Page 20 of K-9 Prime Target

A man skied up, snow flying as he plowed to a stop. “I’m her brother,” he said. “Layla, what happened?”

“Somebody hit me,” the girl said, her eyes still closed.

“Ski Patrol. Let us through, please.” Brian and Raz arrived, Brian towing a toboggan.

“That was fast,” Nina said. “Liam must have found you right away.”

“We didn’t see Liam,” Raz said. “A bystander reported the accident.” She knelt on Layla’s other side. “How are you doing?”

“My shoulder hurts.”

“Anything else?”

“My head. But not as much as my shoulder.”

“Okay, can you move your fingers? How about your toes? That’s good. We’re going to put you in this neck brace, then move you into the toboggan and give you a ride down the mountain. Do you have an adult here with you?”

“I’m her brother.” The young man, stocky and bearded, moved closer. He looked to be in his early twenties. Older than the girl, but not much.

“Did you see what happened?” Brian asked as he unwrapped the cervical collar.

“No,” the brother said. “She said someone hit her.”

“I saw it,” Nina said. “A snowboarder cut across the run, came over a rise and hit her. Black pants. Green jacket. Black helmet. He stopped for a few seconds, then took off.”

The patrollers’ radios crackled and Brian answered. “Are you taking care of the girl hit by the snowboarder?” Anders asked.

“Yes. Shoulder injury,” Brian said.

“We’ve got the guy down here. And his dad.”

“Did he turn himself in?” Brian asked.

“That photographer, Liam Davies, caught up with him and hauled him down to patrol headquarters.”

Brian met Nina’s gaze, eyebrows raised. “Not cool,” she said. While a patroller had the authority to detain someone breaking resort rules, a bystander was on shaky ground.

“Yeah,” Brian said. “But sort of cool, too.”

Nina turned her attention to the girl. “How are you doing, Layla?”

“Okay. Just…shook up.”

“I’m going to strap your shoulder down to stabilize it,” Raz said. “That should make you more comfortable.”

“Oh, man, Mom is going to kill me,” the brother said. “Is she going to have to go to the hospital?”

“We’ll take her to the clinic here first,” Nina said. “They may be able to treat her on-site.”

“That’s good. I guess.”

“Do you have her insurance information?” Brian asked. “They’ll want that.”

“You have that, right, Layla?”

“It’s in my pack,” she said, indicating the pack they had eased from beneath her and set aside.

He picked up the pack, then began gathering her other belongings—ski poles and a single mitten. “Where are her skis?”