. In the few days they’d been gone, the town had emptied of tourists, and the temperature had dropped a few degrees. Fall was here, and it never lasted long in the mountains, with winter on its heels.

They drove to the rental cabin where Charlie Santa Lucia, Nick Perini, and most importantly, Nick’s daughter Hailey were staying. As Gunnar had predicted, Elias was there; he was teaching Hailey how to shoot a bow and arrow, which had apparently been a longtime dream of hers ever since watching The Hunger Games.

“Let me talk to him alone,” Ruth murmured. “It can be hard to snitch on the family, but it might be easier if it’s just me.”

“Sure.”

While Ruth huddled with Elias, out of earshot, Gunnar waited by the truck, alert for signs of helicopters or camouflage trucks. But all was peaceful. Calm-before-the-storm peaceful, perhaps, but he’d take it. He was enjoying the familiar Firelight Ridge birdsong and the fragrance of spruce trees and sunshine on dirt roads when Nick emerged from the cabin and joined him.

“I was hoping to see you,” he said.

“Oh yeah? I’m backed up for a couple of weeks, so unless it’s an emergency?—”

“The car’s fine.”

Too bad—Gunnar had a special soft spot for the red convertible BMW Charlie had driven to Alaska, and looked forward to the day he could get his hands on that engine.

“It’s something else.” Nick’s serious tone made Gunnar stand up straighter. Nick was a private investigator, and an excellent observer in general. Maybe he had information to share about the Chilkoot compound. “What’s up?”

“I think someone broke into your garage.”

Gunnar laughed, his tension easing. “Sometimes I forget you’re new around here. I don’t even have a lock for the place. I leave it open in case someone needs an emergency part and I’m not around. Honor system.”

“I know that. This is different. I went by to grab a can of motor oil—here’s what I owe you, by the way,” he pulled a twenty from his pocket and handed it to Gunnar, “and it looked to me as if someone had been poking around in the office. I saw a bit of fresh mud near the office door.”

Gunnar’s unease came rushing back. “Everyone knows my office is off-limits.”

“Exactly. I poked my head in just to see if everything looked normal, and it…well, it was hard to tell. I’ve been a PI for a long time, and my instincts told me someone had been there. I took a few photos for you, which I’ll delete as soon as you tell me to.”

He showed Gunnar the photos on his phone. One quick glance told Gunnar that someone had been in there. The computer screen was tilted in a way he never would have left it, and the pottery mug that held his pens and pencils had been moved. But so what? Maybe someone had needed a pen to note down what they’d “borrowed.”

“It doesn’t look like anything’s missing.” He frowned at the photo, then flipped to the next one. “What’s this?”

“That’s the waste basket in the corner. To me it looked like someone might have gone through it.”

“Damn.” Gunnar swore. “You’re right. What the hell? Who goes through the trash like that? Do you think this was a professional?”

“It’s possible. I could tell right away that something was off, but I’m not sure anyone else would. Even you might have missed it if I hadn’t brought it to your attention.”

Gunnar shook his head slowly as he looked at the photos again. “I probably would have, you’re right. Thanks, Nick.”

“You might think about getting a lock.”

“Would a lock stop a professional?”

“It would slow them down.” Nick gave him a keen look. “Charlie mentioned that you’d found something strange on your computer. Do you think this has to do with that?”

“It’s possible. It looks like my computer screen has been shifted. I guess I’ll have to go see for myself.” He glanced over at Ruth, who was still deep in conversation with Elias.

“Need backup? I’m not as techie as Charlie, but I do plenty of work online.”

Gunnar thought about it for a moment, and decided it wouldn’t hurt to have someone else in his corner. “Want to walk down there? I can leave the truck for Ruth when she’s done.”

A few minutes later he and Nick stepped cautiously into the cool interior of his shop. Gunnar sniffed the air, searching for any odor that wasn’t the predictable motor oil and diesel. But everything smelled normal to him.

Not to Nick, though. The other man stiffened, and motioned for him to stay where he was. Gunnar froze as Nick drew out a small Glock and held it steady before him.

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