Page 27 of The Northern Lights in His Eyes

“I see.” Garvin kissed him again. “Do you want to hear the rest of what I think?” William’s eyes goggled and he nodded. “So I think that they found something and decided to try to get it themselves. If they discovered a vein and could get it out, then no one was likely to find out. They were all alone.”

“But their explosion to get at the ore brought all the snow on the mountain down on top of them,” William whispered. This had to be some of the weirdest foreplay in history. Still, with Garvin so close, it didn’t matter what they talked about. William was warm, his pulse raced, and he was hard enough to pound nails. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand.”

“What’s that?”

“Why would the mining company leave explosives up there all winter? These are supposed to be caretakers… that’s all. The explosives would need to endure the extreme cold and the dampness when the snow melts. You told me they’d remove anything like that.”

Garvin nodded. “I agree with you. And I can’t think of anything, unless they squirreled it away. Or maybe they found some that was left behind by mistake.”

William didn’t take his gaze away from Garvin’s intense eyes as he closed the distance between them and kissed Garvin hard, conveying that Garvin could talk all he wanted, but what William really wanted was action—and lots of it. “I’m sure explosives are regulated and have to be accounted for in detail. I also expect that they aren’t cheap and that the company would want to know exactly what was used.”

“And…?” Garvin prompted.

“Either the mine had them working all winter, which makes no sense, or….” William gasped. “Maybe it’s something else entirely. What if they did find something? Remember that the building itself burned. So if they didn’t know what they were doing… or did and made a mistake and accidentally set off a small explosion, maybe it damaged the building they were in and set it on fire. They got out… but started the avalanche.” That made sense to him with the information they had. “What I really want to know is where we’re going from here.”

Garvin put a hand on each arm of the chair. Sasha left to soak in the warmth of the stove. Smart dog. “I say we go on back to the bedroom and—”

Sasha jumped up and hurried over to the door, growling. Garvin groaned and went over to him. Sasha began barking, and William joined them. “What’s going on?” Two large men approached the door. “Do you know them?”

“Yes.” Garvin moved back and let them inside.

“Enrique sent us over. He tried calling, but the phones are still spotty. There’s trouble at the trading post. Some people from the mining company showed up, and they tried to give Enrique a hard time and threatened him.”

“Okay. We’ll get geared up. Are they still there?” Garvin asked, and the largest of the men nodded. “Then we’ll be right over.” They left, and William began getting dressed for the cold. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Stay here with Sasha if you like.”

“I’m going. I was there when we found the wood.” He wasn’t going to let Garvin and his friends stand alone in this. “Sasha can go with us, anyway. He probably needs to get out of the house for a while.” William stepped into his snow pants and then pulled on his outdoor sweater before his coat and the rest of his gear. Garvin checked the stove and closed it up tight.

“Come on, Sasha,” Garvin called, and they were off a few minutes later, zipping across the snowpack. The light was already fading by the time they reached the trading post.

“What the heck is going on?” William asked as soon as they stepped inside. Garvin held back Sasha, who snarled. It seemed he didn’t like the attitude either.

“You had no right,” a strange man said, pointing at Enrique. There were three other men behind him.

“To what?” William asked loudly, using his theater voice to cut through the din of raised voices. He stepped between the two groups of men, who looked about ready to square off. “And you need to calm down, or Sasha here is going to rip you apart.”

“They stole from our mining site,” he accused, pointing at Enrique and Devon.

“And what was taken?” William asked, playing dumb but not giving an inch. He knew he needed to get them talking rather than pushing back sleeves for a brawl. “What was the value?”

“It was…,” he stammered.

“Some hunks of wood, which have already been turned over to the state police. We can call them if you want the wood back.” William glanced toward Angie, who nodded. “But I suspect the police are already on their way. And I also think they are going to want to talk to all of you.” That seemed to take some of the wind out of their sails.

“You had no right,” the miner said, weaker this time.

“That’s for the police to decide, not you.”

Garvin stood next to him. “That entire pass is public land. We are part of the public, and it’s open. Besides, you should be grateful to all of us for saving the lives of your fellow miners who got caught in the avalanche.” Garvin stood tall, glaring at the group of men. “Now, all of you stand down.”

“But what about the rest?” the miner asked.

“What rest?” William asked.

The miner, with his scruffy beard and intense eyes, seemed less sure of himself. “We were told that supplies and other goods were removed and that we should bring back everything that was taken from the site.”

Garvin shook his head. “Sounds like you’ve been played.” He shared a look with William, who nodded. So much for the men up there being out on their own. It sounded like whatever happened had been with the blessing of management. William wasn’t sure which was worse. “And you still need to speak to the police, because they are going to be interested in what you know. That avalanche, which was most likely caused by your fellow miners, did a lot of damage to the forest.”

“Sounds to me like you all could use some coffee while you wait,” Angie said and started pouring cups to hand out.

---