Thunder Valley (6 page)

“For the tenth time, I’m sure.” Jason stopped his brother a few feet in front of the lodge. “What I’m worried about is this Ryland guy. Maybe we should wait for a better time.”

“Hey, don’t get cold feet on me now. You’re the one who thought of this. You said there might be a connection between the buyer and the rest of this Broken Tree group. Besides,
there may not be a better time to search his room. While he’s at lunch we’ll make a quick search. All we need is one tiny piece of evidence that he’s in on it.”

Jason frowned. “What if I’m wrong? Lila is one thing, but a big-time New York businessman is another.”

“Think of it this way. If the guy’s innocent we need to know so we can look somewhere else.”

Jason followed him up the steps and inside the lodge. “I hope you’re right.”

“Right about what?” Tom Caplan came up behind them.

Jeremy tried to cover. “Jason was just wondering if I should be up and around after what happened this morning. I told him I was feeling great.”

“Glad to hear it. Say, I was just on my way to lunch. Would you guys like to join me?”

Jason licked his lips.

“No, thank you.” Jeremy grabbed his brother’s sleeve and led him across the room to the front desk. “We have to check on something. Maybe some other time.”

Jeremy moved around behind the front desk
and pretended to look at the reservations book. “How’s everything going, Hans?” he asked the desk clerk.

“Booked solid, as usual. I’ve had to turn away three callers this morning alone.”

“Really? That’s too bad.” Jeremy checked to see which room was Timothy Ryland’s and then winked at Jason, who accidentally on purpose knocked a pen-and-pencil holder onto the floor. When Hans bent down to retrieve it, Jeremy grabbed the key to Ryland’s room and moved around the counter.

“Sorry about that, Hans.” Jason checked to make sure nothing was broken and then caught up with Jeremy, who was already halfway down the hall. “What room is he in?”

“We’re in luck. He’s on the first floor, room five.”

Jeremy walked up to the door and knocked loudly. There was no answer. He glanced over his shoulder. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Jeremy inserted the key. They hurried inside and quickly closed the door.

“You take the closet and the bed,” Jeremy instructed.
“I’ll check the dresser and the bathroom.”

Jason opened the closet. There was nothing suspicious about the suits and shoes. Ryland’s suitcase was empty. Jason moved to the bed and searched underneath it and between the mattresses.

Jeremy stepped out of the bathroom. “I didn’t find anything. Did you?”

Jason shook his head. “No. Maybe he’s what he claims to be after all.”

Jeremy snapped his fingers. “The briefcase. He had a briefcase earlier.”

The door swung open. “You don’t mean
this
briefcase, do you?” Ryland stepped into the room holding a black case. Corky and Simms blocked the doorway behind him.

“I guess you two think you’re pretty clever, don’t you?” Ryland looked thoughtful. “In a way, I suppose I do have to give you credit. Detectives in three different states haven’t caught on to us. You’ve actually come closer than anyone. Not that it’ll do you any good when Simms is through with you.”

Jeremy inched back toward the bathroom
door. When Jason saw what he was doing he tried to keep Ryland talking. “So where’s Lila? Your Broken Tree gang isn’t complete without her, is it?”

Ryland laughed. “So you know about my darling wife. She was very useful in switching your grandfather’s medicine. In fact, Lila’s at the hospital right now, talking your grandmother into coming home. We need her signature to transfer ownership of Thunder Valley to our organization.”

Jeremy was almost to the bathroom door. Jason went on talking. “I thought you said my grandfather already signed the papers.”

“That was a forgery. An excellent one, I might add, done by your friend Corky. But a forgery nonetheless. We’re after the real thing. Our plan has always been to have the old lady sign the necessary papers. Of course she won’t know what she’s signing. But after all these terrible accidents, including the one you two are about to have, we think she’ll be glad to get rid of it.”

Jeremy bolted into the bathroom and locked the door.

“Get him, Simms!” Ryland yelled.

Simms slammed his body into the door until it came off its hinges in splinters. The small window above the tub was open.

The bathroom was empty.

Jeremy ran for the woods behind the lodge. He had to think, figure out what to do. They desperately needed help, but who could give it to them? If he could just get to a telephone, maybe there would be a deputy sheriff in the area.

