Page 44 of K-9 in Pursuit

He roused himself more awake and thought how to sum up the afternoon’s events. “Some snowboarders accidentally triggered an inbounds slide in an area called Ransom Ridge. It’s part of the ski resort, but not served by lifts. Three snowboarders were caught in it.” He paused, swallowing. “One died.”

Her hand gripped his, squeezing gently. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”

He could have protested that he hadn’t known the man. That this wasn’t the first time he had dealt with a death at the resort. But that didn’t really matter. The loss had been hard. His job was all about saving people, and when he couldn’t, it felt like failure, even when there was nothing anyone could have done. So he only nodded, and squeezed back.

“What caused the slide?” she asked.

“Mother Nature. We mitigated that area yesterday morning, but after we opened today we received a lot of wet, heavy snow. It built up so fast, then broke loose.”

“Was Daisy there? Afterward, I mean?”

“Yes. She helped search for the missing man.” He reached over to pet the dog. “She doesn’t like it when she doesn’t find anyone.”

“You both must be exhausted.”

“A shower and dinner will revive us. Well, the shower for me. Daisy doesn’t like baths.”

“Take your shower then. I’m going to sit here and decompress.”

“You’re sure you’re okay being alone right now?”

“Daisy will keep me company.” She smiled down at the dog.

He shoved off the sofa. If he stayed here right now, he would fall asleep before he had even offered her anything to eat.

Before taking his shower, he made his bed and stashed yesterday’s dirty clothes in the closet. Then he stripped down and stepped under the steaming water. Real warmth seeped into him for the first time in hours, driving the numbness from his limbs and from his brain. But a whirlwind of thoughts rushed in as the numbness receded. He hadn’t seen the inside of Chloe’s apartment, but what she had described was horrifying. Who would do something like that—and why? Could it be the same person who had murdered Sharee? He couldn’t tell if the cops believed it could or not, but what were the odds that Chloe would be targeted only eleven days after Sharee’s death? And by someone with a key to her apartment?

CHLOE TRIED TO shake herself out of the paralysis that had gripped her in her wrecked apartment. The reality of the attack—that was what it felt like, a personal attack—had been too much to accept. But here in this quiet place, with a sleeping dog resting against her and the soothing sound of running water from the shower, some of the shock receded, replaced by anger.

How dare someone invade her home that way. How dare they destroy her belongings. She didn’t have anything that belonged to anyone else. She hadn’t done anything to anger anyone. They had no right.

Music from her phone intruded on her fury and she pulled the phone from her pocket. Darinda’s number flashed on the screen. She started not to answer, but knew her stepmother well enough to know that Darinda would keep calling.

“Hello?” she said, trying to sound normal. As if her life wasn’t falling apart.

“What’s going on?” Darinda asked. “I got a call from the sheriff saying someone broke into your apartment. He asked me a lot of questions about Sharee. As if she had something to do with it!”

“Someone did come into my apartment,” Chloe said. “They tore everything apart, as if they were looking for someone. But they didn’t break in. They used a key.”

“The deputy asked me if Sharee had given a key to anyone. I told her I had no idea. I was living a thousand miles from my daughter. If they want to know something like that they should ask you. You were the one responsible for her.”

Chloe winced. Darinda wasn’t known for being subtle. “I don’t know how the person who broke into my place got a key,” she said. “And I don’t know what they were looking for. I don’t have anything of great value or anything that belongs to someone else. I don’t think Sharee did either.”

“Of course she didn’t,” Darinda said. “As for valuable, the sheriff’s department took Sharee’s laptop and phone, and they refuse to give them back.”

“They’re still looking for her killer,” Chloe said.

“And now they’re dealing with this burglary or whatever they’re calling it at your place. That’s only going to take resources away from solving Sharee’s murder.”

“I didn’t plan to have my place broken into,” she said.

“Just a minute. Your father is saying something. What is it?”

Muffled voices. Then Darinda came back on the line. “Your father wants to know where you are right now.”

“I’m staying with a friend.”

“What friend?”