Page 47 of K-9 Prime Target

“Aren’t you supposed to flash something to get these?” he asked.

“You’ve already seen plenty,” she said, and slipped a trio of necklaces over her head.

She called Sky and fastened her harness. In honor of the occasion, the dog also wore a purple bow tie. The four of them—Angel sporting a beaded collar—piled into Liam’s SUV and headed for the resort.

Even at this early hour, the place was humming. Crews were festooning the plaza with purple, green and gold bunting, and erecting a temporary stage at the base of Lift Four for the zydeco band scheduled to perform starting at eleven. Restaurants hoisted banners advertising jambalaya, étouffée, beignets and other Louisiana fare, and skiers, some in costume, already roamed the plaza and lined up at the coffee cart.

Nina joined her fellow patrollers in the office, which was gaudy with beads and bunting. Connor’s goldendoodle, Farley, sported a feathered mask until Connor took pity on him and removed it. “It’s cute, but probably not that safe, if he had to respond to an emergency,” Connor said.

Patrollers spent much of the morning spray-painting purple guidelines on the snow along the parade route, and cordoning off a staging area at the top of the run. By 11:00 a.m. parade participants were assembling. The theater troupe the resort had hired sported an impressive array of costumes, from a pair of jesters in velvet pantaloons and bells to elaborate beaded and feathered headdresses and papier-mâché masks in the form of fanciful birds and monsters. The brass band tuned their instruments and played snatches of song, while excited children ran through the crowd, laughing and shouting.

Nina worked her way through the crowd, stopping to answer questions and direct people to their proper places. “Hey, Nina!”

She looked up to see Derek moving toward her. Her gaze flickered to his helmet, but it was gray, not black. And no stickers. “Hi, Derek. Are you going to watch the parade?”

“Probably not,” he said. “I have to open the truck in a few minutes.” He stopped directly in front of her, his expression one of concern. “Are you okay?”

She couldn’t help but measure his height against that of the man who had confronted her at the terrain park. About the same, but there was nothing menacing about Derek. Was she being too trusting? “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Your ‘friend,’ Liam, came by the truck the other day and was grilling me about our friendship. He practically accused me of stalking you.”

“Oh, Derek. I’m so sorry.” She knew Liam was serious about protecting her, but hassling her friends was going too far. “He had no business doing that.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I told him. But then I heard that you really do have a stalker. Security was showing around some photos of a guy dressed all in black. And a friend told me about the pictures of you posted at the ski patrol office yesterday morning.”

“Yes. Someone is hassling me—leaving notes and stuff.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“I think he’s the man who stalked me before, but I don’t know for sure.”

“I’ve been looking for the guy all in black. If I see him, I’ll tell him to get lost.”

His earnestness touched her. “If you see him, call security and don’t get involved. He could be dangerous.”

“I know I look pretty puny, but I can take care of myself,” he said.

She bit back a smile. Earnest as a puppy dog. He wouldn’t like it if he could read her thoughts. “Thank you, Derek,” she said. “And I’ll tell Liam to lay off.”

“Yeah, well, I guess he just wants to protect you. Anyone would.”

“I’d rather look after myself, too.”

Her radio crackled. “Nina, do you copy?” Connor asked.

“I have to go,” Nina said. “Enjoy the parade.”

“I could use you about halfway down the run, helping Raz and Lily with crowd control,” Connor said when she replied to his transmission. “People are in a good mood, but some of them may be a little overly enthusiastic.”

“Sure thing.”

She skied down the otherwise deserted run. People had gathered behind the spray-painted lines and were taking pictures and exchanging strings of beads.

“Over here!” Lily shouted and waved for Nina to join her.

A couple moved over to make room for Nina. “Everything okay?” Nina asked Lily.

“Everything’s going great.” Lily had gold fleurs-de-lis painted on each cheek. A tall blond man stood with her. “Hey, Scott,” Nina said, recognizing the former ski patrol captain and Lily’s fiancé. “How are things at C-RAD?” Scott had taken a job with Colorado Rapid Avalanche Deployment last year.