Cindi Myers - Avalanche Of Trouble

“I don’t know, Al,” Gage said. “But I’ll be right there.” Ordinarily, a random burglary wouldn’t seem that unusual, but two burglaries in one week was enough to rate a headline in the local paper. Add in a double murder and Gage had to ask what the heck was going on.

Chapter Four

On his way to the high school, Gage called Travis. “Didn’t you respond to the high school this morning about a break-in?” he asked when his brother answered the phone.

“Yesterday morning,” Travis said. “It’s already this morning.”

“Sorry to wake you,” Gage said. “But I just got a call from Al Dawson, the janitor over there. He says the gym door has been tampered with.”

“All the doors were fine when I was out there,” Travis said. “The thief got into the lab through a broken window.”

“Al thinks somebody broke into the gym. I’m on my way out there.”

“I’ll meet you.”

Al was waiting by his truck when Gage pulled into the lot at the high school. Security lights cast a jaundiced glow over the scene. Whoever had attacked the door to the gymnasium hadn’t bothered with subtlety. They had bashed in the area around the lock with a sledgehammer or iron bar. “Is this the only door that’s been damaged?” Gage asked.

“I think so,” Al, a thin man in his sixties, said. “I took a look around while I was waiting for you and I didn’t see anything else.”

“You don’t have any security cameras focused on this area, do you?” Gage asked.

Al frowned. “We’re a rural school district. Our budget doesn’t run to security cameras.”

“All right.” Gage took out a pair of gloves and pulled them on. “I’ll check things inside. You wait here.”

But before he could open the door, Travis pulled up. Gage waited for his brother to join them. Travis greeted them, then surveyed the door. “They obviously didn’t care about hiding the damage,” he said. “Same thing with the science lab yesterday—smash and grab.”

“What did they take from the lab?” Gage asked.

“Science equipment—some test tubes and flasks, reagents and a Bunsen burner,” Travis said.

“You think it was kids making drugs?” Al asked.

“Kids or adults,” Travis said. “We’re keeping our eyes open.”

“I was just about to take a look inside,” Gage said.

“I’ll come with you.” Travis pulled on a pair of gloves and followed Gage inside, both men careful to keep to one side, out of what they judged was the direct path of entry. Later, a crime scene team would investigate and gather what evidence they could. “I don’t hold out much hope of getting good prints,” Gage said as he flipped the light switch. Banks of floodlights lit up the wood-floored space. Basketball hoops hung from the ceiling at either end of the gym, and metal bleachers lined the far wall.

“Doesn’t look like they did any damage in here,” Gage said, surveying the empty room.

“Let’s get Al in here and see if he sees anything out of place.” Travis walked back the way he and Gage had come. A minute later, he returned with the janitor. “Do you see anything missing, Al?”

The janitor scratched his head. “I don’t see anything—then again, I wouldn’t necessarily know. You need to get one of the coaches over here for that.”

Gage checked the time. Almost one in the morning. “For now, we’ll seal off the area and get one of the reserve officers over here to babysit the scene until the crime scene guys can make it over. What time do the coaches show up?”

“Seven thirty or so, usually,” Al said. He frowned across the silent gym. “I guess this means I won’t be doing the floors in here tonight.”

“No one comes in here without an escort from the sheriff’s department,” Gage said.

They went outside again and while Travis pulled crime scene tape from his SUV, Gage called in a reserve officer to stand guard and made notes about Al’s statement. “I’ll swing back here early to talk to the coaches,” he said.

Thirty minutes later, he and Travis walked back to their cars, prepared to leave. “Did you get Ms. Renfro taken care of?” Travis asked.

“She’s over at the Bear’s Den,” Gage said. “I told her I would pick her up and take her back to the camp in the morning. She wants to help search for her niece, and I think it’s probably a good idea. The little girl will recognize her, plus Maya can communicate with her in sign language.” He glanced over his shoulder at the high school. “I guess I’ll swing by here first, see if I can get anything useful from the coach.”

Travis clapped him on the shoulder. “Let me know what you find. I’ll see you later at camp.”

Gage opened the driver’s-side door of his SUV. “And to think just yesterday I was complaining about being bored,” he said. “That’s what I get for opening my big mouth.”

* * *

MAYA LAY AWAKE much of the night, alternately weeping and praying, terrified of what might be happening to Casey, unable to accept she would never see her sister again.

When the clock showed 6:00 a.m., she got out of bed and took a shower, then did her makeup and ventured downstairs. When she walked into the dining room, which was painted a cheery apple green, Paige gestured toward a buffet, on which sat a large coffee urn and plates of muffins. “Help yourself,” she said. “The other guests haven’t come down yet, but I knew you’d want an early start.”

Maya filled a coffee cup and stirred in cream and sugar. “I don’t guess you’ve heard anything from Gage?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, no,” Paige said. “I’m sure he would have called you if they had found anything.”

Maya dropped into one of the chairs at the dining table. Paige sat opposite her. “I know it’s hard,” Paige said. “But don’t give up hope. Everyone available is looking for your niece—and we’ve done this before. Two summers ago, a little boy got lost when his family was hiking and they found him the next day, a little cold and scared, but safe.”

Maya wrapped both hands around the sky-blue mug decorated with little fleurs-de-lis. “I keep telling myself that we’ll find Casey today. I wish I was up there right now, helping to look for her.”

“It’s still too dark out to see much,” Paige said. “And do you even know how to get there?”

“Gage took me there last night.” She sipped her coffee. “And I can follow directions, if someone tells me which way to go.”

“You might as well wait for Gage,” Paige said. “He should be here soon.”

“He probably has plenty to do besides babysitting me,” Maya said.

“He probably does,” Paige said. “But that’s the kind of guy he is—a real gentleman. I know it’s an old-fashioned word, but it’s true. He really cares about people. It’s what makes him good at his job.”

Maya shifted in her chair, curiosity warring with embarrassment. Curiosity won. “Are you and Gage involved?” she asked.

Paige laughed. “Oh my goodness, no. What made you think that?”

“I know you went down to talk to him after you showed me to my room. I just thought...” She shrugged.

“No. Gage and I are not involved.” Paige pinched off a bite of muffin. “Neither one of us is interested in getting serious,” she said. “It’s easier.”

“I know what you mean,” Maya said. “I’m not seeing anyone right now, either.” Though she couldn’t help thinking how nice it would be to have someone she could lean on. She pushed the thought away. She had been standing on her own two feet for plenty of years—no reason to stop now. “How did you end up in Eagle Mountain?” she asked.

“I came here on vacation and fell in love with the place,” Paige said.