Chilled by Death
Dale Mayer
Touched by Death – Part 1 –
FREE
CHILLED BY DEATH
Dale Mayer
Valley Publishing
Copyright © 2015
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1928122296
Kindle Edition
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
I love to read Dale Mayer’s books… keeps me guessing…. I am getting good though trying to figure out who did it…. I am on my fourth book….
…Review left on Vampire in Deceit, book 4 of Family Blood Ties
Dale Mayer’s work is always outstanding and Haunted by Death is no exception.
…Review from Haunted by Death, book 2 of the By Death Series
This is a GREAT series that you don’t want to miss out on!
…Review from Broken Protocols Series
This is my favorite author I enjoy all her books and I can’t wait for more… her books are easy to get into and I love the storyline
…Review from Dangerous Designs, book 1 of the Design Series
Dale Mayer is a gifted writer who now has me hooked as a new fan. She characters are complex and she shares her knowledge of energy work clearly and simply. Makes for fascinating reading…
…Review from Rare Find, book 6 of Psychic Visions Series
Don’t underestimated Dale Mayer. Combination of JD Robb and Heather Graham. Paranormal suspense………
…Review left on Maddy’s Floor, book 3 of the Psychic Visions Series
Wow! I read a lot, and I can honestly say that there a few books that I have read that I will remember for years. This is one of those books. Thank you Dale for giving me the gift of this magnificent story. It was both heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time.
…Review left on Skin, book 1 of Broken and yet…Healing Series
Touched by Death is an outstanding novel by Dale Mayer. Unlike her usual novels that contain paranormal activity, this novel is sheer malevolent actions from ordinary humans.
…Review left on Touched by Death, book 1 of By Death Series
Dale’s books are spellbinding in more ways than one. She has a unique way with words. Her characters are fun and funny and loving. I love the way the story flows. Her characters all have personality. She takes you from suspense to love, then fear love and eternal love.
…Review left on Second Chances, book 1 of Second Chances… at Love Series
S
tacy Carter slid
across the fresh white powder to come to a rest on the top of the small rise. She smiled up at the stunning blue sky and tall evergreen trees dusted in white.
It was a gorgeous day on Blackcomb Ski Resort in BC. A place she and her brother and their friends considered their home away from home. Their winter and summer play home was close enough to Portland to make it an easy drive and far enough away to make it a change.
They were staying at the cabin owned by her brother’s friend, one they’d come to many times over the years. It was perfect. The day. The mountains. The situation.
Her best friends – they were like sisters really – were up ahead. Or they should be.
They’d been boarding – she hadn’t been feeling good and had been in town all morning. Feeling better, she’d come out to meet them at the top of Gorman’s Peak. It was a well-known run that could take one further into the back country, and yes, out of bounds if they wanted to – and her friends often wanted to. She wasn’t the same as they were. She hated breaking the rules. But so many of the others loved to ski and board the pure untouched runs down the backside. They’d been doing it for years, and conforming to the new rules and regulations was difficult. And not appreciated in many cases. Areas that her friends had played in for years were carefully watched now.
Many of the tougher runs had been closed all week to due to avalanche hazard and although that disappointed several of her friends, she didn’t mind. She’d been skiing this resort since forever. There were lots of runs to keep her interest.
Then, she was calmer, more relaxed when compared to the other two women. They were the play-hard-and-love-harder variety.
Stacy was much gentler. More safety conscious and much more laid back. She’d have been happy to grab a coffee and sit at the top of the run and just enjoy the moment. She worked hard at her job and preferred to relax when on holiday. Life was about balance.
Two of her friends, Francine and Janice, were both dashing, raise-a-little-hell-kind of modern women. Stacy had never understood just what drew the three of them together, but something had and it worked. They were opposites that complemented each other. They’d been friends for close to a decade. They’d changed over the years that they had known each other, with Stacy becoming more laid back over time whereas her friends had gotten wilder, becoming even more dare-devilish.
The men loved it. Loved them.
Stacy had watched in bemusement as Janice ate up a lifetime quota of men before she was twenty-nine. But with her long black hair, slightly olive tint to her skin, and massive brown eyes with long lashes and pouty lips all on top of long and lean physical perfection, yeah, she could have any man any time. And she did. Often. She also never let her heart get involved.
Francine was a slightly curvier and shorter, but just as much of a go-getter. She’d been following in Janice’s tracks since forever. Not quite as good as Janice in boarding, or with men, but she never seemed to care. She was content to take second place. But she’d never slide to third. No, that was always Stacy’s spot.
Not that Stacy cared. She’d always felt slightly out of sync with the other two, but they all loved each other.
It was all good.
Her phone beeped.
She pulled it out of her pocket and smiled. Janice.
She read the text. Her smile fell away.
Damn it. Janice wanted to end the day with a splash on the long back trail and cut to the cabin at the right time. Only that run was out of bounds. According to the text, the two would meet Stacy in a few moments.
She quickly texted back,
Back runs closed due to avalanche hazard
.
And waited.
She didn’t have to wait long. The next text said,
Phooey.
That was it. Stacy stared down at it, chewing on her bottom lip, and wondered. Out loud she murmured, “Phooey what, Janice? As in phooey that’s too bad, or phooey like that’s going to matter?”
She shifted positions so she could see her friends ride up the lifts. They’d be about ten minutes if there wasn’t much of a line up at the bottom.
She sat back to relax.
Francine texted her next, asking where she was. She answered. Then deciding it was better to ask than worry, she texted Janice and asked, “Which run do you want to take down? The face looks great.”
She knew her attempt to convince Janice to go down the sheer drop in the front of the mountain wouldn’t likely work if she was set on going down the back to the bowl, but the face would be perfect. There was usually no one there, leaving them lots of space to take jumps, weave through the trees, or just cut a narrow strip racing to the bottom.
Her phone beeped again. Janice.
I want to take Gopher Run to the bowl.
Damn it.
“The bowl is closed, too.”
The bowl was an inbounds area – as long as the weather cooperated. When it didn’t, it was a closed area. Like everything connected to the resort and winter sports, safety was paramount. They had a great medical center here, and the search and rescue teams were second to none. Thankfully Stacy hadn’t had any reason to use either.
She studied the chairs swinging in the gentle breeze as the lifts toiled upwards, carrying the many groups of happy winter enthusiasts.
“Stacy!”
Stacy turned in the direction of the noise. There was Janice and Francine. She smiled and waved.
Hearing her name again, she caught sight of her brother and his friends – her co-workers Mark and Stevie – several chairs below the girls.
“Hey,” she yelled back.
Within five minutes, they were all standing in a group at the top of the runs and just out of the way of the others getting off.
“We’re going down for another run. See you in the cabin in an hour or so.” With a big wave and lots of hoots and laughter, the three men jumped over the steepest part of the face. Stacy grinned at their antics. They were all incredibly skilled and a joy to watch.
“Awesome! We’ll follow.” With a big grin still on her face, Stacy turned her skis, planning to follow them off the top edge. “Come on, girls. Let’s go.” She slid forward slightly then twisted to make sure Janice and Francine were following.
They weren’t.
Shit.
Awkwardly, she flipped her skis around until she was facing the direction where the girls had been standing and struggled back the short distance to where she’d left them.
And found only their trails from where they’d plunged over the back of the mountain to the bowl. “Damn it, Janice. Why don’t you ever listen?” she cried out to the vast white expanse in front of her. “That whole area is a bad deal right now.”