He stayed in the cover of the trees and crept toward the back porch. Silently he inched up the steps, opened the screen door, and listened. The house was quiet.

Jeremy raced down the hall to his grandfather’s
bedroom and dialed 911. A female dispatcher came on the line.

“Calm down, son. Tell me the problem. Is anyone hurt?”

Jeremy tried to catch his breath. “My brother … they have my brother … hurry.”

“Who has your brother?”

“Some people.” Jeremy’s mind raced. “Kidnappers. Come to the Thunder Valley Ski Lodge, and hurry.”

He heard the sound of a telephone being quietly hung up in another part of the house. “Hurry!” he yelled. Dropping the receiver, he tore around the bed.

“Not so fast.”

Jeremy froze. Lila stood in the door pointing a small silver pistol at him. “Sounds like it’s a good thing I came back. You and your twin brother have caused enough trouble. We should have gotten rid of you a long time ago.”

“Where’s my grandmother?” Jeremy demanded.

“Oh, she’s on her way. But don’t worry, we’ll have you safely out of the picture before she gets here.”

“Give me the gun, Mrs. Ryland.”

Jeremy couldn’t believe his eyes. Tom Caplan, along with several other men, was standing behind Lila. The tall man moved up and took the gun out of her hand. “Put the cuffs on her, boys, and take her away.”

Lila’s shoulders slumped. She gave up without a struggle. Jeremy stepped back to give Tom room. “Are you a cop?”

Tom smiled. “Undercover. We’ve been after this group for years. They move in on unsuspecting businesses and cause enough unexplained accidents to make the owners want to sell. Until now we haven’t been able to prove anything. But thanks to you and your brother, I think we have them this time.”

“Jason! They’ve got him!”

“He’s fine. Hans has already seen to that. And we have Ryland and his buddies in custody.”

“Hans?” Jeremy followed Tom down the hall.

“He works for us. The day we received word that the Broken Tree was after the Thunder Valley Lodge, Hans applied for a job here.”

Jeremy stopped on the front porch. “I don’t get it. How did you know I was at the house?”

“We’ve been monitoring your actions for quite some time. When we saw you go into Ryland’s room we put everybody on alert. It actually worked perfectly, your getting away from them like that. It confused things long enough for Hans to move in.”

A black car pulled up in front of the house. Jason jumped out. “This is so great!” he yelled. “There are cops all over this place!”

Tom smiled again. “I’m glad everything’s worked out. I’ll be getting in touch with both of you as soon as I get these goons behind bars.”

“Maybe then you could come back for a real vacation,” Jeremy said. “On the house, of course.”

“I’d like that. But only on one condition—that you let me bring a friend along.”

“Sure.” Jason nodded. “Bring anyone you want.”

“Good. I’ve been telling Jean-Claude about this place. He’s been wanting to come up ever since he heard about the big race with Jeremy
up on Sawtooth.” Tom stepped into the car. “I’ll be in touch.”

Jeremy’s mouth fell open. He watched the black car pull out of the driveway and join three others waiting beside the road.

Jason waved and then turned toward the house. “All this excitement’s made me hungry. Want a sandwich?”

“You don’t think he meant
the
Jean-Claude, do you?” Jeremy asked.

Jason shrugged. “Why not? As an undercover agent, Tom probably gets around. He may know a lot of famous people. Hey, where are you going? Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’ve got more important things to do.” Jeremy jumped up onto the porch and ran inside the house.

“Like what?” Jason yelled.

When Jeremy reappeared he was smiling and carrying his skis. “Practicing. I’ve got a race to win.”

Who is Jean-Claude Killy?
Jean-Claude Killy is mentioned in this story a couple of times. He’s a world-famous skier, born in France in 1943. He won all three Alpine skiing events—the downhill, the slalom, and the giant slalom—at the 1968 Winter Olympics. He also won World Cup titles in 1967 and 1968.

Ski Safety Tips

Brrrrrr!

If you don’t wear proper clothing while skiing, you might suffer from
frostbite
(loss of feeling in your body parts) or
hypothermia
(low body temperature). If you get frostbite, you should go inside immediately and seek medical attention as soon as possible. Tuck numb hands under your armpits beneath your coat, and cover a frostbitten face with dry gloved hands until normal color returns.
Do not rub
or use direct heat on frostbitten body parts.