That’s the way I do things. It saves them from worrying. Ever since the day that my little brother Evan died, they’ve worried about getting another phone call from the police with terrible news. I get rooms at the staff rate because I sometimes work as a ski instructor. I stay at the resort when I want to get an early start on the slopes, so my parents weren’t at all surprised when I told them I wasn’t going to be home. When I got hungry, I ate a few greasy burgers. When I got bored, I read some ski magazines. I did what I needed to do to kill time. Cassie was supposed to be meeting somebody. If I could find out who, maybe then I would know why. Why had Garth and Budgie been hurt? Why was Cassie in on this? Was she in danger too? Why was this all happening? I planned to follow Cassie when she left the Big Bear hotel. I hung out in the hotel lobby because I wanted to stay warm for as long as possible. At night the mountain air is very cold. At quarter to nine I went outside and stepped into the shadows of some trees.
