Page 47 of K-9 in Pursuit

Darrell frowned. “What about her?”

“Somebody told me you two were an item, that’s all.” He looked around, as if making sure they couldn’t be overheard. “I’m friends with the patroller they accused of killing her. I know he didn’t do it, so I’m trying to help him out—you know, talk to Sharee’s friends, get an idea of what she was really like.”

“Sharee was okay,” Darrell said.

“She was really pretty,” Brian said.

“Yeah, she was good-looking.”

“A good skier, too, I hear.”

Darrell shrugged. “She was okay.”

“Did the two of you ever go out?”

“Why are you asking me this stuff? What did you say your name was?”

“I’m Dave. Didn’t mean to upset you.” He looked over to where another skier was chatting with the coaches. “You have a busy racing season this year? When I have some time off it’s a kick to watch the races.”

“Yeah. Pretty much every weekend. There’s a schedule over there.” He pointed with his ski pole to a tent set up at the bottom of the hill.

“Thanks,” Brian said. “Sorry to bother you.”

He skied away. When he looked back, Darrell had joined several other teens at the bottom of the run who were watching their teammates.

Brian circled back and made his way to the tent Darrell had pointed out. “Do you have a schedule of the season’s races?” he asked.

“I do.” A woman in a pink long-sleeved tee that said Ski Mom handed him a flyer.

Brian scanned the list of races. “There was a race last weekend in Copper Mountain?” he asked. “I hate I missed it.”

“Oh, the Copper races are always great,” she said.

“I’ll have to mark my calendar for next year,” Brian said. “Do they always run Saturday and Sunday?”

“That’s right.”

“I guess most people stay over for both days?”

“The racers and their families do,” she said. “A lot of the fans, too.”

“Did Darrell Cooperman race in Copper this year?” Brian asked.

The woman turned and called over her shoulder. “Marie! Darrell raced last weekend in Copper, right?”

A dark-haired woman with her son’s deep-set eyes and pointed chin joined them. “Darrell won two firsts at Copper,” she said. She studied Brian. “Why are you asking?”

“I’m just a fan,” Brian said. “I was telling this woman—” he indicated the ski mom “—that I hated I missed the race at Copper. She was explaining how there are races both days.”

Mrs. Cooperman nodded. “The scores from both days are combined to determine the winners. Darrell had a fantastic run on Saturday. Everyone was congratulating him at the team dinner Saturday night. And he did even better on Sunday. That was one of his best showings this year.”

“Then I’m sorry I missed it.”

His radio crackled and he pressed the button to silence it. “I’d better get back to work.” He held up the flyer. “But I’ll hang on to this.”

The radio traffic wasn’t for him, so he made his way to the base area and found a quiet spot to make a phone call. “I just spoke with Darrell Cooperman and his mother,” he told Chloe when she answered. “Last weekend they were at a race meet at Copper Mountain Resort. Races Saturday and Sunday, with a team dinner Saturday night.”

“So he couldn’t have met up with Sharee Saturday night.”