Page 67 of Canyon Killer
“When did you talk to Aaron?”
They exchanged a look peculiar to them, as if they were communicating telepathically. “He called us last night,” Dalton said.
“He said we needed to help him keep a better eye on you,” Carter said.
“I’m not some child you have to babysit.”
“Okay, okay.” Carter held up both hands. “Don’t get so upset. It’s just…” He looked away, jaw clenched.
“You scared us, okay?” Dalton said.
Carter looked back at her. “You’re the only sister we’ve got.”
Her anger evaporated, and she blinked rapidly, her eyes stinging. “I love you, too,” she said. “But I’m okay. Really. And Ian and I are both going to be careful.”
“Do they have any idea who set the fire?” Dalton asked.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “Have either of you heard anything?”
They both shook their heads. “No.”
“I don’t think it’s a climber,” Carter added.
“Ian doesn’t think so, either,” she said.
“Then who was it?” Dalton asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m going to be paying special attention Thursday night at the county commissioners’ meeting. You two could do me a favor to help.”
Carter looked wary. Maybe he was remembering other “favors” she had asked of him, from dating a friend of hers who’d been overly possessive to driving her and four preteen friends to a K-pop concert and serving as their parent-approved chaperone. “What do we have to do?” he asked.
“Attend the meeting and watch to see if anyone is acting unusual.”
Dalton nudged his twin. “What do you think?”
“I think I’d rather eat dirt than sit through a county commissioners’ meeting.” Carter blew out a breath. “But I’ll do it for you, sis.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
On Thursday evening, the county commissioners’ meeting was standing-room only, with the overflow crowd spilling into the hallway on the top floor of the county government building, across the street from Eagle Mountain City Hall. Ian eased past groups of people he recognized as climbers, their faces familiar to him from past expeditions and gatherings at popular climbing hot spots, as well as some who had protested against the via ferrata. Some of them greeted him by name or even patted him on the back, while others glared silently. A few stared at his bandaged hands—less bulky than the wrapping applied at the hospital, but the layers of stark white gauze still reminded him of cartoon hands on animated characters.
A woman with a dark ponytail and a clipboard checked his name off a piece of paper and directed him to sit near the front of the room on the right side. As he made his way to his seat, he scanned the other occupants of the room and spotted Bethany. She smiled and waved, and he nodded in greeting, a little unnerved by how glad he was to see her. One friendly face in a sea of faces he already thought of as hostile. Wasn’t that the people who attended this kind of thing—those who wanted to speak against the project?
He had just settled into his seat when a door on one side of the chamber opened and the five county commissioners filed in to sit along one side of a long table at the front of the room. Walt Spies took the middle seat. He was dressed as usual, in worn jeans and a checked shirt. Though Ian knew he was over seventy, he had the erect posture and broad shoulders of a younger man. Two men and two women flanked Walt at the table, all wearing casual clothing and sober expressions.
Walt banged his gavel once, and the crowd hushed. “I call to order this meeting of the Rayford County, Colorado, County Commissioners,” he said.
They sang the national anthem, followed by a prayer, then reviewed the minutes of the last meeting. “The only item on tonight’s agenda is the consideration of the application for an operating permit for the Eagle Mountain Via Ferrata, to be operated by Seabrook Enterprises, LLC.” Walt shuffled through a stack of papers. “We have a number of people who wish to speak on this issue, so we’ll begin now.”
A climber who introduced himself as Jeremy Leslie spoke first. Baby-faced and wiry, Jeremy fidgeted as he read from a piece of notepaper clutched in his hand. “I think you should vote against letting this via ferrata operate in Humboldt Canyon,” he said. “Climbers have used that canyon free of charge for decades now, establishing a precedent of public use. That precedent should be maintained.”
When Jeremy had finished his short statement, he looked up and grinned. Cheers rose from the back of the room, and Walt had to bang his gavel to restore order.
Next up was the president of the local tourism bureau. “We think this could be a very good thing for the community,” he said. “They’ve been huge draws in other locations throughout the mountain west. It would bring in tourists who would spend money on lodging, meals, gear and guides. We don’t see a downside.”
More cheers as he exited the podium, and Eldon Ramsey took his place. “I’m a local climber,” Eldon introduced himself. “I also volunteer with search and rescue. I had a lot of objections to this project initially. I didn’t climb a lot in Humboldt Canyon, but I liked knowing it was available—and free. As a SAR volunteer, I also worried about the potential for a via ferrata to attract unskilled daredevils who might get hurt and strain our resources.
“But after talking with Ian and seeing his plan for the canyon,” he said, “I feel better about the project. He’s got a lot of safety protocols built in. And he’s designing a course I think would be fun for beginners and more experienced climbers like me. So I think you should vote to approve the project.”
