Page 61 of High Side
“I get it. I can’t believe in a town this size, no one knows something.”
“Then we’re not asking the right people.” Liz tapped her finger on her chin.
“You know what? You’re right. I need to go to the hippie pools tonight. I’ve been hanging out in my own hot tub too much.”
“That’s what happens when you become a couple. And if you want to stay one, send Jilly to the hippie pools as a spy.” Liz winked at her.
“Gotcha. I’ll see if she’s willing.” Kylie grinned. She would much rather hang out at home with Brittany anyway.
“Got a call yesterday afternoon from the ski mountain checking your girl’s references. They’re very interested in her as an activities coordinator. Could be a cushy winter job.”
“Yeah?” Oh, man, that would rock. “Can I tell her that off the record? She’d be stoked.”
“Sure. I hope it pans out.”
“Me too. She really wants that or marketing slash concierge at the hotel.”
“Well, if they call I’ll put in a good word too.”
“I appreciate it. Holler when the security guys get here. I’m going to go have a look around the bunkhouse, see if I can see anything.” She would bet a deputy had been by last night, but she knew the area really well. If anything was out of place, she would see it.
She didn’t get it. Sure every year there were people that didn’t work out—guides that weren’t friendly, weren’t good at customer service, took too many risks. Those kids usually deselected themselves and moved on fast, even if they were pissed off.
Why stick around when they needed to move on to the next job fast in order to beat the bad references? Who just—
Wait.
Wait, if they stayed, they were locals. If they stayed, they had somewhere to live.
Okay. So she needed to talk to the folks with the cheap rentals. And the campground. Also, she needed to check the people they’d fired who were local. There couldn’t be many.
She grabbed her phone while she made rounds to call Molly at the campground. That number she had in her contacts, so she would start there.
“Yo, Kylie! What’s up? I haven’t seen you all summer!”
“Hey, Moll. Do you have anyone staying who’s been there since right after the training season started?”
“I have a couple of summer rentals—just the little tents, not the cabins. Why?”
“I’m hunting someone who might have washed out of training and been pissed. We’ve had a rash of vandalism. I’m just looking for places to mention to the deputy working our case.”
“Dude! Dude, that sucks!” Molly sounded honestly shocked, which sort of made her feel better.
“Yeah. Slashed tires. Exploding trash cans. Dangerous shit.”
“Dammit. Okay, have the deputy come on over. They can ask me questions.”
“Cool. I’ll text him.” That way it might scare anyone staying there off, if nothing else. She would love to prosecute, but really, she just wanted the guy to leave them alone.
If nothing else, she hated that it was so damn tense in the office. This was supposed to be fun, right? They were supposed to be able to relax and make sure tourists had a good time.
She hung up with Molly and texted the deets to the direct number she had for Geoff from the sheriff’s department, then looked over the damage to the trash cans, which she thought Liz was out replacing even now.
“Hey, sweetie. Has Liz stroked out yet?”
“Not yet. Give her time.”
Lupe snorted. “I worry about that. Help me with this last can.” She had the little Gator with the cans in the back.
